Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
The Pacific island naiton of Kiribati was among the last places on Earth to have avoided a Covid-19 outbreak, thanks to its remote location and strict border controls.
But the small island nation began its first Covid-19 lockdown this weekend after dodging the disease for two years.
This month, the nation of 120,000 people reported its first case, after the virus was detected in international arrivals.
Dozens of passengers on a flight to Kiribati from Fiji, the first to arrive in the nation since borders reopened, tested positive for the virus.
Neighbouring Samoa also locked down after cases linked to a repatriation flight from Brisbane rose to 15, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said.
Until last week it had registered only two cases since the disease broke out in winter 2019.
She said the restrictions would be lifted on Monday night and that everyone who had tested positive was in quarantine.
All of the cases are believed to be of the Omicron variant, she said.
Kiribati’s leader said the capital would be placed under the restrictions after recording its first community cases.
“There is now an assumption that Covid-19 is now spreading in the community,” President Taneti Maamau said on Facebook.
People were told they must stay at home unless they need to obtain essential goods or services, such as food or health care.
President Maamau did not say how long the lockdown would last.
About 62 per cent of Samoans are fully vaccinated, in contrast to about 34 per cent of Kiribati’s population, according to WHO data.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
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Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
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Barcelona 2
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Real Madrid 2
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Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
