Israel’s Covid brakes ‘almost over’ – as it happened | World News

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The police used tear gas against demonstrators in Athens speaking out against police violence on Sunday after the footage of a police officer beating a man during a coronavirus confinement patrol went viral.

About 500 people gathered in Nea Smyrni square, in the southern suburbs of Athens, to protest the beatings that occurred at the same location earlier in the day, AFP reported.

Videos showed a policeman beating a young man, who could be heard shouting “I’m in pain”, with a nightstick in the square.

The police said they had sent a motorcycle patrol to the square “to monitor the application of measures to prevent and limit the spread of the coronavirus.”

The police officer filmed beating a civilian will face an internal investigation, the police said in a statement.

The opposition condemned it as an unprovoked act of police brutality.

The country has a government that has completely lost control of the pandemic and the only thing it knows how to do, according to the plan, is to use a heavy hand, ”said former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of the left-wing Syriza party.

The government spokeswoman, Aristotelia Peloni, said that the government is “trying, with the support of the population, to take the country out of this unprecedented health crisis with the least possible losses”.

ONE German MP announced his resignation after it was revealed that his company had made hundreds of thousands through business to purchase face masks, according to a report by Deutsche Welle.

Nikolas Löbel, a member of the Christian Democratic Union of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said he would step down as a representative in late August and immediately leave his party’s parliamentary group.

The Löbel company won about € 250,000 by negotiating contracts for face masks between a supplier in the state of Baden-Württemberg and two companies in Mannheim and Heidelberg.

“I take responsibility for my actions and draw the necessary political consequences,” he said.

THE UK The government’s scheme to help disadvantaged students catch up after the coronavirus has stopped is chaotic and confusing, the principals told the Guardian, prior to the full reopening of schools across England on Monday.

As Boris Johnson promised that schools “are ready” for mass return, broader efforts to help students after the pandemic remain ongoing, with the head of Ofsted casting doubt on plans proposed by Gavin Williamson, the secretary of education. .

Williamson said he wanted a “transformative” moment for English schools, on a scale last seen after World War II, citing ideas like longer school hours and a move to a five-year academic year as a way to help students to recover the lost ground.

But Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of Ofsted, the watchdog of English schools, expressed some skepticism, warning that any change must be supported by evidence and supported by parents.

Read the full report from Sally Weale and Peter Walker here:

France donated 15,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Slovakia while the country struggles with the highest coronavirus mortality rate in the world, reports AFP.

Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic described the doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca as a “very kind and useful gift” and a “great gesture of friendship” at a press conference with French ambassador Christophe Leonzi, the agency said. local TASR news.

The nation of 5.4 million people recorded an average of 24.09 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days – the highest rate in the world.

The country’s health ministry announced on Sunday that it had detected the South African strain of Covid-19 in seven samples collected in the country.

A crowd of football fans gathered in BelfastShankill Road to celebrate Rangers’ victory in the Scottish Premiership, despite the ban on public meetings.

The fans showed up despite strict rules designed to curb the spread of coronavirus imposed since December in Northern Ireland, reports the PA.

Previously, the Northern Ireland Police Service tweeted asking fans to safely celebrate:

We would like to encourage anyone wishing to celebrate the result of today’s Scottish Premier League to do so at home safely and within current health regulations.

MexicoThe health ministry reported 2,734 new confirmed Covid-19 cases and 247 other fatalities, bringing the total to 2,128,600 infections and 190,604 deaths, reports Reuters.

Health officials said the actual number of infected people and deaths in Mexico is likely to be significantly higher than the official count because of the lack of large-scale testing.

The UK reported an additional 82 deaths in 28 days after a positive test, bringing the total to 124,501. This compares with 144 last Sunday, and it is the first time that fatalities have dropped to less than three digits since October.

There was a delay in the publication of the daily fatality numbers, which usually leave at 4pm GMT. You can see the case numbers for the day here – at 5,177, the daily count was the lowest since September.

The seven-day moving average, which levels the reporting of irregularities in daily numbers, shows that deaths decreased by 34.8% compared to the previous week (22-28 February).

North Macedonia received his first batch of RussiaSputnik V Covid-19 vaccines on Sunday, after their distribution started last month.

An initial 3,000 of the 200,000 doses arrived in the Balkan country after he approved the jab for emergency use, reports Reuters.

“All of these 3,000 doses will be used as the first vaccine, to inoculate the elderly with chronic diseases and the elderly in nursing homes,” said Health Minister Venko Filipce in a statement posted on Facebook.

The country began inoculating health workers last month after Serbia donated 4,680 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech. He also ordered 200,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, but the shipments have not yet arrived.

The country is also expected to receive 800,000 doses of various vaccines and another 800,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine under the Covax scheme led by the World Health Organization and the Gavi vaccine alliance.

More than a thousand clubbers in Amsterdam received a brief break from the block as part of a study investigating how major events can safely operate in the midst of the pandemic.

The Ziggo Dome, the largest musical arena in the Dutch capital, opened for 1,300 people for four hours on Saturday.

Participants were tracked in all their movements and contacts using a tag, as part of an effort to examine how events can be safely reopened to the public. They were divided into five “bubbles” of 250 people, plus one of 50, each obeying different rules.

Daniel Boffey’s full report here: