CORONAVIRUS | DENMARK, NORWAY, ICELAND SUSPEND USE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as the manufacturer and Europe's medicines watchdog insisted the vaccine was safe.

Denmark was first to announce its suspension, "following reports of serious cases of blood clots" among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement.

It stressed the move was precautionary, and that "it has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots".

As of March 9, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.

Austria announced on Monday that it had suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a 49-year-old nurse died of "severe blood coagulation problems" days after receiving an anti-Covid shot.

Four other European countries — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg — have also suspended the use of vaccines from this batch, which was sent to 17 European countries and consisted of one million jabs.

PRINCE WILLIAM DEFENDS UK ROYAL FAMILY AGAINST RACISM CLAIMS

Prince William on Thursday defended Britain’s royal family against accusations of racism made by his brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan, saying the royals are “very much not a racist family.”

In comments made during a visit to an east London school, William became the first royal to directly address the explosive interview broadcast Sunday in the U.S. that his brother and the Duchess of Sussex gave to Oprah Winfrey.

Buckingham Palace’s sought to respond to Harry and Meghan’s allegations of racism and mistreatment in a 61-word statement, but it has failed to quell the controversy.

William, second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, says he hadn’t yet spoken to Harry in the aftermath of the interview, “but I will do.”

QUAD SUMMIT NOT ABOUT CHINA BUT GENOCIDE OF UIGHURS WILL BE DISCUSSED: WHITE HOUSE

The Biden administration once again signaled that the Quad ( the Quadrilateral Strategic Dialogue between India, the U.S., Japan and Australia) is not a group about China and the agenda for Friday’s first ever Quad Summit meeting is not China-focused. However, the U.S. position that China is committing genocide against Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang province will be raised by U.S. President Joe Biden when he meets virtually with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing.

In response to a question on whether Mr. Biden would discuss with Quad partners, ways in which they could get China to stop the genocide against of Uighur Muslims, which the U.S. government has concluded is ongoing, Ms .Psaki said the topic would be raised directly with the Chinese next week but “certainly this conversation tomorrow.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan are scheduled to hold talks with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 19.

Ms. Psaki said, “But we expect the conversation tomorrow to be about a range of global issues. It’s not focused on China.”

MYANMAR JUNTA ACCUSES SUU KYI OF TAKING BRIBES AS 10 KILLED IN ANTI-COUP PROTESTS

Myanmar's military rulers have accused the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of illegally accepting $600,000 (£430,000) and 11kg of gold.

The allegation is the strongest yet levelled by the military since it overthrew Ms Suu Kyi and the country's democratic leadership on 1 February.

No evidence was provided. An MP from her party denied the allegation.

Spurning an appeal by the United Nations to stop using lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, security forces in Myanmar on Thursday fatally shot at least 10 people protesting against last month’s military coup.

Meanwhile a UN human rights investigator accused the military of committing "crimes against humanity."

Thomas Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Myanmar was currently being "controlled by a murderous, illegal regime" which was likely perpetrating "widespread" and "systematic" killings, torture and persecution.

His claims were supported by the rights group Amnesty, which accused the military of going on a "killing spree".

Mr Andrew also called for sanctions on junta leaders and on the military-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which is set to reach $1bn in revenue this year. The US has already announced sanctions on 10 coup leaders, including Myanmar's acting president, and three companies.

PAKISTANI COURT ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA APP TIKTOK

A Pakistan high court on Thursday said it would order the government to ban social media app TikTok in the country, a lawyer representing Pakistan’s telecommunications regulator said.

A high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar said it was ordering the ban after a private complainant said the social media app was spreading indecent content, Jehanzeb Mehsud, who represented Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in the case, told Reuters.

U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SETS MAY 1 TARGET TO HAVE ALL ADULTS VACCINE-ELIGIBLE

President Joe Biden used his first prime-time address to outline his plan Thursday night to make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1 and get the country “closer to normal” by the Fourth of July. He offered Americans fresh hope and appealed anew for their help.

Speaking in the White House East Room, Mr. Biden announced moves to speed vaccinations, including directing that states lift qualifications for vaccinations by May 1, and expand the number of places and categories of people who can give shots. His aim: let Americans gather at least in small groups for the Independence Day holiday.

Mr. Biden was marking one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than 530,000 Americans and disrupted the lives of countless more.

“While it was different for everyone, we all lost something," Mr. Biden said, calling the past year “a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice.”

Mr. Biden announced that he is deploying an additional 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts and will allow more people — such as medical students, veterinarians and dentists — to deliver shots. He is also directing more doses toward some 950 community health centers and up to 20,000 retail pharmacies, to make it easier for people to get vaccinated closer to their homes.

As supplies of the vaccines continue to increase, Mr. Biden announced that he will direct states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. The U.S. is expecting delivery of enough doses for those 255 million adults by the end of that month, but the process of actually administering those doses will take time.

NO EXPORT PROHIBITIONS ON COVID-19 VACCINES, SAYS U.S.

The Biden administration on Thursday ruled out that it has imposed any kind of restrictions on export of COVID-19 Vaccines, amidst reports that European Union has been told by the US that they cannot expect any AstraZeneca shipments anytime soon.

"We don't purchase AstraZeneca supplies. So there's no export prohibitions and all vaccine manufacturers in the United States are free to export their products while also fulfilling the terms of their contracts with the US government," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

EU 'FREEDOM ZONE' FOR LGBT AS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION

The European Parliament has overwhelming adopted a resolution declaring the entire 27-member European Union a “freedom zone” for LGBT people, an effort to push back on rising homophobia in Poland and elsewhere.

The parliament announced Thursday that there were 492 ballots in favor of the resolution and 141 against in a vote that came after a debate in a session of parliament in Brussels on Wednesday.

The resolution came largely in reaction to developments over the past two years in Poland, where many local communities have adopted largely symbolic resolutions declaring themselves free of what conservative authorities have been calling “LGBT ideology.”

These towns say they are seeking to protect traditional families based on unions of men and women, but LGBT rights activists say the designations are discriminatory and make gays and lesbians feel unwelcome. The areas have come to be colloquially known as “LGBT-free zones.”

The resolution is the work of a cross-party group in the European Parliament, the LGBTI Intergroup.

GULF STATES EMBRACE ISRAEL — AND THE LANGUAGE TOO

UAE residents have started learning the Jewish language Hebrew, which is spoken in Israel, through the new Educational Hebrew Institute (EHI) in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The development follows an increase in interest in Jewish culture and language after the signing of the ‘Abraham Accords’ normalisation agreement between the UAE and Israel in 2020.

EHI director Josh Samet said the institutes’ courses are approved, fully recognised and licensed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). A certificate will be provided to each participant upon completion of the EHI Hebrew language course.

EHI also offers online courses tailored to individual needs and level of experience. The courses are taught live in a virtual classroom on Zoom, where learners are able to see and talk to the teacher, write on a board, go over exercises and get corrected where necessary. Logging in can be done wherever there is an internet connection at work or home.

Samet said: “The recent peace agreement between Israel and UAE and Bahrain sparked a large demand in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Gulf states for knowledge and education cantered around the Hebrew language and culture. Even though there is no peace agreement yet between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Educational Hebrew Institute has already many participants from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in the EHI Online Hebrew Courses.

AT DUBAI AIRPORT, TRAVELERS' EYES BECOME THEIR PASSPORTS

Dubai’s airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, can already feel surreal, with its cavernous duty-free stores, artificial palm trees, gleaming terminals, water cascades and near-Arctic levels of air conditioning.

Now, the key east-west transit hub is rolling out another addition from the realm of science fiction — an iris-scanner that verifies one’s identity and eliminates the need for any human interaction when entering or leaving the country.

It’s the latest artificial intelligence program the United Arab Emirates has launched amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, contact-less technology the government promotes as helping to stem the spread of the virus.

Dubai's airport started offering the program to all passengers last month. On Sunday, travelers stepped up to an iris scanner after checking in, gave it a good look and breezed through passport control within seconds. Gone were the days of paper tickets or unwieldy phone apps.