borisjohnson has announced new measures in england to deal with the omicrom varient. guidance to work from home is to be reintroduced, facemask rules will be tightened and vaccination passes will be needed to enter nightclubs and venues with large crowds. the drug firm pfizer— biontech says tests have shown that three doses of its covid—19 vaccine can neutralise the omicron variant but two shots may be compromised. the head of india's armed forces, general bipin rawat, has been killed in a helicopter crash in tamil nadu. his wife and eleven other people on board — crew and officers — also died. the new german chancellor has been sworn in. olaf scholz — who's a social democrat — replaces angela merkel, who led germany for sixteen years.