30-07-2021

FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021
11
Three persons were killed and another was hurt after a speeding van ploughed into a tractor trolley parked
along the busy Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Chandina upazila early on Thursday. Photo : Star Mail
Teenager dies
in Lebanon
wildfires
BEIRUT : A teenager was
killed as he joined
volunteers battling forest
fires in northern Lebanon,
where firefighters were
struggling Thursday to
protect homes from the
blaze.
The 15-year-old was one of
several residents of the
Qubayyat area in Lebanon's
remote Akkar region "who
rushed to the scene to help
douse the flames," Lebanese
civil defence said.
The youngster died on
Wednesday, hours after the
fire started spreading.
The state sent helicopters
but struggled to contain the
fire, which was still raging on
Thursday.
According to the Lebanese
Red Cross, another eight
people were hospitalised as a
result of the fire, which
forced several inhabitants to
evacuate their homes.
"The situation on the
ground is frightening,"
Agriculture Minister Abbas
Mortada told AFP. "The fire
is huge, it has destroyed vast
forested areas and is now
threatening homes."
Colombia expels
German who took part
in anti-govt protests
BOGOTA : Colombian
immigration authorities said
Tuesday they had expelled a
German woman who took
part in demonstrations
against the government of
President Ivan Duque.
Rebecca Sproesser "was
carrying out activities that
had nothing to do with her
status as a tourist, and which
could affect the civil order
and peace," said the
immigration authorities in a
statement justifying "the
decision to expel her."
Sproesser regularly
uploaded photos and video
of demonstrations to her
social media networks, in
which she met with
members on what she called
the "front line" of protests in
the southwestern city of Cali.
On Friday, she said on
Facebook she had been the
victim of an attack in the city,
which has been the epicenter
of anti-government protests
that left more than 60 dead
in three months.
Delta variant drives virus spread
to three China provinces
BEIJING : China Thursday reported small
coronavirus outbreaks driven by the Delta
variant in three provinces as a cluster linked
to an eastern airport spreads despite mass
testing and a vaccination drive.
The flareup, which began after nine
workers at the Nanjing airport tested positive
on July 20, has since seen 171 cases detected
in Jiangsu province, while infections have
spread to at least four other provinces.
It is geographically the largest spread for
several months, challenging China's
aggressive containment efforts which have
relied on mass testing, lockdowns and swift
contact tracing.
The virus first emerged in the central city of
Wuhan, but China has extolled its success in
largely extinguishing the pandemic inside its
borders, allowing the economy to rebound.
The new outbreak, coupled with cases
seeping over the porous border with
Myanmar, is threatening that record.
Officials in Jiangsu have locked down
hundreds of thousands of residents, Lu Jing,
a member of the epidemic prevention
taskforce told reporters Thursday.
"Internet cafes, gyms, cinemas and karaoke
bars and even libraries in Nanjing have been
shut down," he said. The city has tested all 9.2
million residents twice as officials rush to
curb the spread of the disease, he said adding
the highly contagious Delta variant is posing
challenges to containment efforts.
The southwestern province of Sichuan
reported three new cases Thursday while
Beijing reported one locally transmitted case,
the first in six months.
The patient living on the outskirts of the
Chinese capital had tested positive after
returning from a theatre festival at a tourist
hotspot in central China, health officials said.
Meanwhle, a high-end hotel in downtown
Beijing has been locked down after media
reported an imported case was found among
the guests.
Police and workers wearing PPE suits and
disinfectant hoses were seen outside the
Legendale Hotel on Thursday.
Most of the patients testing positive in the
latest outbreak have already been vaccinated,
raising concerns about the efficacy of vaccines
against new variants.
China is racing to vaccinate at least 65
percent of its 1.5 billion population by the end
of the year.
The country has given out some 1.5 billion
doses of the vaccine as of Wednesday, the
National Health Commission said, without
offering details on the number of people fully
vaccinated.
Turkey courts Biden with
Kabul airport offer
ANKARA : Turkey is offering to protect Kabul's
strategic airport after US forces leave in what
experts view as a high-risk bid to improve
Ankara's strained ties with Washington.
Keeping the air hub safe from advancing
Taliban forces became a major issue after US
President Joe Biden called an end to
Washington's 20-year involvement by
ordering all troops out of Afghanistan by the
end of next month.
Hamid Karzai International Airport offers
the safest route for embassy staff and
humanitarian aid to reach the war-torn
country.
Its fall could leave Afghanistan largely cut off
from the world.
Ankara's surprise proposal gave Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a chance to
build a rapport with Biden during their first
meeting at a NATO summit in June.
The offer meets two of the Turkish leader's
objectives: warm chilly ties with Western allies
and avert an influx of refugees by keeping aid
routes open.
"Turkey has a vested interest in
Afghanistan's stability," said Magdalena
Kirchner, Afghanistan country director at
German foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Turkish officials play down the diplomatic
aspects of the mission and stress the
importance of relieving the suffering in
Afghanistan.
"Our objective is to make sure Afghanistan is
not closed to the outside world, that it is not
isolated," a Turkish diplomatic source said.
The United Nations this month said 18
million people-or half the Afghan populationneeded
assistance, while half of all children
under the age of five suffered from acute
malnutrition.
While Washington still views Turkey as an
important ally in a volatile part of the world,
relations have been bedevilled by disputes,
including Ankara's acquisition of a Russian
missile defence system.
Washington sanctioned Ankara for the
purchase last year.
"The main factor behind the airport
proposal... is Turkish-American relations:
Ankara hopes to regain favour with
Washington after a string of diplomatic crises,"
analyst Salim Cevik wrote in a paper for
Germany's SWP think tank.
The Turkish source refused to give details on
what Ankara wanted from Washington in
return for its continued presence in
Afghanistan.
But Erdogan has said that Turkey requires
US logistical support and funding. The sides
have reportedly made progress during closeddoor
talks between their militaries.
The Turkish leader has also mentioned
possible Hungarian and Pakistani involvement
in the mission.
A human chain was held at Mongla press club premises yesterday on the occasion of International Tiger
Day-2021.
Photo : PBA
France to introduce anti-Covid
pass for cafes, trains from Aug 9
PARIS : France will from August 9
enforce new legislation that will make a
health pass compulsory to visit a cafe,
board a plane or travel on an inter-city
train, the government's spokesman said
Wednesday.
The legislation passed by parliament
at the weekend has sparked mass
protests in France but the government
is determined to press ahead and make
the health pass a key part of the fight
against Covid-19.
A valid health pass is generated by two
jabs from a recognised vaccine, a
negative coronavirus test or a recent
recovery from infection. The legislation
also makes vaccination compulsory for
health-workers and carers.
The pass has already been obligatory
from July 21 for visits to museums,
cinemas and cultural venues with a
capacity of more than 50 people.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal
said it would also be obligatory in cafes,
restaurants, flights and inter-city trains
from August 9.
Rising infections driven by the Delta
variant, with an average of 19,000 daily
cases -- 97 percent higher than a week
ago-means that the health situation in
France "is continuing to get worse and
remains worrying", he added.
Attal's announcement came as data
showed 50 percent of France's adult
population were now vaccinated with
two jabs. The government's health pass
strategy makes vaccination its numberone
weapon in the fight against Covid-
19.
Attal stressed that there would be a
degree of tolerance in the initial phase
from August 9. Transport minister
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said authorities
wanted to have "a good level of control
without making the lives of travellers
difficult".
Ahead of the return to school after
summer holidays, Education Minister
Jean-Michel Blanquer said secondary
school and college students would only
be pulled from classes when fellow
pupils tested positive if they themselves
had not been vaccinated.
He said 6,000-7,000 vaccine centres
would be deployed around schools to
help teenagers get their jabs.
France's health authority on
Wednesday approved giving the
Moderna jab to 12-17 year olds, after a
similar ruling on the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine in mid-June.
The implementation of the health
pass legislation will come four days after
the Constitutional Council, France's
highest constitutional authority, issues
its ruling on the legislation on August 5.
The Council has the power to send
laws back to the legislature and
government for changes but the
government appears confident it will
receive the green light.
The plans have proven hugely
controversial, prompting two weekends
of protests that on Saturday saw over
160,000 rally nationwide and dozens
arrested.
President Emmanuel Macron said at
the weekend that refusing to be
vaccinated amounted to
"irresponsibility and egoism".
Health officials meanwhile declared
a health emergency in the French
Caribbean overseas territories of
Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint
Barthelemy Wednesday in order to
limit people's movements as cases
surge there.
IPDC Finance Limited has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Bank under the "Credit Guarantee
Scheme" (CGS) in a brief agreement ceremony, maintaining safety standards. The Credit Guarantee
Scheme will ease existing credit availing process for the CMSMEs in the country's far-flung areas,
ensuring economic development of those regions. Photographed from left to right in the front row:
Md. Oliul Islam, Joint Director, CGS Unit, Bangladesh Bank; Md. Nazrul Islam, Deputy General
Manager, CGS Unit, Bangladesh bank; S.M. Mohsin Hossain, General Manager, CGS Unit, Bangladesh
bank; Mominul Islam, Managing Director and CEO, IPDC Finance Limited; Rizwan Dawood Shams,
Additional Managing Director, IPDC Finance Limited; Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman Shawon,
Head of SME, IPDC Finance Limited. From left to right in the back row: Bipul Deb, Executive, IPDC
Finance Limited; S M Mahamudul Farid, Assistant Manager, IPDC Finance Limited. Photo : Courtesy
England to allow
unquarantined
travel from US and
EU if jabbed: govt
LONDON : People fully
vaccinated in the United
States and European Unionexcept
France-will be
allowed to travel to England
without having to
quarantine on arrival, the
UK government announced
on Wednesday.
"We're helping reunite
people living in the US and
European countries with
their family and friends,"
Transport Minister Grant
Shapps tweeted, adding that
the policy will come into
force from 4:00 am (0300
GMT) on August 2.
Travellers fully jabbed
with a vaccine approved by
the United States Food and
Drug Administration or the
European Medicines Agency
will be able to travel from
any country on the British
government's "amber"
traffic light list without
having to self-isolate at
home for 10 days.
They will still need to do a
pre-departure test and take
another test on day two after
arriving in England.
Separate rules will
continue to apply for those
arriving from France.
Those travelling from an
amber list country, which
includes most of Europe and
the US, who are not fully
vaccinated will still have to
quarantine on arrival.
The government also
confirmed the restart of
international cruises.
"This is progress we can all
enjoy," wrote Shapps.
Britain is in the midst of
another wave of the virus
due to the so-called delta
variant, although case
numbers have dropped over
the past week, while its
vaccine drive has seen more
than 70 percent of adults
fully jabbed.
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