News

News. 1st February
Mistake by EU over Northern Ireland
This is complicated. UK ordered lots of Oxford vaccines. They are made mostly in UK. EU ordered more Oxford vaccines. Astra Zeneca company says EU came later. They say it is a queue. EU have to wait. Most health experts say “No queue”. It is a world problem. Vaccine must be shared. UK Government refuses. “UK first”. EU said “Fine! The Pfizer vaccine is from Belgium. UK will not get the Pfizer vaccine”. Worse… “Pfizer vaccine will be controlled at border with Northern Ireland so it can’t be smuggled to UK”. Oh dear! Lucky… EU realised this was a bad idea and changed its mind. This is a really bad situation. World Health Organisation say it is bad example of “Vaccine Nationalism” – “me first!” – it will not help to get rid of the virus across the world.
More protests in Russia
Russia is huge. It stretches over 11 time zones (London to Berlin is one time zone difference). In each zone at 12 noon on Sunday, there is a protest in the streets – 100 cities. In some places the temperature is minus 13 degrees. They say “free Navalny” and “Putin must go”. The police say protests are not allowed. They arrested over 4 thousand people, even drivers who honk their horns, when passing.
Chinese students to be checked
UK Government worried about Chinese students and researchers coming to UK and stealing research information. So they must be checked. There are over 120 thousand Chinese students and teachers in UK. They pay double what UK students pay in fees. Not sure how the checking will work as the colleges need the fee money.