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Most Of The Greeks Ready To Get Vaccinated

Seven in ten Greeks are willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to opinion polls, as vaccination of the elderly above 85 years old started this weekend in Greece, after that of health professionals and residents of elderly care homes in recent weeks.

Some 70.1 per cent and 74 per cent of respondents in two surveys conducted for Alpha TV and Political newspaper, respectively, said they will register to get vaccinated, Xinhua news agency reported.

On December 27, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, an elderly man and a nurse were among the first to receive symbolically a dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Greece.

Doctors, nurses and some 20,000 residents of about 300 elderly care units nationwide followed.

So far over 80,000 people have been vaccinated in Greece in the mass vaccination program, according to data released by the government on Saturday evening.

The vaccination is free for all. The inoculation of the general public will begin after all vulnerable groups are vaccinated.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in Greece and some other countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Greece has been in a nationwide lockdown since November 7 in order to face the second wave of the pandemic. As the epidemiological data improved in the past two weeks, pupils of primary schools and kindergartens went back to the classroom on January 11 and the retail sector will reopen on January 18.

On Sunday evening, the Greek National Public Health Organization announced 237 new infections and 28 deaths in the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, the confirmed cases in Greece total 148,607 and the total of deaths so far is 5,469.

Also Read-‘JCPOA is alive because of Iran and not E3’: Javad Zarif

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‘JCPOA is alive because of Iran and not E3’: Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif

The remarks by Zarif followed the European trio’s (E3) earlier statement about Iran’s plan to produce uranium metal-based fuel which, they said, might have military implications….reports Asian Lite News

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the three European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, namely the UK, France and Germany, have done “nothing” to protect the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“E3 leaders-who rely on signature of OFAC functionaries to carry out their obligations under JCPOA-have done ZILCH to maintain JCPOA,” Zarif tweeted on Sunday.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on American foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, reports Xinhua news agency.

The remarks by Zarif followed the European trio’s (E3) earlier statement about Iran’s plan to produce uranium metal-based fuel which, they said, might have military implications.

“We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPOA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal,” the had statement said.

Zarif on Sunday added that the “JCPOA is alive because of Iran and not E3”.

Following the US exit from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposition of sanctions against the Islamic republic, Iran urged the UK, France and Germany to “implement their obligations” to protect Iran’s interests under the JCPOA.

As a result of the US’ unilateral exit, Iran has surpassed JCPOA-stipulated limits on its uranium enrichment level and on its stockpiles of heavy water and low-enriched uranium.

Iran has also lifted JCPOA limitations on its nuclear research and development activities.

On January 4, the Islamic Republic launched 20 per cent uranium enrichment process as part of the country’s Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020.

Also read:Iran warns US to stop ‘illegal actions’ against diplomats

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Massive polio vaccination drive begins in Afghanistan

The five-day drive was launched as 56 polio cases were detected in Afghanistan in 2020…reports Asian Lite News

The Afghan Public Health Ministry on Sunday launched a nationwide campaign to administer polio vaccines to 9.9 million children under the age of five.

The five-day drive was launched as 56 polio cases were detected in Afghanistan in 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering the efforts to stamp out the infectious disease in the mountainous country as millions of children from areas inaccessible to vaccination teams might miss the ongoing vaccination drive.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two remaining polio endemic countries in the world., according to the Unicef.

The ban on house-to-house campaign approach since May 2018 has impacted negatively on the polio eradication progress in Afghanistan, leading to 3.4 million children being missed in every round of a National Immunization Day (NID), it said.

The situation deteriorated further when a nationwide ban was imposedon all vaccinations in April 2019 for a period of five months, exposing nearly 10 million children to the poliovirus.

Also read:Afghan military defuses car bomb, 32 IEDs

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Indonesian landslide death toll mounts to 31

Currently, the search and rescue (SAR) team is still looking for nine others who are still missing in Cihanjuang village, Sumedang district…reports Asian Lite News

The death toll due to the landslides in Indonesia’s West Java province has risen to 31, the National Search and Rescue Agency said on Sunday.

Currently, the search and rescue (SAR) team is still looking for nine others who are still missing in Cihanjuang village, Sumedang district, reports Xinhua news.

“The search is constrained by rains and the SAR team needs to be aware of subsequent landslides,” the agency said.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, there are still several cracks in the location and subsequent landslides could occur at any time.

In addition, 1,020 people were displaced to avoid subsequent landslides.

The first landslide occurred on January 9 due to heavy rainfall and unstable soil conditions.

Sumedang has the potential of landslides in a medium to high category, with 26 sub-districts covering 60,872 hectares of areas at risk.

Also read:Search extended for Indonesian plane crash victims

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Two female judges shot dead in Kabul

Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

Two female Afghan judges were killed in Kabul on Sunday when unidentified armed men opened fire at the vehicle they were travelling in, marking the latest incident of targeted killings in the war-torn country, a security source said.

The incident took place in Taimani neighbourhood, Police District 4 of the city, the source told Xinhua news agency.

The shooting also left two other government employees injured, he added.

Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Afghanistan

On January 12, two female army officers died and two female officers and a driver wounded in a similar incident in northern Balkh province.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

Also read:Afghan military defuses car bomb, 32 IEDs

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Iran warns US to stop ‘illegal actions’ against diplomats

The spokesman noted that an official warning has been delivered to US authorities through the Foreign Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran….reports Asian Lite News

Iran has warned the US to stop “illegal actions” taken against its diplomats on American soil, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh confirmed.

“Iran has officially warned the US that it will sue it before the International Court of Justice if it does not stop its illegal actions against Iranian diplomats in international organisations,” Xinhua news agency quoted Khatibzadeh as saying on Saturday.

The spokesman noted that an official warning has been delivered to US authorities through the Foreign Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.

Washington should refrain from taking “illegal action” against Iranian representatives before international organisations such as the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that have their siege on American soil, Khatibzadeh stated.

For a long time, he carried on, the US government has been creating “illegal constraints” for Iranian diplomats and their families, disrupting their work and that of other countries.

Despite its commitment as host to several international organisations, Khatibzadeh went on to say, Washington has “never been a proper host”, and has consistently harassed diplomats, their families, and children coming from countries it has problems with.

Also on Saturday, the Iranian President’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi slammed the latest sanctions imposed by Washington against Tehran as a mere “show” and a sign of the “evil nature” of the outgoing American President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The recent US sanctions, while nothing more than a show, are another sign of the evil (nature) of Trump’s criminal administration – a bankrupt government that even in its final days cannot put aside its hostility towards Iranians,” Vaezi said in a social media post.

He added in the post that it is “surprising” that, despite their “deep brazen enmity,” US officials “still claim that they stand by the Iranian people”.

Also read:‘US hampering chances for Iran-Gulf dialogue’

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Russia Registers 24,092 New Covid Cases

Russia registered 24,092 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 3,544,623, the country’s coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 590 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 65,085, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Covid-19 response centre.

According to the statement, 2,936,991 people have so far recovered, including 27,311 recoveries reported over the past day.

Moscow, the country’s worst-hit region, reported 4,674 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 887,636, the centre said.

Also Read-Shun rumours on Covid vaccine: Harsh Vardhan

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Search extended for Indonesian plane crash victims

The Boeing 737-500 passenger aircraft with 62 people aboard slammed into the Java Sea on January 9, minutes after take-off from Jakarta en route to Indonesian city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan province…reports Asian Lite News

Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has extended the search for victims of last week’s Sriwijaya Air plane crash as well as the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and other materials for another three days, a top official said here on Friday.

“It was decided that the joint search and rescue (SAR) operation to search for Sriwijaya Air victims will be extended for another three days until Monday,” Basarnas’ chief Bagus Puruhito told reporters.

The Boeing 737-500 passenger aircraft with 62 people aboard slammed into the Java Sea on January 9, minutes after take-off from Jakarta en route to Indonesian city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan province.

Basarnas’ search and rescue mission coordinator Rasman M.S. said on Friday that as many as 130 divers have been deployed to search for the victims and the aircraft’ materials.



The agency has also deployed 62 ships, 21 sea rider boats and jet skis as well as 13 airplanes.

Rasman said that the aerial search is being expanded to coastal areas.

As many as 239 body bags containing human remains had been retrieved and 12 victims have been identified after forensic examinations in the police’s hospital as of Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has retrieved data from the flight data recorder (FDR), but the search team is still looking for the aircraft’s CVR.

Also read:Indonesia Begins Vaccination Programme

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Malaysian Authorities Seize PIA Plane

Malaysian authorities on Friday seized a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane at the Kuala Lumpur Airport over the non-payment of aircraft lease dues, a media report said.

The PIA plane was seized on the orders of a local Malaysian court, the Geo News report said citing sources as saying.

PIA had leased two aircraft, including the seized Boeing-777, from a Vietnamese company in 2015.

The plane was seized after passengers had already boarded the aircraft.

The aircraft’s 18-member staff also become stranded in Kuala Lumpur due to the seizure, and will now quarantine for 14 days as per protocols, the sources said.

In a Twitter post, the Pakistani flag carrier said: “The passengers are being looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel have been finalised.”

Also Read-Sri Lanka Covid cases surpass 50,000

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N. Korea Celebrates Party Congress With Military Parade

A military parade to commemorate the eighth party congress of North Korea was held at the Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, state media reported on Friday.

In a report, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the country’s top leader Kim Jong-un, also the General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) who was re-elected at the party congress, appeared on Thursday at the tribune of the square together with members of the party’s central leadership body and commanding officials of the military, reports Xinhua news agency.

During the military parade, “the world’s most powerful weapon, submarine-launch ballistic missile, entered the square one after another, powerfully demonstrating the might of the revolutionary armed forces”, said the KCNA report.

There was also formation flying to pay respect to the Party Central Committee and fireworks were set off to brighten the sky, it added.

Apart from the military parade, art troupes on Wednesday gave a performance titled “We Sing of the Party” at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang to celebrate the congress.

The eight-day congress of the ruling WPK opened on January 5 and concluded on Tuesday.

Also Read-Earthquake in Indonesia’s Sulawesi kills 35