Larry King, the longtime CNN host who became an icon through his interviews with countless newsmakers and his sartorial sensibilities, has died. He was 87.
His son, Chance, confirmed King's death Saturday morning.
King hosted "Larry King Live" on CNN for over 25 years, interviewing presidential candidates, celebrities, athletes, movie stars and everyday people. He retired in 2010 after taping more than 6,000 episodes of the show. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/23/us/larry-king-dies-trnd/index.html

Loyal dog waits for six days outside hospital for her sick owner. They say a dog is a man's best friend — and that was definitely the case for one patient of a hospital in northeastern Turkey, whose loyal pet waited by the entrance for six days until he was discharged. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/world/dog-hospital-scli-intl/index.html

For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser is foregoing its iconic in-game Super Bowl airtime and reallocating the media investment to help support recovery in the on-premise through COVID-19 vaccine awareness and education throughout the year. This year, Budweiser will be running its ad digitally in the week leading up to and during the game. The piece, entitled “Bigger Picture,” celebrates the individual acts of resilience that sparked hope during the last year and spotlights a group of first responders who were among the first people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. https://www.anheuser-busch.com/newsroom/2021/01/trading-one-tradition-for-another--budweiser-dedicates-super-bow.html

Minnesota lab confirms first U.S. coronavirus case associated with Brazil variant
Laboratory testing by the Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed the first known COVID-19 case in the United States associated with a more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus originally seen in Brazil, the agency said on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-brazil/minnesota-lab-confirms-first-u-s-coronavirus-case-associated-with-brazil-variant-idUSKBN29U2OC

Dutch police detained more than 180 people in a third night of unrest in cities across the Netherlands, where roaming groups of rioters set fires, threw rocks and looted stores in violence triggered by a night curfew aimed at curbing the coronavirus. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-netherlands-protes/dutch-police-detain-more-than-180-in-third-night-of-curfew-violence-idUSKBN29V0RC

Coal had a bad year last year. It was the latest in a line of tricky years, which have seen coal demand slump, coal companies declare bankruptcy and coal plants shutter.
COVID-19 added to coal’s woes, as global lockdowns cut demand for electricity. Outpaced by the growth of cheap renewable energy, increasingly shunned by banks and insurers and facing tighter government regulations, the dirtiest of fossil fuels looks to be on its last legs. https://bajanews.site/6mOqAJ

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Coronavirus variants escape effects of antibody drugs
Antibody therapies and vaccines for treating or preventing COVID-19 are likely to be less effective against some of the new variants of the coronavirus circulating around the world, a new study suggests. https://a1le.xyz/YL9cYg

The only way out!! A Taiwanese man has been fined $1 million New Taiwan Dollars ($35,000) for repeatedly breaking his home quarantine.
The unnamed man, who lives in Taichung in central Taiwan, was doing a home quarantine in his apartment building after returning from a business trip to mainland China and violated it at least seven times, according to local media. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/taichung-taiwan-man-fine-breaking-quarantine-intl-hnk/index.html

The EU has urged pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca to supply it with more doses of its Covid-19 vaccine from UK plants, amid a row over shortages.
The company has infuriated the bloc by saying it can deliver only a fraction of the doses it promised for the first quarter of the year.
It blames production issues at European plants, but the EU says doses made elsewhere should make up the shortfall.
The EU has been criticised for the slow rollout of its vaccinations. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55822602

When you retweet this, five cents will be donated to mental health initiatives in Canada. https://twitter.com/CAFinUS/status/1354632846669963266

A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa has been found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina, state health officials said Thursday. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-variant-south-africa-us-2bc397370cdd44afe916ddd6edbaf870

Germany's vaccine commission said the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should not be given to people older than 65 years, amid a bitter dispute between the European Union and the drugmaker over delayed supplies.
The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's main public health authority, found there is insufficient data on the effectiveness of the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, for this age group, according to a statement from the interior ministry on Thursday. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/28/europe/germany-astrazeneca-vaccine-coronavirus-grm-intl/index.html

Germany's vaccine commission STIKO said on Thursday that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 jab should only be administered to people aged 64 and under.
The panel of medical experts cited a lack of data regarding the vaccine's effectiveness for older people. https://p.dw.com/p/3oWtO

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced stricter restrictions on travelers in response to new, likely more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus — including suspending airline service to Mexico and all Caribbean destinations until April 30. https://lapazbcs.xyz/s2TSWQ

Yes, you can still get infected with COVID-19 after being vaccinated. On December 18, a San Diego emergency room nurse was given a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. A week later, he tested positive for the virus, CNN affiliate KGTV reported.
Stories like this will become more common as millions of Americans are administered the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines over the coming months. Over time, many who are vaccinated will still get infected with the novel coronavirus.
During trials, the vaccines were shown to be about 95% effective — which means some vaccinated people were still infected. https://mexurl.com/AQtSLy

Clinical trial data on two COVID-19 vaccines show that a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa is lessening their ability to protect against the illness, underscoring the need to vaccinate vast numbers of people as quickly as possible, scientists said. https://a1le.xyz/vacineRSA

In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Michael Osterholm, Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Biden Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board, talks about vaccine distribution challenges and the threat of virus variants. https://a1le.xyz/Osterholm

"We're in a desperate situation. An entire emergency unit has simply run out of oxygen... A lot of people are dying."
Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid death toll with more than 221,000 fatalities. In Manaus, the health system has collapsed twice during the pandemic and deaths doubled between December and January. https://a1le.xyz/YQCrIO

The colleges that took the pandemic seriously. Many colleges and universities have figured out how to diagnose their populations and control outbreaks—and offer a vision for more normal life until the vaccine is available to all. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/colleges-took-pandemic-seriously/617879/

Nike's newest shoe is "easy on, easy off" for those who cannot be bothered with the most minor inconveniences, like putting on shoes.
Called the Go Flyease, it's Nike's first pair of lace-less sneakers that can easily be put on and taken off without using your hands. The casual shoe arrives at a time when people are touching fewer things during the pandemic and a revival of comfier counterparts that take minimal effort to take on and off, such as Crocs. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/01/business/nike-hands-free-shoe/index.html