Author: News Desk

The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in England has prevented nearly 12,000 deaths and more than 30,000 hospitalisations in older people, an analysis by government agency Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday. Britain has given two-thirds of its adult population at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine, helping Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his efforts to reopen the economy by the summer. Up until the end of April, the COVID-19 vaccination programme prevented 11,700 deaths in people aged 60 or over in England, PHE said. An estimated 33,000 hospitalisations of people aged 65 and above had been avoided in the…

Google said on Friday it was leading about 30 companies and trade groups in opposing a lawsuit that seeks to stop over 90,000 spouses of highly skilled U.S. visa workers from having jobs in the country. The organizations contend undoing employment authorization for spouses would cause financial havoc for families, because most made life choices such as having children or buying homes based on the expectation of two incomes. A federal judge in Washington is expected to decide in the coming months on the lawsuit challenging the work permits tied to H-4 visas, which are issued to spouses of H-1B…

A Czech town has launched a scheme whereby residents are being given money to spend in shops and cafes badly hit by COVID-19 lockdowns, in the form of digital vouchers being marketed as a special local currency. Up to 2,000 residents of Kyjov are each being given 400 crowns ($19) worth of “corrents”, a name blending the words for “coronavirus” and “currency”, to spend at 40 businesses including shoe shops, a pharmacy and a burger joint. When they make a purchase under the scheme, participants pay for half of it with corrents and the other half with their own money.…

The United Arab Emirates has approved the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children aged 12-15, the government said on Thursday, having already permitted its use for 16 years and above. The UAE’s health ministry approved its use, the government’s Twitter account said. The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the use of the vaccine in children as young as 12. On Wednesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said the country had reported 1,508 new COVID-19 cases and two coronavirus-related deaths in the previous 24 hours. Meanwhile, 1,477 people had recovered from…

A judge postponed the trial of three former Minneapolis policemen accused of taking part in the murder of George Floyd to March 2022 after they said that prosecutors leaked prejudicial information about the case, according to media reports. Tou Thao, 25, J. Alexander Kueng, 27, and Thomas Lane, 28, all fired and arrested days after Floyd was killed on May 25, have been charged with aiding and abetting the second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd. Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was convicted on April 20 of murdering Floyd, 46, by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes,…

Amazon will give $100 more to new hires with proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the world’s largest e-commerce retailer said on Thursday, as part of its plan to employ 75,000 workers for fulfillment and logistics operations. As vaccines become crucial to reopening of the economy, several U.S. retailers, including Dollar General, Kroger and Target, are offering bonuses or other perks to staff getting their shots. Demand for hourly staff at restaurants, factories, retail stores and fulfillment centers is rising as e-commerce demand remains robust, while more consumers are expected to step out of their homes after a year of lockdown living. The vaccine-related…

Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) said that it had taken all preparations with tourism facilities to receive the inflow of visitors in the coming period, while taking the necessary precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and resume economic and tourism activity. It stated that it has prepared several initiatives and projects aimed at promoting family tourism, as Bahrain is an ideal tourist destination for the GCC families to spend holidays, due to the presence of many tourists and entertainment attractions. It said that it expects an increase in the inflow of visitors soon from the various entry…

The Japanese fashion tycoon who’s booked a SpaceX ride to the moon is going to try out the International Space Station first. “Going to the ISS before the Moon,” Yusaku Maezawa announced on Thursday via Twitter. Maezawa has bought two seats on a Russian Soyuz capsule. He’ll blast off in December on the 12-day mission with his production assistant and a professional cosmonaut. “I’m so curious, ‘What’s life like in space?’ So, I am planning to find out on my own and share with the world,” Maezawa said in a statement. He’ll be the first person to pay his own…

Oman will end a nightly curfew on Saturday designed to curb the spread of COVID-19, but shops and commercial activities will be banned from 8pm until 4am, the Supreme Committee for Combating Coronavirus said. The Gulf state had banned the movement of people and vehicles between 7 p.m. and 4 a.m. on May 8 and also banned commercial activity during the day, which will be permitted. Read More: Oman postpones second dose of Pfizer vaccine

Over 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines will likely be available in India between August to December this year, a top government advisor said on Thursday. Those doses would include 750 million of AstraZeneca’s, vaccine, produced in India by the Serum Institute of India, as well as 550 million doses of Covaxin, made by Bharat Biotech, government advisor V K Paul told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. Several Indian states are reporting an acute shortage of vaccines, even as coronavirus cases surge across the country. Read More: Indian states turn to anti-parasitic drug to fight COVID-19 India records…