Covid-19: Health workers, nursing home residents should get vaccines first – US panel

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be prioritized in the first phase of Covid-19 vaccinations, an advisory committee of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The panel voted overwhelmingly in favor of the non-binding recommendations for “Phase 1a”…

Covid-19: Japan residents to get free vaccine

TOKYO, Dec 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Japan will give free coronavirus vaccines to all of its residents under a bill passed Wednesday, as the nation battlesrecord numbers of daily cases. The bill, which says the government will cover all vaccine costs forJapan’s 126 million residents, was approved by the upper house…

Covid-19: Russian Pres Putin orders ‘large-scale’ vaccinations to start next week

MOSCOW, Dec 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Vladimir Putin wants widespread vaccinations to start next week, adding that Russia has produced close to two million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine. The announcement came on the day Britain approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for a rollout starting next week. Last week Russia…

Covid-19: UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use, first in the world

LONDON, Dec 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week. A vaccine is seen as the best chance for the world to get back to some…

Greece: Lesbos Camp refugees have no protection from the cold

ATHENS, Dec 2 (NNN-TELESUR) — The NGO Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) reported that over 7,000 refugees, who live at the Reception and Identification Center (RIC) in the area of ​​Kara Tepe on Lesbos island, face winter with no protection against the cold. “There are not enough blankets. We do not know how we will…

Ecuador: Mayors took to the streets to reject budget cuts

QUITO, Dec 2 (NNN-TELESUR) — At least 80 mayors from several cities of Ecuador peacefully gathered in the capital Quito to demand President Lenin Moreno observe the agreements on Budget plans between the municipalities and the national government. The mobilization was called by the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador (AME), which…

Murder of a French businessman and his colleague shock Mexico City

MEXICO CITY, Dec 2 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Hundreds marched in central Mexico City to protest the killing of a French businessman and his Mexican colleague over the weekend, the latest violent crime to inflame concerns about security in the country. The demonstrators marched along a main thoroughfare of the wealthy western…

US sanctions Chinese company supporting Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The United States imposed sanctions on a Chinese firm China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC), accusing it of supporting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro efforts to undermine democracy. The US Treasury Department said in a statement the Chinese company supported the authoritarian government of…

US: Judge blocks Pres Trump rules on tech visas

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US federal judge blocked rule changes ordered by President Donald Trump making it harder forpeople to get skilled-worker visas. The US Chamber of Commerce, the Bay Area Council and others had sued the Department of Homeland Security arguing that the changes rushed newrestrictions…

US: Captain of California dive boat charged with 34 counts of manslaughter

LOS ANGELES, Dec 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The captain of a scuba diving boatthat caught fire last year off the coast of California, leaving 34 peopledead, has been charged with manslaughter, one count for each victim. The blaze — the worst maritime disaster in modern California history —broke out while all…