About 21 million people entered full lockdown restrictions in London, southeast and eastern England and Wales Sunday to curb the spread of a highly infectious new strain of COVID-19.
For the record: The World Health Organization tweeted that it's in"close contact" with British officials on the variant, as the Dutch government introduced a ban on passenger flights from the United Kingdom, effective Sunday morning through Jan. 1, after finding a case with the same strain in the Netherlands.
President-elect Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador discussed in a phone call Saturday working together on a "new approach" to migration that "offers alternatives to undertaking the dangerous journey" to the U.S.
Why it matters: The statement from Biden's transition team on the call details represents a key part of the president-elect's plans to overhaul President Trump's aggressive border policy.
Airports Council International (ACI) has advised airports worldwide to step up their security to protect COVID-19 vaccine shipments, Reuters reports.
Driving the news: INTERPOL issued a global alert earlier this month, warning law enforcement agencies to prepare for organized crime networks that may target COVID-19 vaccines, both physically and online.
China quickly, systematically and relentlessly suppressed the truth about the coronavirus from its citizens and the world, according to a detailed investigation by The New York Times and Pro Publica.
Why it matters: China is America's chief rival for world dominance — and routinely uses government-directed propaganda, lies and heavy-handed silencing to get an edge over its people and rivals.
The U.S. State Department will close its consulate in Vladivostok, Russia, and suspend operations at the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, leaving the embassy in Moscow as the only remaining U.S. diplomatic outpost in Russia, a State Department spokesperson told Axios.
Why it matters: The closures come amid a massive cyberattack on U.S. government departments and agencies — including the State Department — and private companies that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says was "clearly" carried out by Russia.
Austria and Switzerland have both announced they will impose lockdown measures as novel coronavirus cases climb in each country.
By the numbers: Austria has more than 337,000 confirmed cases and over 5,200 deaths to date, while Switzerland has seen nearly 404,000 confirmed cases and over 6,500 deaths, per data from Johns Hopkins University.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Friday evening interview that "we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians" behind a massive cyber attack that breached dozens of government agencies, think tanks and companies.
Driving the news: Pompeo's comments on "The Mark Levin Show" are the first from a Trump administration official publicly linking Russia to the hack. President Trump has yet to address the issue.
