BRUSSELS: European Union leaders will agree on Thursday to work on certificates of vaccination for EU citizens who have had an anti-COVID shot, with southern EU countries that depend heavily on tourism desperate to rescue this summer’s holiday season.
Lockdowns to slow the pandemic caused the deepest ever economic recession in the 27-nation bloc last year, hitting the south of the EU, where economies are often much more dependent on visitors, disproportionately hard.
With the rollout of vaccines against COVID-19 now gathering pace, some governments, like those of Greece and Spain, are pushing for a quick adoption of an EU-wide certificate for those already inoculated so that people can travel again.
However, other countries, such as France and Germany, appear more reluctant, as officials there say it could create de facto vaccination obligation and would be discriminatory to those who cannot or will not take a jab.
France, where anti-vaccine sentiment is particularly strong and where the government has pledged not to make them compulsory, considers the idea of vaccine passports as “premature,” a French official said on Wednesday.
Work is needed on the details, including whether it should be in digital form, be accepted globally and at what stage of the two-step inoculation process it should be issued.
“We call for work to continue on a common approach to vaccination certificates,” a draft statement of the leaders video-conference seen by Reuters said, without setting a time-frame for a result.
Officials said the EU was working with the International Air Transport Association, which is keen to revive air travel, and with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Health Organization.
But travel with certificates also raised legal questions, officials said, because those last in line for vaccinations could argue their freedom of movement was unjustly restricted by the often months-long queues.
EU officials also point out there is no guidance yet from the WHO and EU agencies whether people who have received two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine can still carry the coronavirus and infect others, even if no longer vulnerable themselves.
It was also not clear if people could be infectious having already fought off the coronavirus themselves, for how long they remained immune and if they too should get certificates.
“There are still many things we don’t know,” a senior official from one of the EU countries said. “We need more time to come to a common line.”
But time is short for countries in the south, where the hospitality sector needs to know what it should prepare for in the coming months. Despite the official stance that all EU governments want to solve the issue together, some might decide to move faster individually.
Earlier in February, Greece and Israel signed a deal to ease travel restrictions to Greece for Israelis with proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
EU mulls vaccination passports to resurrect tourism after COVID-19
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EU mulls vaccination passports to resurrect tourism after COVID-19
- Some governments, like those of Greece and Spain, are pushing for a quick adoption of an EU-wide certificate for those already inoculated so that people can travel again
- Earlier in February, Greece and Israel signed a deal to ease travel restrictions to Greece for Israelis with proof of COVID-19 vaccination
Pakistan separatist militants BLA deny involvement in attack on mines
Dozens of attackers stormed a cluster of small private coal mines in Pakistan’s restive southwest on Friday with guns, rockets and hand grenades, killing some miners in their sleep and shooting others after lining them up.
“Baloch Liberation Army condemns the massacre of 21 Pashtun workers in Dukki, making it clear that our organization has no involvement in this tragic incident,” the BLA said in an email late on Saturday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the mines of the Junaid Coal Co. in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan that borders Afghanistan and Iran.
It was the worst such attack in weeks and comes days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Eurasian group Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region, pressing demands for a share in mineral-rich resources.
Besides the separatists, the region is also home to Islamist militants, who have resurged since 2022 after revoking a ceasefire with the government.
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the South Asian nation’s government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
The province is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by giant Barrick Gold and believed to be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. China also operates a gold and copper mine in the province.
At the time of the attack, a delegation from Saudi Arabia, which says it is set to buy a stake in the Reko Diq mine, was in Islamabad exploring deals as Pakistan seeks to recover from an economic crisis.
Israel envoy criticizes Japan atomic survivor’s Gaza comparison
- Around 140,000 people were killed when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Gilad Cohen congratulated Nihon Hidankyo for winning this year’s prize but said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday the comparison drawn by the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki “is outrageous and baseless.”
“Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization committing a double war crime: targeting Israeli civilians, including women and children, while using its own people as human shields,” Cohen said.
“Such comparisons distort history and dishonor the victims” of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Cohen said.
Mimaki said after the prize was announced on Friday that the plight of children in Gaza was similar to what Japan faced at the end of World War II.
“In Gaza, bleeding children are being held (by their parents). It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” Mimaki said.
A representative for the Hiroshima chapter of Nihon Hidankyo could not be reached for comment about Cohen’s post.
Around 140,000 people were killed when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and 74,000 more were killed in Nagasaki three days later.
Survivors of the blasts later formed Nihon Hidankyo to tell the stories of those atomic bombings and to press for a world without nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki decided not to invite Cohen to mark this year’s 79th anniversary of the bombing, citing security reasons to avoid possible protests.
That decision prompted the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and the European Union, among others, to skip the ceremony and send lower-level officials instead.
The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 42,175 people, a majority of them civilians, have been killed since Israel’s military campaign began there. The United Nations acknowledges these figures to be reliable.
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Taiwan says on ‘alert’ as China aircraft carrier detected to its south
- China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years
TAIPEI: Taiwan was on “alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier to its south on Sunday, the self-ruled island’s defense ministry said.
“China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group has entered waters near the Bashi Channel and is likely to proceed into the western Pacific,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that its military “remains on alert, prepared to respond as necessary.”
China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, sending in warplanes and other military aircraft while Chinese ships maintain a near-constant presence around its waters.
The Liaoning aircraft carrier detection comes after US State Secretary Antony Blinken warned China on Friday against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan, following a speech by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during the island’s National Day celebrations a day earlier.
Lai, who China calls a “separatist,” vowed Thursday to “resist annexation” of the island, and insisted Beijing and Taipei were “not subordinate to each other.”
China warned after the speech that Lai’s “provocations” would result in “disaster” for the people of Taiwan.
Indian politician shot dead in Mumbai
- Baba Siddique, 66, was shot multiple times in the chest outside son’s office in Mumbai
- Siddique’s death takes place ahead of key state elections slated for later this year
MUMBAI: A senior politician in India’s financial capital Mumbai was shot dead on Saturday, weeks ahead of key state elections, with police probing the role of a notorious crime gang.
Baba Siddique, 66, a local lawmaker and former minister in Maharashtra state, was shot multiple times in the chest outside his son’s office in Mumbai, Indian media reported.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, from the same party as Siddique, said he was “shocked” by the “cowardly attack.”
The Hindustan Times newspaper reported that two suspected attackers had been arrested, and police were searching for another.
Broadcaster NDTV said the two suspects claimed they were part of a gang run by Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in jail accused of running a crime gang that has carried out multiple killings.
The shooting comes just weeks after Siddique’s security detail was upgraded after he received death threats, and ahead of elections slated for later this year.
“The incident will be thoroughly investigated and strict action will be taken against the attackers,” Pawar said in a statement. “The mastermind behind the attack will also be traced.”
Siddique was close to several Bollywood stars and was known for throwing grand parties.
Vietnam, China to boost economic, defense cooperation
- Vietnam would facilitate more high-tech Chinese investment in the country and Beijing would strengthen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products
- Both sides would prioritize cooperation in rail connectivity between the neighboring countries
HANOI: Vietnam and China said they will boost defense and economic cooperation, Vietnamese state media reported on Sunday, despite a recent fare-up in their territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
China’s Premier Li Qiang met Vietnam’s top leader To Lam in Hanoi on Saturday, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
The two agreed to “maintain regular high-level exchanges and cooperation in defense, security, and foreign affairs... expanding the implementation of new mechanisms,” the newspaper said.
Vietnam would facilitate more high-tech Chinese investment in the country and Beijing would strengthen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products, the newspaper said.
Both sides would prioritize cooperation in rail connectivity between the neighboring countries, Nhan Dan said.
China is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner, but the two countries share historic tensions — including in the South China Sea, a waterway through which trillions of dollars of trade pass each year.
China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
Last week Hanoi protested what it said was a “brutal” attack by Chinese vessels on Vietnamese fishermen in a disputed area of the sea.
At Saturday’s meeting Vietnam’s Lam “urged both parties to... better manage and resolve differences” in maritime issues, Nhan Dan said.
Lam took office in early August as general secretary following the death of his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong.
He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing just a few weeks after during his first overseas trip.
