UK Today in Coronavirus
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that at least 2 million, possibly as many as 2.5 million vaccines have now been administered across the United Kingdom. He also said that he believes 40% of 80-year-olds have received this first dose of the vaccine, as well as 23% of the elderly within care homes. Boris Johnson also experts the NHS to be massively ramping up the number of vaccinations in a bid to reach the 15 million of the most vulnerable target by 15th February, which the Health Secretary has said we are still on track to meet.
Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS England Chief has said that vaccinations have tripled over the last week. Over 380,000 have also already been given the second dose of the vaccine, although this increase will have since slowed down due to new policy to get as many first doses as possible.
Boris Johnson also warned against complacency over coronavirus restrictions due to the vaccine. The Health Secretary has pledged that support bubbles will not be removed if coronavirus restrictions are further tightened, but warned people to remain in the support bubble they have created and not keep changing them from one person to another.
Authorities on the other hand are expected to become more robust in enforcing people to follow the coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, currently they follow what is called the four Es strategy, which is Engaging, Explaining, Encouraging and then if that fails Enforcing, authorities have indicated they will be moving to enforcement more quickly against those who are more stubborn at complying, which means there could be an uptick in fines issued. It is widely worried by the government and authorities that less people are following the latest lockdown compared to the previous two national lockdowns, and thus leading to a slower reduction in new cases, with hospital admissions still putting massive pressures on the NHS.
Also with little surprised retailers have faced their worst year on record in 2020. This was largely due to coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, much of which hit physical non-food stores the hardest as they were considered non-essential. These figures are also despite the large increase in the buying of festive food and drink over the Christmas peroid. Naturally online non-food sales saw a massive boost.
Another Group Labelled as Terrorists by the United States + Cuba
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Sunday that the Iran-backed Houthis are in their eyes a terrorist organisation, the move is set to come to formality only a day before the Biden administration is set to come into power, which some believe in such a case may have been a final move by the Trump administration to cause further frustration to Joe Biden as President, with him having to inherit the problem.
Such other problems that Joe Biden will inherit due to recent last-minute decisions by the Trump administration include souring relations with China due to a change that declared all restrictions on US diplomatic contacts with Taiwanese officials to be null and void, which violates China’s One-China Policy as they consider Taiwan to be an illigetimate rebel state. There are also plans for further sanctions against Iranian entities over alledged links with the terror group Al-Qaeda.
The Houthis are a rebel group fighting against the government in Yemen which has caused a Civil War and humanitarian crisis to be active in the country since 2014, with Saudi Arabia providing support for the Yemeni government against the group. Both Saudi Arabia and other Coalition forces as well as the Houthis have been accussed of committing war crimes in the war. The Houthis have also claimed several attacks within Saudi Arabian territory over the years in retaliation for their interference in the civil war.
Up until this point sanctions against the Houthis in Yemen were delayed as it was thought that it would worsen the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, but a recent deal in the US Treasury Department has allowed for certain exemptions via special licenses that should allow aid work to continue in the country unhindered. Despite this a number of humanitarian organisations have still expressed concern that the moves may hinder aid work.
In response the Houthis have called the US a source of terrorism and said that it was directly to blame for the killing and starvation of the Yemeni people. They also rebuked the US by saying that they had only made this move to deflect on the political situation in their own country, reffering to the US Capitol breach and possible impeachment of Donald Trump.
In another controversial move the US has also put Cuba back on to its list of states that sponsor terrorism, yet tearing down more relations with the island that the Obama administration had worked to achieve, which was also controversial with Republicans at the time. Many US allies also do not believe that Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism. This means Cuba will be seeing new US sanctions.
Donald Trump had expressed his dislike of Cuba rapprochement under Obama during his 2016 presidential campaign and has worked since being in office to revert many changes and reinstate sanctions. The US has accussed Cuba of supporting Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro (of which the US currently does not recognise as the country’s leader), and have also accussed Cuba of being behind alledged attacks on US diplomats that have caused brain injuries. Cuba has also refused to return US fugitives that have escaped to the island, granting them asylum.
This yet again will be another problem that the Biden administration will inherit. Biden has said that he plans to reverse the reverses that Trump has made on rapprochement.
Bored? Below are some ideas for research topics – to learn a little more about the world we live in.
- Learn more about the Yemen Civil War.
- Learn more about the humanitarian effects within Yemen.
- Learn about the Saudi-led coalition and its actions in Yemen.
- Learn about historical relations with Cuba from the Spanish-American War, through the Cold War and to the Present.
- Learn more about the Houthis and why they’re fighting.
- Learn about Yemen’s long troubled and unstable history
- Learn about the time when Yemen was once two countries.
- Read up about the events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis – one of our closest ever points to nuclear destruction.