241 civilians killed in Syria by explosive war leftovers this year

 As many as 241 civilians have been killed in 2021 by landmines and other explosive materials left in previous war zones across Syria, a war monitor said Sunday.

As many as 241 civilians have been killed in 2021 by landmines and other explosive materials left in previous war zones across Syria, a war monitor said Sunday. The number includes 114 children and 19 women as a result of the explosions, most of which occurred in the first quarter, Xinhua news agency quoted the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.

The watchdog called on the concerned international organisations to help remove the war leftovers from Syria and to raise the awareness of the Syrians about the danger of such materials. State news agency SANA has reported many incidents in which civilians were killed by landmines, saying terror groups had planted them in areas they used to control during the 10-year-long Syrian war…

WHO in contact with Russia on new Covid-19 vaccine: Spokesman

WHO is in close contact with Russia regarding a possible pre-qualification of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesman said

The World Health Organization (WHO) is in close contact with Russia regarding a possible pre-qualification of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesman said. “We are in close contact with the Russian health authorities and discussions are underway regarding a possible pre-qualification of the vaccine by WHO,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said at a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The pre-qualification of any vaccine involves rigorous review and evaluation of all the data required for safety and efficacy” in clinical trials, said Jasarevic, adding that at the WHO level, this process would be the same for any vaccine candidate. “Each country has national regulatory bodies that approve the use of vaccines or drugs in its territory,” he said. “Manufacturers are asking for WHO pre-qualification because it is a kind of seal of quality.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country has registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Putin said he hoped that the mass production of the vaccine registered in Russia should begin in the near future, and vaccination will be available to everyone in the country voluntarily…Read Full Story

Twitter labels state-controlled media outlets, govt officials’ accounts

The micro-blogging platform will not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications

Twitter has announced it would not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets and label the accounts of government-linked media, and key government officials from the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. The micro-blogging platform said the new labelling policy would include accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders from these five countries.

ALSO READ: Twitter, Facebook block Trump video, citing Covid-19 misinformation

“At this time, our focus is on senior officials and entities who are the official voice of the state abroad,” the company said in a statement late on Thursday. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications. Twitter will also label accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors and their senior staff.

The move will impact state-controlled media organisations like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua news agency. In 2019, Twitter banned all state-backed media advertising and political advertising from Twitter. “For transparency and practicality, we are starting with a limited and clearly-defined group of countries before expanding to a wider range of countries in the future,” said Twitter…Read More