The United Kingdom reported more than 12,000 further confirmed cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the latest daily figures provided by health authorities on Sunday.   

Omicron, a very contagious variant first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong (China), has raced around the globe and been reported in 89 countries and territories, the World Health Organization said on Saturday.

* More than 21,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to flooding caused by torrential rains in Malaysia, state news agency Bernama said on Sunday.

* China administered about 12 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Dec 18, bringing the total to 2.67 billion, data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday.

* The Omicron virus is raging across the world as the winter holiday season approaches, making COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots more crucial than ever for traveling Americans, chief White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

* The Kremlin is convinced that the World Health Organization (WHO) will recognise Russia's flagship Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine within a few months, the Interfax news agency cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.

* Italy's government is considering new measures to avoid a surge in COVID-19 infections during the holiday period, local newspapers reported on Sunday, amid worries over the spread of the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant.

* Britain's health minister Sajid Javid declined on Sunday to rule out the chance of further COVID-19 restrictions before Christmas, saying the spread of the Omicron variant was a very fast moving situation.

* The Netherlands went into lockdown on Sunday and the possibility of more COVID-19 restrictions over the Christmas and New Year period loomed over several European countries as the Omicron coronavirus variant spreads quickly.

* Iran has confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the health ministry said on Sunday, while authorities urged Iranians to get their booster doses in the Middle East's worst-hit country.

* The United Arab Emirates from January 3 will restrict entry into all government institutions to people vaccinated against coronavirus and those who are exempted from getting the vaccine, state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.

* A fire broke out on Sunday at a mine in Siberia, Russia's RIA news agency cited the emergency services as saying, with operations underway to bring 128 miners to the surface.

* A meeting of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation agreed on Sunday to establish a humanitarian trust fund to address the growing economic crisis in Afghanistan which has left millions facing hunger over the winter.

* President Tayyip Erdogan said he had lowered Turkey's inflation to around 4% before and that he will achieve that again soon as annual price rises hit 21% due to his push for aggressive monetary easing that has sent the lira crashing.

* Hundreds of thousands of people marched to the presidential palace in Sudan's capital Khartoum on Sunday in protest at the Oct. 25 military coup, drawing volleys of tear gas and stun grenades from security forces, witnesses said.

* Azerbaijan handed over 10 captured Armenian soldiers to Armenia on Sunday for the second time this month following talks last week between both sides and European Council President Charles Michel, the two countries said.

* Saudi Arabia's air defences on Sunday destroyed two drones launched by Yemen's Houthis toward the Abha international airport in the southwest of the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Reuters