The number of North Korean ships in the country's "dark fleet" fishing for squid plummeted in 2020, new data shows, depriving the impoverished country of a popular staple during a year when food supply was already dangerously low. [...]

Analysis: The China trade war is one thing Joe Biden won't be rushing to fix

US President Joe Biden is inheriting a tense and messy relationship with China from his predecessor. [...]

EU and US call for probe into Uganda election violence as Bobi Wine remains under house arrest

The European Union has joined a growing number of international voices calling for a probe into Ugandan election abuses and violence that left more than 40 people dead in the lead up to the polls. [...]

UAE: 84,919 residents vaccinated in last 24 hours

The UAE's vaccine administration rates are just second behind Israel globally. [...]

UAE approves Russia's Sputnik vaccine for emergency use

Sputnik V is a Russian human adenovirus-based vaccine. [...]

UAE reports 3,529 Covid cases, 3,901 recoveries, 4 deaths

The new cases were detected through additional 163,285 tests. [...]

Just in: Five dead in India vaccine plant fire: CEO mourns ‘loss of life’

MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Five people died as a fire tore through a building in the world’s biggest vaccine production hub in western India Thursday, officials said. “Five people have died,” Pune city mayor Murlidhar Mohol told reporters following the fire at the Serum Institute of India. Rescue workers discovered five bodies in the under-construction building after the blaze was brought under control, media reports said, but the company insisted its production of drugs to […] [...]

Magnitute 7.1 quake hits waters off Davao Occidental

(Eagle News) – A magnitude 7.1 quake hit waters off Davao Occidental on Thursday night, Jan. 21, but was felt at lower intensities in surrounding areas because it occurred at a significant depth. In a bulletin issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), it said that the tremor happened at 8:23 p.m. Thursday, with the epicenter located in waters 231 kilometers southeast of Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental. It had […] [...]

Major fire at Serum Insitute of India vaccine plant but coronavirus drug production goes on

by Ammu KANNAMPILLY Agence France Presse MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Fire tore through part of the world’s biggest vaccine production hub in western India on Thursday, but the company insisted that the production of drugs to counter the coronavirus pandemic was not affected. Serum Institute of India is producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. TV channels showed thick clouds of grey smoke billowing from the […] [...]