Six In The Morning Sunday 24 January 2021

 

Biden's decrees vault America back onto the global stage. A whiplashed world wonders for how long

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Updated 0512 GMT (1312 HKT) January 24, 2021

Within hours of taking office, US President Joe Biden set to work signing a blizzard of executive orders, memorandums and directives to agencies, ranging from steps to combat the coronavirus to beginning the process of rejoining the Paris climate accord.

To the outside world, the powers of a US president to make sweeping changes with a stroke of his or her pen can seem bewildering. Every four or eight years, an incoming leader can upend the policies of his predecessor and leave international allies struggling to keep up.

Biden set a new record by signing 17 on his first day in office and he has plans to sign more. Some of them will have a significant impact beyond America's borders.

Chinese aircraft enter Taiwan’s air defence zone for second day

Escalation prompts US president, Joe Biden, to make first public remarks on relationship with Taipei

Michael Safi and agencies

 @safimichael

Sun 24 Jan 2021 13.53 GMT

Chinese bombers and fighter jets have entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone for the second day in a row in an unusual and provocative escalation of its military activities that has prompted the Joe Biden administration’s first public remarks on its relationship with Taipei.

Fifteen Chinese aircraft entered the Taiwanese defence zone on Sunday, Taiwan said, a day after 12 war planes including eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers entered the airspace between mainland Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea.

Rioters set fire to Dutch coronavirus testing centre as new curfew comes into effect

Riot police called in to help in Urk while thousands fined on first night of new curbs

Andy Gregory

A young crowd of rioters have burnt down a coronavirus testing centre in a conservative Dutch fishing village, as the first night of a nationwide curfew was met with a largely peaceful – but occasionally incendiary – response.

The angry mob was also accused of destroying police cars and pelting officers with bricks and fireworks in Urk, situated 50 miles northeast of Amsterdam, prompting the mayor to invoke emergency powers and call for riot police – who arrived after the crowd had been tamed.

Footage showed dozens of protesters at the village’s harbour as the new 9pm curfew came into effect, some blaring car and moped horns. While several fires appeared to have been lit, the largest was the blaze at a drive-through test centre, which was reduced to a burnt-out shell. 

Migrants Stranded in Bosnia-Herzegovina"Animals Have It Better Than Us"

With the EU having long since blocked off the Balkan Route, more and more migrants have become stranded in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Some have little choice but to camp out in the forest, where they are exposed to freezing cold and heavy snow.

By Maximilian Popp and Andy Spyra (Photos), in Bihać

Nasim Hussein has tried to enter the European Union 13 times. Each time, he says, he has been stopped by Croatian security forces, beaten and then dragged back across the border to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Currently, he is living in a forest near the border and wondering how he will survive the winter.

The son of a farmer from near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, the 21-year-old and a dozen other migrants have built a tent camp using branches and plastic tarps to shelter themselves from the rain and snow. They have covered the muddy ground with wooden palettes that they found in the garbage in Bihać, the city not far away.

US support for Taiwan ‘rock-solid’ as China again sends warplanes

Washington pledges to deepen ties with Taiwan after China sends large number of warplanes into island’s airspace.

Chinese air force planes including 12 fighter jets entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone for a second day, as tensions rise near the island just days into US President Joe Biden’s new administration.

After eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets flew into Taiwan’s defence zone on Saturday in the South China Sea, a further 15 flew into the same air space on Sunday.

80% of prefectural capitals fear shortfall of medical staff for vaccinations

KYODO, JIJI

Over 80% — or 38 of the 47 prefectural capitals — have raised concerns about whether they have enough doctors and nurses to vaccinate residents against the coronavirus as the nation prepares to start inoculations in late February, according to a Kyodo News survey.

In multiple answers, 30 capital cities cited securing vaccination sites such as gymnasiums as a major challenge for the planned vaccinations, the survey released Saturday showed.

As for other challenges, 18 referred to fiscal resources for vaccinations and 16 cited the difficulty in managing COVID-19 vaccines with freezers.

Five cities — Morioka, Toyama, Kofu, Kochi and Miyazaki — said they may have to delay the start of vaccinations.