As India breaks another global Covid-19 record and hospitals run out of oxygen, countries pledge assistance and aid
Updated 1124 GMT (1924 HKT) April 26, 2021
As India fights a devastating second wave of Covid-19 that is killing thousands each day, international efforts to help tackle the crisis are hastening, with both Britain and the United States pledging aid and much-needed medical supplies.
Greece accused of ‘shocking’ illegal pushback against refugees at sea
Lawsuit filed at European court of human rights says group were abandoned in life rafts after some were beaten
A lawsuit filed against the Greek state at the European court of human rights accuses Athens of a shocking level of violence in sophisticated inter-agency operations that form part of an illegal pushback strategy to stop the arrival of refugees and migrants.
The suit, filed by the NGO Legal Centre Lesvos, centres on an incident in October last year in which a fishing boat set off from Marmaris in Turkey for Italy carrying about 200 people, including 40 children and a pregnant woman. The boat ran into difficulty in a storm off the south coast of Crete, leading the captain to radio for assistance.
The legal case claims that in an operation of unprecedented size and sophistication, instead of helping the stranded people onboard, a Greek search and rescue vessel and two small patrol boats stalled the smuggler’s boat for five hours until speedboats carrying masked commandos arrived. Several passengers claim they were beaten in the ensuing incident.
EU sues AstraZeneca over Covid vaccine deliveries
Firm only delivered 30 million doses in the first quarter of 2021 instead of promised 180 million
The European Commission says it’s launched legal action against vaccine maker AstraZeneca for failing to respect the terms of its contract with the EU.
Spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said the Commission has started legal action against the Anglo-Swedish company “on the basis of breaches of the advance purchase agreement.”
He said on Monday that the reason for the legal action was that “some terms of the contract have not been respected” and that “the company has not been in a position to come up with a reliable strategy to ensure a timely delivery of doses.”
Global military spending increases despite COVID-19 pandemic — report
Despite the global health and economic crises, total military spending went up in 2020, Swedish research institute SIPRI has reported. Almost two-thirds of spending came from just five countries.
Total military expenditure worldwide increased by 2.6% in 2020 reaching almost $2 trillion (€1.65 trillion), despite the global coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday.
Due to the global fall in gross domestic product (GDP), the so-called military burden — military spending as a share of GDP — rose to an average of 2.4%, up from 2.2% in 2019, the biggest year-on-year increase since the financial crisis of 2009.
British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe sentenced to a year in prison: lawyer
British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, held in Iran since 2016, was jailed for a year and banned from leaving the country for a further 12 months, her lawyer said Monday.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, had appeared in court last month to face new charges of "propaganda against the system", a week after she finished a five-year sentence for plotting to overthrow the regime, accusations she strenuously denies.
She was put on trial for "participating in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009 (and) was sentenced to one year in prison and a one year ban on leaving the country," her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told AFP.
Arrested for a Spotify playlist ‘insulting Queen’, artist vows to fight laws
By Chris Barrett
If Fahmi Reza unleashed his latest Spotify playlist at a party in Australia, the worst reaction he might expect is a ban from the sound system.
In Malaysia, however, the collection of 100 or so tunes has led to the graphic artist being arrested, thrown behind bars and facing a potential three-year prison sentence.
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