Visitors present their so-called "Green Pass" to be checked at the entrance to the Altare della Patria monument in Piazza Venezia on December 05, 2021 in Rome. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Tighter Covid-19 restrictions for the unvaccinated go hand in hand with greater willingness to get the shot. That is the finding of an ifo study on vaccine willingness in the German-Austrian border region.

Spinnova fibre.

For the second time, nova-Institute grants the “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year” within the framework the “International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2022” (2-3 February 2022). The advisory board of the conference nominated six highly interesting products, ranging from cellulose made of orange- and wood pulp to a novel technology for cellulose fibre production.

A healthcare worker assists a traveller to obtain his test results after conducting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Covid-19 test at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

People infected with the Omicron COVID-19 variant are not permitted to leave South Africa, the country's embassy in Moscow told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"South Africa follows and enforces globally recognised COVID-19 health protocols on travel. No infected individuals are permitted to leave the country," the embassy said.

A scene from the film "Quarantine"

The 79th awards of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will be presented in January 2022 in Los Angeles.

This year has been a difficult one for the film industry and international film festivals. The 2022 Golden Globes were in risk of not being held at all.

Shoppers, some wearing face-masks, walk along Oxford Street in central London on December 2, 2021, as compulsory mask wearing in shops and on public transport has been reintroduced in England. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

A further 86 cases of the Omicron COVID variant have been reported in Britain, taking the total to 246, British health authorities confirmed Sunday.

This compares with a total of 160 on Saturday, an increase of more than 50 percent, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

People who arrived on international flights wait to be tested on the first day of a new rapid COVID-19 testing site for arriving international passengers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 3, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. LEHTIKUVA / Getty Images / AFP

Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of COVID-19 response at WHO's Emergency Diseases Unit, said on Friday that the Omicron strain of coronavirus has been identified in 38 countries, but Delta remains the dominant variant of COVID-19, reported Sputnik.

Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka will deliver Finland’s general statement at the IMO General Assembly on 6 December 2021. Alongside decisions relating to the activities of the organisation, the remote meeting will discuss environmental and maritime safety issues.

Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.

The EU Telecommunications Council will convene in Brussels on 3 December 2021. In the meeting, Finland will be represented by Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.

Migrants are helped ashore from an RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, southeast England, on November 24, 2021 after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The worldwide number of international migrants has increased by more than 3 times, from 84 million in 1970 to 281 million in 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

A healthcare worker conducts a PCR Covid-19 test at the Lancet laboratory in Johannesburg on November 30, 2021. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Amid the spread of new coronavirus variant Omicron, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said the world has a "toxic mix" of low vaccine coverage and very low testing - a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants.