ATHENS, Greece: Greece and a handful of other European Union members began vaccinating children ages 5-11 against COVID-19 on Wednesday as governments braced for the holiday season and the spread of the omicron variant.
An Athens children’s hospital administered its first shots to younger children hours after authorities announced Greece’s highest daily death of the pandemic at 130. The children were given stickers and the day off school.
More than 30,000 vaccination appointments for under-12s have been booked by Greek parents, among them Education Minister Niki Kerameus.
“I won’t hide the fact that on a personal level, after having talked with doctors and receiving scientific data, our family decided to vaccinate our son who is 5 1/2 years old,” Kerameus said before taking her son, Loukas, to get his shot at an Athens hospital.
Italy, Spain and Hungary also expanded their vaccination programs to younger children. European Union regulators last month approved a reduced-dose vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech for use in the 5-11 age group.
A two-month surge in infections across Europe eased slightly in early December, but the appearance of the omicron variant has created uncertainty. Scientists think omicron is highly contagious, but they are not yet sure how dangerous it is.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Tuesday that it expects omicron to dominate infections in the EU within the next few months. It suggested that governments consider travel-related restrictions and press ahead with vaccination campaigns and booster shot delivery.
Vaccines for children are voluntary in all European Union countries and require parental approval.
Authorities in Spain have set ambitious targets for vaccinating younger children before Christmas and the customary family gatherings. Nearly 90 percent of the country’s residents age 12 and older have received two vaccine doses.
Poland, Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia plan to lower their vaccine eligibility age later in the week.
Several hundred people protested Wednesday in front of the government headquarters in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, Wednesday. The protesters chanted “Don’t kill our kids” and “We won’t give you our children.”
Other EU nations are taking a cautious approach to vaccinating younger children. Germany has started a region-based rollout, the Netherlands is waiting until after the holidays, and France is prioritizing children who suffer from heart and respiratory problems, obesity, and diabetes.
Britain was slower than many European countries to start vaccinating children ages 12-15, and it has not yet approved vaccines for younger children.
Wei Shen Lim, a member of the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said the group expected to make a decision before Christmas but was awaiting a recommendation from British regulators.
Conservative lawmaker Jeremy Hunt, a former health minister, criticized the delay. “Our regulators, having been the nimblest in the world, are now taking too long,” he said.
Vaccination of under-12s starts in handful of EU countries
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Vaccination of under-12s starts in handful of EU countries
- More than 30,000 vaccination appointments for under-12s have been booked by Greek parents
- Italy, Spain and Hungary also expanded their vaccination programs to younger children
Mozambique observers warn against vote irregularities
- The ruling Frelimo party “disproportionately benefited from the use of state resources, including vehicles and public servants, during the campaign,” said an IRI statement
MAPUTO: Election observers in Mozambique have warned against irregularities after a vote expected to renew the ruling party’s grip on power, with some in the opposition already claiming fraud.
After a largely peaceful election on Wednesday, tensions were simmering in the southern African nation, though official results are not expected for another two weeks.
“Observers reported stacks of folded ballot papers in 10 counting processes followed, indicating possible ballot stuffing,” the EU’s election observation mission to Mozambique said.
Along with the US-funded International Republican Institute, also deployed in Mozambique, observers were critical of the context in which the vote took place.
The ruling Frelimo party “disproportionately benefited from the use of state resources, including vehicles and public servants, during the campaign,” said an IRI statement.
The party has been in power since independence 49 years ago.
Both the EU and IRI raised legitimacy issues with the voter roll.
“Overall, the registration rate in-country was 104 percent,” the EU said, while IRI said, “inflated voter rolls exceeded population estimates, particularly in Frelimo strongholds.”
The IRI went further, saying “the electoral process itself has, so far, fallen short of international standards for democratic elections.”
Observers from the Commonwealth, in their statement, called on “appropriate institutions provided by law to look into these matters.”
They urged “political party leaders and their supporters to continue to show restraint.”
Although outgoing President Filipe Nyusi, 65, is stepping down after the two terms allowed by the constitution, his party’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, 47, is widely expected to win.
One of the main opposition candidates, Venancio Mondlane, 50, warned that the “regime will do everything to ensure it does not lose the elections.”
Zelensky says Ukrainian forces ‘holding the line’ in Kursk
- Ukraine has held on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region since early August
- “Regarding the Kursk operation, there were attempts by Russia to push back our positions, but we are holding the lines,” Zelensky said
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Moscow had attempted to push back Ukrainian positions in the Russian Kursk region but that Kyiv was “holding the line.”
Ukraine has held on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region since early August.
“Regarding the Kursk operation, there were attempts by Russia to push back our positions, but we are holding the lines,” Zelensky said.
Russia earlier this week said it had recaptured two villages in the Kursk region, and vowed to continue to push Ukrainian forces out of its territory.
Ukraine has said its offensive is intended to create a buffer zone in the region to stop shelling of its border areas.
Zelensky also acknowledged that the situation for Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk region and southern Zaporizhzhia region was “very difficult.”
Kyiv said earlier that Russian attacks Saturday had killed two people in the eastern Donetsk region: a 19-year-old traveling in a civilian car and an 84-year-old pensioner.
Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who sought Scotland’s independence from UK, dies at 69
- Died in North Macedonia lake-resort town of Ohrid where he was delivering speech at conference, local media reported
LONDON: Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who for decades championed Scotland’s independence from the UK, has died. He was 69.
Salmond, who was a divisive figure in British politics and who as the then leader of the Scottish National Party took Scotland to the brink of independence in a 2014 referendum, died in the North Macedonia lake-resort town of Ohrid, local media reported.
“Unfortunately, Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who was one of the panellists at yesterday’s cultural diplomacy forum that was held in Ohrid, died suddenly today,” according to a statement from the office of former North Macedonia President Gjorgje Ivanov.
Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party calling him a “monumental figure” of both Scottish and British politics.
“He leaves behind a lasting legacy,” Starmer said. “As first minister of Scotland, he cared deeply about Scotland’s heritage, history and culture, as well as the communities he represented.”
Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014, and was leader of the Scottish National Party on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000, and from 2004 to 2014. Salmond, as then leader of the Scottish National Party, led the independence campaign in the referendum in 2014, but lost, gaining 45 percent of the vote. Salmond resigned from the SNP in 2018 in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.
He subsequently formed a new party called Alba — the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland — and was acquitted of the charges.
The current SNP first minister, John Swinney, said that he was “deeply shocked and saddened at the untimely death” of Salmond.
“Over many years, Alex made an enormous contribution to political life, not just within Scotland, but across the UK and beyond,” he said. “He took the Scottish National Party from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country.”
Former UK Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that Salmond was a “huge figure in our politics.”
Salmond said that he learned to dream of a better Scotland at his grandfather’s knee, and chose to join the SNP at university in 1973 when his English girlfriend poked too much fun at his separatist sentiments.
Salmond’s academic and professional background prepared him to become Scotland’s most economically optimistic and visionary politician. At St. Andrew’s University. he double-majored in medieval history, reflecting his love of a Caledonia lost, and economics. In his 20s, he worked as an economist first for Britain’s regional government in Scotland and then at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he analyzed the country’s most dynamic industry, North Sea oil.
He won a seat in the UK Parliament in 1987, and within three years was party leader. He supported Tony Blair’s Labour government in the late 1990s to create a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, a reform that stopped short of independence, but gave his homeland a taste of self-government for the first time since its 1707 union with England.
Salmond then had a very public forum to push his dream of full independence forward — his government had an array of powers especially on social issues — and managed to convince the government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to call a referendum. Up until the results were known, it had been considered a close call.
Though the independence campaign lost, Salmond’s SNP managed to capitalize its support and has dominated Scottish politics since. The SNP has been the Edinburgh-based government since, though it suffered a huge setback in this year’s UK-wide general election, when it lost a vast majority of the seats it held in the House of Commons to Labour. The next Scottish election is due to take place in 2026.
Sister of North Korea’s leader threatens South Korea over drone flights
- The ministry said North Korean forces will prepare “all means of attack” capable of destroying the southern side of the border and the South Korean military
- “The moment a South Korean drone is discovered once again in skies above our capital, a terrible calamity will surely occur,” she said
SEOUL: The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday accused South Korea of deliberately avoiding responsibility for the alleged flights of South Korean drones over the North’s capital, and warned of a “terrible calamity” if they continue.
The statement by Kim Yo Jong came a day after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry claimed that South Korean drones carrying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets were detected in the night skies over Pyongyang on Oct. 3, and Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The ministry said North Korean forces will prepare “all means of attack” capable of destroying the southern side of the border and the South Korean military, and respond without warning if South Korean drones are detected in its territory again.
South Korea’s defense minister initially denied the accusation, but the South’s military later adjusted its response, saying it couldn’t confirm whether or not the North’s claims were true.
In comments published through state media, Kim, one of her brother’s top foreign policy officials, said that the South Korean military’s vague statements should be taken as proof that it was “either the main culprit or accomplice in this incident.”
“If the military stood by while its own citizens employed drones, a widely recognized multi-purpose military tool, to violate another country’s sovereignty, thereby increasing the risk of armed conflict with a potential adversary, this would amount to intentional acquiescence and collusion,” she said.
“The moment a South Korean drone is discovered once again in skies above our capital, a terrible calamity will surely occur. I personally hope that does not happen.”
South Korea’s military and government didn’t immediately respond to Kim’s comments.
Tensions between the Koreas are now at their worst in years as the pace of both North Korea’s missile tests and the South’s combined military training with the United States have intensified in tit-for-tat. The animosity has been exacerbated by Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns between the Koreas in recent months.
Since May, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons carrying paper waste, plastic and other trash to drop on the South, in what it described as retaliation against South Korean civilian activists who flew balloons with anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.
South Korea’s military responded to the North’s balloon campaign by using border loudspeakers to broadcast propaganda and K-pop to North Korea.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian government of leader Kim Jong Un and his family’s dynastic rule.
South Korean officials have been raising concern that North Korea may seek to dial up pressure on Seoul and Washington ahead of the US presidential election in November. Experts say Kim’s long-term goal is to eventually force Washington to accept North Korea as a nuclear power and to negotiate security and economic concessions from a position of strength.
In written answers to questions by The Associated Press this month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Korea is likely preparing major provocations around the US election, possibly including a test detonation of a nuclear device or flight-test of an intercontinental ballistic missile test, as it tries to grab Washington’s attention.
Nelson Mandela’s grandson reportedly denied entry to UK ahead of pro-Palestine speaking tour
- Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, a former South African MP, was due to attend events in eight cities
LONDON: The grandson of the late South African president Nelson Mandela has reportedly been denied entry to the UK ahead of a planned speaking tour supporting the Palestinian cause, it was reported this weekend.
Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, a former South African MP, was due to attend events in eight cities, including London, Edinburgh and Brighton, as part of Black History Month.
However, he was forced to join remotely for a Sheffield event after being informed that he required a visa, The Independent reported on Friday.
The Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid said in a statement that British officials had initially informed Mandela he did not need a visa due to his South African government passport.
However, on Monday, he was informed otherwise, and despite efforts from senior ANC figures, no visa has been issued.
Mandela, who has openly expressed support for the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, said during the Sheffield event: “It seems that there are those who are intent on preventing me from being physically with you in Britain.”
He added: “I have been criticized for statements that I have made in support of the Palestinian resistance and its various formations.”
Some of Mandela’s remarks have attracted controversy, including his praise of late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, whom he called “one of the great freedom fighters,” according to Iranian state media.
The UK Home Office has faced pressure regarding Mandela’s entry into the country, with concerns raised over his past statements. A Home Office spokesperson responded by saying: “The UK has robust safeguards to ensure visas are only issued to those who we want to welcome to our country.”
Mandela is expected to visit the Irish capital, Dublin, later this month, and his visa requirement has reportedly been waived.
His grandfather, Nelson Mandela, was an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause.
