World News in Brief: February 13

The United States said diplomacy could still resolve a standoff with Moscow over Ukraine but added that the risk of a war was high enough to warrant pulling US embassy staff out of Kyiv, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after he talked on Saturday with Japanese and the Republic of Korean counterparts.

The China Meterological Administration issued a blizzard warning for Sunday saying significant snowfall is expected in large parts of northern China including Beijing, the capital and current site of the Winter Olympics.
The China Meterological Administration issued a blizzard warning for Sunday saying significant snowfall is expected in large parts of northern China including Beijing, the capital and current site of the Winter Olympics.

* Five United Nations staff have been abducted in southern Yemen while returning to Aden after a field mission, the United Nations said on Saturday. An official at the U.N. office in Aden told Reuters that four of those seized were Yemeni nationals.

* Slovakia recommended its citizens avoid travel to neighbouring Ukraine, and is pulling out family members of diplomats at its embassy in Kyiv and a consulate in the western city of Uzhhorod, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

* Mainland China reported 67 new COVID-19 cases on Feb. 12, down from 99 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Sunday. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stand at 106,930 while the death toll remained at 4,636.

* The Republic of Korea reported a daily record high of 56,431 new coronavirus cases for Saturday, bringing its total infections to 1,350,630 with 7,081 deaths among its 52 million people, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday.

* Canadian police said on Sunday they have arrested more protesters opposing COVID-19 restrictions and blocking a key trade route along the border with the United States, more than 24 hours after authorities moved in to impose a court order.

* Brazil has registered 140,234 new cases of coronavirus and 896 new COVID-19 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. With the new figures, the South American nation has registered a total of 638,048 deaths and 27,425,743 cases since the pandemic began, according to ministry data.

* Mexico's Health Ministry on Saturday reported 579 new fatalities from COVID-19, bringing the country's death toll to 312,697 since the pandemic began.

* Voters in Switzerland will decide on Sunday whether to become the first country to ban animal testing in a referendum that will also consider tightening controls on cigarette advertising.

* The Mexican government said on Saturday the United States had notified it of the temporary suspension of avocado shipments from the western state of Michoacan, a key producer of the popular fruit.

Reuters