Regulators give green light for UK vaccine by Pfizer
The UK government and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have approved Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. This means it can officially be distributed to the British public. It is set out to arrive by the end of next week, but PM Boris Johnson is currently waiting for further official advice on which priority groups will receive it first. At the top of the list will likely be elderly people in care homes, staff in care homes and citizens over 80 years old. The UK stands as the first nation globally to approve the Pfizer vaccine, which offers up to 95% protection against the virus. Some controversy has followed its rapid development, as the public seems to be divided on whether it is safe or long term.
French police officers suspended due to discriminatory arrest
On Monday this week, four police officers in the France were charged over the beating and racially motivated assault of a Black music producer named Michel Zecler. The abuse was captured on a security camera when Zecler tried to enter his studio last weekend but was stopped by police officers who began to choke hold and strike him, while screaming racial slurs. Two of the officers will remain imprisoned, while two are set to be freed on conditional release. The officers have said they stopped Zecler due to his not wearing of a mask and an alleged smell of cannabis. Macron has condemned their actions saying that they “shame us” and that racism has no place in the nation. The assault triggered another rise of pressure on the French government to pass a security bill to dismantle institutionalised racism.
Protests in India over deregulation rules
At the Singhu border in New Delhi, India, tens of thousands of farmers came out in the past week to protest the new agricultural laws introduced in late September. The laws were supposedly meant to grant farmers more autonomy over their prices, so they would be able to sell directly to private businesses. However, people have come forward saying the laws will actually make it easier for corporate agencies to exploit the nation’s agricultural workers. The Indian government has dug up roads and built barriers to prevent the protesters from reaching the inner city however it seems in the coming week, the number of people will grow too large to contain.
UN helps out the dispute in Tigray
In the past few weeks, the Tigray region of Ethiopia has suffered intense civil war attacks (see last week’s Top Stories) leading to the UN reaching an aid pact to distribute humanitarian resources. The events have killed and injured thousands, sent 45,000 refugees into Sudan, and displaced many more people within Tigray who are now homeless. Additionally, Tigray is now home to nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees, struggling to find food and water. For weeks, the humanitarian aid has been blocked by the government at the border, but this week they will finally be able to reach those in need amidst the violent attacks.
Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates arrested
Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, all high-profile activists, were arrested in Hong Kong this week by the Chinese government for unauthorised assembly outside police headquarters last year. Wong has been sentenced to over 1 year in prison for organising these pro-democracy opposition protests. Over 10,000 protesters have now been arrested for this movement and their bails are usually denied. The party they represent, Demosisto, has been targeted by the government in particular given that they claim it encourages ‘self-determination’. The UK’s Dominic Raab commented: “I urge the Hong Kong and Beijing authorities to bring an end to their campaign to stifle opposition”.
