| | | | | | Top news | | | How security failures enabled Trump mob to storm U.S. Capitol The bloody chaos inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday came after the police force that protects the legislative complex was overrun by a mob of Trump supporters in what law enforcement officials called a catastrophic failure to prepare.
World leaders expressed their shock as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building where Congress meets in an attempt to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election won by Joe Biden. | | Georgia delivers Senate to Democrats with Warnock, Ossoff wins Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda. | | | What you need to know about the coronavirus today | | | Chinese city of 11 million stops people leaving The capital and largest city in northern China's Hebei province barred people from leaving on Thursday as the country reported the biggest rise in daily infections in more than five months. Hebei accounted for 51 of the 52 local cases reported by the National Health Commission on Thursday. This compared with 20 cases reported in the province, which surrounds Beijing, a day earlier. Authorities in Shijiazhuang, home to 11 million people, have launched mass testing drives and banned gatherings.
Japan declared a limited state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, and three neighboring prefectures on Thursday, hoping that less-stringent curbs than imposed earlier will stamp out infections. The government said the one-month emergency would run from Friday to Feb. 7 in Tokyo and Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, covering about 30% of the country's population. Restrictions would center combating transmission in bars and restaurants, which the government says are main risk areas. The curbs are narrower in scope than those imposed in April under an emergency that ran to late May.
A field hospital in London will be used if necessary to relieve pressure on other hospitals in the city, the British health minister said on Thursday after leaked official documents suggested London risked running out of beds within two weeks. Projections leaked to the Health Service Journal showed that even if the number of COVID-19 patients increased at the lowest rate considered likely, London hospitals would be short of nearly 2,000 acute and intensive beds by Jan. 19.
Moderna's COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is likely to offer protection of up to a couple of years, its chief executive said on Thursday, even though more data is still needed to make a definitive assessment. The U.S. biotech company, which stunned the world last year by coming up with a vaccine against the disease caused by the new coronavirus in just a few weeks, received approval for its shot from the European Commission on Wednesday. Given vaccines development and pharmacovigilance usually requires years, the protection duration of COVID-19 shots is a lingering question for scientists and regulators. | | | | From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Food delivery, Tokyo, Bayer Delivery Hero is filling its pockets for a food fight and Bayer needs more than a Covid-19 vaccine to cure its financial ill health. Catch up with the latest financial insights. | | | | Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how. | | | | | | | | | world news | | | Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent democracy activists who is serving a 13-1/2-month jail sentence for illegal assembly, is suspected of violating the city’s national security law, according to a notice on his Facebook account. Wong, 24, gave a police statement on Thursday, the post said, without elaborating.
Washington may sanction those involved in the arrest of over 50 people in Hong Kong and will send the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to visit Taiwan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, drawing anger and the threat of retaliation from Beijing.
China said on Thursday that the United States will pay a “heavy price” for its wrongdoing, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it may sanction those involved in Hong Kong arrests and that the U.S.’ U.N. ambassador would visit Taiwan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would expand military capabilities to better defend the country, state media reported on Thursday, during a rare party congress as the country faces international sanctions and pressure. | | | | | | | | | | | Top Stories on Reuters TV | | | | | | | |