Diem Press News

  QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador said Thursday that vaccination against the coronavirus will be mandatory for most citizens. Only Ecuadorians with a medical condition that could be complicated by vaccination will be exempt from the new rule, the government said in a statement. Those people must have documentation to prove it, according to the statement. The government said it was implementing the requirement because of an increase in coronavirus infections and the circulation of new variants such as omicron. Ecuador has enough vaccines to ″immunize the entire population,″ the government said. This week, Ecuador’s Special Operations Committee, which runs health policies to combat the pandemic, said vaccination certificates must be shown in order to access places such as restaurants, cinemas and other public areas. As of Tuesday, about 77% of 17.3 million people in Ecuador have been vaccinated. More than 920,000 people have received a booster shot. About...

  Christmas ads have become an annual tradition, often appearing as mini-films with their own festive story. But one Norwegian commercial, featuring Father Christmas kissing a man waiting for him at home on Christmas Eve, has become a surprise hit. In When Harry meets Santa, the four-minute ad by Norway's state-run Posten postal service, the man is seen writing Father Christmas a letter to the North Pole with the message: "All I want for Christmas is you." And he gets his wish. "We wanted to celebrate the 50-year anniversary since the abolition of a law prohibiting same-sex relationships," says Monica Solberg, Posten's marketing director. The ad has been watched well over two million times online. "The magnitude of response took us a bit by surprise. We expected a reaction, but not to such an extent."= The ad raised few eyebrows in Norway or in neighbouring Nordic countries, but it has prompted some discussion beyond. As well as praise there has be...