France says Covid-19 vaccinations will be free

Vaccinations against Covid-19 in France will be free, the prime minister said Thursday, and will begin in January for one million elderly in retirement homes, February for 14 million at-risk people and spring for the rest of the population.

Jean Castex said that thanks to orders already made at a European level, “France will have a potential of 200 million doses, which would allow 100 million people to be vaccinated” because the course requires two injections a few weeks apart.

The country’s vaccination campaign could even begin in the last days of December, he told a news conference, if EU and French health authorities have approved vaccines by then.

The government’s vaccine strategy would be presented to parliament this month, Castex said, emphasising that all decisions around it would be transparent.

France is one of the most vaccine-sceptic nations on Earth, with a survey on the weekend showing that only 41 percent of the 67 million population planned to get inoculated.

The government has set aside 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 million) for vaccinations in next year’s budget.

Castex also weighed into a debate around the New Year’s Eve celebrations, when gatherings are feared to send infections surging.

He said “it seems reasonable to us” to recommend no more than six adults at such gatherings, not including children.

The prime minister also highlighted that “the circulation of the virus continues to decline” with the number of daily cases expected to fall below an average of 10,000 in the days to come.

The coronavirus has killed more than 53,000 people in France.

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Almost 40mn mobile phones are purchased in Pakistan every year

Duty collection on the import of mobile devices doubled to Rs54 billion from Rs22 billion after the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBs) was put in place, Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefed on Friday.

He chaired a meeting regarding the enforcement of a mobile device manufacturing policy.

Prime Minister Khan said industrial growth will help increase the country’s revenue and provide employment opportunities to people. “Our objective is to boost industrial production in the country,” he added.

He directed the authorities concerned to remove all obstacles being faced by foreign investors and industrialists and facilitate them in every possible way.

During the meeting, the premier was given a detailed briefing on the enforcement of the policy. The participants were informed that Pakistan boasts a huge market with respect to the sale of cellphones as approximately 40 million mobile phones are purchased in the country annually.

It was informed that many international firms are evincing interest in mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan after the enforcement of the DIRBS.

Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Adviser on Commerce and Trade Abdul Razak Dawood, and Adviser on institutional reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain were in attendance.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Javed Ghani, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman Maj (retd) Aamir Azeem Bajwa and other relevant government functionaries attended the meeting.

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China turns on nuclear-powered ‘artificial sun’

China successfully powered up its “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor for the first time, state media reported Friday, marking a great advance in the country’s nuclear power research capabilities.

The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device, and scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.

It uses a powerful magnetic field to fuse hot plasma and can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius, according to the People’s Daily — approximately ten times hotter than the core of the sun.

Located in southwestern Sichuan province and completed late last year, the reactor is often called an “artificial sun” on account of the enormous heat and power it produces.

“The development of nuclear fusion energy is not only a way to solve China’s strategic energy needs, but also has great significance for the future sustainable development of China’s energy and national economy,” said the People’s Daily.

Chinese scientists have been working on developing smaller versions of the nuclear fusion reactor since 2006.

They plan to use the device in collaboration with scientists working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor — the world’s largest nuclear fusion research project based in France, which is expected to be completed in 2025.

Fusion is considered the Holy Grail of energy and is what powers our sun.

It merges atomic nuclei to create massive amounts of energy — the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, which splits them into fragments.

Unlike fission, fusion emits no greenhouse gases and carries less risk of accidents or the theft of atomic material.

But achieving fusion is both extremely difficult and prohibitively expensive, with the total cost of ITER estimated at $22.5 billion.

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Pakistan squad denied permission to train amid coronavirus fears

The New Zealand Cricket authorities on Friday refused to grant an exemption for the training of the Pakistani squad during the managed isolation period.

New Zealand health department, in a statement, said that following careful consideration regarding coronavirus, the Director-General of Health has confirmed that he will not be granting the exemption which would allow the Pakistani Shaheens to return back in fields in order to train in groups while completing their time in managed isolation in Christchurch.

The decision has reportedly added frustration among Pakistan squad members which are already in managed isolation for almost 10 days now.

The team was supposed to receive the green flag for training after the 3rd day of testings, however, it was put on hold after reports of SOP breaches and positive results of six members of the team emerged from day one of testing.

The New Zealand Health authorities have repeatedly termed the exemption to train during the managed isolation period a "privilege".

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the DG of health, while commenting on the decision said that he continues to have ongoing concerns about the risk of cross-infection within the squad.

“There have been a number of active cases identified among the team. Public health considerations will continue to be foremost in our response to COVID-19, whether this involves individuals or teams,” he asserted.

“We appreciate the touring team for enduring the challenges posed to public health by a coronavirus," he added.

The announcement is not less than a shock for green shirts as they were expecting exemption to be granted on Friday following the results of day nine testing.

Pakistan team has already competed 10 days in managed isolation and the period is set to end on December 8.

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Thousands of Rohingya refugees relocated to remote island in Bangladesh

Some 1,600 Rohingya refugees have been shifted to the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal. According to human rights groups, many people were not willing to relocate and were forced to move, BBC reported Friday.

Bangladesh, however, maintains that all the refugees willingly moved to the island and no one was coerced to do so. According to the government, relocating some of the refugees to Bhasan Char will ease the overcrowding in camps that house more than 1 million Rohingya, a Muslim minority group that fled Myanmar to escape persecution.

According to the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed 12 Rohingya families who said their names had been included in the list of refugees to be moved to Bhasan Char against their will.

In response to the move, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on Bangladesh on Friday and asked it to uphold its commitment by ensuring that all those relocated to the remote Island have consented to the decision.

"UNHCR stood ready to evaluate conditions on the island to ensure that it is a “safe and sustainable place for refugees to live," if permitted by the government, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said, per Reuters.

 

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Iranian scientist’s assassination contrary to international laws: SCO

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has vehemently censured the brutal assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohesn Fakhrizadeh, describing the terrorist act as contrary to international norms and laws.

In a statement released on Friday, the SCO member states strongly condemned the targeted killing of Fakhrizadeh and expressed hope that the perpetrators of the “cowardly act” would be identified and brought to justice.

“Such actions are not only against all norms of inter-governmental relations and international law but also threaten peace and stability in a fragile region,” the SCO said in the statement, also denouncing all destabilizing acts in the West Asia region, as well as terrorism, in any form or shape.

Fakhrizadeh, the head of the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, was targeted in a multi-pronged terrorist attack by a number of assailants in Absard city of Tehran Province’s Damavand County on November 27.

Iranian government officials and military commanders have hinted that the Israeli regime, which has already murdered a number of Iran's scientific elites, was behind the recent terror attack, vowing harsh revenge against all the criminals involved.

An informed source has told Press TV that the remains of the weapon used in the assassination show that it was made in Israel, adding that the weapon collected from the site of the terrorist act bears the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry.

The Iranian administration announced on Wednesday that the country’s Intelligence Ministry has identified the individuals involved in the assassination of Fakhrizadeh.

The targeted killing of the top nuclear scientist has drawn widespread condemnations from many countries.

Pakistan slams Fakhrizadeh's assassination

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement on Thursday the assassination of Fakhrizadeh and said the heinous act was in breach of the norms of international relations and international law.

“The assassination of the Iranian scientist is not only contrary to the norms of relations between countries and international law, but also threatens the peace and stability of a region that is already tense,” read the statement.

The ministry underlined that, “The Pakistani government extends its condolences to the family of Iranian scientist Martyr Fakhrizadeh and to the people of the country.”

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry also called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and prevent escalation of tensions in the region.

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Bilawal tests negative for coronavirus: Nasir Hussain

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has tested negative for coronavirus, a little over a week after the PPP chairman had announced that he had contracted the infection.

This was disclosed by Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Friday. The minister took to Twitter to thank God that the PPP chairman had recovered from the disease.

"Alhamdulillah, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's coronavirus test report has come back negative. May the Lord grant him best of health and a long life. Ameen," tweeted Shah.

الحمدللہ چییرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کی کرونا رپورٹ منفی آگئ ہے۔ پروردگار چئیرمین صاحب کو بہترین صحت اور عمر طویل عطا کریں۔ آمین

— Syed Nasir Hussain Shah (@SyedNasirHShah) December 4, 2020

Bilawal had gone into self-isolation after testing positive for the disease. The PPP chairman gotten himself tested for the infection after his political secretary tested positive for COVID-19.

Bilawal couldn't participate in his sister Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari's engagement ceremony last week due to the infection. However, as per reports, the PPP chairman witnessed the ceremony online through video call.

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