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The Omicron coronavirus variant was discovered for the first time in mainland China, According to the health authoritiesThis has put pressure on officials already responding to the outbreak in one of the country’s most important manufacturing centers.

Officials and state media stated that Omicron’s case was “imported” after arriving in the port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, where travelers were quarantined before being allowed to continue to the Chinese capital.

Later on Tuesday, National Television reported that a second case of Omicron had been detected in the southern city of Guangzhou. It involved a local resident who returned to China last month and was quarantined in Shanghai for two weeks, but no virus was found.

President Xi Jinping’s government is pursuing a “Zero Covid” policy in the most populous country in the world, partly because of concerns about the relatively low efficacy of China’s homemade vaccines and the possible deaths caused by the free spread of Covid-19 among the country’s 1.4 billion people.

At the same time, two doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine provided 70% protection According to the first real-world analysis of the protective effect of the new South African strain against serious diseases, people will not be admitted to the hospital due to the Omicron variant.

But a report by Discovery Health, South Africa’s largest private healthcare provider, found that the defense against Omicron was lower than the 93% protection provided against the Delta variant.

What has changed (if any) in your life due to the Omicron variant?Share your thoughts with me [email protected]. Thank you for reading FirstFT Asia.This is the rest of the news today-Emily

There are five more stories in the news

1. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase plan huge bonuses Bank of America is preparing Pay big bonuses After a record year of trading activity, their investment bankers. According to people familiar with the matter, Goldman Sachs is considering increasing its bonus pool by about 40-50% compared to last year, while JPMorgan Chase’s bonus pool may increase by 40%.

2. Trump’s top aides face a vote of contempt The U.S. House of Representatives is Ready to vote Criminal contempt for Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, because newly disclosed text messages provide new details about what happened inside the Trump White House during the Capitol riots on January 6.

3. Brinken criticizes “aggressive” China U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Southeast Asia for the first time since taking office, criticized “Beijing’s aggressive behavior against neighboring countries”. In the speech in JakartaBrinken said that President Joe Biden plans to receive regional leaders in the coming months as he tries to rebuild his credibility after the Donald Trump administration.

4. Toyota will spend 35 billion US dollars to promote electrification The Japanese automaker said it will inject 35 billion U.S. dollars into Steering to electric vehicles As the world’s largest automaker, it is ready to compete directly with Tesla and work with other groups to promote carbon neutrality.

5. Men urge Japan’s first female union chairperson to refuse to work
A male colleague of Tomoko Yoshino, the first female head of Japan’s largest trade union association, Beg her to change job In an interview with the Financial Times, she said that because they believed her gender prevented her from competing with Japanese companies for higher wages.

Coronavirus Digest

• Hongkong preparing Resumption of quarantine-free travel. at the same time,
  The Central Bank of Hong Kong is Send care package To the banker who was quarantined.

• This UK All 11 countries will be removed from the Coronavirus in England Tourism “Red List”, Because the ministers acknowledged that Omicron variants can no longer be included.

• Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral pill Reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by Up to 89% According to the final test results, in high-risk patients.

• Developing countries in Asia Will grow At a slower speed The Asian Development Bank said that this year and next year are better than expected.

• Science editor Clive Cookson explains why the human immune system Found hard to be found New variant.

the day before

Australia relaxes travel restrictions Country will Reopened to foreign visa holders And vaccinate tourists from South Korea and Japan. (Sky News)

UK inflation data It is expected that the data released today will show that inflation has risen to approximately November 4.5%Even with these signs of economic strength, the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates because it weighs the potential impact of Omicron.

Federal Reserve Policy Meeting The Fed’s two-day meeting will feature a press conference, a series of new economic forecasts and Updated “dot map” Personal interest rate forecast.U.S. producer prices rise The fastest speed since record in November, To put pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower its pandemic emergency policy settings.

Has inflation pushed up prices where you live?Tell us in our latest news pollingAnd follow our Inflation Tracker The latest data.

What are we still reading

The U.S. should not be responsible for the rise of China Janan Ganesh wrote that it is difficult for the West to understand that other parts of the world also have their own institutions. Although the West may postpone China’s top spot at some cost, Stop it completely It has never been within its power.

Crucial moments for the European Central Bank The European Central Bank sounds more dovish than most central banks, but it has been scarred by criticism of raising interest rates prematurely in the past. Unwilling to withdraw support After struggling for many years with low inflation and slow growth.

The game needs to end the stereotype of the Arab world Once, the typical villains of war games were Nazis, but today, after 9/11 and the war on terrorism, they are jihadists. Faceless terrorists with robes and beards exist only to hate the West and absorb bullets.Solving the problem of Arab stereotypes in the game requires Two discrete methods, Wrote Tom Faber.

Ghislaine Maxwell test reveals the class divide The course runs through the story of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Its center is Maxwell, Socialite with an Oxford educationWitnesses said that when they were young and poor, they lured them into a world beyond their imagination.

Why the Indian peasant movement is a lesson in democracy Their victory showed that the way to cure democracy’s regression is more citizens’ political participation, wrote Mukulika Banerjee, author Cultivating Democracy: The Politics and Citizenship of Indian Agriculture.

Movie

Film critic Danny Leigh reviews the best movies Take you to hong kong“Paris has romance, New York has the skyline. Hong Kong has heartache, mystery — and… a lot of stylized, location-specific, highly influential action and crime movies,” he wrote FT Globe Traveler’s Guide To the territory.