China reported the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases in more than 10 months, official data showed, due to a severe outbreak in the northeast that has put more than 28 million people under lockdown. A total of 144 new Covid-19 cases were reported on January 14, the National Health Commission said in a statement, up from 138 cases a day earlier and marking the highest daily increase since 202 cases were reported on March 1. To date, China has reported 87,988 confirmed cases with 4,635 deaths. The commission also said that over 1,000 people nationwide were being treated for Covid-19, a day after the country reported its first virus death since May. Twenty-six of them are in serious condition.
Iran test-fires long-range missiles
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards last week fired long-range ballistic missiles into the Indian Ocean on the second day of a military exercise, state media reported. The drill followed previous day's testing of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and locally manufactured new drones. Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami said with these missiles, which have a range of 1,800km, “we can now strike moving targets in the ocean”, instead of the usual low-speed cruise missiles. Chief of staff General Mohammad Baqeri said while Iran had “no offensive intentions”, it would now be able to “respond to any hostile act.” Meanwhile, the US imposed sanctions on companies in Iran, China and the UAE for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and on three Iranian entities over arms proliferation.
Fake US leg band gets pigeon a reprieve in Oz
A pigeon that Australia declared a biosecurity risk has received a reprieve after a US bird organisation declared its identifying leg band was fake. The band suggested the bird found in a Melbourne backyard on December 26 was a racing pigeon that had left Oregon, 13,000km away, two months earlier. Australia’s agriculture department said, “Joe the Pigeon (named after Joe Biden) is highly likely to be Australian.”
Dutch PM resigns, but in style
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte cycled over to the Royal Palace of Amsterdam on January 15 to offer the king his cabinet’s resignation, after investigations revealed thousands of child-welfare recipients had been wrongly accused of fraud. In a televised speech, Rutte told Dutch citizens that his government had failed the parents affected. “The rule of law must protect citizens from an all-powerful government, and that has gone horribly wrong here,” Rutte said. “At all levels, throughout the political-administrative-legal system, mistakes have been made that have resulted in great injustice to thousands of parents. But the political responsibility ultimately rests with the incumbent cabinet and nowhere else.” Rutte said the government’s priority would be financial compensation to the affected parents, and an overhaul of the country’s welfare systems. The prime minister said his government would continue in a “caretaker” role until elections take place in mid-March.
N Korea unveils sub-launched ballistic missile
A month before the US election, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, held a military parade that featured what appeared to be the country’s largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile. This week, just days before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the North Korean dictator held another parade, showing off a new submarine-launched ballistic missile. The timing has drawn attention to the diplomatic freeze between the two nations. This week’s parade came at the end of the eight-day congress held by North Korea’s Workers’ Party. The new type of submarine-launched missiles was larger than the ones previously tested. The North also displayed a variety of solid-fuel weapons designed to be fired from mobile land launchers, which potentially expand its capability to strike targets in South Korea and Japan, including US bases there.
Pope Francis, former Pope get Covid-19 vaccine
Both Pope Francis and former Pope Benedict have received the first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus, the Vatican said. The 84-year-old pope and the 93-year-old former pope, got their jabs as part of a Vatican vaccination programme that began last week. Both are vulnerable because of their age. Francis is perhaps more at risk because part of one of his lungs was removed following an illness when he was a young man. Pope Francis said at the weekend that everyone should get a jab. “It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others.”
Bibi removes pic with Trump from Twitter banner
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu dropped US President Trump from the banner photo of his Twitter account in an apparent break with a political ally. A photo of Netanyahu sitting next to Trump at a White House meeting had long taken pride of place on the official @netanyahu account, testimony to the conservative leader’s close ties with Trump. Last week, another photo showing Netanyahu being injected with the Covid vaccine, topped the page, along with the slogan for Israel’s inoculation campaign: “Citizens... we’re returning to life”. Netanyahu had kept the photo of his meeting with Trump on the site even after his defeat in the US election. No explanation was given on Netanyahu’s site for Trump’s disappearance.
Kuwait’s govt quits en masse, emir faces 1st big challenge
Kuwaiti ministers handed in their resignations to the PM last week, days after lawmakers submitted a motion asking to question the premier over issues including the makeup of the cabinet. PM Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah must submit the resignations to the OPEC member state’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, for approval. The resignation of the cabinet, formed on December 14, is the first political challenge for the new emir. In a parliament motion on January 5, MPs had questioned the PM on issues such as formation of a cabinet “not reflective” of poll results and allegations of government “interference” in electing the speaker and members of parliamentary committees.
Gorillas at US zoo test Covid +ve
As many as eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are presumed to have contracted Covid-19 from a human handler after one of the animals tested positive, marking the first known transmission of the virus to apes, zoo officials said. Three among the band of critically endangered western lowland gorillas at the sprawling wildlife park have shown symptoms of the respiratory virus, such as coughing, though none appears severely ill, and all are expected to fully recover. Previously, the virus has shown up in lions and pet dogs and cats.
US imposes sanctions on Ukrainians
The United States last week imposed sanctions on several Ukrainian individuals and entities, accusing them of US election interference and associating with a pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker linked to efforts by President Donald Trump's allies to dig up dirt on President-elect Joe Biden and his son. "Russian disinformation campaigns targeting American citizens are a threat to our democracy," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an ally of Trump who last week condemned the violence at the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, said in a statement. The US Treasury Department accused the seven individuals and four entities of involvement in a Russia-linked foreign influence network associated with Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach. The pro-Russian lawmaker was hit with sanctions by the US government in September over accusations he tried to interfere in the 2020 US election won by Biden.
US executes first female inmate in seven decades
The United States last week executed a woman in nearly seven decades, as Lisa Montgomery was administered a lethal injection in Terre Haute, Indiana. She is the eleventh person to die after President Donald Trump restarted federal executions after 17 years. Montgomery was found guilty of killing a pregnant woman. In 2004, Montgomery killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was 23 at the time and eight months pregnant with her first baby. The victim was a dog breeder whom Montgomery befriended online and expressed interest in buying one. Montgomery tole people that she was pregnant, a false claim since she had sterilized after giving birth to her fourth child. Montgomery strangled Stinnett with a rope following which the latter bled to death. Later, she cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife and took her away. When questioned by cops, she said that the newborn was hers but later admitted to the heinous crime. Fortunately, the baby survived, turning 16 last month.
Emergency declared in 7 Japanese prefectures
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in seven additional prefectures, including Osaka and Aichi, due to the spike in coronavirus infection in the country. Along with Tokyo, which came under a state of emergency last week, a total of 11 prefectures covering more than half of the country's population and around 60 per cent of its economy will remain under the measure through February 7. At the meeting of the government's coronavirus task force, Suga said he felt a "strong sense of crisis" and that outbreaks in urban areas must be contained and prevented from spreading to other parts of the country. Japan will take additional measures at the border to prevent imported infections, PM Suga said. However, people are urged to stay at home as much as possible.
Russian court orders 30-day jail for Navalny
A judge ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be jailed for 30 days, pending a trial, after a rushed court hearing inside a police station, in an extraordinary move by Russian authorities. A lawyer for Navalny, Vadim Kobzev, said he was notified of the hearing minutes before it started. According to a letter he posted online, the hearing was to take place not in a courtroom but at the police station in Khimki, where Navalny had been held since his arrest at a Moscow airport on his arrival. Several hours after the hearing began, Kobzev said that Navalny had been ordered jailed until February 15, pending trial on charges of violating the terms of an earlier suspended prison sentence. Russia’s prison service said he had violated the terms of a six-year-old suspended sentence while he was recuperating in Germany.
