No fewer than 602 journalists in 59 countries died of the novel coronavirus in 2020, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), said on Tuesday.

“More than 600 journalists died of COVID-19 pandemic in 59 countries in 10 months in 2020, that is to say 60 per month, or two per day on the average,” the NGO said in a statement.

According to the statistics, Peru recorded the largest number of such deaths – 93.

The next on the list are: Brazil (55), India (53), Mexico (45), Ecuador (42), Bangladesh (41), Italy (37), the U.S. (31), Pakistan (22), Turkey (17) and the United Kingdom (13).

In Russia, eight journalists had died from COVID-19 pandemic.

The NGO noted that the actual number of victims in the global journalistic community is “certainly higher,” as the cause of deaths is sometimes not revealed publicly. (Sputnik/NAN)

Scientists at the University of Birmingham said on Tuesday that they had developed a new COVID-19 test capable of delivering results in less than five minutes.

The new test simplifies the testing method to a single step and uses an alternative amplification method called Exponential Amplification Reaction (EXPAR), said the university.

The new test can reduce testing time from 30 minutes to less than five and deliver accurate results, local media reported.

It can be performed using standard laboratory equipment, compared to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, which require higher temperatures to separate out strands of DNA as part of the amplification process, according to the university.

It came as England enters a national lockdown from Tuesday, the third of its kind since the coronavirus pandemic began in Britain.

Scotland also enters a new lockdown from midnight on Monday, as well as a shutdown of schools until Feb. 1, 2021.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the U.S. have been racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. (Xinhua/NAN)

By Ifeanyi Nwoko

The Federal Government says it has opened talks with the Peoples Republic of China to have access to COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr  Geoffery Onyeama, made the disclosure  on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen shortly after a bilateral meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi.

Yi  is in Nigeria on a working visit.

Onyeama recalled that China was of immense assistance to Nigeria at the advent of the pandemic, noting that the donation of protective equipment greatly affected the nation in the fight against COVID-19.

The minister said that at this point when countries were discovering vaccines and China being one of them, Nigeria was engaging  the country in the area of access to the vaccine.

“We have received a lot of support from China in the area of personal protective equipment that they were very quick to provide us with and of course, with the vaccine discoveries now,

“China is also one of those countries that have been able to discover vaccines for COVID-19, so we are also engaging with China to also help with regards to access to vaccines for our people,” he said.

According to Onyeama, the relationship between both countries has dated 50 years, adding that both countries have many areas of cooperation to celebrate.

“We also realised that in 2021, we would be celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China,” he said.

Giving insights into some of the deliberations during the closed door meeting, Onyeama said that he and his counterpart looked at the trade relations between the two countries and areas that could be improved.

He said that they also discussed health issues and the global pandemic.

“In the area of fostering relations, both countries are now considering having a direct flight from Nigeria to China.

“We want to establish direct air link with China. We hope that very soon, a Nigerian carrier would be carrying out scheduled flights to China in the not too distant future,” he said. (NAN)

A court in Vietnam, on Tuesday, sentenced three freelance journalists, known for their criticism of the government, to between 11 and 15 years in prison.

The sentencing came after the court found them guilty of spreading anti-state propaganda.

Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan were convicted of “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the state’’ at a one-day trial in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Dung established the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam in 2014, which the Police said had sought regime change.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.

The party, under the leadership of 76-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, has intensified a crackdown on dissent ahead of its five-yearly congress due to be held later this month.

Dung was jailed for 15 years and Thuy and Tuan 11 years each.

Reuters could not immediately reach their lawyers for comment.

“They wrote stories to distort and defame the people’s administration, infringe the interests of the Communist Party of Vietnam and state,’’ the ministry said in a statement.

“These are especially dangerous activities that, if not stopped, could hurt national security.’’

Amnesty International said the verdict underscored the government’s contempt for free media, particularly ahead of the congress.

“Even by its own deeply repressive standards, the severity of the sentences show the depths being reached by Vietnam’s censors,’’ said its Deputy Regional Director, Emerlynne Gil.

Ahead of the trial, Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, called the charges “bogus”.

“If the ruling party is so assured in its leadership, it should demonstrate its confidence by respecting civil and political rights.

“It must also end its tight control of the press and allowing independent journalists to freely voice their opinions instead of silencing them with arrest and long prison sentences,’’ Robertson said. (Reuters/NAN)

Faustin-Archange Touadera, outgoing president of the Central African Republic (CAR), has won the absolute majority in the first round of the presidential election, according to provisional results announced on Monday.

The National Elections Authority (ANE), the electoral body of the CAR, which announced the results, said Touadera garnered 346,687 votes, or 53.92 per cent of all votes cast.

The voter turnout was 76.31 per cent.

The Constitutional Court is expected to  proclaim the final results on Jan. 19.

Touadera’s main competitor, former Prime Minister Anicet-Georges Dologuele, came in second with 21.01 per cent of all votes cast, according to the ANE.

On Dec. 29, the Democratic Opposition Coalition 2020 (COD-2020), a platform of opposition parties of the CAR, called for the cancellation and rerun of presidential and legislative elections.

The opposition cited low voter turnout in provinces under threat from armed rebels and electoral irregularities linked to insecurity as the reasons that prompted it to call for a “concertation of the active stakeholders of the nation before holding the new elections.”

Since mid-December, major armed groups of the CAR have mobilised to launch an offensive against the government.

The new alliance, known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change, multiplied the attacks and vowed to “march on Bangui”, the capital.

The CAR government accused Francois Bozize, a former head of state whose presidential candidature was invalidated, of having organised the attacks with the rebels for “an attempted coup.”

On Monday afternoon, before the provisional results were announced by the ANE, the Bangui prosecutor’s office declared that it had opened a judicial investigation against Bozize on his support for the rebellion.

The polls on Dec. 27 took place in relative calm with the presence of the United Nations (UN) force (MINUSCA) across the country, but the rebel offensive continued.

On Sunday, the rebels invaded the town of Bangassou.

A day earlier, the rebels had attacked Damara before they were repelled by government forces and UN peacekeepers.

Touadera has a house and a farm in Damara, located about 70 kilometers north of Bangui.

In a statement released on Sunday, MINUSCA said it held armed groups and Bozize “responsible” for the attacks over the weekend, which took place “in a context of electoral disruption.” (Xinhua/NAN)

The Libyan navy said on Monday that it rescued 82 illegal immigrants off the coast of Khoms city, some 120 km east of the capital Tripoli.

The Libyan navy disclosed82 illegal immigrants rescued off Libyan coast – Navy this in a statement.

“A rubber boat was successfully rescued with 82 migrants on board off the coast of Khoms city after a distress call was received by the Libyan Search and Rescue team,” the navy said.

The rescued migrants, including eight women and 39 children, were taken to Tripoli’s naval base, provided with humanitarian and medical assistance, and handed over to the anti-illegal immigration department, the statement noted.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), however, has repeatedly said Libya is not a safe port for disembarkation of rescued migrants.

Libya has been mired in chaos since the ouster and killing of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who intend to cross the Mediterranean Sea toward Europe.

Thousands of illegal immigrants, who were either rescued at sea or arrested by the authorities, remain detained in overcrowded detention centers in Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them. (Xinhua/NAN)

More than 200 Google employees in the U.S. have formed a workers’ union, the elected leaders of the union wrote in a New York Times opinion piece on Monday.

The “Alphabet Workers Union” aims to ensure that employees work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination, the union heads wrote.

Google has been under fire from the U.S. labour regulator, which has accused the company of unlawfully questioning several workers who were then terminated for protesting against company policies and trying to organise a union.

Google has said it was confident it acted legally.

“We’re building on years of organising efforts at Google to create a formal structure for workers,” the union leaders wrote, adding that so far 226 employees had signed union cards with the Communications Workers of America.

“Our employees have protected labour rights that we support. But as we’ve always done, we’ll continue engaging directly with all our employees,” Kara Silverstein, director of people operations at Google, said on Monday. (Reuters/NAN)

Niger’s government has announced plans to ramp up military presence in a region in which more than 100 civilians were killed in an attack by gunmen over the weekend.

Niger aims to permanently set up a company in the affected province, said the commander in charge, Mamane Sani.

Sani spoke after visiting the site of Saturday’s attack on two villages near the border with Mali together with Prime Minister Brigi Rafini.

He said more than 100 people were killed in the attack on two villages – Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye – with around 30 others injured.

According to Sani, no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Terrorist groups that have pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda or the militant group, Islamic State (IS), are active in Niger and other countries in the region.

The government has little control over the desert-like expanses outside the cities, a fact exploited by both jihadist groups and criminal networks.

Niger is one of the most important transit countries for African migrants, who want to reach Europe via the Mediterranean.

Together with Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso, Niger is part of the G5 Sahel group that has pledged to fight terrorist groups. (dpa/NAN)

A dialysis patient is the first person in the world to receive the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine outside a clinical trial.

Brian Pinker, 82, received the jab at Oxford University hospital in Oxford at 7:30 am (0730 GMT), according to Britain’s National Health Service.

Pinker, who is from Oxford, said he was proud to be receiving the jab in his home city, which is 82 kilometres north of London.

“I am so pleased to be getting the COVID-19 vaccine today and I’m really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford,” he said.

“The nurses, doctors and staff today have all been brilliant and I can now really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.”

It comes after the vaccine was approved first by Britain’s regulatory body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), for emergency usage on Dec. 30.

Britain began its mass vaccination programme in early December with the Pfizer/BioNTech injection. (dpa/NAN)