WASHINGTON: World leaders on Wednesday (Jan 6) expressed shock at the violent protesters who overran the US Congress and attempts to overturn the Nov 3 presidential election results which dealt a victory to Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Police in the US Capitol responded with drawn guns and tear gas as hundreds of protesters stormed in and sought to force Congress to undo President Donald Trump's election loss shortly after some of Trump's fellow Republicans launched a last-ditch effort to throw out the results.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a tweet described the scenes in the US Congress as a "disgrace", saying the United States stood for democracy around the world and that was it was "vital" now that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added in his own tweet: "The US rightly takes great pride in its democracy, and there can be no justification for these violent attempts to frustrate the lawful and proper transition of power."
EUROPEAN UNION
"In the eyes of the world, American democracy tonight appears under siege," the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted.
Calling the action an "assault on US democracy, its institutions and the rule of law", he added: "This is not America. The election results of Nov 3 must be fully respected."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said democracy's enemies would be cheered by scenes of violence at the United States Capitol, and he called on Trump to accept US voters' decision.
In a Tweet posted after protesters stormed the seat of the US legislature, Maas said the violence had been caused by inflammatory rhetoric. "Trump and his supporters must accept the decision of American voters at last and stop trampling on democracy."
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who is also the vice chancellor, likewise condemned the "disturbing images" from Washington.
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
RUSSIA
"Quite Maidan-style pictures are coming from DC," Russia's deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy posted on Twitter, referring to protests in Ukraine that toppled Russian-backed President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich in 2014.
"Some of my friends ask whether someone will distribute crackers to the protesters to echo Victoria Nuland stunt," he said, citing a 2013 visit to Ukraine when then-US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland offered food to protesters.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern about the violent scenes in Washington. "Obviously we're concerned and we're following the situation minute by minute," Trudeau told the News 1130 Vancouver radio station. "I think the American democratic institutions are strong, and hopefully everything will return to normal shortly."
Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Twitter: "Canada is deeply shocked by the situation in Washington DC. The peaceful transition of power is fundamental to democracy - it must continue and it will. We are following developments closely and our thoughts are with the American people."
US Capitol Police hold protesters at gun-point near the House Chamber inside the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo: AP/Andrew Harnik)
AUSTRALIA
Australian PM Scott Morrison condemned the "very distressing scenes" in the US.
"We condemn these acts of violence and look forward to a peaceful transfer of Government to the newly elected administration in the great American democratic tradition," he tweeted.
NEW ZEALAND
Jacinda Ardern tweeted: "Democracy - the right of people to exercise a vote, have their voice heard and then have that decision upheld peacefully should never be undone by a mob."
The prime minister added her country's thoughts were with everyone "devastated" by today's events, adding: "What is happening is wrong."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Twitter: "The violence against the American institutions is a grave attack on democracy. I condemn it. The will and the vote of the American people must be respected."
SPAIN
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet: "I am following with concern the news that are coming from Capitol Hill in Washington. I trust in the strength of America's democracy.
"The new Presidency of @JoeBiden will overcome this time of tension, uniting the American people."
NATO
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the violent protests in Washington "shocking scenes" and said the outcome of the democratic US election must be respected.
A supporter of US President Donald Trump wears a gas mask and holds a bust of him after he and hundreds of others stormed stormed the Capitol building AFP/ROBERTO SCHMIDT
THE NETHERLANDS
"Horrible images from Washington D.C. Dear @realDonaldTrump, recognise @JoeBiden as the next president today," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter.
The plain-speaking Rutte once during a visit to the White House in 2018 interrupted Trump with a loud "no" when Trump made an assertion about EU-US trade.
Irish premier Micheal Martin, who has invited the Irish-American Biden to visit his ancestral homeland early in his presidency, tweeted his condemnation.
"The Irish people have a deep connection with the United States of America, built up over many generations. I know that many, like me, will be watching the scenes unfolding in Washington DC with great concern and dismay," Martin said.
GREECE
"Extremely troubled by the violence and horrible events taking place in Washington D.C. American democracy is resilient, deeply rooted and will overcome this crisis," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a tweet.
Members of the National Guard assist police officers line up as they assist police in dispersing protesters who are gathering at the US Capitol Building on Jan 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP)
SWEDEN
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in a tweet described the incidents as "an attack on democracy". "President Trump and many members of Congress bear significant responsibility for what's now taking place. The democratic process of electing a president must be respected."
TURKEY
"We are following with concern the internal developments happening in the US," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We call on all parties in the US to maintain restrain and prudence. We believe the US will overcome this internal political crisis in a mature manner."
"This is an unacceptable assault on democracy. A peaceful and orderly transfer of power must be ensured," said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Twitter.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said in a tweet: "The looting and violence at the US Senate are not a good example for countries where democracy is fighting hard for a place in the sun. Given the emotions sparked by the US presidential election, we could expect today's session to be far from ordinary. Where were the police and the Senate bodyguards...?"
DENMARK
"Extremism, violence, polarization and violence is never the way forward. Terrible pictures from Washington. May democracy be brought back to working again," Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Facebook
SLOVENIA
Slovenia's right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who backed Trump and who has yet to congratulate Biden on his victory, tweeted: "All should be very troubled by the violence taking place in Washington D.C."
"We hope American democracy is resilient, deeply rooted and will overcome this crisis. Democracy presupposes peaceful protest, but violence and death threats -from Left or Right- are ALWAYS wrong."
FIJI
The prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama – who led a coup in 2006 and was accused of assaulting an opposition lawmaker in 2019 – added his condemnation.
"The violent scenes we saw in Washington today are an affront to democracies around the globe. True and genuine democracy is a precious treasure that no nation should ever take for granted," he tweeted.
WASHINGTON: Twitter on Wednesday (Jan 6) locked the account of President Donald Trump for 12 hours and threatened its permanent suspension, as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential elections amid riots at the US Capitol.
In a rapidly evolving sequence of events, Facebook later tweeted it would also block Trump's page from posting for 24 hours due to two policy violations. Facebook-owned Instagram said it would also block the president's account for 24 hours as well.
The response from social media came amid accusations the president was attempting a coup, with protesters storming the Capitol building seeking to derail the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.
The president and his allies have continuously spread unsubstantiated claims of election fraud that have proliferated online.
Twitter hid and required the removal of three of Trump's tweets "as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC".
If the tweets are not removed, the account would remain locked, Twitter said, meaning the president would be unable to tweet from @realDonaldTrump. His Twitter account is followed by about 88 million people.
Facebook and YouTube, owned by Alphabet's Google, also removed a video in which Trump continued to allege the presidential election was fraudulent even as he urged protesters to go home.
"This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video," Facebook vice president of integrity Guy Rosen said in a tweet.
"We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence."
It was also taken down from Instagram.
YouTube said Trump's video violated its policy against content that alleges "widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 US Election". YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo added the company does allow copies that include additional context.
"As the situation at the United States Capitol Building unfolds, our teams are working to quickly remove livestreams and other content that violates our policies, including those against incitement to violence or regarding footage of graphic violence," said YouTube spokesperson Alex Joseph.
Both Facebook and Twitter had originally added labels and measures to slow the video's spread.
Facebook subsequently said it would search for and remove content which praised the storming of the Capitol or encouraged the violence.
The massive social network said it would also seek to take down additional calls for protests, including peaceful ones, if they violate a curfew imposed by the city of Washington, or any attempts to "restage" the storming of Congress.
"The violent protests in the Capitol today are a disgrace," a Facebook spokesperson said.
"We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules."
Facebook maintained that it was in contact with law enforcement officials and continued to enforce bans on QAnon conspiracy group, militarised social movements, and hate groups.
A #StormTheCapitol hashtag was blocked at Facebook and Instagram, according to the Internet titan.
Earlier, dozens of Facebook staffers called for executives to clarify how they were handling Trump's posts, with some calling for his account to be taken down for inciting the violence at the Capitol, according to internal posts seen by Reuters.
"Can we get some courage and actual action from leadership in response to this behavior? Your silence is disappointing at the least and criminal at worst," one employee wrote.
Internal communications managers quickly closed comments on the threads, saying in identical posts that updates would be provided but "the priority right now is actively dealing with the ongoing situation".
According to researchers and public postings, violent rhetoric and advice on weaponry ramped up significantly in the past three weeks on many social media platforms as multiple groups planned rallies for Wednesday, including Trump supporters, white nationalists and enthusiasts of the wide-ranging conspiracy theory QAnon.
The Anti-Defamation League called for social media companies to suspend Trump's accounts permanently, saying the events at the Capitol resulted from "fear and disinformation that has been spewed directly from the Oval Office".
Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos tweeted: "Twitter and Facebook have to cut him off."
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WASHINGTON: Twitter on Wednesday (Jan 6) locked the account of President Donald Trump for 12 hours and threatened its permanent suspension, as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential elections amid riots at the US Capitol.
In a rapidly evolving sequence of events, Facebook later tweeted it would also block Trump's page from posting for 24 hours due to two policy violations. Facebook-owned Instagram said it would also block the president's account for 24 hours as well.
The response from social media came amid accusations the president was attempting a coup, with protesters storming the Capitol building seeking to derail the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.
The president and his allies have continuously spread unsubstantiated claims of election fraud that have proliferated online.
Twitter hid and required the removal of three of Trump's tweets "as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC".
If the tweets are not removed, the account would remain locked, Twitter said, meaning the president would be unable to tweet from @realDonaldTrump. His Twitter account is followed by about 88 million people.
Facebook and YouTube, owned by Alphabet's Google, also removed a video in which Trump continued to allege the presidential election was fraudulent even as he urged protesters to go home.
"This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video," Facebook vice president of integrity Guy Rosen said in a tweet.
"We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence."
It was also taken down from Instagram.
YouTube said Trump's video violated its policy against content that alleges "widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 US Election". YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo added the company does allow copies that include additional context.
"As the situation at the United States Capitol Building unfolds, our teams are working to quickly remove livestreams and other content that violates our policies, including those against incitement to violence or regarding footage of graphic violence," said YouTube spokesperson Alex Joseph.
Both Facebook and Twitter had originally added labels and measures to slow the video's spread.
Facebook subsequently said it would search for and remove content which praised the storming of the Capitol or encouraged the violence.
The massive social network said it would also seek to take down additional calls for protests, including peaceful ones, if they violate a curfew imposed by the city of Washington, or any attempts to "restage" the storming of Congress.
"The violent protests in the Capitol today are a disgrace," a Facebook spokesperson said.
"We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules."
Facebook maintained that it was in contact with law enforcement officials and continued to enforce bans on QAnon conspiracy group, militarised social movements, and hate groups.
A #StormTheCapitol hashtag was blocked at Facebook and Instagram, according to the Internet titan.
Earlier, dozens of Facebook staffers called for executives to clarify how they were handling Trump's posts, with some calling for his account to be taken down for inciting the violence at the Capitol, according to internal posts seen by Reuters.
"Can we get some courage and actual action from leadership in response to this behavior? Your silence is disappointing at the least and criminal at worst," one employee wrote.
Internal communications managers quickly closed comments on the threads, saying in identical posts that updates would be provided but "the priority right now is actively dealing with the ongoing situation".
According to researchers and public postings, violent rhetoric and advice on weaponry ramped up significantly in the past three weeks on many social media platforms as multiple groups planned rallies for Wednesday, including Trump supporters, white nationalists and enthusiasts of the wide-ranging conspiracy theory QAnon.
The Anti-Defamation League called for social media companies to suspend Trump's accounts permanently, saying the events at the Capitol resulted from "fear and disinformation that has been spewed directly from the Oval Office".
Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos tweeted: "Twitter and Facebook have to cut him off."
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WASHINGTON - The Democratic Party retook control of the US Senate on Wednesday (Jan 6) with historic victories in two Georgia run-off elections.
Democrat Raphael Warnock, a 51-year-old pastor of civil rights giant Martin Luther King Jr’s former congregation, will become Georgia’s first Black senator with his defeat of Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler.
Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff, meanwhile, saw off Republican opponent David Perdue. At 33, he will be Georgia’s first Jewish senator and the country’s youngest since President-elect Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1973 at age 30.
The results were a stunning turnaround from November, when both Democrats polled slightly behind the Republicans.
It could also signal a rejection of US President Donald Trump, who personally campaigned in Georgia for the Republican senators, and his politics of division and strategy of falsely alleging electoral fraud. He doubled down on Tuesday as Mr Warnock’s victory became likely, claiming without evidence on Twitter that the election was rigged against Republicans.
Mr Warnock paid tribute to his mother, remarking on the improbability of his journey made possible “because this is America”, as he promised to work for all Georgians.
“The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a US senator,” he said in a late-night video message to supporters.
In flipping the Senate, the Democrats will have unified control of Congress and the White House for the first time since 2009, albeit by the narrowest of majorities.
Both the Democrats and Republicans will have 50 seats in the Senate with Mr Ossoff's win, giving Vice-President Kamala Harris the tiebreaker vote.
The narrow results will almost certainly spark legal challenges or recounts that also could delay a final determination of Senate control, according to newswire service Bloomberg.
Mr Raphael Warnock will be Georgia's first black senator. PHOTO: AFP Ms Loeffler campaigning in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on Jan 5, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS
Washington, meanwhile, had been braced for high drama on Wednesday with Congress meeting to count and announce Mr Biden’s 306 to 232 electoral college win over Mr Trump.
The House of Representatives and Senate met in a constitutionally prescribed joint session starting at 1pm to count the electoral votes, all of which have been lawfully certified by the states.
The count had already begun when Trump supporters, who had earlier been listening to a speech by the US President, marched to the US Capitol, overturning barricades and clashing with police on the US Capitol grounds before streaming inside the building.
With drawn guns and tear gas, officers evacuated lawmakers, staff and press and sought to clear the Capitol Building of protesters, who surged through the halls of Congress in shocking scenes broadcast across the globe, said Reuters.
One protester occupied the Senate dais and yelled: “Trump won that election.”
Police later cleared protesters off the Capitol steps, according to video, and were working to clear them from the building, Reuters said.
Vice-President Mike Pence, who had presided over the joint session of Congress, had already been escorted from the Senate.
Mr Pence, as president of the Senate, had been presiding over a roll call of the 50 states and Washington DC. Sealed certificates from each state, containing its electoral votes, were to be opened and officially counted.
If at least one senator and one member of the House of Representatives object to a state’s results, both chambers will separately debate the objection and vote on whether to sustain it. To overturn a result, the House and the Senate must agree by a simple majority vote to do so.
Supporters holding campaign signs for Senate candidates near a polling location in Marietta, Georgia, on Jan 5, 2021. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
So far, 13 Republican senators and around 140 Congressmen had said they will object to results, likely in at least six states that Mr Biden won: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
But 23 Republican senators had said they would not join the objections, which are all but certain to fail, given the Democrats’ control of the House.
WASHINGTON: World leaders on Wednesday (Jan 6) expressed shock at the violent protesters who overran the US Congress and attempts to overturn the Nov 3 presidential election results which dealt a victory to Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Police in the US Capitol responded with drawn guns and tear gas as hundreds of protesters stormed in and sought to force Congress to undo President Donald Trump's election loss shortly after some of Trump's fellow Republicans launched a last-ditch effort to throw out the results.
Here are reactions from around the world:
SWEDEN
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in a tweet described the incidents as "an attack on democracy". "President Trump and many members of Congress bear significant responsibility for what's now taking place. The democratic process of electing a president must be respected."
UNITED KINGDOM
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a tweet described the scenes in the US Congress as a "disgrace", saying the United States stood for democracy around the world and that was it was "vital" now that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
GERMANY
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said democracy's enemies would be cheered by scenes of violence at the United States Capitol, and he called on Trump to accept US voters' decision.
In a Tweet posted after protesters stormed the seat of the US legislature, Maas said the violence had been caused by inflammatory rhetoric. "Trump and his supporters must accept the decision of American voters at last and stop trampling on democracy."
RUSSIA
"Quite Maidan-style pictures are coming from DC," Russia's deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy posted on Twitter, referring to protests in Ukraine that toppled Russian-backed President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich in 2014.
"Some of my friends ask whether someone will distribute crackers to the protesters to echo Victoria Nuland stunt," he said, citing a 2013 visit to Ukraine when then-US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland offered food to protesters.
NATO
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the violent protests in Washington "shocking scenes" and said the outcome of the democratic US election must be respected.
SPAIN
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet: "I am following with concern the news that are coming from Capitol Hill in Washington. I trust in the strength of America's democracy.
"The new Presidency of @JoeBiden will overcome this time of tension, uniting the American people."
CANADA
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern about the violent scenes in Washington. "Obviously we're concerned and we're following the situation minute by minute," Trudeau told the News 1130 Vancouver radio station. "I think the American democratic institutions are strong, and hopefully everything will return to normal shortly."
Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne on Twitter: "Canada is deeply shocked by the situation in Washington DC. The peaceful transition of power is fundamental to democracy - it must continue and it will. We are following developments closely and our thoughts are with the American people."
TURKEY
Turkey's foreign ministry issued a statement expressing concern about the violence and called for calm and common sense while urging its citizens to avoid crowds and the protest area.
FRANCE
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Twitter: "The violence against the American institutions is a grave attack on democracy. I condemn it. The will and the vote of the American people must be respected."
3:45 a.m. Peru has negotiated a deal withChina's Sinopharm to receive 1 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine by January, Reuters reports, citing President Francisco Sagasti.
3:20 a.m. At least five U.S. states have detected a a roughly 70% more contagious coronavirus variant that has spread rapidly in the U.K., the director of the National Institutes of Health tells the Washington Post.
"I would be surprised if that number doesn't grow pretty rapidly," Francis Collins says in an interview.
"Fortunately, [the variant] doesn't seem to be more severe for people who get infected, but it just means there's more risk of more people getting infected," Collins adds.
1:59 a.m. The Chinese automobile market shrank by only 1.9% last year, with economic stimulus softening the blow of the coronavirus, new estimates show.
About 25 million new vehicles were sold in 2020 in the world's largest auto market, led by commercial vehicles, according to preliminary numbers from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
This marks the third straight annual decline, but sales have beaten year-earlier numbers for nine straight months through December, the estimates show.
Japanese automakers have been among the biggest winners in China's post-COVID recovery, with Honda Motor notching its second consecutive annual sales record.
1:15 a.m. Need more information about Japan's impending state of emergency? Read Nikkei Asia's updated Five Things to Know.
Wednesday, Jan. 6
11:45 p.m. The Europe Union's drug regulator has approved Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second shot against the coronavirus cleared for use in the bloc.
The move comes as Europe faces the spread of new, more infectious variants of the virus.
A Spanish genetics laboratory has found a more highly transmissible variant in patients with no known travel to the U.K., where it was first detected, the Financial Times reports.
9:10 p.m. Japan's daily case count, reported earlier to have surpassed 5,000 for the first time, has in fact exceeded 6,000 on Wednesday -- underscoring the severity of the situation as the government prepares to declare a state of emergency.
8:00 p.m. China plays down an apparent delay in authorizing a visit by World Health Organization inspectors, Reuters reports, saying there was no need to "overinterpret" the situation. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says there was a "misunderstanding" that dates in January had been agreed upon, and that the two sides "remain in close communication." On Tuesday, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said he was "very disappointed" that China had yet to authorize the probe into the origins of COVID-19.
7:30 p.m. Indonesia's highest Muslim clerical council aims to rule on whether COVID-19 vaccines are halal, before inoculations with a Chinese shot start on Jan. 13, Reuters reports. The question of whether vaccines are permissible under Islamic law has been controversial in the past. According to the report, the Indonesian Ulema Council declared a measles vaccine forbidden in 2018.
6:33 p.m. Indonesia's daily coronavirus cases reach a new high of 8,854, with 187 new deaths. The country's totals now stand at 788,402 cases with 23,296 deaths. A government official on Wednesday says total deaths include over 500 health workers.
6:15 p.m. Japan's stock market is heading toward a repeat performance of last spring as the country prepares for another COVID-triggered state of emergency, expected to be announced on Thursday, nine months to the day since the central government issued its initial "soft lockdown."
Investors have spent the week rushing to sell stocks in sectors like transportation, retail, food and beverage, likely to be negatively impacted by the state of emergency, which is initially expected to last a month, covering Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama.
6:10 p.m. Daily cases in Japan reach a record of at least 5,000. Tokyo and Osaka recorded daily highs of 1,591 and 560 respectively. The spread of the infection is seen to be accelerating.
5:20 p.m. Pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca has applied to health regulators for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philppines, the drug agency chief says. AstraZeneca's application is the second the Philippine Food and Drug Administration has received; Pfizer made a similar application last month.
4:31 p.m. Thai Union Group, the world's largest canned tuna processor, confirmed on Wednesday that 69 employees at factories in Samut Sakhon Province have tested positive for COVID-19, putting Thailand's biggest seafood production center at risk at a time when hundreds of other cases have been found at neighboring companies.
4:04 p.m. India is ready to roll out two COVID-19 vaccines within 10 days of Jan. 3, when its drug regulator gave emergency use approval to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and a homegrown one from Bharat Biotech, the Health Ministry says.
3:55 p.m. Japan's capital recorded 1,591 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced, a new daily high.
3:37 p.m. Indonesia will impose two weeks of increased coronavirus restrictions in parts of its most populous island of Java from next Monday and on the resort island of Bali to support hospitals and reduce fatality rates, a minister said on Wednesday.
The chief economic minister, Airlangga Hartarto, said the measures include changes to opening hours for malls and limited capacity at restaurants and places of worship.
3:24 p.m. Honda Motor is offering voluntary retirement to a section of employees at its motorcycle and scooter unit in India, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI), amid slowing demand in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a company letter to its employees' union dated Jan. 5.
2:30 p.m. Embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is facing renewed pressure within his ruling coalition, fueling talk of a snap election relatively soon after the country begins its expected COVID-19 vaccine rollout next month.
2:14 p.m. Tokyo has posted a record high of more than 1,500 infections, Nikkei has learned. The central government is expected to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and neighboring prefectures on Thursday. The previous daily high for the capital was 1,337 infections on Dec. 31.
People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo on Jan. 3. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
2:01 p.m. India reports 18,088 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 16,375 the previous day. But the figure remained below the 20,000-mark for the fifth consecutive day, bringing the country's total to 10.37 million. Deaths jumped by 264 to 150,114.
1:53 p.m. President Joko Widodo says Indonesia will roll out 5.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to a number of regions this month and over 23 million more by March. Widodo claims the country has secured orders for a total of 329.5 million doses of vaccines -- including from AstraZeneca, Novavax and Pfizer. Indonesia is set to begin vaccinating its population next week.
11:13 a.m. Thailand's central bank, when it kept its benchmark rate at a record low last month, saw a need to preserve some room for using monetary policy at the most effective time, minutes from its last policy meeting showed on Wednesday.
The situation related to the latest wave of coronavirus infections remained highly uncertain and the country's economic projection would be substantially affected if new cases surge, the minutes said.
10:36 a.m. Chinese authorities are stepping up efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, seeking to avoid another wave of the pandemic amid a rise in locally transmitted cases near Beijing.
The province surrounding Beijing, Hebei, on Tuesday entered a "wartime mode" after reporting its first local infections in more than six months. The province will set up investigation teams to trace the close contacts of those who have tested positive.
10:10 a.m. South Korea reports 839 daily cases, up from 715 a day ago. Total infections reach 65,818, with 1,027 deaths. The government will pay the third disaster subsidies to owners of small businesses next week. Many shops have been forced to close or do limited business.
8:50 a.m. Australia will bring forward its COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans by two weeks to early March, health authorities said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to contain fresh cases in its two largest cities.
Australia has repeatedly resisted pressure to expedite its vaccination distribution timetable, citing a low number of coronavirus cases in the country as a whole although new clusters in Sydney and Melbourne have sparked fears of a wider outbreak.
7:53 a.m. Millions more doses of coronavirus vaccine will reach vaccination centers within days in the U.K., The Times reported, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that almost a quarter of citizens over age 80 had been given a dose.
7:16 a.m. Airlines flying into the U.K. will be required to bar passengers from boarding if they do not have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure, the Telegraph reported late on Tuesday.
Every traveler coming into any U.K. port or airport will be expected to have a negative PCR test, part of a significant toughening of border controls, the report added.
6:20 a.m. Scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc. may take about two months to determine whether doses of the company's COVID-19 vaccine can be halved to double the supply of the shots in the U.S., according to the agency.
The news comes as the country grapples with a surge in cases, with the number of vaccinations falling far short of early targets.
The U.S. government has been considering the move to require just one dose for Moderna's vaccine in order to vaccinate more people.
The New York Times first reported on the development, citing an interview with Dr. John Mascola, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH.
4:04 a.m. The state of emergency expected to be declared Thursday for Tokyo and neighboring areas is likely to last for some time based on the Japanese government's criteria for ending its decree.
The planned emergency covering Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba will be lifted in any given area as its outbreak drops below the most severe level in Japan's four-stage scale. That scale is based on six indicators including hospital bed capacity, test positivity rates and cases without a traceable route of transmission.
Japan expects the decree, which will help local authorities restrict economic and social activity, to last about a month. But bringing the outbreak under sufficient control may take longer in Tokyo, where new cases have skyrocketed.
3:42 a.m. Macao's casino revenue plunged 79% in 2020 as tough entry restrictions to combat COVID-19 kept visitors away, bringing into relief the strong dependence on gamblers from mainland China, new data shows.
Gross revenue came to 60.4 billion pataca ($7.6 billion) in statistics from the Macao government. The figure declined for a second straight year, hitting a 14-year low.
2:50 a.m. The head of the World Health Organization expresses frustration over China's lack of approval for a international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
"Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permissions for the team's arrival in China," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.
"I am very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute," Tedros added.
The WHO chief says he has been in contact with "senior Chinese officials" to make clear "that the mission is a priority for the WHO and the international team."
"I have been assured that China is speeding up the international procedure for the earliest possible deployment."
2:30 a.m. People should take two doses of the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine within a period of 21 to 28 days, the head of the World Health Organization's immunization advisory group says.
"We deliberated and came out with the following recommendation: two doses of this vaccine within 21 to 28 days," Alejandro Cravioto, chairman of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, told an online news briefing.
1:46 a.m. Goldman Sachs Group expects to have all its staff members back at their offices by the end of the year, CEO David Solomon tells Bloomberg Television.
1:37 a.m. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures touch a 10-month high of over $50 a barrel on speculation that OPEC and other producer nations will hold off on reversing output cuts in February.
Tuesday, Jan. 5
11:15 p.m. Bars and restaurants that agree to shorten business hours to stop the spread of the coronavirus "need real support," says Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Japanese beverage group Suntory Holdings.
Niinami tells reporters he expects sales of alcohol to bars and restaurants in Japan to hit bottom in February. How soon the sector recovers will depend on the country's COVID-19 vaccination program, the CEO adds. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who has pushed to speed up access to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, has said the first vaccines will be distributed in late February.
"If the government lays out a plan soon for when and how many people will receive [the vaccine,] some store owners will decide to tough it out because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Niinami says.
10:43 p.m. Vietnam has decided to halt flights from countries that have detected new COVID-19 variants, starting with Britain and South Africa, local media report.
The move comes ahead of a Communist Party congress -- the country's most important political event -- held every five years to choose new leadership and set economic goals.
9:00 p.m. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has canceled a planned trip to India later this month, citing the need to oversee the pandemic response at home. "The prime minister spoke to [Indian] Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
8:20 p.m. Daily cases in Japan reach a record of at least 4,800. Prefectures such as Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, which share borders with Tokyo, recorded daily highs. Twelve municipalities in western Japan have urged citizens not to travel to and from Tokyo and the three prefectures.
7:24 p.m. Israel's health ministry has authorized a vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Moderna, the company and an Israeli official say, marking the vaccine's third regulatory authorization and the first outside North America. The government has secured 6 million doses, and first deliveries are expected to begin this month, Moderna says.
6:13 p.m. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha says his country has ordered an additional 35 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, bringing its total pipeline to 63 million doses. The country aims to inoculate at least half of its 70 million people.
5:00 p.m. Indonesia will begin a mass vaccination program on Jan. 13, the country's health minister says. The government has previously said 1.3 million frontline workers are to be among the first to receive vaccine shots from China's Sinovac Biotech. Indonesia, a country of more than 265 million, has received 3 million doses.
4:30 p.m. At Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, the highest bid at the ceremonial first auction of the new year was 20.84 million yen ($202,000), one-tenth of last year's high price as the pandemic, social distancing and restrictions on restaurants dampened enthusiasm for big bluefin.
A bluefin from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, won this year's highest price at the Toyosu fish market in Tokyo on Jan. 5.
3:14 p.m. Tokyo confirms 1,278 infections, marking the second-highest daily tally, as the capital struggles to cope with a rising number of patients in hospitals. Tokyo and neighboring prefectures asked the central government to declare a state of emergency after the capital posted a record high of 1,337 infections on Dec. 31.
2:30 p.m. Thailand confirms 527 new infections and ramped up restrictions in five provinces deemed high-risk. The new cases include 439 in a cluster of migrant workers in the province of Samut Sakhon, near Bangkok.
2:04 p.m. India reports 16,375 cases in the last 24 hours -- staying below 20,000 for the fourth consecutive day and marking the lowest daily rise in more than six months -- bringing the country total to 10.36 million. Fatalities rose by 201 to 149,850 in what was the lowest single-day increase in deaths in over seven months. Of the total cases, 2.23% are active while 96.32% of patients have recovered. The country's COVID-19 mortality rate stands at 1.45%.
12:32 p.m. The Japanese government has begun considering suspending new entries of foreign nationals under business travel agreements with 11 countries and regions, including China and South Korea, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
12:20 p.m. Japan's top-ranked sumo wrestler Hakuho, who is from Mongolia, has tested positive for COVID-19, the nation's sumo association says.
11:00 a.m. A vaccine candidate from Chinese company Stemirna Therapeutics is approved for human testing by China's medical products regulator, Stemirna's partner says. The potential vaccine -- which Stemirna has been working on since January last year -- is based on messenger RNA technology, partner Tibet Rhodiola Pharma, said in a filing. The technology is also used in vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
10:40 a.m. Mexico's health regulator Cofepris approves the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard says. "The emergency approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine by Cofepris is very good news," Ebrard wrote on Twitter. "With this, production will start soon in Mexico."
10:02 a.m. South Korea reports 715 new cases, down from 1,020 a day ago. Total infections reach 64,979 with 1,007 deaths.
9:20 a.m. China reports 33 cases for Monday, matching the count from the previous day, of which 16 were from overseas. Of the remaining cases, 14 were found in Hebei Province, two in Liaoning Province and one in Beijing.
6:01 a.m. The so-called U.K. strain of the coronavirus, which has raised alarm for its rapid spread in England, has reportedly been detected in another part of the U.S.
A man in New York state has tested positive for COVID-19, and the virus was shown to be the new, more infectious variant, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says.
The man is described as being in his 60s, living in Saratoga County north of New York City and having no recent travel history. This suggests he was infected with the variant within the local community, Cuomo says.
5:15 a.m. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a new England lockdown "tough enough" to stop a new COVID-19 variant.
"As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic," Johnson says.
"With most of the country already under extreme measures, it's clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out."
The lockdown takes effect Wednesday.
5:00 a.m. Brazil makes a diplomatic push to guarantee an Indian-made shipment of British drugmaker AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, hoping to avoid export restrictions that could delay immunizations during the world's second-deadliest outbreak.
4:49 a.m. Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine will become available in Japan by late February, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says, after his office went ahead of health bureaucrats to engage in direct negotiations with the U.S. drugmaker.
Suga's remarks are a rare comment by a prime minister on the timing of a vaccine in Japan, whose cautious health ministry is regarded as slow to adopt new inoculations by international standards. The COVID-19 shot developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech is already being distributed in the U.K., the U.S. and other countries.
3:50 a.m. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has administered over 4.5 million initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Monday morning, with more than 15 million doses distributed.
2:45 a.m. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is poised to announce a new coronavirus lockdown for all of England similar to the one imposed when the pandemic hit the country in March, the BBC reports.
2:20 a.m. U.S. stocks are falling amid concerns that COVID-19 vaccinations have been too slow to halt the spread of the coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 600 points.
In a sign of frustration over the speed of the rollout, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatens fines against hospitals that do not administer COVID-19 vaccines within a week of receiving their allotments.
Such hospitals may also be barred from receiving new supplies of the shot, the governor tells a news conference.
Meanwhile, shares in workplace software developer Slack are down more than 1% after the company's namesake app -- a mainstay for many teleworkers -- suffers a widespread outage on the first Monday of 2021.
Monday, Jan. 4
11:15 p.m. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government is poised to declare a state of emergency for the second time in the COVID-19 pandemic, acting as soon as Thursday to combat surging cases in the Tokyo area.
The emergency would cover the capital as well as the neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba and is expected to last roughly a month.
In other developments, Tokyo and surrounding areas will call on residents to stay indoors after 8 p.m. Bars and restaurants will be told to close at the same time, but schools will remain open
Japan reports 3,302 new COVID-19 cases as of 8 p.m. Monday, more than one-third of which were in Tokyo and the surrounding three prefectures.
8:39 p.m. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has commended his security detail for their "loyalty and courage" in inoculating themselves with unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, his spokesman Harry Roque says, as some lawmakers called their actions illegal. The military detail broke no laws when they administered the COVID-19 vaccines to themselves, he says, adding, "We thank you for your loyalty and courage," quoting Duterte.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has commended his security detail for their "loyalty and courage" in inoculating themselves with unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines. (Photo courtesy of Presidential Communications Operations Office of the Philippines)
8:31 p.m. The European Commission is in discussions with Pfizer and BioNTech about the possibility of ordering more doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, in addition to the 300 million shots already covered under an existing contract, a spokesperson says.
8:26 p.m. Ireland's hospitals cannot manage as COVID-19 cases surge and will cancel most nonurgent procedures this week to create as much spare critical care space as possible, its hospitals' chief says.
7:23 p.m. Current social distancing measures in Hong Kong will be extended to Jan. 20, as the city continues to grapple with the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, with 53 new cases recorded on Monday. Public gatherings of more than two people have been banned and restaurant dine-in services after 6 p.m. are no longer allowed.
Meanwhile, retail sales in Hong Kong fell 25.3% during the first 11 months last year, marking the steepest drop on record.
7:17 p.m. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is asking residents to refrain from nonurgent, nonessential outings after 8 p.m. as the coronavirus infection rate continues to grow in the Japanese capital. It also says restaurants would have to close by 8 p.m. from Friday until at least the end of the month.
6:49 p.m. The local government of Thailand's capital Bangkok will start prohibiting restaurants from serving dinner indoors from Tuesday until further notice. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has decided to only allow restaurants to operate for takeaways between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
6:30 p.m. Singapore says its police will be able to use data obtained by its coronavirus contact-tracing technology for criminal investigations, a decision likely to increase privacy concerns around the system.
6:27 p.m. Hong Kong keeps schools closed until mid-February, as authorities said the coronavirus situation in the Asian financial hub remains "critical." Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said all kindergartens and schools would suspend face-to-face teaching until after the Lunar New Year holiday which ends on Feb. 15.
6:17 p.m. Indonesia's mass vaccination program is set to start next week, a senior minister says, pending authorization from the country's food and drug agency, as about 700,000 doses of vaccines have already been widely distributed.
6:13 p.m. Cambodia reopens schools and museums as it relaxes a six-week lockdown following a coronavirus outbreak late last year. By contrast, some neighboring countries are facing new restrictions due to rising COVID-19 cases.
6:00 p.m. Scientists are not fully confident that COVID-19 vaccines will work on a new variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa, according to ITV, a British independent broadcaster, citing an unidentified scientific adviser to the British government.
5:03 p.m. Britain begins inoculating its citizens with the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine against COVID-19, giving the shot to Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, at a hospital a few hundred meters away from where the vaccine was developed.
A vial of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is displayed at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Britain, on Jan. 2. South Korea says AstraZeneca has filed an application for approval in the country.
4:53 p.m. Singapore will consider relaxing travel restrictions for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the government's virus taskforce says.
4:44 p.m. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha says Thailand should take delivery of 200,000 doses of China's Sinovac Biotech vaccine by February. Thailand, which aims to inoculate at least half of its 70 million population, has ordered two million doses from Sinovac in total. Senior officials say the country will have the capacity to produce 200 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine a year locally.
4:38 p.m. President Joko Widodo of Indonesia announces a total of 110 trillion rupiah ($7.8 billion) in aid relief this year for at least 38.8 million low-income households in Indonesia in the forms of cash handouts and food staple packages.
3:09 p.m. Tokyo reports 884 new infections in the city on Monday. The number of patients in serious condition increased by seven to 108, the most since the pandemic began. The capital on Thursday recorded its highest number of cases, 1,337.
2:36 p.m. AstraZeneca has filed an application for approval in South Korea of the coronavirus vaccine it developed with Oxford University, the country's drug safety ministry says in a statement. The ministry said it is aiming for emergency use approval in 40 days. That would the first such acceptance by the country, which is struggling to contain the latest wave of infections. South Korea signed a deal with AstraZeneca in December, and the first shipment is expected as early as this month.
2:08 p.m. Vietnam has agreed to buy 30 million doses of the vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca, the government says, adding that authorities are also seeking to purchase vaccines from other sources, including Pfizer. "We've already signed an agreement to guarantee the AstraZeneca vaccine for 15 million people, which is equivalent to 30 million doses," deputy health minister Truong Quoc Cuong told a government meeting.
1:48 p.m. India reports 16,504 cases in the last 24 hours, down from 18,177 the previous day, bringing the country total to 10.34 million. Deaths jumped 214 to 149,649.
1:12 p.m. Indonesia's inflation rate rose for a fourth straight month in December but remained below the central bank's target range. December's consumer price index rose 1.68% year on year, compared with a 1.61% rate expected in a Reuters poll. Bank Indonesia's target range for 2020 and 2021 is 2% to 4%.
1:01 p.m. Indian shares hit record highs on Monday to start the first trading week of the new year, after the country gave emergency use approvals to two coronavirus vaccines over the weekend, lifting investor sentiment.The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.5% to 14,087.95 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.43% to 48,077.13.
12:51 p.m. Australia's most populous state of New South Wales reports no local cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battles multiple outbreaks and authorities urge tens of thousands of people to get tested.
10:46 a.m. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government is preparing to declare a state of emergency as early as this week, aiming to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, Nikkei learned on Monday.
10:39 a.m. Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average tumbled in early morning trading on Monday, at one point falling over 400 points, or 1.5%. Concerns over the country's rising infections and reports about the possibility of a new emergency weighed on investor sentiment and pulled the index off highs not seen in 30 years.
10:15 a.m. South Korea reports 1,020 cases, up from 657 a day ago, bringing the country total to 64,264 with 981 deaths. The government extended social distancing restrictions in greater Seoul for two more weeks until Jan. 17 as the capital struggles to contain a third coronavirus wave.
9:03 a.m. Singapore's gross domestic product shrank 3.8% in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, according to preliminary data released on Monday, marking the fourth straight quarterly decline amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
6:51 a.m. The U.S. government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in order to speed vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday.
5:33 a.m. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and several cabinet members on Sunday debated declaring a state of emergency while also exploring less drastic options, such as punishing noncompliant businesses, frustrating a capital city seeking swift, blanket action as cases rise.
Sunday, Jan. 3
7:00 p.m. The governors of Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures on Saturday called on the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency to combat the surging coronavirus.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, Saitama Gov. Motohiro Ono, Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa and Chiba Gov. Kensaku Morita issued the request to Yasutoshi Nishimura, the government's coronavirus point man, during a meeting that lasted for over three hours.
4:42 p.m. India's drugs regulator on Sunday gave final approval for the emergency-use of two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech.
11:42 a.m. The coronavirus pandemic has driven thousands out of Tokyo to its suburbs as working from home becomes the new normal.
About 28,000 people moved out of Tokyo in November 2020, up 19% from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The net number of people who moved out -- the number who moved out minus those who moved in -- was about 4,000 in November.
Saturday, Jan. 2
7:33 p.m. India has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, paving the way for a huge immunization campaign in the world's second most populous country.
4:52 p.m. South Korea will expand a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to include the whole country, and extend unprecedented social distancing rules in Seoul and neighboring areas until Jan. 17, the health minister said on Saturday.
10:30 a.m. U.S. coronavirus cases crossed the 20 million mark on Friday as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant surfaces in Colorado, California and Florida.
