| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Thursday, January 13, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Poland warns Europe is at the greatest risk of war in 30 years, Omicron spreads in China ahead of the Winter Olympics, and was Boris Johnson's apology heartfelt enough? | | | | | Today's biggest stories  A man gets a COVID-19 test in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 12, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri COVID-19 Long lines snake around entire city blocks as Americans scramble to get tested for COVID-19. At-home testing kits fly off the shelves at pharmacies and drug stores. Demand that surged before the holidays has yet to subside in the new year. As the Omicron variant pushes infections to record levels people across the country have voiced frustration with the paucity of tests.
The Chinese port city of Tianjin reported an increase in COVID-19 infections as it stepped up efforts to rein in an outbreak that has spread the Omicron variant to another city.
AstraZeneca said that preliminary data from a trial showed that its COVID-19 shot, Vaxzevria, generated an increase in antibodies against the Omicron and other variants when given as a third booster dose.
Omicron causes milder illness compared with previous versions of the coronavirus. But here's why you should still try to avoid catching it.
A coronavirus pandemic which lasts five years, another pandemic in a decade, and ever more transmissible variants are among the scenarios life insurers are predicting after COVID-19 claims jumped more than expected in 2021.
|  A Ukrainian navy sailor is seen onboard a gunboat in the Azov Sea port of Berdyansk, January 12, 2022. REUTERS/Anastasia Vlasova
WORLD
Europe is nearer war than it has been in 30 years, Poland's foreign minister warned during the third round of diplomacy this week aimed at defusing tensions over Russia's demand that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO. Russia said that talks had so far failed to bridge fundamental differences over the Ukraine crisis and Moscow's demands that NATO pull back from central and eastern Europe.
Denmark warned of a rising espionage threat from Russia, China, Iran and others, including in the Arctic region where global powers are jostling for resources and sea routes.
The Biden administration imposed its first sanctions over North Korea's weapons programs following a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. The sanctions targeted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm Washington said were responsible for procuring goods for the programs from Russia and China.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized for attending a "bring your own booze" gathering at his official residence during Britain's first coronavirus lockdown, as a senior figure in his party and opponents said he should resign.
Tennis world No.1 Novak Djokovic was included in the Australian Open official draw though uncertainty hung over his participation with the government yet to decide whether to cancel the top seed's visa for a second time.
U.S.
President Joe Biden will seek to rally Senate Democrats in a meeting at the Capitol today to unite and alter the chamber's rules to pass voting-rights legislation.
Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell blasted Biden's push for a voting-rights bill. "The president's rant yesterday was incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office," McConnell said on the Senate floor.
The congressional committee investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol asked House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to voluntarily answer questions about Donald Trump's actions on the day of the riot.
The armorer overseeing weapons used in the filming of the Western 'Rust' sued the prop supplier, alleging his company distributed live ammunition on the set where police say actor Alec Baldwin fired a round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
U.S. prosecutors have charged a man with supplying performance-enhancing drugs to athletes at the Tokyo Olympics, a first under a federal law allowing criminal charges against doping conspirators at events involving U.S. athletes, broadcasters and sponsors.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Costa Concordia rescuer relives tragedy Mario Pelligrini was among the rescuers who brought thousands to safety from the doomed cruise ship. The terrified faces he saw that night haunt him ten years on. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
