Day: January 19, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that most coronavirus restrictions in England will be scrapped next week as the omicron wave seems to have peaked.

Current restrictions, known as Plan B, will expire on Jan. 27, meaning mandatory mask-wearing and COVID-19 status certification will end. Working from home guidance, however, has ended “from now.”

“In the country at large, we will continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded places, particularly where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet,” he told the House of Commons. “But we will trust the judgement of the British people and no longer criminalize anyone who chooses not to wear one.”

From March 24, there will also likely be no legal requirement to self-isolate if one tests positive for COVID-19.

“As Covid becomes endemic, we will need to replace legal requirements with advice and guidance, urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others,” he said. “The self-isolation regulations expire on March 24, at which point I very much expect not to renew them.”

He, however, noted that “omicron is not a mild disease for everyone — and especially if you’re not vaccinated.”

Johnson urged lawmakers “to do everything possible to encourage any remaining constituents who have not done so — to get boosted now.”

Opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said he would back the proposed easing of restrictions, but only if the science said it was safe and that “he’s acting to protect their health, not just his job.”

The announcement came as pressure continues to mount over alleged rule-breaking lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Just before the Prime Minister’s Questions, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected from the Conservatives to Labour.

Source: Anadolu Agency

BRUSSELS (AA) – A Belgian court on Wednesday sentenced a human trafficking network’s ringleader to 15 years in prison for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a refrigerator truck.

The Court of Bruges convicted Vietnamese Vo Van Hong to 15 years in prison and fined him €920,000 (approximately $1,042,000) for his role in the migrant trafficking that resulted in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in 2019, Belgian daily Le Soir reported.

The victims, who were attempting to enter the UK illegally with the help of a human traffickers network, were found dead in a refrigerator truck in an industrial zone outside London, suffering from hypothermia and a lack of oxygen.

Hong was established as the ringleader, overseeing criminal activities from Belgium’s capital, Brussels, according to the inquiry.

Between 2018 and 2020, he facilitated the trafficking of at least 115 people to the UK.

The network had two hideouts in Brussels, where at least 15 of the victims had been sheltering before taking the truck from the Belgian port town of Zeebruges to the UK.

The court also convicted 22 other members of the criminal gang.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Annual inflation in Canada hit its highest level in 30 years in December at 4.8%.

Supply chain issues were the main contributor to the rise, according to StatCan, the country’s official statistical agency.

The rate was 4.7% in the previous month, while monthly inflation was 0.1% in December after 0.2% in November.

Grocery prices continued to climb in December but durable goods prices saw a faster pace.

Germany and the UK’s inflation figures also hit 30-year high levels on Wednesday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The University of Michigan announced Wednesday that it reached a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 people who alleged a former athletics team doctor sexually abused them.

The sexual misconduct dates to the 1970s and is focused on Robert Anderson, whom about 1,050 claimants said molested them during physical examinations, some of which were required to participate in team athletics. Survivors include two-time Super Bowl champion Dwight Hicks and Andy Hrovat, a world-class wrestler who competed in the 2008 Olympics.

Anderson, the disgraced athletic physician, died in 2008 after working for the school from 1966 to 2003.

The agreement is subject to approval by the university’s Board of Regents as well as at least 98% of claimants and a US court.

Of the total $490 million settlement, $460 would be made available to claimants while $30 million would be reserved for future victims who step forward, the school said in a statement.

It added that the university will have no role in the distribution of the settlement, saying that will be determined by claimants and their attorneys.

“We hope this settlement will begin the healing process for survivors,” said Jordan Acker, the chair of the Board of Regents. “At the same time, the work that began two years ago, when the first brave survivors came forward, will continue.”

Anderson was never prosecuted for any wrongdoing and the school announced in 2020 that it was investigating the former physician. It asked victims to come forward following a then-secret probe that had spanned more than a year, according to the New York Times.

More than 100 survivors came forward in the two weeks after the university made its public appeal.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Swiss prosecutors launched a case Tuesday against four people over a banner targeting Turkiye’s president at a rally held in 2017.

Ahead of a constitutional referendum in Turkiye, a protest rally against the Turkish government was held in the Swiss capital Bern, during which some demonstrators carried a banner featuring an image of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the words “Kill Erdogan with his own weapons” and a gun being pointed at his head. The Swiss police did not intervene.

The rally was organized in Parliament Square in front of the federal parliament building by extreme left groups in the country and by sympathizers of the PKK and YPG terrorist organizations and far-left terror group DHKP-C.

Prosecutors at the time opened a probe for “alleged public provocation of crimes or violence,” and an investigation was also opened in Turkiye.

The prosecutor’s office did not share the indictment it prepared against the four suspects with the press on the grounds of protecting their privacy.

In the case, in which the Swiss press showed interest, members of the press were made to sign a document at the entrance of the court stating they would not publish any information about the suspects.

Swiss police also adopted extensive security measures inside and outside the court. A small group that came to support the suspects demonstrated in front of the court building.

The Turkish foreign minister had demanded that Switzerland and other countries either take measures against PKK terrorists or extradite them to Turkiye.

Although the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US and the European Union, it is not listed as one in Switzerland.

Source: Anadolu Agency

French President Emmanuel Macron urged EU countries on Wednesday to define the bloc’s “own doctrine of security” and discuss it with Russia.

“In the next few weeks, we must build a European proposal on order and principles-based security, share it with our allies in NATO, and then submit it to discussion with Russia,” Macron said during a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Macron attended the plenary to present and discuss with EU lawmakers the priorities of the French government, which will chair the meetings of EU ministers at the Council of the European Union for the next six months.

He stressed that France, as president of the Council, wants to finalize the discussions “defining the doctrine of our own security.”

“The end of the rule of law is the beginning of authoritarianism,” he said, warning that “various authoritarian powers on our borders” are taking a fight against democratic values and “it is affecting many of our countries.”

According to Macron, the rules-based European interpretation of security must encompass the principles that Russia signed up to 30 years ago, such as the rejection of spheres of influence, territorial integrity of states, the inviolability of borders, and states’ freedom to choose alliances.

He said France, along with Germany, would continue talks with Russia in the so-called Normandy format to ensure the implementation of the Minsk Agreements meant to establish a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine.

His remarks came days after key diplomatic engagements between Russia and Western countries on European security arrangements, including the situation in Ukraine.

In his speech, Macron also proposed a new alliance for Africa that would provide an “economic and financial deal” for the continent, ensure cooperation on health, climate protection, and the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration.

He said the bloc has to make clear its “relations with the Western Balkan countries and give them a clear perspective of accession to the European Union.”

Source: Anadolu Agency