Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris attacks to begin

 PARIS (AP) — In a secure complex embedded within a 13th-century courthouse, France on Wednesday will begin the trial of 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks on Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured.

Nine gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of each other at France’s national soccer stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and Paris restaurants and cafes on Nov. 13, 2015. Survivors of the attacks as well as those who mourn their dead are expected to pack the rooms, which were designed to hold 1,800 plaintiffs and 350 lawyers.

The lone survivor of the extremist cell from that night, Salah Abdeslam, is the key defendant among those being tried for the deadliest attack in France since World War II. He is the only one charged with murder. The same IS network went on to strike Brussels months later, killing another 32 people.

Dominique Kielemoes, whose son bled to death at one of the cafes that night, said the month dedicated to victims’ testimonies at the trial will be crucial to both their own healing and that of the nation.

“The assassins, these terrorists, thought they were firing into the crowd, into a mass of people. But it wasn’t a mass — these were individuals who had a life, who loved, had hopes and expectations, and that we need to talk about at the trial. It’s important.” she said,

Twenty men are charged, but six of them will be tried in absentia. Abdeslam, who abandoned his rental car in northern Paris and discarded a malfunctioning suicide vest before fleeing home to Brussels, has refused to speak with investigators. But he holds the answers to many of the remaining questions about the attack and the people who planned it, both in Europe and abroad.

The modern courtroom was constructed within the storied 13th-century Palais de Justice in Paris, where Marie Antoinette and Emile Zola faced trial, among others.

For the first time, victims can also have a secure audio link to listen from home if they want with a 30-minute delay.

The trial is scheduled to last nine months. The month of September will be dedicated to laying out the police and forensic evidence. October will be given over to victims’ testimony. From November to December, officials including former French President François Hollande will testify, as will relatives of the attackers.

Abdeslam will be questioned multiple times. He has so far refused to talk to investigators.

None of the proceedings will be televised or rebroadcast to the public, but they will be recorded for archival purposes. Video recording has only been allowed for a handful of cases in France considered to be of historical value, including last year’s trial for the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris and a kosher supermarket.

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Fire kills 41 inmates, 80 hurt at crowded Indonesian prison

 JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A massive fire raged through an overcrowded prison near Indonesia’s capital early Wednesday, killing at least 41 inmates, two of them foreigners serving drug sentences, and injuring 80 others.

Televised footage showed firefighters battling to extinguish orange flames while black smoke billowed from the compound. Indonesian Red Cross officials evacuated the victims to ambulances and dozens of bodies in orange bags were laid in a room of Tangerang prison on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Most of the 41 killed were drug convicts, including two men from South Africa and Portugal, but a terrorism convict and a murder were also killed, Indonesia’s Justice and Human Rights minister Yasona Laoly told reporters.

He expressed his deep condolences for the family of the victims and pledged to provide the best treatment for injured victims.

“This is a tragedy that concerns all of us,” Laoly said. “We are working closely with all relevant parties to investigate the causes of the fire.”

The preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire that started around 1:45 a.m. pointed to a short circuit in one of 19 cells in prison Block C2, Jakarta Police Chief Fadil Imran said. Block C2 was stuffed full with 122 convicts.

After the fire was extinguished, hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed around the prison to prevent prisoners from escaping, Imran told reporters near the scene.

“The situation is now under control,” Imran said, adding that at least 41 inmates were killed and 80 were injured.

Eight are hospitalized with severe burns and nine with light injuries are being treated at a prison clinic, the Justice and Human Rights ministry said. Another 64, many suffering smoke inhalation, were evacuated to a mosque in the compound.

Tangerang prison was designed to house 1,225 inmates but has more than 2,000, said Rika Aprianti, spokesperson for the corrections department at the Justice Ministry.

She said 15 prison officers guarding the cell block were unhurt.

Laoly vowed to make efforts to prevent a similar tragedy, including to fix electricity problems at 477 prisons across the vast archipelago nation.

Jailbreaks and riots that led to fire are common in Indonesia, where overcrowding has become a problem in prisons that are struggling with poor funding and large numbers of people arrested in a war on illegal drugs.

In April last year, inmates angered by restrictions on family visits and the early release of 115 other inmates to curb the spread of the coronavirus set fire to a prison on Sulawesi island. Earlier in 2020, inmates set fire to a prison in Banda Aceh during a riot.

No deaths were reported from those fires.

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Gavin Williamson accused of mixing up Marcus Rashford with black rugby player Maro Itoje

 Marcus Rashford has mocked Education Secretary Gavin Williamson after the politician was accused of confusing the footballer for England rugby star Maro Itoje.

Responding to reports that Mr Williamson had confused him for Itoje, Rashford wrote on Twitter: “Accent could have been a giveaway.”

He was commenting on a report by journalist Tom Newton Dunn, for London’s Evening Standard, that Mr Williamson has never had direct communication with Rashford.

In an interview with the newspaper, Mr Williamson said he met Rashford “over Zoom and he seemed incredibly engaged, compassionate and charming but then he had to shoot off”.

Image:Gavin Williamson actually spoke to rugby star Maro Itoje

But Newton Dunn then wrote: “Later Williamson’s team tell me he actually met the rugby player Maro Itoje, who campaigned to bridge the digital divide, not Rashford.

“Rashford’s spokesperson confirms that he has never had any direct communication with Williamson, although the minister did have a call with Itjoe about equal access to education during the pandemic.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Mr Williamson for having done a “heroic job” during the COVID pandemic.

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12 to 15-year-olds to get ‘final say’ over COVID jab if disagreement with parent occurs

 Coronavirus vaccines for healthy children aged between 12 and 15 are not being recommended by the UK's vaccine advisory body - but the country's four chief medical officers are currently reviewing the matter further.

Where an agreement to take up the offer of a vaccine cannot be reached between parents and children, a child’s decision “will prevail”, Sajid Javid has said.

The health secretary told Sky News consent will be sought from parents of 12 to 15-year-olds over COVID jabs as it has been “for decades”, but that if a child is believed to be competent enough to make the decision themselves, they “will prevail”.

His comments suggest most individuals in this age category will be able to give their own consent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine if parents object to the jab.

Image:The JCVI said the COVID jab should not be recommended to 12 to 15-year-olds on health grounds alone

Coronavirus vaccines for healthy children aged between 12 and 15 are not being recommended by the UK’s vaccine advisory body – but the country’s four chief medical officers are currently reviewing the matter further.

The assessment provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) was that the COVID jab should not be recommended to those in this age group on health grounds alone, but the body advised the government to look at “wider issues” including the impact of the virus on schooling.

The UK’s four chief medical officers will provide further advice on the vaccination of young people in this age group following the assessment provided by the JCVI.

A final decision on whether COVID vaccines will be offered those in this age bracket is expected to be “in the coming days”, Mr Javid told Sky News.

“I want to give them [the JCVI] the breathing space, it’s their independent view and that’s exactly what it should be. But I would expect to hear from them in the next few days,” he said.

Mr Javid added: “If there is a difference of opinion between the child and the parent then we have specialists that work in this area, the schools vaccination service. They would usually literally sit down with the parent and the child, and try to reach some kind of consensus.

Image:The UK’s four chief medical officer’s, including England’s CMO Prof Chris Whitty, are now reviewing the JCVI’s recommendation

“If ultimately that doesn’t work, as long as we believe that the child is competent enough to make this decision then the child will prevail.”

Sky News understands ministers are optimistic that COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to all 12 to 15-year-olds despite advisers failing to recommend it.

Sources say the government is keen to offer vaccinations to all children in that age group – and think parents would find it reassuring.

The independent medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, has approved the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those aged 12 and over.

Efforts are already under way to recruit thousands of vaccinators for schools, and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has previously said he “very much hopes” the under-16s could be vaccinated.

Asked how he would feel about children of his own, if in that age group, having COVID jabs, Mr Javid told Sky News: “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to pass a judgment because I’m waiting for an independent view.”

Image:The independent medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, has approved the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those aged 12 and over

On Tuesday, a clinical lead for COVID services said some children as young as 12 should be allowed to overrule their parents on whether they have the vaccine

Dr David Strain told Sky News he believed there were 12-year-olds “mature enough” to decide to have the coronavirus jab without the consent of their legal guardians.

Dr Strain, who is senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said a school nurse or GP could assess whether a child is capable of consenting to having the vaccine, even if their parents were opposed to it.

Last month, the vaccination programme was extended to all 16 and 17-year-olds – resulting in 1.4 million teenagers being offered a jab.

At the weekend, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was disappointed by the JCVI decision not to recommend jabs for all 12 to 15-year-olds.

He added that while they respect it, it could mean it is “more difficult during the autumn term and beyond to guard against educational disruption caused by transmission of the virus”.

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Powerful earthquake near Mexico’s Acapulco kills at least 1

 MEXICO CITY (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday night, killing at least one person and causing buildings to rock and sway in Mexico City hundreds of kilometers away.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco.

Guerrero state Gov. Hector Astudillo told Milenio Television late Tuesday night that one person had been killed by a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benitez near Acapulco.

“We heard loud noise from the building, noise from the windows, things fell inside the house, the power went out,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident reached by phone. “We heard leaking water, the water went out of the pool and you heard people screaming, very nervous people.”

Flores said all he could do when it started shaking was hug his wife. He saw people leaving hotels around the bay and some running into parking decks to remove their cars, fearing a collapse.

“We were all worried about some change in the sea, but so far authorities have not said anything about a tsunami alert,” he said.

Astudillo said the tsunami alert center had not registered any variations in the sea level. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the threat of potential waves had passed.

The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said in statement to the television news outlet Milenio that “there is no really serious situation” so far and no reports of casualties.

“There are nervous breakdowns; people are worried because there have been aftershocks,” she said, adding that there are “many gas leaks in many places” as well as some landslides and fallen walls.

Before the first death was reported, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that authorities in the four states that most felt the earthquake told him there were no victims or serious damage beyond some collapsed walls and falling rocks.

“Fortunately there is not serious damage,” he said.

Mexico’s National Civil Defense said it was conducting reviews in 10 states, but had not received reports of victims nor serious damage.

In Mexico City, more than 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) away, the ground shook for nearly a minute in some parts of the capital, but the quake was less evident in other parts. Some people evacuated their buildings briefly, but most quickly went back inside on a rainy night.

“I was at home with my mom and my dogs and the seismic alert started to sound,” said Claudia Guarneros, a makeup artist. “My mother was in another room and I started to call her. The house started moving and in the last part of the earthquake the power went out and we couldn’t see anything, we just saw some things falling.”

Mexico City authorities said there were no early reports of significant damage in the city, though electricity was knocked out in some neighborhoods. Some broken windows in a downtown high rise covered the sidewalk in glass.

Arturo Hernández stood outside the relatively new apartment building he moved into just three years ago. Beside it stood a taller building abandoned since the magnitude-7.1 earthquake of Sept. 19, 2017, in neighboring Puebla state that caused major damage in the capital.

Hernández heard the seismic alarm and made it outside before the ground began to shake. The abandoned building next to his continued to crack and moan for three minutes after the shaking stopped, he said. Asked if he had worried about the damaged building next door, he said, “Always, always.”

Tuesday’s earthquake occurred four years to the day after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake that struck off the coast of Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, largely destroying the town of Juchitan in neighboring Oaxaca state and killing dozens.

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International Literacy Day 8 September

 Literacy for a human-centred recovery

Narrowing the digital divide

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the learning of children, young people and adults at an unprecedented scale. It has also magnified the pre-existing inequalities in access to meaningful literacy learning opportunities, disproportionally affecting 773 million non-literate young people and adults. Youth and adult literacy were absent in many initial national response plans, while numerous literacy programmes have been forced to halt their usual modes of operation.

Even in the times of global crisis, efforts have been made to find alternative ways to ensure the continuity of learning, including distance learning, often in combination with in-person learning. Access to literacy learning opportunities, however, has not been evenly distributed. The rapid shift to distance learning also highlighted the persistent digital divide in terms of connectivity, infrastructure, and the ability to engage with technology, as well as disparities in other services such as access to electricity, which has limited learning options.

The pandemic, however, was a reminder of the critical importance of literacy. Beyond its intrinsic importance as part of the right to education, literacy empowers individuals and improves their lives by expanding their capabilities to choose a kind of life they can value. It is also a driver for sustainable development. Literacy is an integral part of education and lifelong learning premised on humanism as defined by the Sustainable Development Goal 4. Literacy, therefore, is central to a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

International Literacy Day (ILD) 2021 will explore how literacy can contribute to building a solid foundation for a human-centred recovery, with a special focus on the interplay of literacy and digital skills required by non-literate youth and adults. It will also explore what makes technology-enabled literacy learning inclusive and meaningful to leave no one behind. By doing so, ILD2021 will be an opportunity to reimagine future literacy teaching and learning, within and beyond the context of the pandemic.

10 targets for education… with Elyx!

Ensuring that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy is one of the ten targets for SDG 4: Education. Join Elyx, the UN's first digital ambassador, to discover how to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

UNESCO International Literacy Prizes

Since 1967, UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have rewarded excellence and innovation in the field of literacy. Over 500 projects and programmes undertaken by governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world have been recognized. Through these prestigious Prizes, UNESCO seeks to support effective literacy practices and encourages the promotion of dynamic literate societies.

Each year the prizes are announced on 7 September.

Background

The 8th of September was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1966 to remind the international community of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies, and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies. The issue of literacy is a key component of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The UN's Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by world leaders in September 2015, promotes universal access to quality education and learning opportunities throughout people’s lives. Sustainable Development Goal 4 has as one of its targets ensuring all young people achieve literacy and numeracy and that adults, who lack these skills are given the opportunity to acquire them.