‘Glimmer of hope’: Beirut seeks Christmas cheer after devastating year

Family mourns Filipino mother and son shot by police over noise

Dutch hospitals brace for wave of COVID-19 patients as cases jump

Irish restrictions may be in place to end-Feb, Deputy PM says

Pfizer, Moderna testing their vaccines against UK coronavirus variant – CNN

CanSino vaccine to be submitted for review in Mexico, minister says

New Delhi airport aims to start distributing COVID vaccine in January

Venezuela opposition lawmakers go into survival mode after election boycott

Family stranded in South Africa as travel ban over mutant virus strain kicks in

Ouster, maker of self-driving tech, agrees $1.9 billion deal to go public

India to track down arrivals from Britain to try to stop new virus strain

Singapore’s happy ‘glampers’ pick airport stays for year-end holidays

U.N. aims to get rights team to Ethiopia’s Tigray

U.S. ready to mediate discussions between Israel and Lebanon -Pompeo

Ocugen to co-develop Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate for U.S

Thai PM blames virus surge on illegal migration, hints at new curbs

French medical regulator to decide on COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 24

Swiss report 4,275 new coronavirus cases, 129 more deaths

U.S. publishes list of Chinese and Russian firms with military ties

Macron health situation stable – French presidency

China says it opposes U.S. list of firms with alleged military ties

Serbia gets first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

No action against former PM Abe after prosecutor questioning – Kyodo

UK economy saw partial recovery in Q3, recession risks ahead

Bethlehem’s other children, and the home that cares for them

Oil’s rally, fueled by vaccine progress, is running out of steam

Papal Christmas, New Year moved indoors because of coronavirus

U.S. issues additional visa restrictions on Chinese officials

Pollution deaths in India rose to 1.67 million in 2019 -Lancet

Airbus to be world’s largest planemaker for second year

Factbox-Where U.S. banks won and lost in the new pandemic relief package

New coronavirus strain still not found in India – health official

FTSE Russell to remove SMIC and Hikvision from China indexes

EU, UK chiefs discuss COVID, Brexit – EU sources

FIFA files criminal complaint over Blatter role in museum project