British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that most coronavirus restrictions in England will be scrapped next week as the omicron wave seems to have peaked.

Current restrictions, known as Plan B, will expire on Jan. 27, meaning mandatory mask-wearing and COVID-19 status certification will end. Working from home guidance, however, has ended "from now."

"In the country at large, we will continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded places, particularly where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet," he told the House of Commons. "But we will trust the judgement of the British people and no longer criminalize anyone who chooses not to wear one."

From March 24, there will also likely be no legal requirement to self-isolate if one tests positive for COVID-19.

"As Covid becomes endemic, we will need to replace legal requirements with advice and guidance, urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others," he said. "The self-isolation regulations expire on March 24, at which point I very much expect not to renew them."

He, however, noted that "omicron is not a mild disease for everyone -- and especially if you’re not vaccinated."

Johnson urged lawmakers "to do everything possible to encourage any remaining constituents who have not done so -- to get boosted now."

Opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said he would back the proposed easing of restrictions, but only if the science said it was safe and that "he's acting to protect their health, not just his job."

The announcement came as pressure continues to mount over alleged rule-breaking lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Just before the Prime Minister's Questions, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected from the Conservatives to Labour./aa

The Turkish president announced on Wednesday that the country would be sending a "charity train" to Afghanistan carrying emergency goods.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the train, carrying 700 tons of food, clothing, and health and emergency goods are to be sent with the support of 10 non-governmental organizations under the coordination of Turkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency.

Aid agencies describe Afghanistan’s plight as one of the world’s most rapidly growing humanitarian crises.

According to UN humanitarian coordination office OCHA, half the population now faces acute hunger, over nine million people have been displaced and millions of children are out of school.

Last week, the UN and its partners launched a $4.4 billion funding appeal to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan in 2022.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned that millions of Afghans are on the verge of death, urging the international community to release Afghanistan’s frozen assets and jump-start its banking system.

President Erdogan also commented on the situation in Turkiye, saying there would be a "very different picture" of the country next year. He vowed to continue pursuing goals towards a stronger future.

Commenting on his recent annual meeting with EU envoys, Erdogan said they had assessed the past and current state of ties between Turkiye and the bloc, discussing points of impasse and proposed ways to resolve them.

Mentioning a recently announced system in Turkiye introducing Turkish lira deposit accounts protected from foreign exchange fluctuations, he said the amount of deposits had reached 163 billion liras ($12.16 billion).

In December, the USD/TRY exchange rate neared 20. But after the new system was announced, the lira gained significant value with a substantial decline in domestic interest in foreign currency.

Turkiye also seeks to persuade people to put their gold into the financial system, the president added.

He said with the support of the country's Credit Guarantee Fund, preparations are near completion for a package envisaged to provide employment protection and development priority loans.

"We ask for your support to make Turkiye a place where everyone does their work and holds their savings in Turkish liras," he added./aa

Many tents in refugee camps were unable to withstand the weight of snowfall in the opposition-held Afrin and Azez districts of northern Syria, and the snow also blocked local roads, leaving some residents unfortunate refugees from the storm.

The regions of Azez, al-Bab, and Afrin, already cleared of terrorists by Turkish forces and local allies, turned a chilly white after snowfall that begun to fall overnight.

Since 2016, Turkiye has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

Although the snowfall stopped in the early morning, roads were closed in camps located around Afrin and Azez, where the snow piled as high as 40 centimeters (15.7 inches) deep.

In the region blanketed by snowfall, many tents were destroyed by the harsh weather and weight of snow.

Trying to clean their tents with the limited means at their disposal, Syrians sought support from aid groups when they could.

Tents collapsed on sleeping women and children

“After the snowfall, our tents collapsed on us. Rain turned into snow in an instant in the middle of the night,” Mohammed Hisham, a camp resident, told Anadolu Agency.

Saying that the rain is much easier for those living in the tents to deal with, Hisham added: "When the snow got heavy, the tents collapsed. The tents fell on women and children while they were sleeping. Nearly 50 tents were damaged."

They collect plastic and cardboard to help stay warm and ask aid groups to help them get through the harsh winter, he added.

“We covered the tent with blankets to protect ourselves from the cold weather, but when the snow came, it collapsed on us,” said Vedi Yacur, another camp resident.

They tried to fix the demolished tent with the help of their children, but it was no use, Yacur said.

"We had to move to our neighbors,” he added. “Benefactors provided winter fuel, but it wasn’t enough. We get our fuel by collecting plastic from all around.”/aa

US President Joe Biden will nominate the first Muslim-American woman to serve as a federal judge, the White House announced Wednesday as he continues his push to diversify the federal judiciary.

Nusrat Jahan Choudhury has served as legal director for the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group since 2020 and has worked with the union in various capacities since 2008. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and received her bachelor's degree from Columbia University.

Should Choudhury receive Senate confirmation she would become not only the first Muslim-American woman to serve on the federal bench but also the first Bangladeshi-American, the White House said in a statement.

She would also be the second Muslim-American federal judge.

Her nomination is part of eight nominees being proposed by Biden, the 13th tranche since the president assumed office in January 2021. Biden has now nominated 83 federal judges.

Other nominees include Judge Ana Isabel de Alba, who would be the first Latina to serve on the Eastern District of California and the second-ever Latino judge on that court. Judge Nina Nin-Yuen Wang would be just the second Asian-American to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado./aa

Football fans can now apply for 2022 FIFA World Cup tickets as the ticket section of the FIFA website went live on Wednesday.

"The first ticket sales of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 start with a random selection draw sales period on 19 January 2022 at 11H CET / 13H Doha time. (1000 GMT)," FIFA said in a statement.

Organizers said that the first sales period will end on Feb. 8.

All applicants, including unsuccessful ones, will be notified on March 8, and successful applicants should follow the necessary steps to purchase their tickets.

Qatar 2022 has been scheduled for Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.

It will be the first World Cup tournament to be held in mid-season, as previous World Cup finals took place in May, June, or July.

Qatar automatically qualified for this year's World Cup as the host nation.

There will be 32 nations vying for the trophy.

Germany, Denmark, Brazil, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Argentina all booked their spots in the 2022 World Cup./aa

Germany's annual inflation reached 5.3% in December, hitting a 30-year high, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

The country's statistical department Destatis said the monthly inflation was 0.5% last month.

The high annual inflation stemmed from high monthly inflation rates in the second half of 2021 and the base effects caused by the low prices in 2020, it added.

The prices of energy products soared 10.4% in 2021 on a yearly basis, while they dropped 4.8% in 2020, it noted.

"Consumers had to pay markedly more in 2021 for heating oil (+41.8%) and motor fuels (+22.6%)," Destatis said.

Meanwhile, food prices also fueled the inflation rate by rising 3.2% in 2021 versus 2020, according to the statistical department.

"The prices of goods (total) were up 4.3% on an annual average in 2021 on 2020," it said./aa

The 2020-2022 La Nina events temporarily cooled temperatures, but 2021 was one of the seven warmest recorded years, and Canada logged a Sahara Desert-like temperature of 50 C, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The WMO said in a statement on Tuesday that consolidated global warming and other long-term climate change trends are expected to continue due to record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

“Back-to-back La Nina events mean that 2021 warming was relatively less pronounced compared to recent years. Even so, 2021 was still warmer than previous years influenced by La Nina,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

La Nina refers to the extensive cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation.

It usually has the opposite impacts on weather and climate as El Nino.

Taalas said the overall long-term warming because of greenhouse gas increases is far more extensive than the year-to-year variability in global average temperatures caused by naturally occurring climate drivers.

The average global temperature in 2021 was about 1.11 (plus/minus 0.13) C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels.

According to the WMO, last year was the seventh consecutive year (2015-2021) when the global temperature was over 1 C above pre-industrial levels.

Canada records 50 C

“The year 2021 will be remembered for a record-shattering temperature of nearly 50 C (122 F) in Canada,” said Taalas.

That is, “comparable to the values reported in the hot Saharan Desert of Algeria, exceptional rainfall, and deadly flooding in Asia and Europe as well as drought in parts of Africa and South America,” he said.

He noted that climate change impacts and weather-related hazards triggered life-changing and devastating effects on every continent.

The warmest seven years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019, and 2020 the top three.

A powerful El Nino event occurred in 2016, contributing to record global average warming.

WMO said it uses six international datasets to ensure the most comprehensive, authoritative temperature assessment.

The same data are used in its annual State of the Climate reports, informing the international community on global climate indicators.

Temperature is just one of the indicators of climate change, says the WMO.

Others include greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content, ocean pH, global mean sea level, glacial mass, and sea ice extent.

WMO notes that the legally binding Paris Agreement signed in 2016 seeks to hold the global average temperature increase to below 2 C, above pre-industrial levels while seeking to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.

At 1.11 C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels, the global average temperature in 2021 is already approaching the lower limit of temperature increase the Paris Agreement seeks to avert, the organization said./aa

The UK’s cost of living has reached its highest level for the past three decades, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The inflation in the country rose to 5.4% last December, highest ever since March 1992, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed.

The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation rose from 5.1% in November. On a monthly basis, CPI increased by 0.5% in December 2021, compared to a rise of 0.3% in December 2020.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs rose to 4.8% in the 12 months to December 2021, up from 4.6% in the 12 months to November, according to the ONS.

The ONS data suggested that further strong growth in food as well as increases in furniture and clothing were behind the rise.

The increase in inflation added more pressure caused by soaring energy bills due to rising energy prices and demand for used cars as the cost is 28% higher this month.

Prices of food, non-alcoholic drinks, furniture, and household goods all rose across the country.

"I understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, and we will continue to listen to people's concerns as we have done throughout the pandemic," UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said./aa

Central banks of the United Arab Emirates and Turkiye on Wednesday inked bilateral currency swap agreement.

According to a statement by the Turkish Central Bank, the nominal size of the deal is mutually 18 billion UAE dirham and 64 billion Turkish liras.

The agreement aims to enhance bilateral trade and to further strengthen financial cooperation between the two countries.

"It will stand for a period of three years, with the possibility of an extension through mutual agreement," the statement noted.

This agreement demonstrates the two central banks’ commitment to deepen bilateral trade in local currencies in order to advance economic and financial relations between our countries, Sahap Kavcioglu, the Turkish Central Bank governor, said after signing the deal.

The chief of UAE Central Bank Khaled Mohamed Balama also said: "Signing this agreement with the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey reflects each nation’s desire to enhance bilateral cooperation in financial matters, particularly in the fields of trade and investments between the two countries."

With this latest agreement, the Turkish Central Bank's total swap figure with foreign central banks reached $28 billion.

Turkiye and the UAE signed a total of 10 agreements on energy, environment, finance, and trade during a visit by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to Ankara last November.

The UAE has also allocated a $10 billion fund for direct investment in Turkiye, the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company also announced.

As of November, the bilateral trade volume stood at $7.1 billion. Turkiye's imports from the UAE totaled $2.2 billion, while its exports to the country stood at $4.9 billion./aa

Turkish Coast Guard units rescued 36 asylum seekers off the coast of Balikesir province after their boat was pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek authorities, the Coast Guard Command said late Tuesday. 

Coast guard teams rushed to the area after receiving information that there was a group of asylum seekers in a rubber dinghy off the coast of Ayvalik county, it said in a statement.

The asylum seekers were taken to the Coast Guard Command Center on Cunda Island.

Turkiye and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

Turkiye has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

It already hosts 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world, and is taking new security measures on its borders to humanely prevent a fresh influx of migrants./aa