LONDON: The UK government said Sunday that it reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.
Some 15 million people, or 22% of the UK population, have received their first shot or were offered one. The figure includes most people in the government’s top four priority groups, including everyone over 75, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home staff.
“15,000,000! Amazing team,'' Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said in a tweet that featured a red heart. “We will not rest till we offer the vaccine to the whole of phase1 the 1-9 categories of the most vulnerable & all over 50s by end April and then all adults.''
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to unveil his roadmap for easing restrictions on Feb. 22 amid signs that infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen sharply since England’s third national lockdown began on Jan. 4.
Jockeying has already begun between those who want the measures lifted as soon as possible and those who fear moving too fast will lead to a resurgence of the virus.
Britain got a head start on its vaccination effort in December, when it became the first country to authorize widespread use of a COVID-19 shot. It ranks behind only Israel, 71%, the Seychelles, 53%, and the United Arab Emirates, 50% in the percentage of people who have received one dose, according to data compiled by Oxford University. The US is fifth at 15%.
At the same time, rules that have closed schools, restaurants and nonessential shops in the UK are starting to pay off. The number of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths recorded over the past seven days have all dropped by more than 20% from the previous week, according to government figures.
When Johnson announced the lockdown, he said the government would review the measures in mid-February based on their success in controlling the pandemic and progress in the vaccination effort. Johnson’s first priority is to reopen schools, and he has promised to give schools two weeks notice to give teachers time to prepare for the return of students.
The prime minister on Saturday applauded the vaccine rollout but urged people to be cautious.
“We have still got infections running very high throughout the country — levels which last year we would have thought were really very high indeed — (and) still, sadly, a great many deaths in our hospitals,” he said during a visit to a vaccine manufacturing facility in northeastern England. “Although the number is beginning to come down, and perhaps starting to come down quite fast, we need to look at the data very, very hard.”
Britain has reported over 117,000 virus-related deaths, the highest toll in Europe.
Mark Harper, a member of Parliament from the ruling Conservative Party, last week warned the government against “moving the goalposts” for deciding when to ease the lockdown.
Johnson should start by reopening schools, then gradually lift other restrictions as more people are vaccinated, said Harper, who leads a group of about 70 lawmakers who have lobbied for the government to consider the negative economic and social impacts of the restrictions, along with the health benefits.
“If you think about the restrictions that the government’s placed on everybody, they are the toughest set of restrictions that have ever been placed on the British people outside of the Second and First World Wars,” Harper told the BBC. “So it’s kind of just worth stepping back a bit and saying, ‘This isn’t normal, and it shouldn’t continue, frankly, for a moment longer than it’s absolutely necessary.’”
After meeting the target for reaching the most vulnerable people, UK authorities will progressively expand the vaccination drive to the next five priority groups until everyone over 50 and vulnerable younger people with health conditions that put them at higher risk from the virus have been offered the vaccine.
Public health officials say the top nine priority groups account for 99% of the deaths caused by COVID-19 so far.
While the vaccines currently authorized for use in the UK require two doses to ensure full protection against COVID-19, British authorities say one dose provides a significant level of protection.
Because of this, they have made it their priority to give the first dose to as many people as possible as quickly as possible. To do this, Britain has suggested that the second dose be administered after three months, instead of one month as recommended by the manufacturers.
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust health think tank, said the number of COVID-19 infections in Britain is still too high to think about lifting the restrictions.
“We’ve made enormous progress … but the transmission is incredibly high still and we’ve got to get it lower,” he said.
There are other dangers on the horizon. UK government scientific advisers say the COVID-19 variant now predominant in the country may be up to 70% more deadly than previous variants, underscoring concerns about how mutations may change the characteristics of the disease.
The findings from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, published Friday on the government’s website, confirm preliminary research released Jan. 21. The group, known as NERVTAG, includes experts from universities and public agencies across the UK
The new report is based on analysis of a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the county where it was first identified, was 30% to 70% more deadly than other variants. The studies compared hospitalization and death rates among people infected with the variant and those infected with other variants.
“Based on these analyses, it is likely that infection with (the Kent variant) is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization and death compared to infection with non-variant of cancer viruses,” the advisory group said. “It should be noted that the absolute risk of death per infection remains low.”
UK hits target: Gives at least 1 vaccine shot to 15 million
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UK hits target: Gives at least 1 vaccine shot to 15 million
- The UK will start administering vaccines from Monday to those aged between 65 and 69 and the clinically vulnerable to COVID-19
- Britain has registered nearly 117,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test
US judge briefly pauses deportation of 8 migrants to South Sudan
- US District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington made the ruling at an emergency hearing on July 4
- The administration has detained the men for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti
WASHINGTON: A federal judge briefly halted the Trump administration on Friday from placing eight migrants on a plane destined for conflict-ridden South Sudan, to give lawyers for the men time to make their argument to a court in Massachusetts.
US District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington made the ruling at an emergency hearing on July 4, when courts are otherwise closed for the Independence Day holiday.
The group of migrants had filed new claims on Thursday after the Supreme Court clarified that a federal judge in Boston could no longer require US Department of Homeland Security to hold them.
The administration has detained the men for six weeks on a military base in Djibouti rather than bring back to the United States.
The order stops the US government from moving the men until 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. They were scheduled to be removed to South Sudan on a 7 p.m. flight.
The case is the latest development over the legality of the Trump administration’s campaign to deter immigration by shipping migrants to locations other than their countries of origin pursuant to deals with other countries.
A lawyer for the US said during the hearing that court orders halting agreed-upon deportations pose a serious problem for US diplomatic relations and would make foreign countries less likely to accept transfers of migrants in the future. The group of men have been convicted of various crimes, with four of them convicted of murder, the US Department of Homeland Security has said.
South Sudan has long been dangerous even for locals. The US State Department advises citizens not to travel there due to violent crime and armed conflict. The United Nations has said the African country’s political crisis could reignite a brutal civil war that ended in 2018. The eight men, who their lawyers said are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Burma, Sudan and Vietnam, argue their deportations to South Sudan would violate the US constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment.
Moss said that he would transfer the case to Massachusetts rather than hear it himself, but remarked that if they proved their allegations about the motives of US authorities, they would likely have a valid claim.
“It seems to me almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances in which their physical well-being is at risk simply either to punish them or send a signal to others,” Moss said during the hearing.
Malaysia arrests 36 Bangladeshis over IS support
- “The group attempted to recruit members to fight in Syria or for Daesh,” Khalid said
- Of those detained by Malaysian authorities, five suspects were subsequently charged for participating in terrorist organizations
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said Friday they have arrested 36 Bangladeshi migrant workers suspected of supporting the Daesh group by promoting its ideology and raising funds through social media.
Police inspector-general Mohd Khalid Ismail said the Bangladesh nationals, who had arrived in Malaysia to work in factories, construction sites and petrol stations, were arrested in coordinated operations since April.
“The group attempted to recruit members to fight in Syria or for Daesh,” Khalid said in a televised news conference on Friday.
“They raised funds to be sent to Syria, and also to Bangladesh,” he said, adding that collections were transmitted through e-wallets and international funds transfer services.
Once in control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq, Daesh was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 largely due to the efforts of Kurdish-led forces supported by an international coalition. It has maintained a presence mainly in the country’s vast desert.
Of those detained by Malaysian authorities, five suspects were subsequently charged for participating in terrorist organizations, spreading extremist ideologies and raising funds for terrorist activities.
Another 16 are still being probed for their support of the militant movement, while 15 more have been issued deportation orders.
“We believe they have between 100 to 150 members in their WhatsApp group,” Khalid said, adding investigations were ongoing.
“They collected an annual membership fee of about $118 (500 Malaysian ringgit) while further donations were made at their own discretion,” the police chief said.
Asked if the militant group had links to Daesh cells in other countries, Khalid said the police were still working with “our counterparts in other countries as well as Interpol... to uncover their terror network.”
Malaysia depends significantly on foreign workers to meet labor demands in the nation’s key manufacturing and agriculture sectors, with tens of thousands of Bangladeshi nationals arriving each year to fill these roles.
Cameroon’s 92-year-old president faces emerging rivals
- The government released a terse statement announcing Tchiroma had been replaced, without mentioning he had resigned
YAOUNDE, Cameroon: At 92, the world’s oldest head of state, Cameroonian President Paul Biya, faces defections by allies-turned-rivals jockeying to replace him in elections that could end his four-plus decades in power.
Biya, who has led Cameroon with an iron fist since 1982, has had two key allies defect back-to-back as the African country heads for elections in October.
First was Employment Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who stepped down and announced on June 26 he was running for president for his party, the Cameroon National Salvation Front.
Two days later, Mnister of State Bello Bouba Maigari, a former prime minister, also jumped in in the presidential race.
Neither defection appears to have fazed the veteran leader.
The government released a terse statement announcing Tchiroma had been replaced, without mentioning he had resigned.
Biya’s camp also downplayed the challenge from Maigari, who leads the government-allied National Union for Democracy and Progress and has been close to the president for nearly three decades.
“Nothing new here,” Fame Ndongo, communications chief for the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement wrote in a front-page column Monday in the state newspaper, the Cameroon Tribune.
Biya had “long ago decoded the premonitory signs of these departures, which are part of the classic political game in an advanced liberal democracy,” Ndongo said.
By statute, Biya is automatically the ruling party’s presidential candidate, though he has not yet confirmed he will run.
The nonagenarian’s public appearances have grown rare and rumors of poor health are swirling.
Tchiroma and Maigari have challenged Biya before.
Both ran against him in the 1992 election.
Tchiroma had just been released from prison, and Maigari was just returning from exile at the time.
But both men, powerful figures from the country’s politically important, traditionally pro-government north, soon fell in line with Biya.
That has drawn criticism from some.
Northern Cameroon’s people “are rotting in poverty,” said Severin Tchokonte, a professor at the region’s University of Garoua.
“Supporting the regime all this time amounts to betraying those people, who have no water, no electricity, no infrastructure to ensure their minimal well-being,” he said.
Tchiroma has sought to distance himself from Biya’s tainted legacy, drawing a line between “yesterday” and “today.”
“Admittedly, we didn’t manage to lift you from poverty yesterday, but today, if we come together... we can do it,” he told a rally in Garoua in June.
Cameroon’s last presidential election, in 2018, was marred by violence.
Only around 53 percent of registered voters took part.
The ruling CPDM has long relied on alliances with potential rivals to keep it in power.
But Cameroon is in dire economic straits, and there are mounting calls for change, especially on social media.
With many of the country’s 28 million people mired in poverty, there could be a mass protest vote at the polls.
That may not benefit Tchiroma and Maigari, however.
Both face accusations of acting as Biya puppets to divert votes from more hard-line opponents such as Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) — a charge both men deny.
“Bello and Tchiroma have been with the CPDM a long time. They could be looking to fracture and weaken the opposition to contain the surge of Maurice Kamto and the CRM,” said Tchokonte.
“If the CRM gets votes in the north, that could tip the balance.”
There is a “large, cross-regional” demand for change in Cameroon, said Anicet Ekane, the veteran leader of opposition party Manidem.
“It will be increasingly difficult for (Biya) to count on elites to tell people how to vote and avoid a national movement against the government,” he said.
Biya urged Cameroonians in February to ignore “the sirens of chaos” being sounded by “certain irresponsible individuals.”
“I can assure you my determination to serve you remains intact,” he said last year.
Power outage hits the Czech Republic and disrupts Prague public transport
- Prague’s entire subway network was inoperative starting at noon
- “We are facing an extraordinary and unpleasant situation,” Fiala said
PRAGUE: A temporary power outage hit parts of the Czech Republic’s capital and other areas of the country Friday, bringing public transport and trains to a standstill, officials said.
Prague’s entire subway network was inoperative starting at noon, the capital city’s transport authority said, though subway service was restored within half an hour.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a post on X that the outage hit other parts of the country and authorities were dealing with the problem.
“We are facing an extraordinary and unpleasant situation,” Fiala said, adding it was a priority to renew power supplies.
The CEPS power grid operator acknowledged problems in parts of four regions in northern and eastern Czech Republic. It said a fallen electricity line in the northwestern part of the country was identified as a possible cause for the outage.
Officials have ruled out a cyber or terror attack.
Of the eight substations in the grid that were affected, including a major one in Prague, five renewed operations in less than two hours, CEPS said.
Industry and Trade Minister Lukas Vlcek said the cause was likely a “mechanical malfunction.”
Most trams on the right bank of the Vltava River in Prague were halted, while the left bank was not affected. Some trains near Prague and other regions could not operate, causing delays but the situation was gradually getting back to normal.
There were no immediate reports that Václav Havel Airport Prague, the city’s international airport, was hit by the power outage.
In downtown Prague, stores and restaurant that remained open accepted only payments in cash.
Pro-Palestinian group loses bid to block UK government’s ban under anti-terrorism laws
- At a hearing on Friday at the Hight Court in London, the group had sought to block ban, which will come into force midnight
LONDON: The pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action lost a bid to block the British government’s decision to ban it under anti-terrorism laws after activists broke into a military base last month and vandalized two planes.
At a hearing on Friday at the Hight Court in London, the group had sought to block the ban, which will come into force at midnight.
The ban, which was approved by Parliament earlier this week, will make membership of the group and support of its actions a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The ban was triggered after pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton, damaging two planes using red paint and crowbars in protest at the British government’s ongoing military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
Police said that the incident caused around 7 million pounds ($9.4 million) worth of damage, with four people charged in connection with the incident.
The four, aged between 22 and 35, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the UK No pleas were entered at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London and the four are scheduled to appear on July 18 at the Central Criminal Court.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization a few days after the break-in. She said the vandalism to the two planes was “disgraceful,” adding that the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.”
