- India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and longest-serving four-star general Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika, among 12 others, died in a chopper crash in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is investigating the crash in Nilgiri Hills. Gen Rawat was on his way to address the students and faculty members of the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington. The IAF’s Mi 17 helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from a nearby army base.
- Germany has appointed Olaf Scholz as the country’s new chancellor. He succeeds Angela Merkel. Besides Scholz, sixteen other new ministers were also sworn in. For the first time, the German cabinet now has an equal number of men and women legislators.
- The threat from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has swept the global markets. But there is a glimmer of hope. Pfizer and BioNTech have announced that their vaccine can neutralize the virus in three shots. They also said they would deliver a new Omicron-specific drug by March next year if the situation gets worse.
- Italy’s antitrust regulator has fined Amazon US$1.28 billion on charges of “abusing its market dominance”. The e-commerce giant is likely to appeal against the biggest ever fine imposed on an American technology company in Europe.
- China is furious over the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics by the US, UK, Australia, and Canada and warned of retaliation. The boycott comes after allegations of rights abuses against the Uyghur minority community by the government in the country’s southwest region. France, however, said it would not join the boycott. The winter Olympics games will be held in Beijing in February.
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