Spain to open border with Morocco only in case of reciprocity
Spain will only open its borders with Morocco if there is a reciprocal agreement to let people from Spain enter the North African country, Spanish government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montego said.
Morocco is part of a group of 15 countries to be included on a list of safe travel destinations that the European Union will unveil later on Tuesday.
UN rights chief slams virus
response in China, Russia, US
The UN rights chief said COVID-19 was being instrumentalised to silence free speech, citing China and Russia, while voicing alarm at statements in the US that “deny the reality” of the virus.
Michelle Bachelet pointed to Russia, China, Kosovo, Nicaragua among others where “threats and intimidation against journalists, bloggers and civic activists, particularly at the local level, (were being used) with the apparent aim of discouraging criticism of the authorities’ responses to COVID-19”.
Bachelet also voiced concern about “severe restrictions on freedoms of expression” in Egypt and “excessive and arbitrary enforcement” of pandemic response measures in El Salvador.
“Censorship and criminalisation of speech are likely to suppress crucial information needed to address the pandemic,” she told the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
India’s prime minister says virus’s spread still critical
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a live address on Tuesday that the country’s coronavirus death rate is under control, but that the country is at a “critical juncture.”
Modi’s sixth address since the pandemic began came as India reported nearly 560,000 infections and over 16,000 deaths.
“People are becoming careless,” he said, adding, “we need to call out the violators.”
In India, the world’s fourth-worst affected country, cases have shot up since the end of a 10-week lockdown in early June.
COVID-19 increases child marriage and FGM risk for millions
The coronavirus pandemic is reversing progress on ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), jeopardising the futures of millions of girls, a senior UN official has said.
“The pandemic both makes our job harder and more urgent as so many more girls are now at risk,” Natalia Kanem, head of the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA said.
An additional 13 million girls could be forced into child marriage, and two million more could undergo FGM in the next decade, beyond what would have been expected, as COVID-19 disrupts global efforts to end both practices, UNFPA said.
Uzbekistan imposes new restrictions as cases rise
Uzbekistan has imposed an overnight curfew in some parts of the country, including the capital Tashkent, as it seeks to curb a fresh rise in COVID-19 infections following the gradual lifting of a two-month lockdown.
The Central Asian nation had been cautiously lifting a nationwide lockdown that had been in place in April and May. However, after a decline in COVID-19 cases between mid-April and mid-May, it has once again seen a steady rise.
Pakistan records 2,825 new infections
Pakistan, one of the country’s where the coronavirus continues to spread at a rapid rate amid an almost completely loosened lockdown, registered 2,825 new cases of the virus to take its tally to 209,337.
Last week, the country saw a reduction in average daily rises in cases that medical experts say is largely due to a reduction in daily testing. On Monday, testing remained low, with 20,930 tests carried out, far below the country’s peak of 31,681 tests on June 19.
UK locks down city of Leicester after COVID-19 flare-up
The United Kingdom will introduce legal changes shortly to enforce a lockdown imposed on the English city of Leicester where there has been a flare up of the novel coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
The city of Leicester in central England is the first area of the UK to face a targetted local coronavirus lockdown after the government began easing the nationwide lockdown earlier this month.
Source: Al Jazeera
