The Singaporean government will no longer cover medical bills for people who are "unvaccinated by choice" after Dec. 8, the country's Ministry of Health announced Monday.
Why it matters: "We have to send this important signal to urge everyone to get vaccinated if you are eligible," Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said at a news conference. 82.47% of Singapore's population is fully vaccinated, per Johns Hopkins University.
Spyware from the Israeli intelligence company NSO Group was found on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists, Front Line Defenders, an Ireland-based rights groups, said in a report Monday.
Why it matters: It's the first reported instance of Palestinian activists being targeted by the military-grade Pegasus spyware, AP notes.
Several hundred top members of the Chinese Communist Party are meeting behind closed doors this week in Beijing, where they will map out key plans for the nation's future.
Why it matters: It's the last major meeting before next year's party congress, when Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be appointed for a third term after he successfully pushed to abolish term limits in 2018.
Top House Republicans are calling on the Biden administration to provide the questions and answers to a survey in which U.S. allies reportedly expressed grave concerns about a potential policy shift limiting the conditions under which the U.S. might use nuclear weapons.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is conducting a major nuclear posture review. It will have implications for both allies and strategic competitors like Russia and China, which are modernizing and expanding their nuclear arsenals.
The U.S. reopened its land and air borders Monday for nonessential travel to visitors from over 30 countries who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
France's Catholic Church announced on Monday it would financially compensate those who were sexually abused by French clergy and other church officials.
Driving the news: The decision comes a month after an independent commission, established at the request of the Catholic Church, released a report that found more than 200,000 minors have been sexually abused by Catholic clergy members in France since 1950.
GLASGOW, Scotland — By the time many of the pledges made in Glasgow this week are met (or not), some of the participating countries may no longer exist.
Driving the news: The world’s 40-some small island states have used COP26 to plead for more urgent action — while there's still time — and to confront world powers like the U.S. and China with the devastation their emissions have caused.
The CEO of the world's biggest vaccine maker told "Axios on HBO" he expects low-income countries will start receiving much-needed exports of his COVID-19 vaccines this week, now that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lifting restrictions.
Why this matters: Billionaire Adar Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India is the biggest supplier of vaccines to low-income countries. But for months, he was blocked from meeting his commitments to supply vaccines to the world's poor, putting him “on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
China's military has built targets that resemble U.S. Navy warships in the Taklamakan desert in the northwestern Xinjiang region, according to satellite images captured by Maxar.
Why it matters: The mock-ups of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and destroyer reflect the Chinese government's efforts to expand anti-carrier capabilities, "specifically against the U.S. Navy," per Reuters.
Foreign hackers are suspected of compromising organizations in the technology, defense, healthcare, energy and education industries in the U.S. and other countries, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks said late Sunday.
Why it matters: The National Security Agency contributed to Palo Alto Networks' report amid ongoing efforts to crack down on hackers who've been trying to steal critical data from targets including U.S. defense contractors, notes CNN, which first reported the breach.
What he's saying: "We're going to enter a more endemic phase and as things improve, cases may pick up. ... But that doesn't mean that we're entering into another wave of infection," Gottlieb said during his interview on CBS' "Face the Nation."
President Biden called Nicaragua's elections a "sham" Sunday evening, ahead of the expected win of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
Details: Biden said the "pantomime election" was "neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic," as he pointed to the imprisonment of nearly 40 opposition figures since May — "including seven potential presidential candidates, and the blocking of political parties from participation rigged the outcome well before Election Day."
