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The new government. After the approval of the program in the Seimas, the eighteenth government headed by Ingrida Šimonytė took the oath and began to work. I. Šimonytė says he is considering convening the Cabinet of Ministers this weekend to toughen quarantine requirements. 78 deputies voted in favor of the government program, 30 against and 20 abstained.
Lost. The intellectual, theatrologist, literary critic and human rights activist Irena Veisaitė died at the age of 93. Friends and colleagues highlight his great contribution to Lithuanian culture and theater. Born into a Jewish family and surviving the Holocaust thanks to Lithuanian friends, I. Veisaitė is remembered as a man of exceptional kindness and tolerance, who strives to unite and create. It is reported in the media that I. Veisaitė had a coronavirus infection.
Coronavirus situation:
* Last day 3,067 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed, killing 29 people. 2,171 COVID-19 patients are treated in hospitals, 178 of them in resuscitation.
* The new Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys presented three objectives to manage the situation of the coronavirus: to ensure that exposed people are isolated within a maximum of 48 hours; ensure that the proportion of positive test results does not exceed five percent without reducing the scope of testing; the number of cases per day would be less than 200. He has not yet identified specific measures to achieve these goals, he promises to do so in the near future after discussions with experts.
* A daily record of cases and deaths was recorded in Germany: 29,875 new infections were confirmed and 598 people died. Due to the deteriorating situation, the German Länder are urged to tighten the quarantine. There are currently no restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities in the country, and hotels are closed to tourists. However, schools and nonessential stores continue to operate. The highest number of daily deaths since the beginning of the pandemic was also recorded in Russia: 613.
* An expert committee convened by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 coronavirus infection. The decision was adopted by 17 votes to four and one abstention. The FDA is expected to follow the recommendation and approve the vaccine in the coming days.
* The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and the British GSK have announced a program to suspend their COVID-19 vaccine to improve the immune response in the elderly. For this reason, the date of manufacture of the vaccine has been postponed until the end of 2021.
* British and Russian researchers have announced that they will jointly study a possible combination between AstraZeneca and a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Sputnik V vaccine developed by Russia. They suggest that the combination can provide an even stronger immune response. The investigation will take place in Russia.
* Greece will shorten the isolation time for inbound travelers from 10 to three days and reopen churches at Christmas, allowing beauty salons and bookstores to reopen. Quarantine restrictions are relaxed despite high morbidity rates.
The inviolability of beauty. The Temporary Committee of the Seimas proposed to satisfy the request of the Attorney General Evaldas Pašilis to abolish the immunity of the MP Petras Gražulis. The final decision in this regard will be made by the Seimas by vote. The Attorney General will reapply for parliamentary immunity if the request of the previous MPs is rejected.
The loss of the world of cinema. Famous South Korean film director Kim Ki-duk died of complications from COVID-19 in Latvia.
Pollution agreement. European Union leaders agreed on Friday to set a more ambitious target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, after a long night of controversy. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says the discussions have been delayed because the initial economic positions of the countries are different. He stressed that when considering specific measures to achieve the goal, the comparative economic capacity and prosperity of countries should also be assessed. At the summit, EU leaders also finalized 1.8 billion euros. A recovery fund worth € 1 billion was reached after a dispute with Poland and Hungary over the rule of law.
Accusations to the tycoon. A prominent supporter of democracy in Hong Kong and media mogul Jimmy Lai have been indicted under a new national security law. He is accused of learning with foreign forces. The West says China is restricting civil rights in Hong Kong with a new law.
Court verdict. A United Nations-backed special court on Friday sentenced Salim Ayyash, a member of the Shiite Hezbollah movement, to life in prison for the 2005 murder of former Lebanese government leader Rafiq Hariri. The explosion, which struck the Beirut waterfront on February 14, 2005, claimed a total of 22 lives, including Damascus opponent R. Hariri, and another 226 people were injured.
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