Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
China pushes vaccines as retreat from ‘zero-COVID’ turns messy
China raced to vaccinate its most vulnerable people on Thursday in anticipation of waves of COVID-19 infections, with some analysts expecting the death toll to soar after it eased strict controls that had kept the pandemic at bay for three years. The push comes as the World Health Organisation also raised concerns that China’s 1.4 billion population was not adequately vaccinated and the United States offered help in dealing with a surge in infections.
EU parliament head pledges reforms after graft scandal
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola told EU leaders on Thursday she would lead reforms to prevent a repeat of a corruption scandal that has rocked the assembly. Metsola told the 27 EU leaders meeting for a summit in Brussels that information received from Belgian authorities showed there were serious suspicions that “people linked to autocratic governments” were seeking to subvert EU democracy.
Exclusive-The global supply trail that leads to Russia’s killer drones
The hundreds of Russian drones hovering ominously over the Ukrainian battlefield owe their existence to an elastic, sanctions-evading supply chain that often runs through a shabby office above a Hong Kong marketplace, and sometimes through a yellow stucco home in suburban Florida. The “Sea Eagle” Orlan 10 UAV is a deceptive, relatively low-tech and cheap killer that has directed many of the up to 20,000 artillery shells that Russia has fired daily on Ukrainian positions in 2022, killing up to 100 soldiers per day, according to Ukrainian commanders.
EU countries have another go at Russia sanctions amid Polish, Baltic concerns
European Union countries will make another push to agree on a ninth package of sanctions against Moscow on Thursday after Poland and Lithuania blocked a deal over concerns it might benefit Russian oligarchs in the fertilizer business. The two countries rejected the package saying it would offer Russian oligarchs loopholes to evade EU sanctions, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters in Vilnius.
Heavy shelling in Russian-controlled Ukraine as Christmas truce ruled out
Ukrainian forces staged their heaviest shelling attack in years in the country’s Russian-controlled east on Thursday, Moscow-installed officials said, as both sides ruled out a Christmas truce in the nearly 10-month-old war. Alexei Kulemzin, the Russian-backed mayor of Donetsk city, said 40 rockets were fired from BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers at civilians in the city centre in the early hours.
Irish soldier killed on U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
An Irish soldier was shot and killed on a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and a second was in a critical condition after a hostile crowd surrounded their armoured vehicle, Ireland’s defence minister said on Thursday. The soldiers, part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), were on what Simon Coveney, who is also Ireland’s foreign minister, said was considered a standard run from UNIFIL’s area of operations in south Lebanon to Beirut when the incident happened in Al-Aqbieh late on Wednesday.
Istanbul mayor says conviction reflects his success ahead of anti-Erdogan rally
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Thursday his jail sentence imposed this week was a punishment for his success, as opposition parties rally to support him and seek to challenge President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of next year’s elections. A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Imamoglu to two years and seven months in prison and imposed a political ban, both of which must be confirmed by an appeals court. The verdict drew wide criticism at home and abroad as an abuse of democracy.
As Tunisia votes, coastal town’s youth dream only of Europe
Tunisia holds an election on Saturday but, in the coastal town of Zarzis, teenager Ismail Challahki and others like him couldn’t care less. All they’re waiting for is the chance to risk their lives on another smugglers’ boat bound for Europe. A dozen years after the country’s revolution triggered the Arab spring, poverty levels are on the rise and its political system is all but broken.
Latin American leftist bloc closes ranks behind deposed Peruvian president
A bloc of left-wing countries meeting in Havana on Wednesday closed ranks in support of the ousted former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, amid protests and roadblocks in the South American nation that have left at least eight dead. “We reject the political framework created by right-wing forces against Constitutional President Pedro Castillo,” the 10 member countries – including Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and smaller Caribbean Island nations – said in a longer statement on international events issued late in the evening.
Tensions flare between Armenia and Azerbaijan over blocked transport route
Russia expressed concern on Thursday over escalating tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a key road linking Armenia to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave remained blocked for the fourth day. The two countries have fought repeated wars over Nagorno-Karabakh – internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but home to about 120,000 ethnic Armenians – since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. As recently as September, more than 200 soldiers were killed in a flare-up of fighting.
(With inputs from agencies.)
