BBC News with Stewart Macintosh.South Africa where the Omicron variant was first identified last month says it has passed the peak of the fourth wave of Covid infections.The government has immediately lifted a nighttime curfew it imposed to combat the virus.The director-general of Israel’s health ministry Nachman Ash says officials have approved a fourth coronavirus vaccination.Mr. Ash said a second boost shot would benefit people with weakened immune systems.The US president Joe Biden has spoken on the telephone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the second time this month.The White House said Mr. Biden urged Russia to de-escalate tensions over the concentration of thousands of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, but made it clear that the United States and its allies would respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.At least four people have been killed in Sudan by the security forces during protests in the city of Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, against October’s coup.The demonstrators defy a lockdown to march on the presidential palace, calling on the military to stay out of politics.The United Nations says government airstrikes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region killed dozens of civilians last week.He said the situation in the region remained tense and unpredictable, adding that no trucks with humanitarian aid cargo could enter the Tigray since the 14th of December because of ongoing clashes.
