Nine people have been killed after an oxygen ventilator exploded at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in southern Turkey, officials say. The blast caused a fire in the intensive care unit of the private Sanko University Hospital in Gaziantep, the local governor’s office said. At least one of the patients died while being transferred to another hospital. Turkey has recorded nearly two million coronavirus cases and 17,610 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. No injuries were reported in relation to the fire, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning and was quickly put out. The victims were aged between 56 and 85, the hospital said in a statement. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the explosion.(BBC)…[+]

US President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his climate and energy team, saying they will lead an “ambitious plan” to combat climate change. Mr Biden has vowed to make the issue a top priority in an agenda that reverses many Trump administration policies. He said there was “no time to waste”. If confirmed by the Senate, the team will include the first black man to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the first Native American cabinet member. Mr Biden, who is set to be inaugurated on 20 January, has pledged to build a diverse administration that reflects the US. “We’re in a crisis,” he said. “Just like we need to be a unified nation to respond to Covid-19, we need a unified national response to climate change.”(BBC)…[+]

Australia’s most populous state has announced new restrictions for the Greater Sydney area in an attempt to contain a growing outbreak of Covid-19. Household gatherings will be capped at 10 people and hospitality venues at 300 until Wednesday. Residents had already been told to stay at home. The cases were found in the city’s Northern Beaches area, which entered a five-day lockdown on Saturday. Since then Sydney residents have rushed to leave the city ahead of Christmas. Thousands have travelled from the city in New South Wales (NSW) to the neighbouring state of Victoria. In response, Victoria will close its borders to residents of Greater Sydney and the NSW Central Coast from midnight. People will then face a 14-day quarantine.

The US energy department is the latest agency to confirm it has been breached in what is being described as the worst-ever hack on the US government. The department is responsible for managing US nuclear weapons, but said the arsenal’s security had not been compromised. Tech giant Microsoft also said on Thursday that it had found malicious software in its systems. Many suspect the Russian government is responsible. It has denied any role. The US treasury and commerce departments are among the other targets of the sophisticated, months-long breach, which was first acknowledged by officials on Sunday. President Donald Trump is yet to comment on the cyber-attacks. Meanwhile, US President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to make cyber-security a “top priority” of his administration.

Rescuers are trying to free more than 1,000 vehicles which have been stranded on a highway for two days after a heavy snow storm struck Japan. Authorities have distributed food, fuel and blankets to the drivers on the Kanetsu expressway, which connects the capital Tokyo to Niigata, in the north. The snow, which began on Wednesday evening, has caused multiple traffic jams along the road.

It has also left more than 10,000 homes in the north and west without power. A Kyodo News report said that there were multiple reports of congestion at different points of the Kanetsu expressway. The gridlock began when a trailer got stuck in snow on Wednesday night. Another Kyodo report, quoting police and highway operator East Nippon Expressway Co, said the traffic jam had stretched up to 16.5km (10 miles) along the road at one point. Officials have been using a combination of heavy machinery and physical labour to dig out the vehicles one by one, but around 1,000 cars were still stranded on the road as of Friday noon.(BBC)…[+]