Britain - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Jamaica plans to seek reparations from Britain over slavery

KATE CHAPPELL JAMAICA plans to ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade in the former British colony, a senior government official said, under a petition that could seek billions of pounds in reparations. Jamaica was a centre of the slave trade, with the Spanish, then the British, forcibly transporting Africans to work on plantations of sugar cane, bananas and other crops that created fortunes for many of their owners. "We are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms that one would expect if they are to really ensure that we get justice from injustices to repair the damages…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX: China, climate and vaccines – what the G7 agreed this weekend

WORLD

THE Group of Seven rich nations promised to tackle China's growing influence, fight climate change, get more COVID-19 jabs to poor countries and keep up their economic stimulus programmes at their first summit since Joe Biden became U.S. president. Following is a summary of the main points agreed by the leaders of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada at their three-day meeting at a beachside hotel in southwest England which ended yesterday. CLIMATE CHANGE - The G7 said it would meet a long-overdue funding pledge of $100 billion a year by rich countries to help poorer…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Britain sanctions four Zim security chiefs

NEWS

BRITAIN yesterday announced sanctions against four Zimbabwean security chiefs for human rights abuses in a move that will restrict their travel to Britain and freeze their assets. Britain cited a crackdown on protests in January 2019 which killed 17, and post-election violence in 2018, as it introduced the sanctions on Minister for State Security Owen Ncube, as well as heads of police and intelligence organisations. "These sanctions send a clear message that we will hold to account those responsible for the most egregious human rights violations, including the deaths of innocent Zimbabweans," British foreign minister Dominic Raab said. "These sanctions…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

New cases of SA and Brazilian variants

COVID-19

BRITAIN has detected 77 cases of the South African variant of COVID-19, the health minister said on Sunday, also urging people to strictly follow lockdown rules as the best precaution against Britain's own potentially more deadly variant. Matt Hancock said all 77 cases were connected to travel from South Africa and were under close observation, as were nine identified cases of a Brazilian variant. "They are under very close observation, and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them from spreading," he said during an interview on BBC television. Oxford professor Anthony Harnden, deputy…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Toughening stance on China’s Xinjiang, Britain introduces new company rules

WORLD

SARAH YOUNG and ELIZABETH PIPER BRITAIN will introduce new rules for companies to try to prevent goods linked to China's Xinjiang region entering the supply chain, foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday, toughening London's response to allegations of forced labour. Addressing parliament, Raab said there was harrowing evidence of forced labour among Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang after the United Nations estimated at least 1 million of the minority among others were held in an internment camp. Beijing denies the charges. Raab said Britain wanted to make sure it was free from any products that had links with Xinjiang, where…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Vietnam suspends flights from Britain, SA

COVID-19

VIETNAM has suspended inbound flights from countries with new COVID-19 variants, initially Britain and South Africa, the health ministry has announced. A new variant first found in Britain includes a genetic mutation that could result in the virus spreading more easily between people. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Picture: Twitter "The risk for the disease to penetrate and spread in Vietnam is very high, especially from people entering from infected countries," the ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has told authorities to work on a list of other countries that should be covered by the suspension,…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX-First found in UK and South Africa, COVID variants cross the world

COVID-19

TWO variants of the coronavirus, first found in Britain and South Africa and more transmissible than the original, are spreading across the world. The World Health Organization says there is not enough information to determine whether the variants could undermine vaccines being rolled out across the globe. The following countries are among those that have reported variants of the novel coronavirus, first identified in China a year ago, among their populations. * The UNITED STATES reported its first known case of the variant B.1.1.7, originally documented in Britain, in Colorado - a man in his 20s with no recent travel…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

European neighbours shut doors to Britain as new coronavirus strain spreads

WORLD

SEVERAL European countries placed new restrictions on travel to and from the United Kingdom on Sunday due to concern over a new strain of the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly there. Belgium said it would close its borders to trains and planes coming from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands also suspended flights. Italy said it was planning a similar ban. Germany could also impose restrictions on flights from the United Kingdom and South Africa - which has also detected a new coronavirus strain, a German Health Ministry official said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists announced on Saturday…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Britain sanctions 11 individuals over human rights violations

NEWS

BRITAIN has imposed sanctions on 11 individuals, including the former President of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, in a coordinated move with the United States on human rights violations. "The UK and our allies are shining a light on the severe and systematic human rights violations perpetrated by those sanctioned today," foreign minister Dominic Raab said in a statement. Others named in the sanctions were security figures and officials from Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan and Gambia, including Jammeh's wife. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, first in the world

NEWS

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and PAUL SANDLE BRITAIN has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week. A vaccine is seen as the best chance for the world to get back to some semblance of normality amid a global pandemic which has killed nearly 1.5 million people and upended the global economy. "The government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for use," the government said. "The vaccine will be…