AUSTRALIA
Local mRNA factory planned
The government yesterday said that it plans to start making mRNA vaccines at home with a new plant that could produce up to 100 million doses per year. The factory would be built in Victoria State in a partnership between vaccine manufacturer Moderna, Canberra and the state government. It is expected to open by 2024. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was in the country’s national interest to produce vaccines locally.
UNITED STATES
No penalty for Kabul strike
The Pentagon on Monday said that no military personnel would be held accountable for an August drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians, including seven children. An earlier investigation by the Air Force inspector general had said that the Aug. 29 strike was caused by execution errors, interpreting information that supported certain viewpoints and communication breakdowns. The military previously called the strike a “tragic mistake.”
GHANA
Airlines fined if ‘no jab’
The operator of the country’s main international airport is to fine airlines US$3,500 for every passenger they fly in who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 or who tests positive for the coronavirus upon arrival, it said on Monday. The rule went into effect yesterday at Kotoka International Airport in the capital, Accra, Ghana Airports said. The measure is one of the strictest in Africa, where vaccine uptake has been challenged by lack of supply and logistical issues.
SOLOMON ISLANDS
Opposition party figure held
Police yesterday said that they had arrested a leading member of the opposition. United Party president John Kwaita was reportedly arrested by armed police at his home late on Monday on unspecified charges. “We can confirm that a prominent Solomon Islander has been arrested yesterday evening in relation to the rioting,” a police spokesman said. Late last month, anti-government protests sparked widespread looting and arson in the capital, Honiara.
FRANCE
Cities brawl over foie gras
Politicians in the Perigord region, known for its foie gras, have denounced a decision by several mayors across the country to ban the delicacy from official functions. “At a time when the detractors of foie gras are multiplying, let’s be proud of our gastronomic identity and our products,” a petition signed by 56 politicians from the southern region says. The production of foie gras, which is made from the livers of force-fed ducks and geese, is regularly condemned by animal rights advocates. Mayors in several cities, including Strasbourg, Grenoble and Lyon, have banned it from official tables.
CANADA
Teacher axed over hijab
The removal of a teacher for wearing a hijab in the classroom has sparked widespread condemnation of a law in Quebec. Earlier this month, Fatemeh Anvari, a third-grade teacher in Chelsea, Quebec, was told she could no longer continue in the role because her headwear contravened Bill 21, which bars public servants in “positions of authority” — including police officers, lawyers, judges, bus drivers, doctors, social workers and teachers — from wearing religious symbols. The law has an outsized impact on Muslim women and in schools in the province, where 74.5 percent of teachers are women. “This is not about my article of clothing. This is a bigger issue,” Anvari told CTV News.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the