Briefly

EUROPEAN UNION

AstraZeneca jabs resume after all-clear

France and Germany were set to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations on Friday after EU regulators gave the jab the all-clear. Days of commotion around the COVID-19 jab associated with blood clot risks saw countries from Venezuela to Indonesia put their AstraZeneca programs on pause, hampering the drive to vaccinate populations worldwide against the disease that has killed more than 2.6 million people. Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria also said they would resume vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency said on Thursday that the jab was "safe and effective". French Prime Minister Jean Castex said he would get the AstraZeneca jab on Friday.

AUSTRALIA

Mouse 'plague' sweeps country's rural east

Swathes of Australia's rural east are battling a "plague" of mice that is infesting crops and producing hair-raising scenes of rodents running amok. Farmers in New South Wales have reported "a drastic increase" in the mouse population, with the creatures invading grain silos, barns and homes, according to the NSW Farmers association. Videos captured on a Moeris family farm in Gilgandra－a five-hour drive northwest of Sydney－show thousands of mice scurrying from under pipes, through storage columns and over machinery. Experts say the plague is linked to unusually heavy summer rains across eastern Australia after years of drought.

Xinhua - Agencies