HealthYahoo NewsDon't worry about coronavirus variants overpowering vaccines, experts say
Over the weekend, seemingly troubling news emerged from Israel, with a study suggesting that the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech was less effective against B.1.351, a variant first encountered in South Africa. Meanwhile, two of the New York Post's most-read stories as of Monday morning were about a 31-year-old woman in New York City who tested positive for the coronavirus three weeks after receiving the vaccine and a 52-year-old man who ended up in the hospital with COVID-19, despite having also been vaccinated. Together, such reports in the mainstream media of “breakthrough” infections of the vaccinated can foster the inaccurate narrative that COVID-19 vaccines are not effective, especially against new strains of the coronavirus, some of which had not yet emerged when those vaccines were being developed.
WorldThe TelegraphChina brands Japan's plan to release treated Fukushima water into sea as 'extremely irresponsible'
Japan's government has approved a plan to release over one million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday. Japan's government argues that the release will be safe because the water has been processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be diluted. It has support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which says the release is similar to processes for disposing of waste water from nuclear plants elsewhere in the world.
U.S.The StateMistaking Asian woman as white, Asian man attacks her over hate crimes, CA cops say
An Asian man was arrested after California police say he kidnapped and tried to sexually assault an Asian woman, believing she was white, in retaliation for the rise in hate crimes against Asians. Michael Sangbong Rhee, 37, was arrested Thursday night at his Lake Forest home, Irvine police said in a Facebook post. Rhee was charged with kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual assault and is being held at Orange County Jail on $1 million bail.
WorldAssociated PressPhilippines summons Chinese ambassador over reef dispute
The Philippine government summoned the Chinese ambassador to press its demand for Chinese vessels to immediately leave a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea and said their presence was stoking tensions, officials said Tuesday. The escalating feud between Manila and Beijing started after more than 200 Chinese vessels suspected by Philippine authorities to be operated by militias were spotted early last month at Whitsun Reef. The Philippine government demanded the vessels leave then deployed coast guard and patrol vessels to the area but China said it owns the reef and the Chinese vessels were sheltering from rough seas.
WorldReutersIndia, overwhelmed by COVID surge, fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world's biggest surge in cases in the country this month. Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization or authorities in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan "may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial", the health ministry said in a statement.
WorldThe TelegraphTens of thousands flee Myanmar town after crackdown leaves 100 protesters dead
Tens of thousands have fled the central Myanmar town of Bago after the military regime brutally attacked anti-coup protesters at the weekend, leaving at least 100 dead. Residents told Radio Free Asia that many people were seeking refuge from the junta's violence in villages in the surrounding countryside. “The people fleeing their homes are residents of four neighborhoods in the city where the junta forces attacked,” said one woman who declined to give her name.
U.S.Miami HeraldCops went to a Florida mom’s home on a child abuse call. Then they saw a Dr. Seuss book
Dr Seuss books have made headlines lately, but not for this reason. According to a police report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, deputies went to a Largo home on a call of suspected child abuse. When they arrived around 9 p.m.
WorldAssociated PressThailand records more than 900 cases for third day in a row
Thailand recorded a third day in a row with more than 900 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as thousands of people swarmed to beaches on the first day of a long national holiday despite warnings from health officials. Dr. Opas Karnkavinpong, director-general of Disease Control Department, warned that possible lockdowns will be implemented next week when people return to the cities after the traditional New Year festival, known as Songkran. The government reported 965 new cases Tuesday to bring the totals since the pandemic began to 34,575 infections and 97 deaths.
- U.S.Reuters
Cockpit voice recorder from crashed Indonesian jet downloaded successfully: investigator
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from a crashed Sriwijaya Air jet has been downloaded successfully and includes the last minutes of the flight that ended with 62 people dead, an official at Indonesia's air accident investigator said on Monday. The contents of the recording from the 26-year old Boeing Co 737-500 that crashed shortly after take-off on Jan. 9 cannot be disclosed publicly at this stage of the probe, Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said. The channels will need to be synchronised with each other as well as radio communications and the flight data recorder (FDR) for analysis to help determine the cause of the crash.
U.S.Associated PressEx-youth worker charged with rape was known for 'wrestling'
A former counselor accused of raping one boy and repeatedly groping another at New Hampshire's youth detention center in the 1990s denied the allegations when questioned by police but acknowledged being reprimanded for “wrestling with children,” a prosecutor said Monday. Frank Davis, 79, of Hopkinton, is one of seven former workers at the Youth Development Center in Manchester who were arrested last week and charged with either sexual assault or being accomplices to the abuse of 11 teens from 1994 to 2005. The center, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, has been the target of a broad criminal investigation since 2019, along with a lawsuit in which more than 200 men and women allege they were physically or sexually abused as children by 150 staffers from 1963 to 2018.
WorldThe WeekBiden reaches agreement with 3 countries to try to keep migrants from reaching southern border
The Biden administration has reached a deal with Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala to increase security at their borders in order to curb increased migration at the U.S. southern border. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said Mexico will keep 10,000 troops stationed at its southern border and Honduras has deployed 7,000 police officers and members of the military to its border. Guatemala has sent 1,500 police officers and troops to its southern border and will also set up 12 checkpoints inside the country, along a route taken by migrants.
WorldAssociated Press3 killed in Pakistan in clashes between police, Islamists
Two demonstrators and a policeman were killed Tuesday in violent clashes between Islamists and police in Pakistan, hours after authorities arrested the head of an Islamist party in the eastern city of Lahore, a senior official and local media reported. The policeman was killed in overnight clashes with the supporters of Saad Rizvi, the head of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan who was arrested on Monday, a senior police officer Ghulam Mohammad Dogar said. Ten policemen were also wounded in these clashes in the town of Shahadra near Lahore.
WorldReutersRussia warns U.S. warships to steer clear of Crimea 'for their own good'
Russia on Tuesday warned the United States to ensure its warships stayed well away from Crimea "for their own good", calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves. Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week amid an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine where government forces have battled Russian-backed troops in a conflict Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people. The deployment comes as the West sounds the alarm over what it says is a big and unexplained build-up of Russian forces close to Ukraine's eastern border and in Crimea.
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Vatican same-sex ruling dismays some Catholics
Two days after he married his partner of many years, Anselm Bilgri, a former monk and prior at one of Germany's most famous monasteries, learned that the Vatican would not bless relationships like his.
WorldAssociated PressUS Bishop Hoeppner resigns after Vatican probe into cover-up
A Minnesota bishop who was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse has resigned, the Vatican said Tuesday. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael Hoeppner and named a temporary replacement to run the Crookston diocese, the Holy See said in a statement. The Vatican did not say why Francis accepted the resignation, but the Vatican in 2019 authorized an investigation into claims that Hoeppner had engaged in “acts or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or canonical investigations of clerical sexual misconduct.”
WorldBBCTaiwan: 'Record number' of China jets enter air zone
Taiwan has said a record number of Chinese military jets flew into its air defence zone on Monday. The defence ministry said 25 aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday. The incursion is the largest in a year and comes as the US warns against an "increasingly aggressive China".
WorldArchitectural DigestThe World’s 9 Most Expensive Listings Currently on the Market
These fantastical homes range from a 64,000-acre Texas ranch to an oceanside estate in the south of France Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersGerman government seeks law change to take back pandemic control from states
Germany's federal government will ask parliament for temporary powers to enforce a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, after several regions failed to impose agreed curbs to bring a third wave of the pandemic under control, a government source said. With infections rising rapidly in some areas, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is pressing for a change to the Infection Protection Act to enable Berlin to enforce restrictions under certain scenarios. According to the draft law presented to the cabinet on Tuesday, a mandatory nationwide "emergency brake" will be introduced if the number of new infections per 100,000 residents in a district or city exceeds 100 for three consecutive days within ...
U.S.INSIDERBlack Army officer pepper-sprayed by police said he thought he could be murdered as officers gave quickly changing commands
A uniformed Black Army officer was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed during a traffic stop. Second lieutenant Caron Nazario filed a lawsuit against the 2 Virginia officers involved. In a complaint, Nazario said they gave conflicting orders and he was worried he would be murdered.
WorldAssociated PressCanary Islands hotel offers shelter to migrants in need
When hotel director Calvin Lucock and restaurant owner Unn Tove Saetran said goodbye to one of the last groups of migrants staying in one of the seaside resorts they manage in Spain's Canary Islands, the British-Norwegian couple didn't know when they would have guests again. The Spanish government — struggling to accommodate 23,000 people who disembarked on the islands in 2020 — contracted hundreds of hotel rooms left empty due to the coronavirus travel restrictions. The deal not only helped migrants and asylum-seekers have a place to sleep, it also allowed Lucock to keep most of his hotel staff employed.
WorldBBCVietnam country profile
Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, has one of south-east Asia's fastest-growing economies and has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020. It became a unified country once more in 1975 when the armed forces of the Communist north seized the south. This followed three decades of bitter wars, in which the Communists fought first against the colonial power France, then against South Vietnam and its US backers.
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Fauci: Breakthrough infections after vaccinations 'inevitable'
It is inevitable that some people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will still get a "breakthrough" infection because no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday.
BusinessReutersTexas oil pipelines face dry months as production languishes
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Nearly half of all oil pipelines from the Permian basin, the biggest U.S. oilfield, are expected to be empty by the end of the year, analysts and executives said. Pipeline companies went on a construction spree throughout 2018 and 2019 to handle blistering growth in U.S. crude production to a record 13 million barrels per day (bpd). Major pipeline companies are exploring ways to ship other products in those lines and considering selling stakes in operations to raise cash.
U.S.INSIDERThe judge in the Chauvin trial won't admit statements from Morries Hall, the passenger in George Floyd's car
Morries Hall has invoked his 5th Amendment right not to testify in Derek Chauvin's trial. The judge ruled against admitting statements Hall previously made to investigators at trial. The judge will rule Tuesday on whether Hall will be ordered to testify with limitations.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderPsaki says Biden 'does not spend his time tweeting conspiracy theories' after a GOP senator criticized the president's social-media use
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday defended Biden's communication style. Biden "does not spend his time tweeting conspiracy theories," Psaki said. The comments came after a GOP senator criticized Biden's use of social media.
“There’s no ‘both sides of the debate’ when it comes to active voter suppression.”
“Companies that do this ooze contempt for their own customers and employees who are not in the leftmost quarter of opinion.”
“The truth is that Fortune 500 companies were never taking moral stances from the goodness of their corporate hearts.”
“The truth is, the companies hold the cards…If companies stick to their guns, Georgia is likely to back down as well.”
“When a company folds to the unfounded outrage of a few misinformed nuts, they are forever at the mob’s beck-and-call.”