An employee at a quarantine hotel in New Zealand has been sacked after what officials described as an inappropriate encounter with a person who should have been isolating. Officials say the pair shared notes, including one written on a facemask, before spending 20 minutes in a room together. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said it was “unacceptable”. People returning to New Zealand have to spend at least 14 days in isolation. The country has been hailed as one of the world’s leaders in containing the virus. It has recorded 25 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Earlier this week, it reported its first case of Covid-19 outside of quarantine facilities in more than two months. (BBC)…[+]

A man held for the murders of a job centre adviser and a human resources manager in south-eastern France is being linked to earlier attacks on HR managers elsewhere. The suspect in the killings of the two women on Thursday in and around Valence was arrested soon afterwards.

Two days earlier, another HR manager was shot dead in a car park more than 500km (310 miles) away. Another human resources worker survived an attack at his home in a town nearby. Valence prosecutor Alex Perrin said initially that the 45-year-old suspect’s motives for Thursday’s murders were unclear, but they were linked to his earlier employment and his route had been carefully planned. The man is described as an unemployed engineer from Nancy in eastern France who was unmarried and unknown to the police but keen on shooting. Prime Minister Jean Castex said the killings had left the whole country in mourning and 900 job centres across France closed on Friday as a mark of respect and staff held a minute’s silence. (BBC)…[+]

Singapore Zoo is celebrating the arrival of its first lion cub born through artificial insemination.

Unfortunately, baby Simba will never get to meet his father Mufasa, because the geriatric lion was not revived after the insemination procedure. Simba is the late Mufasa’s only son, as the older cat’s aggression meant he never successfully mated. Instead, the zoo decided to try to continue his bloodline through the rarely-used process.

According to a spokesman, his semen was collected by what the zoo described as “electro-ejaculation” for artificial insemination. After that, frail Mufasa – who, at 20, had outlived his wild siblings by six to 10 years – had to be euthanised. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The animal was not only old, but also suffering from atrophy. The primary procedure was therefore “to euthanise Mufasa on humane grounds”, the zoo told the BBC. “Semen collection while Mufasa was under anaesthesia was a secondary procedure, albeit an important one, to ensure his bloodline continues after his passing.” Simba however, seems all set to carry on his father’s bloodline: at three months, the little cub is apparently thriving.(BBC)…[+]

South Africa’s military has changed its dress policy to allow Muslim women to wear hijabs with their uniforms. It is a victory for Maj Fatima Isaacs, who led a three-year legal battle for her religious right to wear a headscarf beneath her military beret. The change of heart comes after the military dropped charges last week against Maj Isaacs for wearing one. She had faced dismissal for “wilful defiance and disobeying a lawful command” for refusing to remove it. Maj Isaacs, who works as a clinical forensic pathologist at a military hospital, told the Cape Times it was a victory not only for her, but all people who were “silently victimised” because of their religion.

A controversial near-total ban on abortion in Poland has taken effect, the government announced, with enforcement from midnight on Wednesday.  A court ruling allowing the prohibition prompted huge protests when it was issued in October. Abortion is now allowed only in cases of rape or incest or when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. The majority of Poles oppose a stricter ban and demonstrations took place in Polish cities on Wednesday evening. Activists have called for large street protests on Thursday and Friday in the capital Warsaw.

The October ruling by the Constitutional Court found that a 1993 law allowing abortion in cases of severe and irreversible foetal abnormalities was unconstitutional. In 2019, 98% of abortions were carried out on those grounds, meaning that the ruling effectively banned the vast majority of pregnancy terminations. The ruling provoked outrage from supporters of the right to abortion. (BBC)…[+]

Goldman Sachs’ chief executive David Solomon will get a $10m (£7.3m) pay cut for the bank’s involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal. 1MDB was an investment fund set up by the Malaysian government that lost billions due to fraudulent activity. The global web of fraud and corruption led to a 12-year jail term for Malaysia’s ex-prime minister Najib Razak which he is appealing. Goldman Sachs called its involvement in the scandal an “institutional failure”.

A US gymnast’s routine celebrating “black excellence” has gone viral, with millions of views on social media. The floor routine by Nia Dennis, an athlete at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), incorporated songs by artists including Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Missy Elliott. She said Black Lives Matter protests inspired the performance, which saw her kneel with her fist in the air. “I had to… for the culture,” the 21-year-old wrote on Instagram. The routine wowed the judges and earned her praise from celebrities, fellow athletes and fans. A video shared by UCLA Gymnastics was viewed more than nine million times.

Boeing’s 737 Max plane is safe to return to service in Europe, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) has said. It lifts a 22-month flight ban for the jet, which followed two crashes which caused 346 deaths. The plane has already been cleared to resume flights in the US and Brazil.

This week a senior manager at Boeing’s 737 plant in Seattle told the BBC the recertification had happened too quickly. But regulators in the US and Europe insist their reviews have been thorough, and that the 737 Max aircraft is now safe. Easa executive director Patrick Ky said: “We have every confidence that the aircraft is safe, which is the precondition for giving our approval. “But we will continue to monitor 737 Max operations closely as the aircraft resumes service. “In parallel, and at our insistence, Boeing has also committed to work to enhance the aircraft still further in the medium term, in order to reach an even higher level of safety.” Easa represents 31 mainly EU nations, excluding the UK which formally left the bloc this month. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority is expected to announce whether it will clear the plane to fly imminently.(BBC)…[+]

A Kenyan man has pleaded not guilty in a US court to trafficking illegal ivory and rhino horn. Mansur Mohamed Surur was part of an “international conspiracy” responsible for the slaughter of more than 100 elephants and dozens of rhinos, federal prosecutors in New York say. It allegedly amounts to an estimated $7.4m (£5.4m) amassed over seven years. Some exports were hidden inside “pieces of art such as African masks and statues”, court documents allege. Money was paid to and from foreign customers by “international wire transfers, some which were sent through US financial institutions”, prosecutors say. Mr Surur was arrested last year in the Kenyan city of Mombasa and extradited to the US to face trial in New York. He also faces charges of money laundering and drug dealing. (BBC)…[+]

After criticism that his original goal was not bold enough, US President Joe Biden has said he expects the US will soon be able to vaccinate 1.5 million people a day.  He had announced last week that 1m vaccines would be administered daily in the first 100 days of his presidency. But some media noted the US had already nearly reached that target under the Trump administration. Mr Biden also renewed Trump-era Covid bans on Monday, adding South Africa. In the first time formally taking reporters’ questions during his presidency, Mr Biden said on Monday that he hoped they would be able to get to 1.5 million vaccinations administered daily. “I think with the grace of God… we’ll be able to get that to 1.5 million a day,” the Democrat said. He added: “I hope we’ll be able to increase as we go along so we’ll get to 1.5 million. That’s my hope.”