Israel to ban foreigners from entering over Covid

The new Omicron strain of Coronavirus has been detected across Europe, with cases confirmed in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and the UK.

Israel is to ban foreigners from entering the country for 14 days and use surveillance to halt the spread of the new Covid strain.

Also in the programme: New research suggests that fiction authors are writing shorter sentences now because their writing style is becoming more heavily influenced by social media. We hear from Dick Pound, a senior official of the IOC, addressing the wellbeing of Chinese tennis star, Peng Shuai.

Nazir Razak, a leading Malaysian financier and brother of Najib Razak, Malaysia's former prime minister, talks about his family's central involvement in some of the key moments of Malaysia's history.

Joining Paul Henley to discuss these and other issues are Alev Scott, a Turkish-British writer and journalist, and Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean writer and former Ambassador to the United Nations.

Photo shows a healthcare worker taking a swab sample from a woman to test for the coronavirus disease in Brussels. Credit: Reuters.