UNITED STATES
COVID-19 hits birth rate
Nine months after the declaration of a national emergency due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, births across the nation fell by 8 percent in a month. The drop in December last year marked an acceleration in declines in the second half of the year. For the full year, the number of babies born fell 4 percent to about 3.6 million, the largest decline since 1973, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report yesterday. The latest data are early evidence of the drastic impact from the health crisis on birth rates, with the full effect expected to show in this year’s data. The December declines were led by states like California, which experienced a 19 percent drop that month. In the second half of the year, New Mexico, New York, Hawaii and West Virginia also posted substantial decreases, ranging from 8 to 11 percent. Coupled with the more than 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, the drop in births would have long-term consequences for the population growth. By race, the drop in births in December was most evident among Asian mothers, falling 19 percent from the same period in 2019. Black and Hispanic births dropped at about half that rate, while those among white mothers fell 6 percent.
COLOMBIA
Nation leads in butterflies
The nation is home to the world’s largest variety of butterflies, about 20 percent of all known species, a study published on Tuesday by the Natural History Museum in London said. An international team of scientists catalogued 3,642 species and 2,085 subspecies, registering them in a document titled “Checklist of Colombian Butterflies.” More than 200 butterfly species are found only in the South American nation, said Blanca Huertas, the museum’s senior butterfly collection curator who was part of the research team. Project researchers traveled widely across the nation, analyzed more than 350,000 photographs and studied information collected since the late 18th century, the museum said. “Colombia is a country with a great diversity of natural habitats, a complex and heterogeneous geography and a privileged location in the extreme northeast of South America,” the report said. “These factors, added to the delicate public order in the last century in certain regions, has limited until now, the advancement of field exploration.” The nation has endured more than half a century of armed conflict, with some areas controlled by leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups or drug lords, and with little government presence. Protecting butterflies would also help the nation protect its forests, as well as other, less likeable species, Huertas said. From 2000 to 2019, the nation lost nearly 2.8 million hectares of forest, equivalent to the area of Belgium, the National Department of Planning said.
MEXICO
Six dead in prison fight
A brutal fight on Tuesday between two rival groups of inmates at a prison in the state of Tabasco left six prisoners dead and nine wounded. The riot occurred in the patio of a prison in the state capital, Villahermosa, police said, adding that inmates used homemade weapons, which usually consist of crude blades fashioned from bits of metal, spoons or hacksaw blades. Authorities said they had regained control of the facility, but did not provide further information on the condition of the wounded. Drug gangs, including remnants of the old Zetas cartel, operate in Tabasco and their members often fight rivals in prison.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
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