World News Roundup: French President Macron's condition is 'stable', presidency says; China says tailed U.S. warship in Taiwan Strait and more

The government on Monday said a rise in infections might be partly linked to a new more transmissible variant of the virus when it moved London and other swathes of the country into the highest tier of restrictions to curb the spread of COVID.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

See each other by video call this Christmas, Merkel tells Germans

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Saturday to avoid visiting family members over Christmas and to use video calls instead for greetings, the way service members stationed abroad do, as the country battles COVID-19. Germany is struggling with a rise in coronavirus infections and deaths. Praise for Merkel for having tamed the first wave has turned to criticism of her perceived failure to tackle the second.

China says will vaccinate 'key groups' over winter, spring

China will focus first on vaccinating high-risk groups over the winter and spring before widening the inoculation to the general public, a senior health official said on Saturday. Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC) and director of the State Council's vaccine R&D working group, warned that China's COVID-19 prevention efforts were under increasing pressure as temperatures fall.

Chaos and jubilation as freed Nigerian schoolboys reunite with family

Parents sobbed, mobbed their children in hugs and even kissed the ground in gratitude on Friday as they reunited with scores of schoolboys who had been kidnapped a week earlier in northwest Nigeria. Hundreds of adults jostled to find their offspring among the 344 dusty and dazed looking children who had arrived by bus in Katsina state on Friday morning. Those who succeeded cheered and grabbed their children, but scores more were still waiting by early evening.

UK ministers discuss COVID-19 concern amid rise in cases

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was holding a conference call with his senior ministers on Saturday to discuss concern over a new strain of the COVID-19 virus which is rising across parts of Britain, his spokesman said. The government on Monday said a rise in infections might be partly linked to a new more transmissible variant of the virus when it moved London and other swathes of the country into the highest tier of restrictions to curb the spread of COVID.

French President Macron's condition is 'stable', presidency says

French President Emmanuel Macron's condition is stable and the results of a medical examination reassuring, the French presidency said on Saturday in an update on his bout of coronavirus. "The medical condition of the president is stable compared with ... Friday. He presents similar COVID-19 symptoms which do not prevent him from fulfilling his obligations," the presidency said in a statement. Ginza shoppers clean hands, phones with high-tech wash stations

Shoppers washed their hands and sterilised their smartphones in the streets of Tokyo's posh Ginza district on Saturday using handwashing stations that a Japanese start-up hopes will revolutionise access to clean water and better hygiene. WOTA Corp set up 20 of its WOSH machines near popular Ginza stores in an initiative with a district association aimed at encouraging shoppers to wash their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

China says tailed U.S. warship in Taiwan Strait

China's military tailed a U.S. warship as it passed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the Chinese military said, denouncing such missions as sending "flirtatious glances" to supporters of Taiwan independence. China, which claims democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up U.S. support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait, further souring Beijing-Washington relations. U.S. to halt work at two consulates in Russia after COVID-19 drawdown

The United States is halting work at two consulates in Russia, the State Department said, citing safety and security issues at the facilities where operations had been curtailed over COVID-19. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in consultation with Ambassador John Sullivan decided to shut the consulate in Vladivostok in the far east and suspend operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg, a State Department representative said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Saturday. Santa goes virtual in pandemic hit Spain

An enterprising Santa Claus has given himself the mission of saving Christmas in Spain by sending video messages to children who are unable to meet the man himself this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. "We thought of doing Zoom, Skype and using new technologies since Santa cannot visit the children's homes," said Hector Fuentes, decked out in the classic red suit, white beard and hat of Father Christmas, or "Papa Noel" in Spanish. Nine people killed in hospital fire in southeast Turkey

Nine people were killed in a fire which broke out in a private hospital's COVID-19 intensive care unit in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday. The fire was caused by the explosion of an oxygen ventilator, the local governorship said in a statement, adding that other patients receiving treatment were transferred to nearby hospitals.