New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking. Anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime, under a law expected to be enacted next year. “We want to make sure young people never start smoking,” Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verall said. The move is part of a sweeping crackdown on smoking announced by New Zealand’s health ministry on Thursday. Doctors and other health experts in the country have welcomed the “world-leading” reforms, which will reduce access to tobacco and restrict nicotine levels in cigarettes. “It will help people quit or switch to less harmful products, and make it much less likely that young people get addicted to nicotine,” said Prof Janet Hook from the University of Otago. The crackdown has been met with mixed reactions.(BBC)…[+]

The world’s largest vaccine maker will halve the production of its Covid-19 vaccine because it has no fresh orders, its top-ranking executive has said. India’s Serum Institute is sitting on a stockpile of half a billion doses of Covishield, the local version of AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria jab, the firm’s CEO Adar Poonawalla told CNBC-TV18. The jab accounts for 90% of the 1.3 billion doses given so far in India. India has fully vaccinated half of its eligible adults since January. “I am in a dilemma which I never imagined to be in. I am producing 250 million doses [of Covishield] a month but the good news is India has covered a large part of the population and we will have completed all our orders to the ministry of health in a week’s time,” Mr Poonawalla said . “We have no other orders at hand. So I am going to be reducing the production by at least 50% to begin with on a monthly basis until orders again pick up either in India and the world.”(BBC)…[+]

Olaf Scholz has been sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor, bringing to an end Angela Merkel’s historic 16 years as leader. He was voted in by the German parliament, where his three-party coalition has a substantial majority, and given a standing ovation. His centre-left Social Democrats will govern alongside the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats. The handover of power marks an end to Mrs Merkel’s 31-year political career. Mr Scholz, a soft-spoken 63-year-old, steered the Social Democrats to election victory in late September, positioning himself as the continuity candidate because he played a key role in the Merkel government as vice-chancellor. The German parliament, the Bundestag, backed his appointment by 395 votes to 303, and he was then formally appointed as the ninth federal chancellor by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.(BBC)…[+]

Soldiers have been accused of killing 13 people from a village in central Myanmar, 11 of whose burned bodies were discovered on Tuesday. The incident occurred near the city of Monywa, after local militias opposing military rule carried out at least two bomb attacks on a military convoy. Locals say soldiers then swept through nearby villages, rounding up and killing six men and five teenagers. The military junta is yet to comment on the incident. Locals say that people’s defence forces volunteers – armed groups formed to resist military rule in towns and villages – from the area planted two improvised explosives on a road used by the military in an attempted attack. One of these devices detonated early, killing the two men planting it. When the second device exploded, two more men were reportedly detained and shot dead.(BBC)…[+]

A police officer in Kenya shot dead his wife and five other people with an AK-47 in the early hours of Tuesday morning, officials have said. A neighbour heard “a loud bang” from the officer’s home at 01:00 local time, according to a police report. The policeman then went on what officials are calling a “shooting spree” in Kabete, near the capital, Nairobi, killing five others. The officer later took his own life, a police statement said. The motive behind the killings is unclear, but police said the couple had been feuding, according to the AFP news agency. “We are told that the couple had issues and were quarrelling before,” police chief Francis Wahome told AFP.(BBC)…[+]

Israel carried out a rare air strike on Syria’s main port of Latakia, destroying shipping containers and causing a fire, Syrian state media say. A Syrian military source told Sana news agency that warplanes flying over the Mediterranean Sea fired several missiles at the port’s container yard overnight. No casualties were reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group said the target was an Iranian weapons shipment. Israel’s military has not commented. However, it has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in Syria during the country’s 10-year civil war to end what it calls Iran’s “military entrenchment” and stop shipments of Iranian weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and other Shia militias.(BBC)…[+]

Dozens of Rohingya refugees in the UK and US have sued Facebook, accusing the social media giant of allowing hate speech against them to spread. They are demanding more than $150bn (£113bn) in compensation, claiming Facebook’s platforms promoted violence against the persecuted minority.  An estimated 10,000 Rohingya Muslims were killed during a military crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017. Facebook, now called Meta, did not immediately respond to the allegations. The company is accused of allowing “the dissemination of hateful and dangerous misinformation to continue for years”. In the UK, a British law firm representing some of the refugees has written a letter to Facebook, seen by the BBC, alleging:(BBC)…[+]

More than 180,000 people have signed petitions demanding justice after the death of a 12-year-old boarding school pupil in Nigeria. Sylvester Oromoni’s family accuse five fellow students at Dowen College in Lagos of torturing him because he refused to join a cult group. His death has outraged many in Nigeria and the school has closed indefinitely. In a statement, Dowen College said the boy died as a result of injuries sustained while playing football. “Preliminary investigation showed there was no fighting, bullying or any form of attack on the boy,” it said. “All I want is justice,” Sylvester’s father, Sylvester Oromoni Senior, told BBC News Pidgin. He disputes the school’s account of what happened. Another family member – Sylvester’s cousin – has given his version of events. He alleged on Twitter that five boys had accosted Sylvester, locking him in his hostel and giving him a chemical to drink – none of which has yet been corroborated by the police, who say they’re still investigating.(BBC)…[+]

Italy has introduced tougher restrictions for unvaccinated people amid concern over the Omicron variant and a potential spike in infections. Many public activities will be off limits to anyone without a so-called Covid Super Green Pass from Monday. The pass shows proof of vaccination, or recovery from the virus within the last six months. It will be needed to enter theatres, cinemas, music venues, sports events, restaurants and bars until mid-January. The new measures strengthen the existing Covid green passes, which can be obtained following a negative test. The basic green passes will now be required to use public transport, as well as to access places of work. Italy is grappling with a spike in coronavirus infections, which have been rising gradually since mid-October.(BBC)…[+]

Nigeria has criticised the UK’s travel restrictions after it was placed on the red list amid fears over the Omicron Covid-19 variant. “What is expected is a global approach, not selective,” Sarafa Tunji Isola, Nigeria’s high commissioner to the UK, told the BBC on Monday. He also echoed comments made by the UN’s chief, who described restrictions imposed on some southern African countries as “travel apartheid”. New rules came into force at 04:00 GMT. It means travellers arriving from Nigeria will be required to enter hotel quarantine – at their own expense – and isolate for 10 days. “The travel ban is apartheid in the sense that we are not dealing with an endemic,” Mr Isola told the Today programme. “We are dealing with a pandemic. Whenever we have a challenge there must be collaboration.” UK government minister Kit Malthouse, meanwhile, said the wording “travel apartheid” was “very unfortunate language”.(BBC)…[+]