Long Queues for Covid Tests as Cases Surge in Israel

^{PHOTO: DRONE VIEW OF LONG CAR QUEUES AT FOUR COVID TEST CENTRES, INTERVIEWS WITH ISRAELIS QUEUING UP FOR HOURS, LINE OF PEDESTRIANS IN TEL AVIV}

INTERNATIONAL: Israelis rushed to get tested for COVID-19 on Monday, 3 January, with long queues of vehicles and pedestrians seen across the country as Omicron variant infections are rising.An endless lines of cars along the roads leading to testing centres in Jerusalem and Ashdod.

Daily cases in Israel are expected to reach record highs in the coming three weeks.Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett has said that up to 50,000 people might soon be infected each day, while eligibility for testing could be tightened to help relieve long lines at testing stations.

Israel's health ministry says around 60 percent of its 9.4 million population are fully vaccinated, almost all with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which means they have either received three doses or have recently had their second.But hundreds of thousands of those eligible for a third inoculation have so far not taken it.

Over the past 11 days, daily infections have more than quadrupled in Israel. Severe cases have also climbed, but at a far lower rate, rising from about 80 to around 100.

Winter Storm Dumps Heavy Snow on Washington

^{PHOTO: SNOWFALL ON THE U.S. CAPITOL AND OTHER WASHINGTON D.C. LANDMARKS, VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN SNOW, TIME LAPSE OF SNOWFALL ON THE WHITE HOUSE}

Washington, DC is slammed with heavy snow after a winter storm swept into the area on Monday, January 3. Up to 10 inches of snow is expected in the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and central Maryland. The storm, coupled with a COVID-19 surge, forcing federal offices and schools to close as it threatened to make travel dangerous and knock out power.

The inclement weather forced federal government offices to close in Washington, while dozens of schools have canceled or delayed the start of school across the region. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared a snow emergency as public transportation in the city of 700,000 people was operating at a reduced schedule.

Severe weather warnings were in effect from Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, and north into Washington and Philadelphia, where 4 to 8 inches of snow and 64 kilometres-per-hour winds were forecast, the National Weather Service has said.Some parts of the region could get 2 inches an hour and a total of a foot of wet snow from the storm throughout the day, the weather service warned.The heavy snow was expected to accumulate on roadways and power lines, causing treacherous travel conditions and potentially leaving homes and businesses without electricity throughout the region.

Iran Vows Revenge for General Soleimani Killing If Trump Not Put on Trial

^{PHOTO: CEREMONY TO MARK TWO YEARS SINCE THE ASSASSINATION OF IRANIAN GENERAL QASSEM SOLEIMANI IRANIAN PRESIDENT EBRAHIM RAISI SAYING TEHRAN WILL TAKE REVENGE FOR SOLEIMANI'S KILLING IF FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS NOT PUT ON}

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed revenge on Monday for the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani two years ago unless former U.S. President Donald Trump was put on trial.

Iran and allied groups with it in Iraq have been holding events to honour Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards. General Soleimani was killed in Iraq in a drone strike on January 3, 2020, ordered by then president Donald Trump.

On Sunday, Iran has urged the U.N. Security Council in a letter to hold the United States and Israel, which Tehran says was also involved in the killing, to account, according to Iranian media.

Days after the assassination, the United States told the United Nations that the killing was self-defence and vowed to take additional action "as necessary" in the Middle East to protect U.S. personnel and interests.