Monday, December 14, 2020

Six In The Morning Monday 14 December 2020

 

CNN-Bellingcat investigation identifies Russian specialists who trailed Putin's nemesis Alexey Navalny before he was poisoned

Updated 1550 GMT (2350 HKT) December 14, 2020

At about 9 a.m. on August 13, a 33-year-old Russian woman named Maria Pevchikh checked in for a flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. She was not alone.

Trailing her to Domodedovo airport that morning was a member of an elite unit of the Russian Security Service, the FSB. Oleg Tayakin, a slim, balding man with blue-green eyes, remained at the airport until Pevchikh left.
Pevchikh was traveling in advance of a visit to Siberia by Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaign she leads.


Migrant worker at Malaysian medical glove manufacturer dies of Covid-19

Nepali man is first known fatality at biggest global producer Top Glove, accused of failing to protect workers


A worker at the biggest global producer of medical rubber gloves has died after contracting Covid-19, in the first known Covid-related death of an employee at the Malaysian company since the virus began to spread through its factories and dormitories.

Top Glove’s profits have surged during the pandemic, but the company has faced repeated criticism over its treatment of migrant workers, including claims that it has failed to protect them from the coronavirus.

More than 5,400 people have been infected, many of them Top Glove workers, due to outbreaks at the company’s factories, where workers have warned there is little social distancing.


Oil tanker off Saudi Arabia damaged by explosion from ‘external source’


All 22 sailors on board the BW Rhine were able to escape without injury 

An oil tanker off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah has been hit by an  “external source”, causing an explosion, a shipping company has said. 

The incident comes following a series of attacks on vessels in the kingdom in the midst of its ongoing war in Yemen

In a statement published on Monday, shipping firm Hafnia said the 22 sailors on board the BW Rhine were able to escape unscathed. 

The company said the Singapore-flagged vessel had been discharging at Jeddah when it was hit at around 12.40 am local time on Monday. 

Press freedom: Journalists end up in jail for reporting on coronavirus crisis

Hundreds of journalists are in prison worldwide for not giving in to government censorship, according to the German chapter of Reporters Without Borders. The findings were published in its annual report on press freedom.

At least 387 people working in the media industry around the world had been imprisoned by December 1 of this year, the German office of the press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced in its annual report on Monday.

Five countries were responsible for over half of all convictions: China led the pack with 117 jailed journalists, followed by Saudi Arabia (34), Egypt (30), Vietnam (28) and Syria (27).


Covid-19: First vaccine given in US as roll-out begins


The first Covid-19 vaccination in the United States has taken place, as the country gears up for its largest ever immunisation campaign.

An intensive care nurse in Long Island, New York, is believed to have been the first person to be given the jab.

Millions of vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are being distributed, with 150 hospitals expected to receive doses on Monday.


Japan to suspend Go To Travel campaign for whole country from Dec 28-Jan 11


The Japanese government will suspend its subsidy program for promoting domestic tourism during the New Year holidays amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the country, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday, upending its efforts to spur an economic recovery despite the pandemic.

The Go To Travel campaign will be halted nationwide from Dec 28 to Jan 11, with further decisions to be based on how the situation develops, Suga told a meeting of the government's task force on the coronavirus response.

Trips to Tokyo and Nagoya, both of which have seen a sharp rise in infections in recent weeks, will be suspended, with residents also being asked to refrain from using the subsidy program for trips departing from either city.



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