Category: Foreign

UNITED Kingdom (UK) Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has condemned the detention and charges filed against Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected officials ousted by a military coup, and requested their immediate release.

“We condemn the detention and charges against Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected officials.

“They must be released immediately and have charges removed,” Raab wrote on Twitter.

The foreign minister said the UK is in talks with international partners to decide on next steps, after warning that “there must be no backsliding from democracy” in the Southeast Asian country.

Myanmar’s military took control of the country on Monday and declared a year-long state of emergency after accusing San Suu Kyi’s party of fraud over its recent election victory.

According to reports, the Myanmar police has filed charges against state counsellor San Suu Kyi and president U Win Myint and remanded them into detention until Feb. 15.

On Tuesday, the UK government said that it is “pursuing all levers” to guarantee a peaceful return to democracy in Myanmar.

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday claimed that new cases of cancer have more than doubled in the last 20 years in the African region.

Noting that cancer cases increased from 338,000 to 846,000 between the year 2002 and 2020, the United Nations Agency stated that the most common forms are cancers of the breast, cervix, prostate, bowel, colon, rectum and liver.

It noted that asides covid-19 pandemic adversely affecting access to cancer care, people in African countries have limited access to cancer screening and early detection, diagnosis and treatment.

The Regional Director of the WHO, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, made this known in a statement to commemorate this year’s World Cancer Day, with theme: “I am and I will”.

She said, “Today, on February 4, WHO joins the international community in commemorating World Cancer Day under the theme “I am and I will”, marking the end point of this three-year campaign, which has sought to reduce fear, increase understanding and change behaviours and attitudes around cancer.

“Over the past 20 years, new cancer cases have more than doubled in the African Region, from 338,000 cases reported in 2002 to almost 846,000 cases in 2020.

“The most common forms are cancers of the breast, cervix, prostate, bowel, colon, rectum and liver. The risk factors include older age and family history, use of tobacco and alcohol, a diet high in sugar, salt and fat, physical inactivity, being overweight, and exposure to specific chemicals, among others.

“Industry interference is a growing challenge, including promotion and marketing of known cancer-causing products, such as tobacco. Forty-four countries in the Region have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control towards reducing tobacco use and 20 have ratified the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

“In many communities in African countries, people have limited access to cancer screening and early detection, diagnosis and treatment. For example, only about 30 per cent of African children diagnosed with cancer survive, compared to 80 per cent of children in high-income economies. Challenges in access to cancer care are further compounded in times of crisis, like the current COVID-19 pandemic.”

She added: “Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction needs to increase to prevent cervical cancer. So far 17 African countries have introduced HPV vaccination nationwide, including Rwanda and Zimbabwe, who are both achieving high national HPV vaccine coverage with the commitment of their governments and partners.”

The United States and Russia officially extended the New Start nuclear arms control treaty yesterday – two days before it was set to lapse.

The treaty, which came into effect in 2011, requires both countries to keep their deployed nuclear stockpiles to less than 1,550 warheads.

“The New Start Treaty’s verification regime enables us to monitor Russian compliance with the treaty and provides us with greater insight into Russia’s nuclear posture, including through data exchanges and on-site inspections that allow U.S. inspectors to have eyes on Russian nuclear forces and facilities,” U.S .Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“The United States has assessed the Russian Federation to be in compliance with its New Start Treaty obligations every year since the treaty entered into force in 2011.”

The 2011 treaty has a mechanism for extension without U.S. congressional approval, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on legislation extending the treaty last week.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump had sought a series of modifications to the treaty before agreeing to extend it.

Chiefly, the Trump administration wanted the treaty to limit Russia’s short-range nuclear weapons, which are not covered under the existing pact. Putin rebuffed Trump’s conditions.

Still, the Biden administration is pledging to build on the New Start treaty to address other arms control issues with Russia.

Our Reporter

Turkish police detained a suspected assassin affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) and 13 other people in an operation in the northwestern Yalova province, state-run television Shannel TRT World reported on Monday.

The assassin, identified by the initials A.Y., was also in charge of smuggling ISIS members to Europe, according to TRT. He was planning to escape to Iraq when he was apprehended, it said.

A high-profile member of ISIS was rumoured to be among the 14 people detained, TRT reported.

READ ALSO: Troops battle Islamic State to regain seized military base

Police confiscated firearms and equipment to make fake passports in the operation, as well as 433 fake passports, 346 fake identity cards and cash allegedly extorted from Turkish businessmen, it said.

Turkey is a favoured base for ISIS members. The Turkish police carry out regular operations to apprehend the group’s members. ISIS relies on Turkey as a “logistical hub” for its finances, the U.S. Treasury said in a report last month.

(www.newsnow.co.uk)

Britain has taken “a lot of risks” in its Covid vaccination programme that would be intolerable to the French public, France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, has said in defence of the EU’s record on vaccines.

With 14% of the UK adult population having received the first jab, compared with 3% of people across the 27 EU member states, there is growing discontent in the bloc.

The European Commission has been locked in a public fight with AstraZeneca over a significant shortfall in expected doses in the first quarter of this year, raising questions about how the momentum will be gained in the coming weeks.

Asked whether the UK had been able to roll out its vaccination programme more rapidly due to leaving the bloc last year, Beaune said it “has nothing to do with Brexit, but I understand that you make the comparison”.

He said: “The British are in an extremely difficult health situation. They are taking many risks in this vaccination campaign. And I can understand it, but they are taking many risks.”

In his critique of the British rollout, Beaune cited the UK’s decision to allow a 42-day gap between the initial and booster jabs, as approved by the World Health Organization, and its dependence on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

He said: “They have spaced – and the scientists have told us not to – they have massively spaced the two injections apart to up to 42 days. They mainly depend on one vaccine, AstraZeneca. The European authority will tell us tomorrow, but Germany has already told us about doubts regarding the effectiveness in people above 65.

“The UK has used the vaccine in this age group. So I understand that if they are in a difficult health situation, they take additional risks, but I do not think our citizens would accept if we took all those risks despite the recommendations of our scientists.”

The European Medicines Agency on Friday approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine for use in the EU on people over 18, without an upper age limit.

The vaccine’s developers and regulators in the UK have strongly defended its efficacy in all groups. But German and Italian regulators have recommended that it should be used only on people aged 64 and under, owing to a lack of data on efficacy in older age groups.

Regarding delaying second doses, Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has said this was a “public health decision” based on the best advice and balance of risks. But the move has proved controversial: while there is evidence from trials that a 12-week gap does not reduce the efficacy of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer has stressed it has no data on whether protection after the first dose of its vaccine is sustained after three weeks.

READ ALSO: Genesis Group starts 2021 with French-designed restaurant

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, conceded that the EU needed to speed up its vaccine deployment as he hosted his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić, in Paris on Monday.

“We are in a race against time against the virus,” he said. “We, as Europeans, need to be more efficient on this matter. I know this is also the intention of Chancellor [Angela] Merkel and President (Ursula) Von der Leyen. We will continue in the coming weeks and months to speed things up.”

The European Commission is in discussions with AstraZeneca to try to secure more doses of its vaccine than the company has so far pledged in the first quarter of the year. On Sunday the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said AstraZeneca had raised its target of supplies to the EU from 31m to 40m doses before the end of March.

On Monday a commission spokesperson said the offer by AstraZeneca was an improvement but “it is definitely not the amount which we expect to receive until the end of the first quarter, so of course discussions will continue.”

(www.newsnow.co.uk)

Our Reporter 

A man suffering from Hepatitis B and Syphilis diseases has been accused of raping a masseuse, Dubai Criminal Court has heard.

The Chinese visitor, 34, allegedly raped his 22-year-old countrywoman inside a shared Dubai villa in Al Barsha area on Sept.22 last year.

In her testimony, the woman claimed the defendant and other tenants were having a party and drinking alcohol when the accused asked her to help him clean his room and give him a massage.

“When inside his bedroom, he locked the door and attacked me,” she said.

“I screamed for help but no one could hear me because of the loud music and noises in the party.”

She told investigators he threatened to beat her up then called for his friends to come and intimidate her.

He allegedly broke her mobile phone to stop her from calling the police then ripped her clothes off and raped her.

After the alleged assault, she escaped from his room and called the police.

“We arrived at the villa and found the defendant drunk,” said a policeman.

The man was arrested and his medical tests showed he was suffering from Hepatitis B and Syphilis.

READ ALSO: Pfizer vaccine for the elite, Chinese for the rest of us?

In court, he denied charges of rape, issuing threats and damaging a mobile phone and insisted the victim fabricated the story to blackmail him.

“My client didn’t rape the woman, he had consensual sex with her,” Emirati lawyer Awatif Mohammed Khouri from Al Rowaad Advocates, told the court.

“The woman worked as a masseuse and had willingly accompanied him to his room after agreeing to give him a massage and have sex with him despite knowing he was drunk,” Ms Khouri insisted her client was being framed by the woman whose aim is to blackmail him.

“He fell asleep during the massage and was awaken by one of his friends only after police arrived responding to the woman’s call,” she said.

The next hearing was scheduled for February 10.

(www.newsnow.co.uk)