Briefly

UNITED STATES

Fencing up ahead of presidential address

Fencing has been reinstalled around the Capitol ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address slated for Tuesday night. Capitol police chief Tom Manger said in a statement on Sunday that the measure was taken in light of "the possibility of demonstrations in the next couple of weeks". Truckers in the country have reportedly planned protests similar to those in Canada around the time of the State of the Union address. Several roads around the Capitol will be closed to traffic from Tuesday evening, according to another statement from Capitol Police on Sunday.

JAPAN

Industrial output falls 1.3% in January

Japan's industrial output dropped 1.3 percent in January from a month earlier, marking the second successive month of decline due to the global semiconductor crunch amid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the government on Monday. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the index of production at factories and mines stood at 95.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis, against the 2015 base of 100. Industries that mainly contributed to the decrease in production in the recording period were motor vehicles, iron, steel and nonferrous metals, in that order.

COLOMBIA

Coal mine explosion kills 11, with 4 missing

An explosion at a coal mine in Colombia's Boyaca Province killed 11 people and left four missing, said the national mining agency on Sunday. The accident occurred on Saturday night and was caused by a buildup of methane gas at the mine, which is located in the Tasco municipality. Colombia's mining industry includes huge open-pit and underground projects operated by multinational companies, as well as hundreds of small, informal deposits. Colombia saw 128 mining accidents last year, which killed 148 people. So far this year, 19 mining accidents have taken place with 36 deaths.

SOUTH KOREA

Pandemic restrictions paused for businesses

South Korea will temporarily lift a requirement for vaccine passes or negative COVID-19 tests at a number of businesses to ease the strain on testing centers, authorities said on Monday. The announcement came as South Korea sets another one-day record of 114 COVID-19 deaths, breaking the previous high of 112 set on Saturday. In recent weeks, South Korea has reported average daily per-capita infection rates that have exceeded some of the peaks in hard-hit countries such as the United States and Britain.

Agencies - Xinhua