Barbecued rat on the menu in Cambodia

The number of COVID-19 cases in Germany has risen sharply in the past week, reaching the previous milestone of 100 cases per 100,000 people. This time around, though, it's the number of hospitalizations that count.

Leaders of G20 nations endorsed a landmark deal to establish a global minimum tax rate. They were, however, at odds on issues like coronavirus vaccines and fighting climate change.

The number of cases has beaten a record set in December 2020. Health officials are set to meet to discuss the possibility of new restrictions for the unvaccinated.

The number of new coronavirus cases over the past week has reached a new record as infections continue to surge throughout the country.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted unanimously to retain the benchmark interest rate (MPR) at 11.5%, whilst keeping all other monetary parameters constant.

After hitting historic lows on Tuesday, Turkey's currency has recovered slightly. The lira has lost 40% of its value against the US dollar since the start of the year, amid a series of controversial interest rate cuts and double-digit inflation.

The Federal Reserve is paving the way for possible interest rate hikes next year, in an effort to contain stubbornly high inflation. At the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the central bank announced plans to phase out its large-scale bond-buying program faster than initially planned. The Fed started purchasing bonds during the pandemic as a way to keep borrowing costs across the economy low and to prevent any market disruptions.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is less likely to land patients in hospital in comparison with delta.

Although Germany isn't logging record cases like its neighbors, Health Minister Lauterbach said current figures don't show the whole picture. Data reporting has slowed over the holidays — but the omicron variant has not.

Magawa, the landmine-detecting "hero rat" has died aged eight, the NGO that trained him said in a news release on Tuesday.

US consumer prices rose last year at the highest rate in four decades. With inflation at 7% in 2021, US consumers have not seen prices soar so much since the early 1980s.

It's been a rollercoaster 24 hours on global stock markets, with huge swings on Wall Street and volatility hitting its highest level since October 2020. Investors are waiting for the decision from the US Federal Reserve on when it will start raising interest rates, but are also concerned about the rising tensions at Ukraine's border. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has slumped as low as $33,000, down over 50 percent from its peak in November. Our Business Editor Stephen Carroll has the details.