ITA - Italia Trasporto Aereo is announced as the new state-owned airline for Italy, following the closure of Alitalia due to bankruptcy. ITA is a reorganization of Alitalia under a new name signed by decree in October 2020. (CNN)
The severity of the energy crisis in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces of China is reported as worsening, with power outages occurring every week and "notices... telling us which days the following week that they will cut the power". Some factories report receiving power for only two or three days per week and are operating primarily on generators. China has also placed large bids for coal that are causing supply issues in locations as far away as Ukraine. (Nikkei Asia)(Interfax)
The U.S. Navy reports that the USS Connecticut, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, struck an unidentified object while submerged in the South China Sea, causing 11 crew members to be injured. The extent of the damage to the Seawolf-class submarine is still being assessed although the submarine is noted as being "safe and stable". (Bloomberg)
Singapore reports a record 3,590 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 120,454. (The Straits Times)
Victoria reports a record 1,838 new cases and five deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest daily total of new COVID-19 cases of any Australian state or territory since the beginning of the pandemic. (ABC News Australia)
Brazil surpasses 600,000 deaths from COVID-19. (VOA)
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announce that a 3-year-old boy who died last Wednesday in Beni tested positive for Ebola. The health minister could not confirm if this was related to the Kivu Ebola outbreak which ended in 2020 and killed more than 2,200 people, but said that they were closely monitoring 100 people who may have been exposed to the virus and that three boys, all of whom were neighbors of the toddler, were already showing symptoms of the disease. (Reuters)