Belgium is banning residents from taking vacations abroad until March to limit the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants and avoid a deadly third wave of COVID-19 cases.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference on Friday the government had decided to prohibit travel into or out of Belgium for recreation or tourism from Jan 27 to March 1.
The country wants to avoid a repeat of last winter when Belgians went on Alpine ski holidays, bringing the virus back with them, or the Christmas-New Year period when 160,000 residents ignored government advice and took trips abroad.
"When people travel, the virus travels with them and we also have seen, from sampling of tests, that people who have travelled show more cases of the variants than those that have not," De Croo said.
People can still cross borders for essential trips, such as for work or for medical treatment.
Belgium, the prime minister said, had one of the lowest rates of infection in Europe, but the danger had not gone away and measures had to be adjusted to avoid a third wave.
A baby, who was delivered from her dying mother's womb in a Gaza hospital following an Israeli airstrike, has died after just a few days of life, the doctor who was caring for her said on Friday.
India began voting on Friday in the second phase of the world's biggest election, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a record-equalling third straight term.
The northern Gaza Strip is still heading toward a famine, the deputy UN food chief said on Thursday, appealing for a greater volume and diversity of aid to be allowed into the enclave and for Israel to allow direct access from its Ashdod port through Erez crossing.
New York's highest court has overturned the 2020 conviction of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, in the case that helped trigger the #MeToo movement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday inspected the test-firing of 240 mm multiple launch rockets manufactured by a newly established defence industry unit, the North's KCNA news agency reported on Friday.
GlaxoSmithKline sued Pfizer and BioNTech in Delaware federal court on Thursday, accusing them of infringing GSK patents related to messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in the companies' blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines.
Israel's military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs in the southern Gaza Strip city, a senior Israeli defence official said, despite international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!