OVERSEAS | ABS-CBN News

Auschwitz survivor saddened by U.S. Capitol attack

Jonathan Oatis and Rollo Ross, Reuters
Jan 27 10:29 AM

As the 76th anniversary on Wednesday of the liberation of Auschwitz draws closer, Bill Harvey, who survived the concentration camp, said he was shocked by displays of anti-Semitism during the U.S. Capitol riot. Read more »

Global coronavirus infection cases top 100 million

Kyodo News
Jan 27 08:41 AM

GENEVA - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has surpassed 100 million, with an accelerated pace of infection, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Tuesday. Read more »

Lion cub Simba born in Singapore via artificial insemination

Agence France-Presse
Jan 27 08:05 AM

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Zoo has welcomed a lion cub named Simba to its animal kingdom following artificial insemination that officials said Tuesday was a first for the city-state.  Read more »

Icelanders get Covid vaccine 'passports'

Agence France-Presse
Jan 27 07:17 AM

Reykjavik - Iceland has issued its first vaccination certificates to ease international travel for those inoculated against Covid-19, authorities told AFP on Tuesday, with EU countries still haggling over using such documents.   Read more »

UK passes 100,000 COVID deaths, with many more to come

Costas Pitas, Reuters
Jan 27 06:57 AM

The death toll in Britain from the coronavirus pandemic passed 100,000 people on Tuesday as the government battled to speed up vaccination delivery and keep variants of the virus at bay. Read more »

Low COVID-19 spread found in schools taking safety precautions -US study

Vishwadha Chander, Reuters
Jan 27 06:54 AM

The spread of COVID-19 during in-person learning in rural Wisconsin where student mask wearing was high was significantly lower than in the surrounding community, with no infections acquired at school among staff members, according to a US study published on Tuesday. Read more »

Russia and US extend New START arms pact as Putin, Biden chat

Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters
Jan 27 05:08 AM

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON - Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world's two biggest nuclear powers. Read more »

UK to unveil hotel quarantine plans; public told not to book vacations

Kate Holton and Michael Holden, Reuters
Jan 26 10:54 PM

LONDON - Britain will announce on Tuesday whether it will bring in mandatory quarantine in hotels for some or all arrivals, the country's coronavirus vaccination minister said as he warned the public not to book summer vacations. Read more »

Biden to reopen healthcare.gov, ease Medicaid rules amid COVID-19

Reuters
Jan 26 10:47 PM

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden is set to reopen the nation's online insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov, as soon as this week, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, offering Americans who cannot get coverage through work another way to obtain it amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more »

Indian farm protesters battle police to plant flags at historic Red Fort

Devjyot Ghoshal and Adnan Abidi, Reuters
Jan 26 09:11 PM

Growers, angered by laws they say help large, private buyers at the expense of producers, have camped outside New Delhi for almost two months, posing one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014.   Read more »

WHO experts issue recommendations on Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Reuters
Jan 26 09:07 PM

The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, known as SAGE, issued a series of recommendations on Moderna, several weeks after issuing their guidance on the rival Pfizer shot.   Read more »

No serious COVID-19 cases among Israelis given Pfizer shot, minister says

Reuters
Jan 26 09:00 PM

Israel began what has become the world's fastest per capita distribution of vaccines against the new coronavirus on Dec. 19, using the shot developed by the American firm Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech.   Read more »

Joe Biden ipinaalala ang kahalagahan ng pagsusuot ng face mask

ABS-CBN News
Jan 26 08:24 PM

Agresibo ang administrasyon ni US President Joe Biden sa paglaban sa pandemya, lalo na sa pagbabakuna. Read more »

New Zealand posibleng 1 taon isara ang border

ABS-CBN News
Jan 26 08:20 PM

Ang pagsasara ay dahil umano wala pa ring katiyakan ang suplay ng bakuna sa iba-ibang panig ng mundo.  Read more »

Grim milestone for Indonesia as COVID-19 cases exceed 1 million

Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Heru Asprihanto, Reuters
Jan 26 07:09 PM

The world's fourth-most-populous country has recorded 1,012,350 cases, with the average daily increase running above 11,000 for more than a week, according to official data.   Read more »

Traveling for work amid the pandemic

Patrick T. Fallon, AFP
Jan 26 05:21 PM

Maritime crew members arriving from the Philippines wear personal protective equipment (PPE) on the arrivals level inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) amid increased COVID-19 travel restrictions on Monday in Los Angeles, California. Read more »

Biden appoints Fil-Am as White House liaison for Office of Personnel Management

TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News
Jan 26 05:15 PM

The Biden-Harris administration on Tuesday (Manila time) announced several political appointees to the US Office of Personnel Management. Read more »

China's peak Lunar New Year air travel season fizzles as COVID-19 cases rise

Stella Qiu, Jamie Freed and Ryan Woo, Reuters
Jan 26 02:35 PM

To limit the spread of COVID-19, the government has discouraged travel in what is normally the busiest time of the year. Those who are going anyway must to present a nucleic acid test with negative results taken in the seven days before returning home.   Read more »

China’s top anti-corruption body vows to zero in on key state-backed projects

William Zheng, South China Morning Post
Jan 26 02:35 PM

Graft-buster vows to focus on financial sector, state-owned enterprises and law enforcement. President Xi Jinping tells cadres at annual meeting that corruption remains ‘biggest threat to the party’s rule.' Read more »

Pfizer or Sinopharm? 'Vaccine diplomacy' in Middle East

Guillaume Lavallee with Agence France-Presse Middle East bureaus
Jan 26 01:37 PM

Pfizer or Sinopharm? The US or China? In the Middle East and North Africa, novel coronavirus vaccine orders are driven by diplomatic and logistical considerations, reflecting Beijing's growing regional influence.   Read more »

Xi Jinping urges world leaders to put aside divisions in virtual Davos speech

Jun Mai in Beijing, South China Morning Post
Jan 26 01:04 PM

The Chinese president’s video address to World Economic Forum says history shows that antagonism and confrontation will hurt everybody. Xi’s speech comes as the Biden administration is discussing its China strategy with US allies. Read more »

South China Sea: Chinese military deploys ballistic missile’s launchers for training

Minnie Chan, South China Morning Post
Jan 26 12:44 PM | Updated Jan 26 12:45 PM

The destinations of DF-26 missile’s launchers put India within its range and pose a threat to US naval base in Japan. China had last year staged a drill in which a DF-26 missile was launched into the South China Sea to target a moving ship. Read more »

Hong Kong students arrested over attack on security guards at Chinese University campus

Danny Mok, South China Morning Post
Jan 26 12:40 PM | Updated Jan 26 12:46 PM

The trio were detained on Monday in connection with an incident at Sha Tin campus on January 11. A group of seven threw unknown white substance at guards manning the barrier near University MTR station. Read more »

'Chimney effect' may be spreading COVID-19 in Hong Kong private housing estate: health expert

South China Morning Post
Jan 26 11:43 AM

A leading microbiologist is looking into how Covid-19 has spread in one of Hong Kong's largest middle-class private estates, with the "chimney effect" possibly vertically transmitting the virus Read more »

AstraZeneca rejects 'incorrect' reports on COVID-19 jab efficacy in elderly

Agence France-Presse
Jan 26 11:00 AM

Pharma giant AstraZeneca has defended the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine after media reports said the German government had doubts about its effectiveness among those over 65.    Read more »