Spotlight | ABS-CBN News

Isolation helps homeless population escape worst of virus

Thomas Fuller, The New York Times
Dec 24 04:14 AM

OAKLAND — Under a highway overpass in downtown Oakland, Camilla Everette sleeps on a couch, with a blue-and-white-striped summer parasol offering the only protection from the drops of rainwater that fall from the concrete above her. Read more »

Neptune’s weird dark spot just got weirder

Shannon Stirone, The New York Times
Dec 24 04:07 AM

Neptune boasts some of the strangest weather in the solar system. The sun’s eighth planet holds the record for the fastest winds observed on any world, with speeds cutting through the atmosphere upward of 1,100 mph, or 1 1/2 times the speed of sound.    Read more »

Experts are skeptical that travel bans can stop the spread of new COVID variants

Marc Santora, The New York Times
Dec 24 04:00 AM

LONDON — As nation after nation rushed this week to close their borders with Britain, the moves brought back memories of the way the world reacted after the coronavirus first emerged broadly in the spring. Most of those initial travel prohibitions came too late, put in place after the virus had already seeded itself in communities far and wide. Read more »

Masks block 99.9% of large COVID-linked droplets: study

Marlowe Hood, Agence France-Presse
Dec 23 11:06 PM

A woman standing two meters from a coughing man without a mask will be exposed to 10,000 times more such droplets than if he were wearing one, even if he is only 50 centimeters away, they reported in the journal Royal Society Open Science.   Read more »

Number of journalists killed for their reporting doubled in 2020

Oscar Lopez, The New York Times
Dec 23 10:19 PM

At least 30 journalists were killed worldwide this year, according to the watchdog group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, with 21 of those killings carried out as a direct response to the reporters’ work, compared to 10 in 2019. Read more »

THROWBACK: How to survive an earthquake?

ABS-CBN News
Dec 23 04:03 PM

"Red Alert" presents the 2018 nationwide earthquake drill, survival expert Dr. Ted Esguerra and NDRRMC spokesperson Romina Marasigan share tips on how to survive an earthquake. Read more »

Virus hunters delve into Gabon forest in search for next threat

Adrien Marotte, Agence France-Presse
Dec 23 12:47 PM

Their quest is to unlock new knowledge on how pathogens like coronavirus leap the species barrier to humans. Read more »

21 journalists victims of 'reprisal' killings in 2020: watchdog

Agence France-Presse
Dec 23 02:21 AM

NEW YORK - At least 21 journalists have been victims of reprisal killings so far this year, more than double the number from last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report Tuesday. Read more »

Are COVID-19 vaccines safe for people living with HIV?

Rachel Savage, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Dec 23 01:54 AM

LONDON - As the first COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out around the world, HIV/AIDS experts and advocates have sought to reassure those living with HIV that they can safely get the coronavirus vaccination. Read more »

Researchers say COVID-19 holiday surge in Metro Manila has started

ABS-CBN News
Dec 22 11:47 PM

A team of Philippine researchers said a feared holiday surge of COVID-19 cases has already begun in Metro Manila.  Read more »

WHO allays concerns over new coronavirus strain

ABS-CBN News
Dec 22 11:42 PM | Updated Dec 23 07:32 AM

The World Health Organization tries to allay fears over a reportedly more infectious strain of the virus that causes COVID-19. Read more »

Can existing vaccines stop coronavirus variant?

John Miller and Patricia Weiss, Reuters
Dec 22 10:37 PM

Drug makers including BioNTech and Moderna are scrambling to test their COVID-19 vaccines against the new fast-spreading variant of the virus that is raging in Britain, the latest challenge in the breakneck race to curb the pandemic.   Read more »

US warship sails by China-claimed Spratly Islands

Agence France-Presse
Dec 22 10:31 PM

An American warship sailed through waters off the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Thursday, in the latest challenge to Beijing's sweeping territorial claims in the region.   Read more »

The UK coronavirus variant: what we know

Carl Zimmer and Benedict Carey, The New York Times
Dec 22 02:57 PM

Neil Ferguson, a public health researcher at Imperial College London, estimates that the variant has an increased transmission rate of 50% to 70% compared to other variants in the United Kingdom.   Read more »

Quiet Bethlehem Christmas means 'less business, more religion'

Guillaume Lavallee with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza, Agence France-Presse
Dec 22 12:15 PM

Deprived of its usual tourist influx by the pandemic, Bethlehem will celebrate a quiet Christmas this year that is less about commerce and more about religion, says its parish priest. Read more »

UK coronavirus variant may be more able to infect children: scientists

Kate Kelland, Reuters
Dec 22 05:01 AM

LONDON - A new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Britain carries mutations that could mean children are as susceptible to becoming infected with it as adults - unlike previous strains, scientists said on Monday. Read more »

Viral video of cop killing woman, son sparks massive outrage

ABS-CBN News
Dec 21 11:06 PM

A policeman's brutal killing of a mother and son in the province of Tarlac drew widespread condemnation as the video of the incident goes viral. Read more »

'Victory for children': Philippines set to raise age of consent

Allison Jackson, Agence France-Presse
Dec 21 06:13 PM

Campaigners say the legislation would help protect youngsters in a nation that has become a global hotspot for online child sex abuse and where more than 500 teenagers get pregnant and give birth every day.   Read more »

The coronavirus is mutating. What does that mean for us?

Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times
Dec 21 01:12 PM | Updated Dec 21 05:41 PM

Scientists are worried about these variants but not surprised by them. Researchers have recorded thousands of tiny modifications in the genetic material of the coronavirus as it has hopscotched across the world.   Read more »

CDC issues guidelines on COVID-19 vaccination after allergic reactions

Reuters
Dec 20 09:19 AM

Anyone who had a severe reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine should not get the second dose, the agency said, defining severe as needing the medication epinephrine or treatment in a hospital.   Read more »

Babies of women with COVID-19 have antibodies, say Singapore researchers

Kyodo News
Dec 19 12:42 AM

The study involved 16 pregnant women with COVID-19, aged 23 to 36 years old, to understand mother-to-baby transmission of the novel coronavirus. Read more »

Magulay na Pasko

Text and photos by George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
Dec 18 03:49 PM | Updated Dec 18 03:52 PM

When Caloocan parish priest Fr. Eduardo “Ponpon” Vasquez Jr. saw the sudden interest in gardening, he grabbed the opportunity to promote vegetable cultivation in his community via the “Veggie Christmas Tree Challenge 2020.”  Read more »

No, there are no microchips in coronavirus vaccines

Katherine J. Wu, The New York Times
Dec 18 12:45 PM

There are 10 ingredients in Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines. Contrary to several conspiracy theories circulating online, a tracking microchip planted by the government to surveil the movements of Americans is not among them.   Read more »

International Migrants Day: Reimagining Human Mobility

Gustavo Gonzalez and Kristin Dadey
Dec 18 11:39 AM

Read the UN's message honoring OFWs in commemoration of International Migrants Day Read more »

Higher education students in Bicol can’t distinguish news from paid articles – study

Enrico Berdos, VERA Files
Dec 18 02:13 AM

An overwhelming majority of senior high school to doctorate students in the Bicol region cannot distinguish a news item from a paid editorial article, a study from the Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU) found out. Read more »