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The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 20 new deaths from Covid-19, as well as 2,307 new positive cases. COVID-19 Daily Update:December 4, 2021New Cases: 2,307 (1,534,720 to date)New Deaths: 20 (27,244 to date)Current Hospitalizations: 572 pic.twitter.com/WNAkDJlavM — LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2021 The number of deaths and confirmed cases reported

Airline operators have said the return of pre-departure coronavirus tests for all international arrivals to the UK will be a “devastating blow for aviation and tourism”. The rule is being introduced to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant and applies to all travellers over the age of 12 visiting the UK or returning from

Jobs and earnings for SAG-AFTRA members set record highs in the first five months of 2021, rebounding from a near 40% decline last year in the number of members working during the Covid-19 pandemic. Not all members suffered equally last year, however, with freelance males who are 40 and older working 70% more jobs than

All international arrivals to the UK will again be required to take pre-departure COVID-19 tests to tackle the spread of the new Omicron variant, the health secretary has announced. The rule applies to all travellers visiting the UK or returning from a holiday, regardless of vaccination status, and will come into force from 4am on

Patti LuPone will miss this weekend’s performances of Broadway’s Company due to a non-Covid-related illness. Press had been invited to both of Saturday’s performances – matinee and evening – but the production rescheduled the press nights for early next week after LuPone’s return. The actress also missed last night’s and tonight’s performances. Opening night remains

Jan du Plessis, the former chairman of BT Group and a host of other FTSE-100 companies, is a leading candidate to chair Britain’s audit watchdog as it prepares for a radical shift in its oversight of corporate Britain. Sky News has learnt that Mr du Plessis, who stepped down as BT’s chairman this week after

The Animation Guild’s contract negotiations with the AMPTP have broken off without a deal but will resume later next year. “An agreement was not reached today,” Alexandra Drosu, the guild’s director of communications and content, told Deadline tonight. “We will have to continue negotiations in the New Year though no date has been set.” The

The parent company of Boots, Britain’s biggest high street chemist, is to explore a sale of the business next year that could value it at well over £5bn. Sky News has learnt that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is lining up Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street bank, to advise it on a review of options that

The White House Correspondents’ Association is planning for a return of its annual dinner in 2022, after Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the past two annual events. The WHCA dinner, designed to raise money for scholarships, has long been one of D.C.’s highest profile gatherings of Beltway insiders, media personalities and public officials. But breaking

A member of the Bank of England committee which sets interest rates has backtracked on his support for a hike, saying he wants to see data on how the new Omicron COVID variant affects the UK’s economic recovery. Michael Saunders warned that a delay in raising rates could result in a more painful tightening being

In a nighttime session, the U.S. Senate voted 69-28 tonight to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government solvent through Feb. 18. It also included $7 billion in aid to Afghan evacuees, according to the Washington Post. The measure was approved by the House earlier in the day and will now go

America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing to block the $40bn takeover of UK chip designer Arm Holdings by America’s Nvidia. The US watchdog said the deal would give Nvidia, one of the world’s largest chip companies, control over technology and designs that rival firms rely on to develop their own chips. It is the

Joe Biden will deliver a speech from the White House later on Thursday in which he will announce a Covid-19 strategy during the winter months, with a resurgence looming following the discovery of the Omicron variant. Under the plan, all international travelers to the United States will be required to test within one day of

The EU has fined banks, including Barclays, NatWest and HSBC, a total of €344m (£293m) for roles in an alleged foreign exchange spot trading cartel on a chatroom named “Sterling Lads”. The European Commission said the UK-based banks agreed to settle the case, alongside UBS which avoided a penalty because it had blown the whistle

Universal Parks & Resorts made a number of big announcements today, among them that Karen Irwin, President of Universal Studios Hollywood, will become President of Universal Orlando Resort. That property’s current president, Bill Davis, is retiring after 15 years at his post. Irwin began her career with Universal in Orlando. Most recently, she led the

Business owners across the hospitality industry say COVID rule changes are already having a “chilling” impact on bookings. Many who have survived 20 months of lockdowns and restrictions as well as a “lost” Christmas last year, say a strong festive period this year is essential to their survival. Data from reservations website OpenTable also suggests

Timed to today’s debut of original movie Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, the Roku Channel has added a range of holiday programming and features. Among the offerings is the new end-credit song from the Zoey’s movie called “North Star,” which was co-written by Mary Steenburgen and performed by Tori Kelly. Steenburgen is among the stars of the

The world’s rich nations must help vaccinate the poorest nations or else they will face a continual cycle of economic shocks and restrictions in the face of new variants, the OECD’s chief economist has said. Laurence Boone told Sky News that the Omicron variant could cause the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to downgrade

Three days after the World Health Organization declared Omicron a “variant of concern,” the U.S. SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group followed suit. In doing so, it cited multiple factors including the rapid spread of the new Covid-19 variant, its large number of mutations and that it has caused the “displacement of Delta in South Africa.” That last

EasyJet has told investors it is expecting passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels next summer despite uncertainty over the winter months ahead as coronavirus restrictions grow across Europe. The no-frills carrier said it had seen early signs of a softening of bookings since the emergence of the omicron variant but it was too early