| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, October 5, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. New York's largest healthcare provider fires 1,400 unvaccinated workers, Facebook blames a "faulty configuration change" for its outage, and China's property sector default woes deepen | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Protestors demonstrate against the mandate that teachers and staff in the New York City Schools system be vaccinated against COVID-19 as they march in Manhattan in New York City, October 4, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton U.S. AstraZeneca has requested emergency use authorization from U.S. regulators for its new treatment to prevent COVID-19 for people who respond poorly to vaccines because of a weakened immune system.
The effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in preventing infection dropped to 47% from 88% six months after the second dose, according to data published that U.S. health agencies considered when deciding on the need for booster shots.
New York State's largest healthcare provider, Northwell Health, has fired 1,400 employees who refused to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
President Joe Biden will hit the road today to try to shift the spotlight from the wrangling within his Democratic Party over his huge social spending package to its potential benefits for Americans.
A New York state judge gave former President Donald Trump a December 23 deadline to undergo questioning in a defamation lawsuit filed by a former contestant on 'The Apprentice' after he denied her sexual assault accusations.
The Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to recommend George Floyd get a full posthumous pardon for a 2004 drug conviction.
|  A man prays inside the Saint-Martin church in Vertou near Nantes, France, October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe WORLD French clergy have sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, a major investigation found, and its authors accused the Catholic Church of turning a blind eye for too long.
Taiwan needs to be on alert for China's "over the top" military activities, the premier said, after a record 56 Chinese aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defence zone, while the president said the island would do what it took to defend itself. Read our factbox on Taiwan-China relations.
Germany's Greens met Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives for talks to explore whether they and a smaller liberal party could form a new coalition government following last month's national election. We explain the three big economic challenges facing Germany's next government.
Support for the government of Japan's new prime minister is less than 50%, much lower than that of the previous government when it took power, a survey showed, a day after he took office and surprised many by calling an election on October 31.
Japanese-born American Syukuro Manabe, German Klaus Hasselmann and Italian Giorgio Parisi won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics for work that helps understand complex physical systems such as Earth's changing climate.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  One man's mission to spread Kung Fu in Africa Inspired by his love of Jet Li movies, Ugandan Kizza Ssejjemba took up Kung Fu. He has trained with Chinese experts, starred in action films, and is now teaching a new generation. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
