| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Wednesday, December 29, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Omicron forces governments to rethink COVID rules, a pro-democracy news outlet shuts down after the latest crackdown in Hong Kong, and Elon Musk signals an end to his Tesla stock sales | | | | | Today's biggest stories  People queue to receive free lateral flow COVID-19 tests at a pharmacy in Madrid, Spain December 28, 2021. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho COVID-19 Daily COVID-19 infections have hit record highs in the United States, swathes of Europe and Australia as the new Omicron variant of the virus races out of control, keeping workers at home and overwhelming testing centers.
Almost two years after China first reported a cluster of "viral pneumonia" cases in the city of Wuhan, the regularly mutating coronavirus is wreaking havoc in many parts of the world, forcing governments to rethink quarantine and test rules.
Although some studies have suggested the Omicron variant is less deadly than some of its predecessors, the huge numbers of people testing positive mean that hospitals in some countries might soon be overwhelmed, while businesses might struggle to carry on operating because of workers having to quarantine.
France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Malta all registered a record number of new cases yesterday.
The average number of daily COVID-19 cases in the United States has also hit a record high over the past seven days, according to a Reuters tally. The previous peak was in January of this year.
|  Stand News acting chief editor Patrick Lam is escorted by police in Hong Kong, December 29, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
WORLD
Hong Kong pro-democracy media outlet Stand News shut down after police raided its office, froze its assets and arrested senior staff on suspected "seditious publication" offences, in the latest crackdown on the city's media.
China will take "drastic measures" if Taiwan makes moves towards independence, a Beijing official warned, adding that Taiwan's provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year.
A court ordered the closure of Russia's Memorial Human Rights Centre, a day after its sister organization and the country's oldest human rights group was ordered to disband by the Supreme Court.
As South Africa celebrated the life of anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died on Sunday, one of his daughters recalled the day he saved a young man from being burned alive by an angry mob as one of her proudest memories.
U.S.
The jury in British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial is set to resume deliberations, after the judge in the case warned of an increasing risk of a mistrial due to the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
A U.S. judge allowed a criminal case relating to the deadly January 6 Capitol attack to move forward, declining to dismiss charges against four members of the far-right Proud Boys group.
Harry Reid, the pugnacious son of a Nevada hard-rock miner who rose from poverty to become the U.S. Senate majority leader and earned a reputation as a fierce partisan fighter during an era of political gridlock in Washington, has died aged 82.
The parents of a girl killed in a clothing store dressing room by a Los Angeles police officer's stray bullet last week called for justice, the day after police released video showing the chaotic moments leading to the fatal shooting.
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