French Parliament approves law establishing controversial vaccination pass

 

Following two weeks of debate, the French parliament on Sunday night passed the law which will make a valid vaccination pass obligatory for citizens over the age of 16 who wish to have access to restaurants, cinemas and intercity transport.

The legislation was approved by 215 MPs, with 58 against.

The government was broadly supported by the right-wing Républicains, and by a small number of socialist deputies. The far-left, extreme right and the centrist UDI all voted against.

Three ruling party members voted against the measures. There were seven abstentions.

The law means that the current health pass will now be considered as a vaccination pass.

Everyone over the age of 16 will be obliged to present proof of vaccination for entry to restaurants, bars, professional meetings, and all forms of medium-distance transport.

Workers in all the sectors concerned will themselves be obliged to have valid vaccination passes.

In order to qualify for the new pass, proof is required of a full vaccination history. That means one or two injections, depending on the product administered.

From 15th February onward, it will be necessary to receive a booster shot four months after the completion of the initial inoculation, otherwise the pass will become invalid.

The law allows for circumstances in which a recent negative test can be demanded in addition to proof of vaccination.

Police officers and the owners of public venues will be responsible for verifying the vaccination status of all clients. Those checking passes will have the right to demand photo identification if they have reason to suspect that a pass is being presented fraudulently. Owners who fail to check passes will be subject to an immediate fine of 1,000 euros.

Using a pass belonging to another will result in a fine of 1,000 euros, with the same penalty for allowing your pass to be used by a third party.

The use of a false pass will be punished by five years jail and a 75,000 euro fine.

Businesses which fail to facilitate distance working for their employees will be subject to a 500 euro fine for each employee, up to a limit of 50,000 euros.

The new law will not come into effect immediately. Left-wing parliamentarians have asked the Constitutional Council, the body which assures that legislation is not in conflict with the French constitution, to examine the impact of the changes on the fundamental freedom of citizens. A delay of several days is expected.

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BBC licence fee: Welsh channel S4C to get extra £7.5m

 Welsh-language TV channel S4C will get an extra £7.5m per year from April 2022, the UK culture secretary has said.

The cash will come from the BBC licence fee, which is being frozen at £159 per household until 2024.

Nadine Dorries said the money, aimed at boosting their digital output, will support S4C to reach younger audiences.

But Welsh TV producers raised concerns about the impact the licence fee freeze will have on the creative industries.

S4C welcomed the new funding settlement, which will increase the funding it gets from the licence fee from £74.5m to £88.8m.

That will include £6.8m previously provided by the UK government, but now also taken from the licence fee.

But Plaid Cymru has warned the overall announcement casts doubt on the future of Welsh public broadcasting.

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Bodies in sacks found in Kenyan river – activists

 At least 20 dead bodies have been retrieved from a river in western Kenya in recent weeks, according to a human rights group.

Haki Africa told the BBC that most of the bodies recovered from River Yala, which flows into Lake Victoria, were found in sacks, some tied up and others mutilated.

Haki Africa’s Executive Director Hussein Khalid added that the local mortuary was receiving the unidentified bodies and had buried nine of them in a mass grave to make space for more bodies.

Locals say the bodies are dumped into the river at night by unidentified people.

Mr Khalid and another activist, Boniface Mwangi, travelled to the scene, and say they saw two bodies floating on the river.

Mr Mwangi tweeted footage from the area where they were found:

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Kenyans online have expressed shock at the discovery of the bodies.

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Nigerian separatist faces fresh charges

 The Nigerian government has filed fresh charges that border on terrorism against separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu.

The new charges filed on Monday against the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group leader came barely 24 hours before the resumption of his trial.

Mr Kanu is due in court on Tuesday to answer to charges of treasonable felony and terrorism, which are both punishable by life imprisonment.

It is the second time the government will be amending the charges against the separatist leader.

In November, he denied the charges levelled against him by the authorities, including terrorism and treason.

He was first arrested in 2015 on charges of terrorism, treason, managing an unlawful society and publication of defamatory material.

Other charges were illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods.

The charges have now been increased to include making threatening broadcasts to intimidate the population and illegally importing broadcast equipment.

Mr Kanu, who holds a British passport, was brought into Nigeria last year but the government refused to disclose from which country he was repatriated.

His trial and detention has heightened tensions in the south-eastern region of Nigeria, where his separatist group has been agitating for a breakaway state.

An attempt to secede in 1967 as the Republic of Biafra triggered a three-year civil war that left more than a million people dead.

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Tonga tsunami sparks ‘unprecedented disaster’, government says

 

Tonga says it has been hit by an “unprecedented disaster”, in the government’s first update since a volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami.

In a statement, the government confirmed three deaths: two locals and a British national.

It said some of the smaller, outlying islands were particularly badly affected, with all the houses destroyed on one and just two left on another.

Aid efforts have been hampered by ash falling from the volcano.

Volunteers have been sweeping the runway of the main airport to allow planes bringing much needed drinking water and supplies to land.

Communications with the island chain have been disrupted after the single underwater cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world was severed in the eruption.

In its update, the Tongan government said the internet was down, but some local phone services were available and work was under way to restore full communications.

The statement also said:

• A 65-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man and British woman Angela Glover were killed in the tsunami
• Dozens of houses on the main island of Tongatapu were also damaged
• Evacuations from the worst-hit islands are under way
• Water supplies have been “seriously affected” by the volcanic ash
• Flights have been temporarily halted and sea transport routes are disrupted

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KT Tunstall writes Saving Grace musical in lockdown

 Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall has revealed she started writing musicals while stuck at home during lockdown.

The Scottish musician told BBC Scotland she wanted to find a new way to “flex her musical muscles” while she was unable to play to live audiences.

They include a “rip-roaring, very funny” adaptation of the 2000 film Saving Grace, which was written by Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson.

“It’s a really new adventure for me, it’s very exciting,” she said.

The singer – who grew up in Fife with her adoptive parents – said her musical theatre collaborations will now be her focus for the next year.

And she hopes to see them performed on stage at the Edinburgh Festival.

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Like many musicians, Tunstall has had gigs cancelled and rescheduled since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

It became “confusing and a bit heart-breaking”, she said.

As events moved online, she performed for fans around the world from her home in the US, where she has lived since 2015.

“I’m not going to lie, I don’t love it. I would definitely be telling you a fib if I said I loved singing into my laptop or my phone.”

But she added: “In the circumstances we just wanted to facilitate that feeling of community and being together and having a laugh and having a night out, even when we can’t.

“There’s a usefulness in it but I very much hope it’s a stopgap.”

‘Piqued my interest’

The singer, who shot to fame with her debut album Eye to the Telescope in 2004, said lockdown gave her an opportunity to rethink the direction of her career.

“I think the pandemic and the lockdown kind of forced these things. I think a lot of us kind of looked at what we’re doing, wondered if it’s exactly what we want to be spending our time doing,” she said.

“And [musicals] were always something that kind of piqued my interest and I was just so pleased that it came together at the right time.”

IMAGE SOURCE,STEVE AZZARA

Image caption,

Craig Ferguson wrote and starred in Saving Grace, alongside Brenda Blethyn

She added: “It’s been very helpful in this sea of uncertainty where I can be using my craft and flexing my musical muscles but I’m actually just at home writing and collaborating with a team.”

And she is most excited about an adaptation of Saving Grace, a British comedy about a woman – played by Brenda Blethyn – who grows cannabis to pay off her late husband’s enormous debt.

Tunstall said it was a “really brilliant adaptation of the film”.

“We’ve done a really rip-roaring, very funny adaptation for the theatre. I’m really excited to finally turn this movie into a musical 20 years later.”

The musician will also be taking part in the Big Burns Supper festival on Burns Night – 25 January. It is normally held in Dumfries, but has now been moved online.

“No bones about it, it’s a real shame that we can’t be doing this in person but now I live in America I can see how important Burns Night is to Scots living all over the world,” she said.

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