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.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
‘MOBILIZED’: While protesters countered ICE agents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to ‘support the rights of Minnesotans’ to assemble Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of US President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, although not yet deployed to city streets. There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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