Thursday 24 September
- Sunak unveils emergency job scheme.
- Israel tightens lockdown.
- Belgium loosens restrictions despite cases growing.
- Airlines push for coronavirus tests before international flights.
- UAE reports 1,083 new Covid-19 cases, a hike from the previous day.
- Trudeau declares second wave is underway in most of Canada.
Sunak unveils emergency job scheme
BBC News says Chancellor Rishi Sunak will later unveil a plan aimed at minimising further unemployment as stricter Covid-19 restrictions come into force.
The new measures are expected to replace the furlough scheme, which is set to expire next month.
In July, around five million workers were still receiving some or all of their income through the scheme, many in the hospitality sector.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Israel tightens lockdown
The Guardian says Israel is tightening its coronavirus lockdown after an alarming spike in new cases, the cabinet decided on Thursday morning.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has voiced alarm that a surge in infections was pushing the nation to “the edge of the abyss”.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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France to shut bars and restaurants in hard-hit Marseille
France24 says France will order bars and restaurants to shut in Marseille and restrict their opening hours in other cities including Paris as part of efforts to stem a continuing rise in the daily number of infections, the health minister said.
Like other European countries where the infection rate has soared in the past month, France is tightening limits on public and private gatherings in the hardest-hit areas.
Read the full story on France24
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Belgium loosens covid-19 restrictions, despite cases growing
Euronews says Belgium announced a loosening of coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, despite the country’s rising infection rate.
Face masks will only be mandatory in crowded places from October 1, the country’s PM said. Currently, the masks are required everywhere at all times.
Airlines push for coronavirus tests before international flights
Aljazeera says global airlines are calling for airport coronavirus tests for all departing international passengers to replace the quarantines they blame for exacerbating the travel slump.
Rapid and affordable antigen tests can be administered by non-medical staff – are expected to become available in the “coming weeks” and should be rolled out under globally agreed standards, the head of the IATA said.
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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UAE reports 1,083 new Covid-19 cases, a hike from the previous day
Arab News says the UAE on Wednesday recorded 1,083 new cases of Covid-19 and one death, bringing the total to 87,530 and 406 respectively.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention said 970 cases had recovered in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 76,995 since the start of the pandemic in the country.
Read the full story on Arab News
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Trudeau declares second wave is underway in most of Canada
CNN says Canadian PM Justin Trudeau declared Wednesday that a second wave of the coronavirus is already underway in most of Canada.
“We’re on the brink of a fall that could be much worse than the spring. I know this isn’t the news that any of us wanted to hear and we can’t change today’s numbers or even tomorrow’s. Those were already decided by what we did or didn’t do two weeks ago,” said Trudeau in an address to the nation.
Read the full story on CNN
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A quick look at the other top stories
Protests erupt in Louisville after Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Fox News says after a Kentucky grand jury opted to indict only one of the three Louisville police officers in the raid that led to Breonna Taylor’s death earlier this year, the city braced for protests.
France doubles paternity leave to 28 days off
Euronews says paternity leave in France is to double to a month with seven days mandatory, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday.
Macron described the measure, which will become effective in July 2021, as “an important decision” and “beautiful progress” in a video posted on Instagram.
South Africans protest anti-immigrant illegality in Pretoria
Africanews says #PutSouthAfricansFirst was the theme of a public demonstration on Wednesday by groups of locals who marched from Church Square in Pretoria to the Nigerian Embassy — as they decried human trafficking and undocumented foreign nationals in the country.
Israeli plane lands in Bahrain after relations normalised
Aljazeera news says the first known direct commercial flight between Israel and Bahrain has landed in the island kingdom, just a week after it signed a deal alongside the United Arab Emirates to normalise relations.
