In Short

PretoriaAngelique Coetzee, general practitioner and president of the South African Medical Association, reacted in an interview with the Austrian ServusTV to the fear, panic and totalitarian rules imposed because of the Omicron variant, which she said was very mild.

Tel AvivThe vaccination campaign in Israel continues at full speed. More than half a million Israelis have already had their second booster shot. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health reported 68 513 new Corona infections within a single day on Thursday.

BerlinWith almost 2 000 protests all over Germany, the resistance against senseless Corona measures and the planned forced jab is literally exploding. Some 1899 walks took place across Germany on Monday, January 17 – 331 more than the week before. According to estimates, around 350 000 people were on Germany's streets to protest loudly against the Corona regime. The hotspot was clearly Baden-Württemberg, where 459 walks took place.

BerlinGermany continues to shower the world with "innovations". One notable one is the latest advance of the traffic-light coalition, composed of old SPD leftists and new Greens: You can finally choose your own gender.

LondonUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that health restrictions related to the Covid pandemic, including passes, mask mandates, and work-from-home guidance will be dropped.

BerlinThe Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), the German medical regulatory body and research institution for vaccines and biomedicines, which is also a WHO Collaborating Centre for quality assurance, has found out that 92 percent of rapid antigen tests are worthless.

Juventus star striker Marco De Graca, Swiss sprinter and Olympic athlete Sarah Atcho and British punk icon Hazel O’Connor are the latest high profile vaccine victims.

MelbourneYet another vaccine injury? According to Channel 7, the ball girl's condition has improved, although it remains "unknown what caused her to collapse in the first place".

BerlinThe German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) wants to increase the pressure on the messenger service.

Mexico CityMexico is witnessing a Covid-19 surge at the moment. The 7-day case average is 18 846, an  increase from the 2 756 7-day case average two weeks ago. But Mexico has not enforced any fresh restrictions since the Omicron wave started and has now returned to 2019 normality for tourists, because cases are not confounded with deaths.