Europe grapples with omicron response +++ New B.1.640.2 variant "no reason to panic"

DW News shows that Europe is preparing for an even bigger larger wave of new infections of COVID-19. The more contagious omicron variant is really quickly becoming dominant. It's feared the number of new cases will climb to new records, as more testing is done following the holiday season. France's parliament is debating whether to limit access to more public spaces - and really only allow entry for the vaccinated. Each country is grappling with the way forward.

Why boosters alone won't be enough to quell the latest global surge of coronavirus

ABC News (Australia) on Youtube shows that as the omicron variant causes coronavirus numbers to surge across the world, the rush for rapid tests and boosters is putting tremendous strain on various sectors. Infectious diseases expert Oksana Pyzik tells The World while this "hairpin curve" is alarming, it also means "we'll come out of it much faster than with other waves."

Covid-19 Vaccines: The Ultimate 2021 Guide to Every Vaccine

Take a look at this informative unique guide to vaccines. It provides unbiased information on the top 5 vaccines and a bit more. Get a better understanding of what is available out there. See the guide here: https://www.dnaweekly.com/blog/covid-19-vaccine-ultimate-guide/

EU agrees to open borders to fully vaccinated travelers

CBC News shows that European Union ambassadors approved a proposal to ease restrictions to allow fully vaccinated travelers back into the bloc.

WHO urges wealthy countries to donate COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX

CGTN on Youtube shows that speaking at a regular briefing on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged rich countries "to reconsider" vaccinating children and adolescents and to "instead donate vaccines to COVAX." He noted that at present, only 0.3 percent of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries, adding that "trickle down vaccination is not an effective strategy for fighting a deadly respiratory virus."

Flu Vaccine How It Works and Why It’s a MUST Thing to Do

This website has some pretty interesting information about the Flu Vaccine, Flu Vaccine Effectiveness, Flu and COVID-19 and Vaccine Side Effects. Check it out here: https://www.tomorrow.io/weather/blog/flu-vaccine/

Flu season certainly lasts for quite a while, and as it comes on each year, you want to do your best to avoid getting it. While some people only experience mild symptoms, things can be a lot more severe for others, and you never know how things may turn out for you. Additionally, it’s quite contagious, which means getting it can pose a problem for your loved ones too.

Vaccination is one of the proven ways to avoid a flu scare. Information on vaccines can seem to be spread far and thin. Thankfully, all you need to know is below, and you can be a big help by sharing all of this with those you value the most, as you aim to protect yourself and others.

Vaccination is the solution to end the Covid-19 pandemic in the world, as well.

Covid: The race to vaccinate the world

BBC News shows that more than a billion Covid-19 vaccines have gone into arms around the world. 

Take a look at how 5 countries - the UK, the US, Canada, India, and Chile - are faring in their vaccination efforts, and what it means for ending lockdowns.

Worst Natural Disasters in Human History

The Infographics Show on Youtube shows what are the worst disasters that ever happened.

Our planet is a living planet, and the only known celestial body to have both a fully functioning climate system and active plate tectonics. But, all that moving and shaking makes the Earth a potentially dangerous place to call home. Natural disasters happen. See the worst natural disasters in human history.

10 Most Dangerous Natural Disasters

Factnomenal on Youtube shows the most dangerous natural disasters! Crazy weather can come and go but sometimes weather can create natural disasters. From a storm to landslides and tornadoes, this list has everything!

Top 10 Most Dramatic Footage of Natural Disasters Caught on Camera

You really never know when disaster is going to strike. Sometimes cameras capture the drama and devastation. See the most extraordinary footage of adverse natural events caught on camera. WatchMojo on Youtube counts down the Top 10 Most Dramatic Footage of Natural Disasters.

The Dangers of Flash Flooding

The Weather Channel on Youtube shows what flash flooding actually looks like. See the new Immersive Mixed Reality (IMR) - they place themselves in the middle of the action and show the immense dangers of this natural disaster.

A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, tropical storm, or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over certain ice sheets or snowfields.

Filming a Raging Forest Fire - North America

Discovery on Youtube shows that a camera crew takes to the air to capture the true power of the forest fires that struck Ontario, Canada in 2011, destroying 1.5 million acres of pine forest. See the North America sights.

Why there's a ring of natural disasters around the Pacific

Vox on Youtube explains that the belt of volcanic activity is called the Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire is a band of volcanoes and frequent earthquakes that runs from New Zealand, up through Eastern Asia, across the Bering Strait and all the way down to the Southern tip of Chile. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis appear around the boundaries of the several, fast moving, tectonic plates that make up the region. When the plates collide, they create areas of volatility. 

The Ring of Fire certainly sees more natural disasters than anywhere else on Earth, but what makes it particularly dangerous is that few countries are prepared.

5 Natural Disasters That May Happen in 2021

See 5 Natural Disasters That May Happen in 2021.

A natural disaster is certainly a major adverse event resulting from various natural processes of the Earth; examples include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and other certain geologic processes.

Natural disasters 2021: In one night, flooding destroyed over 500 vehicles in Medea, Algeria, Africa

PAINFUL EARTH on Youtube shows the Natural Disaster of 4 May 2021. In one night, flooding destroyed over 500 vehicles in Medea, Algeria, Africa.

Severe flash floods since 2 May have engulfed parts of northern Algeria. In the provinces of Medea, Batna and Msila.

Floods caused by heavy rainfall damaged houses, roads and infrastructure in Medea province. In the municipality of Beni Slimane, where a medical building and dozens of cars were damaged.

As a result of flooding in the municipality of Daira de Magra. Civil Protection Services rescued trapped motorists in Ain Khadra municipality.

15 Craziest Natural Phenomena Recorded On Camera

The wonderful world is full of crazy and unpredictable natural phenomena. See crazy, real-life amazing natural events. From the most common natural disaster to curiously colored ice crystals, here are the 15 Craziest Natural Phenomena Recorded On Camera.

12 Dam Failures Caught on Camera

MAD LAB on Youtube shows that when a dam bursts in movies it might be a mesmerizing spectacle, but in real life everything is a little different. You are now looking at the largest, most technologically advanced dam in the world, with a length of 2,335 m 7600 ft, and even this miracle of engineering was unable to hold out against the enormous pressure of the water behind it! Here are 12 of the most massive dam failures caught on camera.

Trained bees now can detect COVID-19

WION shows that Dutch scientists have trained bees to detect the Wuhan Virus. Swiss scientists have identified a Biomarker that could predict the severity of virus. Doctors in Delhi are reporting a rise in Black Fungus. WION’s Palki Sharma elaborates on the 3 big developments.

Biggest companies in world right now - market values

These are the largest companies in the world by market value in 2019 (in billion U.S. dollars):

961.3 Apple

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California. It designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.

946.5 Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company. Headquarters are in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

916.1 Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle. It focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.

863.2 Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mountain View, California.

516.4 Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

512.0 Facebook

Facebook, Inc. is an American social media and technology company based in Menlo Park, California.

480.8 Alibaba

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a massive Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.

472.1 Tencent Holdings

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company founded in 1998, whose subsidiaries specialise in various Internet-related services and products, entertainment, artificial intelligence and technology both in China and globally.

368.5 JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City.

366.2 Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that certainly develops medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods.

351.9 Visa

Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Foster City, California, USA. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards.

343.4 ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas.

305.1 ICBC

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited is a Chinese multinational banking company. It is the largest bank in China, and the largest bank in the world by total assets, deposits, loans, number of customers and number of employees.

296.1 Walmart

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of useful hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.

287.3 Bank of America

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

281.3 Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. Amazingly, it is the largest food company in the world.

272.4 Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Suwon, South Korea.

265.3 Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

264.9 Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell PLC, commonly known as Shell, is a large British-Dutch oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom.

263.1 Intel

Intel Corporation is a large American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley.

248.3 Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in San Jose, California. It is in the center of Silicon Valley. Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

247.1 Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a huge American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in the Mastercard International Global Headquarters in Purchase, New York, USA.

239.7 Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and an important corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

238.1 Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.

233.3 AT&T

AT&T Inc. is a huge American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.

228.3 Chevron

Chevron Corporation is a huge American multinational energy corporation. It is one of the successor companies of Standard Oil. It is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries.

226.8 Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc. is the largest home improvement retailer in the USA. It supplies tools, construction products, and services. The company is headquartered at the Atlanta Store Support Center in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia.

225.0 China Construction Bank

China Construction Bank Corporation is one of the "big 4" banks in the People's Republic of China. The huge bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branches.

224.3 Nike

Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that does the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services.

222.4 Taiwan Semiconductor

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited, is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry. The headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

A semiconductor is a substance, usually a solid chemical element or compound, that can conduct electricity under some conditions but not others, making it a good medium for the control of electrical current. Common semiconductor compounds include gallium arsenide, indium antimonide, and the oxides of most metals.

222.0 Roche Holding

F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG is a big Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under 2 divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has bearer shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The company headquarters are located in Basel.

220.2 Ping An Insurance Group

Ping An Insurance is also known as Ping An of China. The full name is Ping An Insurance Company of China, Ltd. It is a Chinese holding conglomerate whose subsidiaries mainly deal with insurance, banking, and financial services. The company was founded in 1988 and has its headquarters in Shenzhen.

218.6 Pfizer

Pfizer Inc. is a big American multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City. It is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

214.7 Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company is a massive American multinational financial services company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It has central offices throughout the USA. It is the world's 4th-largest bank by market capitalization and the 4th largest bank in the USA by total assets.

214.5 Boeing

The Boeing Company is commonly known as Boeing. It is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support services. Boeing sees the new 777X as the hope.

212.8 UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a massive American for-profit managed health care company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It amazingly offers health care products and insurance services. Impressively, it is the largest healthcare company in the world by revenue.

203.0 Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is also known as Coke. It is a tasty carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. It was originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century.

A temperance bar (also known as an alcohol-free bar, sober bar, or dry bar) is a type of bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages.

198.7 PetroChina

PetroChina Company Limited is a big Chinese oil and gas company. It is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and gas producer. It was China's second biggest oil producer in 2006.

197.6 China Mobile

China Mobile is a huge mobile telecommunication company. China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a massive Chinese state-owned company.

More interesting world news links:

Here is an interesting list of links to news from all over the world. The news is sorted based on different geographical locations:

MacroBusiness Links 29 January 2020 - macrobusiness.com.au

The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine. It ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along with privately held companies for which revenues are publicly available.

Global 500 - Fortune - fortune.com

Here's a news article that thinks differently about the rankings of top world companies.

Walmart is world's biggest company, according to a new list - qz.com

Here's a place where you can read Canadian news and write your comments. Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its 10 provinces and 3 territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's 2nd-largest country by total area.

Canada Forums Discussions - canadaforums.ca

Global Economic Outlook 2020 - Recession or Growth

It has been a year characterised by a slowing global economy and a shift from monetary policy normalization to accommodation. What does the outlook look like for next year? The discussion is in the video.

Economists in general expect 2020 will see another year of growth. Probably it will not be so robust as in 2019. It should be a decent year for the stock market. A recession appears to be at least a year away.