Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. ———GENEVA — The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago is calling on the World Health Organization to convene an “international convention of the world’s people’s representatives” to commit to the fair sharing of coronavirus vaccines. Keith Rowley said Thursday that small nations in the Caribbean and elsewhere have made “huge sacrifices in an endeavor to protect our populations from the worst ravages of the virus” and global leaders should make vaccines available to people everywhere, “not just the privileged, well-heeled few.”To date, 75% of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries and nearly 130 countries have yet to receive a single dose. ———BERLIN — Germany’s top security official says about a fifth of the people checked at the Czech and Austrian borders since the introduction of strict controls have been turned back. Germany implemented the border restrictions in a bid to reduce the spread of more contagious coronavirus variants.

Source: Daily Sun February 18, 2021 18:33 UTC