Briefly

AUSTRIA

Lockdown starts for the unvaccinated

Austria began a lockdown for people not vaccinated against COVID-19, a first in the European Union as the Alpine nation fights a record surge in cases. About 65 percent of Austria's almost 9 million people are vaccinated, below the EU average of 67 percent, and daily increases in infections hit records last week. Other European governments are also eyeing unpopular COVID-19 curbs, with the Netherlands opting for Western Europe's first partial lockdown of the winter. Austria's lockdown means people over 12 who are not vaccinated or cannot show that they have recently recovered from COVID-19 will not be allowed to leave home except for reasons such as buying essential supplies, exercise or seeking medical care.

UNITED STATES

Concert stampede death toll reaches 10

A 9-year-old Dallas boy has become the youngest person to die from injuries sustained during a crowd surge at the Astroworld Festival in Houston. Ezra Blount of Dallas died on Sunday at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, family attorney Ben Crump said. Ezra was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering serious injuries in the Nov 5 crush of fans during a performance by the festival's headliner, Grammy Award-nominated rapper Travis Scott. He is the 10th person who attended the festival to die. The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27. Nearly 300 people were treated at the festival site and 13 were hospitalized.

JAPAN

Allies agree on talks to end tariff dispute

Officials from the United States and Japan agreed on Monday to launch talks aimed at settling a dispute over US tariffs on imports of Japanese steel and aluminum. The agreement came in a meeting between visiting US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Japan's industry minister, Koichi Hagiuda, Japanese officials said. Japan hopes to convince Washington to lift tariffs imposed during then-president Donald Trump's administration. The US recently resolved a similar dispute with the European Union. Trump ordered the tariffs－25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum－in March 2018, asserting they would protect US jobs and national security.

ARGENTINA

Opposition gains put ruling coalition at risk

President Alberto Fernandez suffered a severe setback in Argentina's midterm elections held on Sunday amid widespread anger over high inflation and rising poverty, with his governing coalition losing control of the Senate. That puts the coalition at risk of losing its position as the biggest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies. The triumph by the center-right coalition Together for Change will mean a tough final two years in office for the president, who must deal with the acute social crisis and also seek a debt-refinancing agreement with the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the economy, The Associated Press commented.

IRAN

1 killed, 47 injured after tremors shake south

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake followed by a strong aftershock and more than 17 other tremors shook the south of Iran on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 47 others. State TV quoted Azizollah Konari, the Bandar Abbas governor, as saying a 22-year-old man died when a power pole fell on his head as a result of the earthquake. Iran lies on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake a day on average. In 2003, a magnitude-6.6 earthquake flattened the historically rich city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. A magnitude-7 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.

Agencies - Xinhua