Six In The Morning Thursday 10 June 2021

 

Biden meets with UK prime minister ahead of G7 summit

Vaccine diplomacy will be a key part of Biden's international trip

From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny and Kaitlan Collins

President Biden's expected announcement Thursday evening that the United States plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally will be a part of his efforts to reassert US leadership on the world stage, officials said.

Administration officials suggested the move is part of a broader effort for the world's democracies to lead the way in pandemic recovery.

China’s Uyghurs living in a ‘dystopian hellscape’, says Amnesty report

Widespread internment, torture and rights abuses have been claimed by former detainees as Beijing continues a policy of denial

Sarah Johnson

Thu 10 Jun 2021 16.00 BST

Amnesty International has collected new evidence of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region of China, which it says has become a “dystopian hellscape” for hundreds of thousands of Muslims subjected to mass internment and torture.

The human rights organisation has collected more than 50 new accounts from Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who claim to have been subjected to mass internment and torture in police stations and camps in the region.

Testimonies from former detainees included in a new report launched on Thursday allege the use of “tiger chairs” – steel chairs with leg irons and handcuffs that restrain the body in painful positions – on detainees during police interrogations.

EU tells Russia there is no legal basis for outlawing Navalny-linked groups

‘It is an unfounded decision that confirms a negative pattern of a systematic crackdown on human rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the Russian constitution’

Robin Emmott

A Russian court’s decision to outlaw groups linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has no legal basis in Russia’s constitution, the European Union said on Thursday, asserting that the ruling showed growing authoritarianism.

“Yesterday’s ruling by a Moscow Court to label Mr Alexei Navalny’s organisations as “extremist groups” marks the most serious effort to date by the Russian government to suppress the independent political opposition,” the EU’s 27 governments said in a statement.

“It is an unfounded decision that confirms a negative pattern of a systematic crackdown on human rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the Russian constitution,” the EU said.

COVID: Are mix-and-match vaccines the way forward?

A new German study reports that a combination of the AstraZeneca and BioNTech vaccines triggers a remarkably stronger immune response than sticking with one kind of shot.

Following its approval from the European Medicines Agency in January, the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 was administered to all adults in Germany. After discovering that especially younger women who received the shot faced an increased risk of dangerous blood clots in the brain, however, Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) in April recommended limiting use of AstraZeneca to people over 60.

That meant quite a few people who had received their first dose of AstraZeneca had to then get BioNTech-Pfizer or Moderna for their second shot. Today, all adults in Germany, no matter their age, can be vaccinated with AstraZeneca again, if the patient and doctor have a conversation about the risks prior to the jab.

Fujimori seeks ballots annulled as leftist Castillo leads in Peru's presidential vote

Leftist Pedro Castillo has cast himself as the winner of Peru’s presidential vote, even though election authorities on Wednesday have yet to declare a winner in his race against right-wing populist rival Keiko Fujimori, who claims half a million votes are still in play.

With 99 percent of votes cast in Sunday’s presidential poll counted, rural school teacher and union leader Castillo retained a tiny lead of 50.2 percent over Fujimori’s 49.7 percent.

Late Wednesday Fujimori asked the National Electoral Tribunal (JNE) to annul the results of 802 polling stations, the equivalent of 200,000 votes.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian officers in ‘undercover mission’

At least three Palestinians killed, including two intelligence officers, in a predawn Israeli raid in Jenin city, occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces have shot dead at least three Palestinians, including two Palestinian Authority (PA) military intelligence officers, in a predawn raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities said on Thursday.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the two officers as Adham Yasser Alawi, 23, and Tayseer Issa, 32, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, adding the third victim was Jamil al-Amuri, who had been imprisoned in Israeli jails.