Six In The Morning Friday 8 January 2021

 

Covid-19: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine works against UK, South African variants, study says

German company BioNTech said Friday a preliminary study shows that its vaccine works against a key mutation in coronavirus variants uncovered in Britain and South Africa which experts have said is more contagious than normal coronavirus strains.

Tests have shown that “antibodies from people who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine effectively neutralise SARS-CoV-2 with a key mutation that is also found in two highly transmissible strains,” said the German company of the vaccine it developed with US group Pfizer.

The B117 coronavirus, which emerged in southeast Britain late last year, has shown to be significantly more contagious—between 40-70 percent—than normal variants of the virus.

Hong Kong police release all but three of those held in crackdown

No one has yet been charged as some pro-democracy figures say they were arrested for political reasons

Helen Davidson in Taipei

@heldavidson

Fri 8 Jan 2021 10.36 GMT

Hong Kong authorities have released all but three people arrested in Wednesday’s unprecedented roundup of opposition figures.

Amid heated debate about the legal premise of the accusations against the group, police are yet to lay any charges.

The American lawyer John Clancey was the first to be released on bail pending further inquiries, less than 24 hours after the mass arrests of politicians, campaigners, and activists over accusations that their holding of a democratic poll violated the national security law (NSL) imposed by China’s government. By Friday afternoon, 51 others had joined him.

Czech Republic’s biggest crematorium is full due to Covid

The country recorded 17,773 cases on 7 January alone, the highest number for the second day in a row 

Bethany Dawson@bethanymrd

The Czech Republic’s biggest crematorium, in the northeastern city of Ostrava, has been overwhelmed by mounting numbers of pandemic victims.

All three cremation chambers are operating on a 24-hour basis, while storage capacity for caskets has been repeatedly boosted. But despite best efforts, the crematorium has continued to reach capacity, and now bodies are being transported to different crematoria, but there are fears that they too are close to full.

On 7 January, cars from funeral companies delivered caskets every few minutes, some with "COVID" written on them. These days, the crematorium receives more than 100 coffins daily, about double its maximum cremation capacity.

Is Frontex involved in illegal 'pushbacks' in the Balkans?

Refugees and migrants in Greece trying to reach western Europe have accused EU border protection agency Frontex of taking part in illegal deportations known as "pushbacks." DW reports.

Ali al-Ebrahim fled in 2018 from Manbij, a Syrian city that was under Kurdish control, to escape being forced to fight in the conflict.

Al-Ebrahim, now 22, first tried his luck in Turkey. When he arrived in Antakya, not far from the Syrian border, Turkish authorities took his details and sent him back home without citing any reasons, the young Syrian man says in very good English. He explains that this meant he was banned from legally entering Turkey again for five years.

Japanese approval of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine unlikely until May

By Rocky Swift

Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine is unlikely to win approval in Japan until May due to requirements for local clinical trials, the distributor said, casting doubt over a nationwide vaccination rollout before the summer Tokyo Olympics.

With an eye on the Olympics due to start in late July, Japan has secured rights to at least 540 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from several Western developers, the biggest quantity in Asia and more than enough for its 126 million population.

But Tokyo faces a major regulatory bottleneck due to requirements for local clinical trials before requesting approval. Several other countries have fast-tracked the review process to expedite mass inoculations.

Melania Trump and adult Trump children avoid the spotlight after one of nation's darkest days

By Kate Bennett, CNN

Updated 1510 GMT (2310 HKT) January 8, 2021

As thousands of pro-Trump supporters streamed into Washington, DC, Wednesday headed first to the Ellipse to hear President Donald Trump speak, and then to the United States Capitol to lay siege to the epicenter of American democracy, first lady Melania Trump was doing a photo shoot at the White House.

Professional lighting, the sort used for photography and videography, could be seen through the windows of the White House. "Photos were being taken of rugs and other items in the Executive Residence and the East Wing," a person familiar with the day's activities with the first lady told CNN. Trump -- who, as CNN has reported, has expressed interest in writing a coffee table book about decorative objects she has amassed and had restored in the White House -- was overseeing the photo project, said the source, with her remaining time in the White House dwindling.