Britain gets ready for roll-out of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week

Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors’ clinics, the government said on Sunday.

The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents.

Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week – jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history.

In total, Britain has ordered 40 million doses – enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.

About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the first week.

Initial doses that have arrived from Belgium are being stored in secure locations across the country, where they will be quality checked, the health ministry said.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has onerous storage requirements. It needs to be kept at -70C (-94F) and only lasts five days in a regular fridge.

For that reason, the health ministry said the vaccine would first be administered in 50 hospitals. It said it would take a few hours to defrost each vaccine and prepare it for use.

NHS England has written to general practitioners, telling them to get ready to start giving vaccinations through local doctors’ services from Dec. 14.

Rather than run clinics in individual surgeries, groups of local doctors will operate more than 1,000 vaccination centres across the country, the government said.

Boxes of the vaccine contain five packs of 975 doses, but special regulatory approval is needed to split them up. A senior medical official has said that while he was hopeful it would be possible to split the packs and deliver straight to care homes, it was not guaranteed.

Britain is among the first nations to roll out vaccinations outside the context of a clinic trial, raising hopes that the tide could soon turn against a virus that has killed nearly 1.5 million people globally and hammered the world economy.

Russia began distributing its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine through 70 clinics in Moscow on Saturday, although the shot has not finished its final trials.

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Britain and EU to resume talks in final push for Brexit trade deal

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed their negotiators to resume trade talks on Sunday in a last-ditch attempt to bridge significant differences.

The decision to revive the long-running talks after they stalled on Friday over three of the thorniest issues suggests both sides believe there is still some hope they can secure a deal governing almost $1 trillion of trade a year.

But it was not clear whether either camp was ready to shift its position enough to allow the breakthrough that has proved elusive since Britain left the EU on Jan. 31 and entered a transition period that runs until the end of the year.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said that while there were serious differences, “we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved”.

“No agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved,” they said after speaking for more than an hour on Saturday. “We are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in Brussels. We will speak again on Monday evening.”

After months of negotiations, there has barely been any movement on three areas of disagreement – fisheries, ensuring fair competition guarantees and ways to solve future disputes.

Sources from both sides said that French demands over fishing rights in British waters remained a key issue, and some in Johnson’s Conservative Party suggested that EU officials had to convince French President Emmanuel Macron to back a deal.

Two EU officials said the talks would resume where they had left off. One described the suspension and then resumption of talks as theatrics. “Each side needs a bit of drama to be able to sell this.”

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Mass evacuation in Frankfurt as WWII bomb is defused

Nearly 13,000 residents were evacuated in Frankfurt on Sunday as experts defused an unexploded World War II bomb, local emergency services said.

The 500-kilogramme (1,100-pound) British bomb had been found on a construction site in Germany’s financial capital on Thursday, the emergency services said.

A 700-metre (half-mile) evacuation radius was set up in the west of the city centre in an area that included a number of old people’s homes, heating and internet infrastructure and facilities of the Deutsche Bahn national rail operator.

The work was expected to continue into the evening because of coronavirus restrictions, the authorities said.

Some 75 years after the war, Germany remains littered with unexploded ordnance, often uncovered during construction work.

Earlier this year, experts defused seven World War II bombs found on the future location of Tesla’s first European factory, just outside Berlin.

Sizeable bombs have also been defused in Cologne and Dortmund this year.

In 2017, the discovery of a 1.4-tonne bomb in Frankfurt prompted the evacuation of 65,000 people — the largest such operation since the end of the war in Europe in 1945

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Erdogan hits out at Macron, hopes French people will get rid of him soon

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan slammed French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday and hoped that the French people will soon get rid of him as he described the French leader as a burden on his country.

Ties between Turkey and France, both NATO members, have been particularly tense in recent months over policy differences on Syria and the publishing of caricatures about Prophet Mohammad in France.

“Macron is a burden on France. Macron and France are going through a very dangerous period actually,” Erdogan told reporters, referring to protests in French cities. “My hope is that France gets rid of the Macron trouble as soon as possible.”

Ankara and Paris have also traded accusations over their roles in the Nagorno-Karabkah conflict. France says Turkey fueled fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians.

Ankara, which backed its ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan during weeks of fighting which drove Armenian forces from territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, denies this.

Turkey has said France, a co-chair of the Minsk group formed to mediate the issue, was not objective. Erdogan said on Friday that Paris’ status as a mediator was “no more” due to its support for Armenia and slammed a French Senate resolution this week urging that Nagorno-Karabakh be recognised as a republic.

“(Azeri President) Ilham Aliyev had some advice for the French. What did he say? ‘If they love Armenians so much, then they should give Marseilles to the Armenians’. I am making the same recommendation. If they love them so much, they should give Marseilles to the Armenians,” he said.

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PCB announces 18-player squad for New Zealand T20Is

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced an 18-player men’s national squad for the three T20Is against New Zealand. The two sides will lock horns on December 18, 20, and 22.

According to a press release issued by the PCB, the squad was finalised by Head Coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam in consultation with Pakistan Shaheen's coach Ijaz Ahmed — who also locked his 16-player squad for the four-day match against New Zealand ‘A’ to be played in Whangarei from December 17.

Both Pakistan and Pakistan Shaheen's squads are scheduled to depart for Queenstown on December 8, Tuesday, after completing their 14-day coronavirus isolation period in Christchurch.

In a bid to ensure the safety of the players against the coronavirus, both sides will stay in different hotels and train at different times.

For the New Zealand T20Is, Pakistan have recalled Hussain Talat and Sarfaraz Ahmed in the only changes from the side that defeated Zimbabwe 3-0 in November.

Hussain, who has replaced Pakistan Shaheens' Zafar Gohar, played his last T20I against South Africa at Centurion in February 2019, while Sarfaraz Ahmed has reclaimed his spot from Rohail Nazir, who will captain Pakistan Shaheens against New Zealand ‘A’, read the official document.

Fakhar Zaman had played in all the three T20Is against Zimbabwe but missed the New Zealand tour after failing to recover in time due to high fever.

Meanwhile, Misbah ul Haq also hailed the players for their persistence and cooperation during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I want to compliment my players and the management team for their patience, sacrifices, and the hardships they have endured to ensure they not only lead the safe resumption of international cricket during the Covid-19 pandemic since the series in England but also try to give their best every time they step on the field," he appreciated.

Pakistan squad for New Zealand T20Is:

Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, and Wahab Riaz.

Pakistan v New Zealand T20Is:

18 Dec – 1st T20I, Eden Park, Auckland

20 Dec – 2nd T20I, Seddon Park, Hamilton

22 Dec – 3rd T20I, McLean Park, Napier

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Maryam tells PML-N workers to remain steadfast, embrace FIRs ahead of PDM Lahore rally

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz addressed a social media workers convention in Lahore on Saturday during which she urged party workers to remain steadfast and embrace any cases registered against them by the government.

Maryam said the people must know "how fearful the government is" of the Opposition. She said that "the most that the government can do" is register cases.

"You must take these charge sheets, string them together and wear them proudly like a garland," she told party workers, as she lamented that as many as 3,000 first information reports (FIR) are filed after every rally held by the Opposition.

Her remarks came ahead of a rally planned by the Pakistan Democratic Movement at Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan monument on December 13. Although Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the 11-party Opposition alliance will not be prevented from holding the rally, he vowed that cases will be registered against all organisers and facilitators of the rally as large gatherings are a violation of coronavirus safety protocols.

Maryam spoke at length about how the party's popularity and reach has been propelled by the social media teams and thanked them for their dedication.

"Thanks to our social media team, Nawaz Sharif's voice has reached across the country today," Maryam said, as she paid tribute to teams from across the provinces.

She thanked the social media teams for "continuing to carry forward Nawaz Sharif's narrative".

Taking aim at the government, she said that with a single roti (piece of bread) costing Rs30, a family of 8-10 people have no hope of making ends meet.

She said PM Imran Khan used to claim that the "green passport will be respected across the world" but now flights from Pakistan have been banned.

"Is there anyone who can ask him what became of the claims he made?" she inquired.

Speaking of the delay in LNG procurement, which ultimately led to high gas prices, she said "the prime minister's friends who run his kitchen were benefited".

"People hardly have any supply of gas in their homes, but they get unbelievably high bills," she followed by saying, adding that owing to the government's "mismanagement", a loss of Rs122bn had been incurred.

She dared the "fake and cowardly" prime minister to come and mingle with the people for two minutes.

The PML-N vice president said that Pakistan's GDP has turned negative, "hundreds of thousands" have become unemployed, medicines are prohibitively expensive, the "wheel of progress has begun to spin in the opposite direction", European countries have banned Pakistani flights, people have been robbed of wheat, sugar, flour, but no one is bothered, and there is no legal action, "all because he is viewed as taabedaar (servile)".

"We must now call Imran Khan by his new name — Taabedaar Khan," she said.

Maryam said that the PDM is about to make big decisions, hinting at resignations or possibly a long march, ahead of a meeting between alliance members on December 8.

"The people of Pakistan have won this war. Victory only remains to be declared in the rally on the 13th," she said.

She asked elected representatives to not fall under any sort of "pressure".

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Senate to now hold NAB accountable: Mandviwalla

Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla and other civil society members on Sunday held a press conference to express their grievances against the Nationality Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The deputy chairman of the upper house alleged that many people have died in NAB's custody, which should be investigated.

"Now the senators will hold the NAB accountable. We will approach every foreign ambassador in Pakistan and will expose NAB's atrocities," he said.

Mandviwalla opined that owing to its actions and undue pressure tactics, NAB’s credibility is not strengthening; instead, the institution is getting maligned due to its abrupt decisions.

"Now if the NAB sends a notice to someone, people laugh at their decisions. Their actions have no value now, neither in bureaucracy and judiciary nor in the civil society or among business community members," he maintained.

The deputy chairman added that NAB has committed many atrocities in the past, for example, using intimidation tactics and filing fake arrests.

"Numerous people have lost their lives in their custody. I have a human rights activist with me today who will tell you how rights have been violated by the accountability watchdog," he said.

"This is not a battle between Saleem Mandviwalla and the NAB but this is a battle between NAB and the Senate of Pakistan. Also, every senator in this country — whether he is from the opposition or from the government — has agreed that NAB should be exposed," he claimed.

Mandviwalla added that he, along with other senators, will make sure to investigate the appointment of NAB's Director-General Irfan Mangi and Investigation Officer Mudassar, stating that it will be the first time when a probe will be launched against the NAB.

"We will check the degrees of NAB's employees. It will be the first time when NAB will be accountable and [how these employees] are [leading a lifestyle] beyond their means," he said.

Speaking about the actions that the Senate will take against the bureau, Mandviwalla stressed that no one would be able to stop him from conducting an investigation.

"It is high time we hold such institutions accountable for their deeds and expose them without getting intimidated by them," Mandiwalla said.

He also clarified that the Senate’s move against the National Accountability Bureau is not for a specific individual but against all the injustices that the institution has committed.

"We will not conduct the investigation inside a closed room like them. The trial will be conducted in front of media and facts will be presented in front of everyone," he said.

Answering a question about how people are queuing up outside the Senate to lodge their complaints against the brutalities and inhumane behaviour adopted by the bureau when dealing with the suspects, Mandviwalla said that he will make sure to get the NAB blacklisted, not only in Pakistan but across the world.

"I will again approach Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Opposition to get them on board so that we can pass legislation. As you know that the ordinance was passed by the government to curtail NAB's powers and limit it to only corruption but the ordinance lapsed as there was no consensus between the Opposition and the government in this regard," he informed journalists.

Previously, the senator had said that NAB is involved in "blackmailing people," adding that the National Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Supreme Court, have criticised the bureau for violations.

It should be noted that NAB recently froze Mandviwalla's assets in connection with a fake accounts case. According to a report submitted by the anti-corruption watchdog, Mandviwalla had allegedly bought Benami shares in the name of a person accused in the fake accounts case. Mandviwalla, however, had categorically denied the allegations, calling the case "unfair and prejudicial."

As a result, NAB Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal had taken notice of the allegations levelled by Saleem Mandviwalla and ordered to stop further proceedings on the graft case against him until further orders.

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