Britain is currently recording the highest number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in the world relative to its population.

On a seven-day moving average, there were recently more than 16.5 deaths per million people, according to a recent evaluation by Oxford University that refers to data from the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.

This puts Britain just ahead of the Czech Republic and Portugal, and well ahead of Germany and the U.S., both of which recorded an average of over nine deaths per million inhabitants over the same period.

On Tuesday, the number of deaths reported in Britain within 24 hours reached a record of 1,610.

The total number of deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate now stands at just under 96,000, but as this figure is always reported with some delay, it is thought to be as high as around 108,000 coronavirus deaths already.

The largest of the four British home nations, England, has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

There, it is estimated that by December, more than 12 per cent of people had experienced a coronavirus infection, according to an antibody study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This corresponds to about one in eight people.

For Britain as a whole, it is about one in 10.

However, analyses have shown that the amount of antibodies can quickly disappear after an infection, so the actual value could therefore be higher.

In November, the rate in England was just under 9 per cent.

The number of vaccinations already carried out in Britain is more encouraging.

According to the government, more than four million Britons have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The country is still the world’s lone front-runner, apart from smaller countries like Israel and several Gulf states.

More than half of the over-80s and half of nursing home residents in England have already been vaccinated, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Monday.

The Conservative politician went into self-isolation again on Tuesday after receiving a request to do so via a warning app.

He had already contracted COVID-19 last spring.

Leading British doctors on Tuesday called for the prioritisation of minority ethnic groups for COVID-19 vaccines, as they have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

“We are concerned that recent reports show that people within BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities are not only more likely to be adversely affected by the virus but also less likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine, when offered it,” Martin Marshall, head of the Royal College of General Practitioners, told the Guardian newspaper.

Marshall urged the Health Ministry to include ethnicity as a factor in vaccine prioritisation and said general practitioners could use discretion to tailor doses to the needs of their local communities.

Marshall and other medical experts also called for a health communications campaign tailored to minority communities.

“We need to be clear to our communities that there is no meat or meat products in the vaccine.

“There is no pork, there is no alcohol, and it has been endorsed by religious leaders and religious councils,” said Habib Naqvi, director of the National Health Service’s Race and Health Observatory.

Studies have shown that ethnic minority groups are almost twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than the rest of the population.

According to the British statistics authority, the mortality rate of black African or Bangladeshi males aged 9 to 64 was five times higher than among white males of that age group in the first pandemic wave. (dpa/NAN)

The United Nations said it lost two more peacekeepers from Gabon and Morocco, during an ambush by rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday.

This brings to four the number of UN peacekeepers killed since Jan. 13 in the troubled country where rebels are fighting to take control of the capital, Bangui.

In all, nine UN peacekeepers have died in “hostile incidents” around the world this year, according to Mr Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman to the Secretary-General.

“This demonstrates yet again the perilous environment in which peacekeepers carry out their mandates to protect people and support peace processes, tasks made harder by the global pandemic.

“While progress has been made in reducing casualties among United Nations peacekeepers, recent incidents show that the threats continue.

“Our collective efforts to ensure the safety of peacekeepers, including through the Action for Peacekeeping initiative, need to keep pace,” Dujarric said in a statement.

The Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, strongly condemned the latest incident, and expressed condolences to the families, governments and fellow citizens of the affected peacekeepers.

Guterres reiterated that attacks against UN peacekeepers might constitute a war crime, and called on the government to identify and bring perpetrators to justice.

He also restated his concerns over the escalation of violence in CAR, and sued for peace.

The UN chief urged all parties to immediately cease hostilities and engage in dialogue to advance the political process, “preserve fragile gains and fulfill the country’s aspiration for lasting peace”.

Reacting, President of the GeneraI Assembly, Amb, Volkan Bozkir, said he was “appalled” by the killings.

“Our brave UN personnel risk their lives to protect civilians, support political processes, stabilise countries in transition and facilitate humanitarian aid.

“They need our support,” Bozkir said in a tweet on Tuesday.(NAN)

Participants at a rehearsal for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration were evacuated from the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Monday after a fire broke out near the building, according to officials.

With tensions still high in the wake of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump attack on the Capitol, security officers rapidly whisked away the participants, including members of a military band, as a plume of smoke was seen shooting up in the air a few blocks away around 10:30 am local time.

But the blaze apparently was not connected to the inaugural preparations, and the city’s fire department said no injuries were reported.

Law enforcement officials said the fire likely started in a homeless encampment under a highway overpass about five blocks away from the Capitol.

Neither Biden nor vice president-elect Kamala Harris were on site.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is leading security operations for Biden’s Wednesday inauguration, said it ordered the fire-related evacuation “out of an abundance of caution” and that people on the Capitol grounds were told to shelter in place.

“There is no threat to the public,” the agency said in a statement.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The precautionary shutdown comes at a tumultuous time in the nation’s capital.

Tens of thousands of National Guard troops have been dispatched to the city ahead of Biden’s inauguration amid warnings from the FBI that armed far-right groups may attempt to pull off another attack on the Capitol.

The National Mall, usually a place for supporters of the new president to gather during the inauguration, has been completely sealed off at least through Thursday, and security personnel erected large steel barriers around Capitol Hill over the weekend, making Washington look like a city at war.

President Donald Trump, who will not attend Biden’s inauguration, has been impeached for inciting the Jan. 6 attack, in which five people died, by telling thousands of supporters to “fight” to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results during a joint session of Congress at the Capitol. (dpa/NAN)

The number of Indonesians overseas infected with COVID-19 rose to 2,820, as four more new cases were registered within the past 24 hours, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Amongst the four new cases, two were reported in Britain, one in Kuwait and one in the United Arab Emirates.

Also, five Indonesians abroad were reported to have recovered from COVID-19 within the last 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 1,979.

Out of the five new recoveries, four were found in Britain and one in Kuwait.

In addition, 672 Indonesian patients in other countries are still under medical treatment and the death toll remains 169. (Xinhua/NAN)

A Seoul High Court on Monday sentenced the heir to Samsung’s corporate empire, Lee Jae-yong, to two and a half years imprisonment in a reopened corruption trial, local media reported.

The National News Agency Yonhap reported that the court imposed a two and a half-year sentence on the South Korean broadcasters.

The background to the proceedings is a corruption scandal involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

Samsung is said to have paid large sums to companies owned by a controversial confidante of Park.

Lee had already been sentenced to five years in prison for corruption in 2017.

A year later, the sentence was reduced to probation.

The trial was later resumed. (dpa/NAN)

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has been detained at Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, according to a post on Navalny’s Telegram channel.

He was detained while going through passport control, according to the post.

Navalny’s plane from Berlin was originally due to land at Vnukovo airport on Sunday evening but diverted to Sheremetyevo at the last minute, according to a dpa reporter.

The plane was originally due to land at Vnukovo airport but display boards there said the plane had been diverted to the capital’s larger international airport.

The flight from Berlin, operated by Pobeda airline, was circulating above Vnukovo before it changed its course.

Opposition politician Ilya Yashin called the diversion a “hysterical reaction” of the Russian government.

Russian authorities previously said they planned to arrest Navalny, 44, immediately upon return to his home country, accusing him of breaking the terms of a suspended sentence and probation. (dpa/NAN)

Resignation
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will resign from the Senate on Monday, according to a Harris aide.

The Californian Democrat’s resignation comes two days before she becomes the nation’s first female vice president, and the first person of colour to hold that office.

Harris has notified Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that she will resign Monday, her aide said.

Newsom announced in December that he would appoint Secretary of State Alex Padilla to her Senate seat, and Padilla intends to run for a full Senate term in 2022.

Padilla said on a Friday press call that it is `very likely’ he will be sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, Inauguration Day.

Padilla will be the Golden State’s first Latino senator.

But Harris’ exit also means that no Black women will be serving in the chamber.

In her new role as vice president, Harris will serve as president of the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes.

After Democrats won a pair of runoffs in Georgia earlier this month, the Senate will be evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Harris’ tie-breaking vote gives Democrats the majority in the chamber.

Harris has already been utilising her relationships on Capitol Hill as President-elect Joe Biden’s administration looks to quickly fill top Cabinet posts.

Harris’ aide said she has made calls regarding Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin’s nomination to be the next secretary of defence.

Austin needs a waiver to lead the department because he has not been out of the military for the required seven years, and some Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee oppose granting the waiver.

Elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris is leaving the chamber with two years left in her first term.

In her short time in the chamber, the former prosecutor and California attorney general grabbed headlines for pointed questioning at Judiciary Committee hearings.

She was a loyal Democrat in the Senate but also worked across the aisle on issues such as overhauling the bail system, supporting historically Black colleges and universities and making lynching a federal crime.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, the first woman of colour to serve on the high court, will reportedly administer the oath of office to Harris.

ABC News reported that Harris will be sworn in on two Bibles, the first from a family friend that Harris used when she was previously sworn into office, and the second from the late Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.

A total of 315 regular police officers and 165 auxiliary police personnel died in the line of duty in 2020, China’s Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.

Another 4,941 regular police officers and 3,886 auxiliary personnel were injured while performing their duties.

The ministry noted that over the past year, the police force made great contributions to the country’s economic development, social stability, and, in particular, the fight against the Coronavirus.

Statistics show that 3,773 regular police officers died in public service over the past decade, and 50,000 others were injured.