Tunisie Numerique world news roundup for February 16

Pandemic drops  and vaccination advances:

WHO: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Monday that it approved two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The vaccines will now be available via the WHO’s COVAX.

New Variant: Another coronavirus variant with a possibly worrying set of mutations has been identified in the UK and should be targeted in surge testing, experts have said. The variant, known as B1525, is the subject of a report by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, who says it has been detected through genome sequencing in 10 countries including Denmark, the US and Australia, with 32 cases found in the UK so far

Jordan started vaccination refugees in Zaatari camp, UN says.

Morocco:1,707,091 people got the first dose of the vaccine free of charge on February 15, the Ministry of Health said on Monday in its daily bulletin.

Peru: Peru’s foreign minister stepped down Sunday in a developing scandal over the announcement that government officials received Covid-19 vaccinations well before the general public.

Palestine: Palestinian officials have accused Israel of blocking a vital first shipment of 2,000 coronavirus vaccines designed for frontline health workers from entering the blockaded Gaza Strip.

World covid death: Worldwide coronavirus death toll has hit 2,408,243.

North Korea: North Korean hackers attempted to break into the computer systems of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a search for data on a coronavirus vaccine and treatment technology, South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday, according to reports.

International news:

Algeria: Thousands of people demonstrated in the Algerian town of Kherrata to voice support for the Hirak protest movement

Myanmar: Myanmar’s deposed chief Aung San Suu Kyi is at a “safer place” and “in good health,” according to military spokesman Zaw Min Tun

Iraq:A missile attack at a US-led military base in Kurdish northern kills a civilian contractor and wounds six other people.

India: An overcrowded bus drove off a bridge and into a canal in central India on Tuesday, killing at least 40 people.

Libya: Snow covered the eastern region for the first time in 15 years.

Guinea: Guinean health authorities have reported an outbreak of Ebola in a rural community in the south of the nation, with at least seven people infected, two of whom died, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Sunday.

France: France’s National Assembly adopted legislation outlined largely to counter a rise in Islamism in towns and cities which the government says threatens national unity.

U.S-At least one person was dead and more than 4 million were without power in Texas after a rare deep freeze.

China: Chinese are celebrating the Chinese New Year 2021, Year of the Ox, which begin this Friday, February 12 and which will come to a conclusion on Monday, January 31, 2022. 

Saudi Arabia-U.S: United States President Joe Biden will speak at “appropriate time” with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman as the American head of state sees him as his counterpart, and not Salman’s son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.