Wednesday 16 September
BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING
Wednesday 16 September 2020 News Briefing – Today’s headlines are dominated by the global Coronavirus Pandemic. As of 6:30 am (GMT), these are the global active numbers.
Global COVID-19 UPDATE
Coronavirus Cases: 29,729,993
Deaths: 939,192
Recovered: 21,544,609
- NHS and care homes to be prioritised for Covid-19 tests.
- Older women bearing brunt of coronavirus recession, new figures show.
- India passes 5 million coronavirus cases.
- UAE announces emergency approval for use of coronavirus vaccine.
- Trump says Covid-19 vaccine should be ready in a month.
NHS and care homes to be prioritised for Covid-19 tests
BBC News says the government will publish details of its plan to prioritise coronavirus tests in the next few days, after problems with the system.
At the top of the list will be NHS staff and patients, and those in care homes.
Matt Hancock said he did “not shirk from decisions” about who should be prioritised.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Older women bearing brunt of coronavirus recession, new figures show
The Independent says older women are bearing the brunt of the recession unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show.
Data published by the ONS shows 79,000 fewer women over 65 were in work between May to July than were in the previous quarter – starkly higher than the 13,000 fewer men of the same age in employment during this period.
Read the full story on The Independent
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India passes 5 million coronavirus cases
The Guardian says India’s coronavirus cases have passed 5 million, testing the country’s feeble health care system in tens of thousands of impoverished towns and villages.
The Health Ministry reported 90,123 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the nation’s confirmed total to 5,020,359, about 0.35% of its nearly 1.4 billion population.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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UAE announces emergency approval for use of coronavirus vaccine
Aljazeera says the UAE has granted emergency approval for the use of a coronavirus vaccine, six weeks after human trials in the Gulf state started.
The third phase of the trial of a Covid inactivated vaccine developed by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopham began in the UAE in July and is yet to be completed.
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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Trump says Covid-19 vaccine should be ready in a month
France24 says President Trump on Tuesday said a vaccine against the coronavirus could be three or four weeks away, despite cautionary notes sounded by some U.S. public health officials about that accelerated timeline.
Trump, speaking at a town hall in Philadelphia, defended his handling of the coronavirus crisis, and said a vaccine could be ready for distribution before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3.
Read the full story on France24
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A quick look at the other top stories
Trump hails ‘dawn of the new Middle East’
BBC News says President Trump has hailed the “dawn of a new Middle East”, amid Israel’s landmark deals with the UAE and Bahrain.
He spoke as the two Gulf states signed agreements fully normalising their relations with Israel.
France fast tracks citizenship for foreign virus fighters
Euronews says France is to reward foreign health care workers and other front-line personnel who distinguished themselves in the fight against Covid-19 by fast-tracking citizenship applications for those who want to become French.
African leaders urge swift political reform in Mali
Africanews says West African leaders urged a swift political solution in Mali on Tuesday, fearing an Islamist insurgency that has been nestled in the country since 2012 could take advantage of the fragile situation.
Palestinians protest Arab normalisation deals with Israel
Aljazeera says hundreds of Palestinians protested Tuesday in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, denouncing the Emirati and Bahraini normalisation agreements with Israel as rockets were fired into the country.
Japan elects Suga, the first new PM in 8 years
CNA says Japan’s Yoshihide Suga was voted prime minister by parliament’s lower house on Wednesday, becoming the country’s first new leader in nearly eight years, as he readied a “continuity cabinet” expected to keep about half of predecessor Shinzo Abe’s lineup.
