The world will heat by more than 1.5C unless nations produce tougher policies, a global stocktake has confirmed. Governments must halve emissions by 2030 if they intend the Earth to stay within the 1.5C “safe” threshold. But the latest set of national policies submitted to the UN shows emissions will merely be stabilised by 2030. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, called it a red alert for our planet. He said: "It shows governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees and meet the goals of the Paris (Climate) Agreement. "The major emitters must step up with much more ambitious emissions reductions targets." Rejoining Paris sets ambitious climate goal for Biden Chancellor 'must use Budget to make finance green' West Antarctica's Getz glaciers flowing faster Dr Niklas Hohne from the New Climate Institute told BBC News: "There is a huge gap to fill if we are serious about 1.5C (the threshold nations have agreed not to pass). "Global emissions have to be halved – but with current proposals they will only be stable. That’s really not good enough." Some nations have not even submitted a climate plan, and some – such as Australia – are judged to have offered no substantial improvement on previous proposals.

China's first Ad5-nCoV COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out on Friday. One of the developers of the single-dose vaccine said that the annual production capacity can reach 500 million doses, which means 500 million people can be vaccinated in a year. Phase-I clinical trials of the vaccine started on March 16, 2020, making it the world's first COVID-19 candidate vaccine that entered clinical trials. The Ad5-nCoV vaccine is a recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine jointly developed by CanSino Biologics and researchers from the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences led by Chen Wei. Chen is an infectious disease expert and a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences. Unlike inactivated vaccines, Ad5-nCoV is effective with a single dose and can bring dual protection ̶ humoral and cellular immunity ̶ at the same time. It is the only single-dose COVID-19 vaccine that has been given a conditional approval to be rolled out in China, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Friday. People can get desirable protective effect after 14 days of inoculation. The protective effect can last at least six months after a single-dose inoculation and it can increase immune response by 10 to 20 times if the second dose is taken half a year after the first one, Chen told CCTV in an exclusive interview on Friday. "We have data for six months so far to prove the vaccine's efficacy People don't need to take another dose within the first six months after their first inoculation. What if the epidemic is not over after six months? We have also developed the vaccine so that its effect is strengthened even after six months," Chen said. According to data, Chen and other researchers predicted that the vaccine's effect can last two years after two doses. The most important feature of the vaccine is that it can be produced fast and on a large scale, Chen said. The vaccine showed full protection against severe-illness morbidity in Pakistan, Chen said, noting that it can achieve more than 90 percent protection against severe-illness. The vaccine showed 90.98 percent efficacy rate in preventing severe diseases in its interim analysis. And it's effective in preventing 65.7 percent of symptomatic diseases in clinical trials conducted in multiple countries including Pakistan, Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the Pakistani Minister on Health, announced in early February. Chen said no serious adverse reactions associated with the vaccine have been reported in the vaccinated population so far, including those in extreme environments. And no specific adverse events have been reported that are different from those of other vaccines. The Ad5-nCoV vaccine is actually mature and reliable. The vaccine with such technology has already been used for Ebola virus in 2014, Chen said. People aged under 18 and over 60 are not allowed to take the other approved vaccines without conditional approval. However, the Ad5-nCoV vaccine is different. Ad5-nCoV's Phase-II and Phase-III trials all involved elder participants as people aged over 55 or 60 have a higher morbidity of severe illness, Chen said. The oldest volunteer was a man surnamed Xiong whose antibody tested positive after the clinical trial results were revealed, this gave researchers great confidence, Chen noted. She also said they have safety data of clinical trials for people aged 6-18 which are being reviewed by China's National Medical Products Administration. A PhD volunteer took the vaccine on February 29, 2020, the same day as Chen. And she had given birth to a baby one week earlier. "She and her baby are healthy now," Chen said. Since the vaccine can be transported and stored at 2C-8C, Chen hopes that the vaccine won't require cold-chain logistics. She also said they have finished the clinical trials around the world and will soon release the results. In China there are two types of COVID-19 vaccines ̶ inactivated and Ad5-nCoV vaccines. When asked which one people should choose, Chen said those who want to take fewer doses and get faster immune response should choose the Ad5-nCoV. As other variants of the virus have been found in other parts of the world, Chen said they will follow the safety of the vaccine over the long term after the rollout, and they will also track its effectiveness against the new variants. She also stated that they have started to develop a vaccine against the new variants. When asked what the level of China's vaccine research and development is in the world, Chen said, "There is no doubt we are in the first group." "There are few other countries that can reach the level that China has reached," she noted. "We are neither arrogant nor condescending. We also learn more from others in order to produce safer vaccines. We must have confidence in our science and technology," she remarked.

Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, Papua New Guinea's 'father of the nation'

Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, Papua New Guinea's 'father of the nation'

JobSeeker boost of $3.57 a day is 'a heartless betrayal

JobSeeker boost of $3.57 a day is 'a heartless betrayal' of unemployed Australians, welfare advocates say https://www.sbs.com.au/news/jobseeker-boost-of-3-57-a-day-is-a- heartless-betrayal-of-unemployed-australians-welfare-advocates-say?cid=newsapp:socialshare:other

Doug Cameron

Doug Cameron @DougCameron51 · 5h When The pompous NewsCorp mouthpiece Paul Kelly concedes that Morrison’s handling of the rape allegation is “a significant political liability”. When the key Murdoch strategist cannot bring himself to defend Morrison you know he is in trouble! #auspol

PETE SEEGER

Acoss

Permanent JobSeeker increase must raise rate to at least $65 per day and ensure everyone has enough for the basics of their life 19 February 2021 New report shows progress made on homelessness in response to COVID-19 slipping away – tens of thousands face huge rental debts 11 February 2021 ACOSS plan to deliver a healthier, more caring Australia, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs 9 February 2021 Reserve Bank Governor restates support for permanent JobSeeker increase 3 February 2021 ACOSS calls on Government to do the right and smart thing on JobSeeker, ahead of expected decision 1 February 2021 Only two thirds of full-time jobs lost in recession restored 21 January 2021 Millions face a bleak New Year as Coronavirus payments are cut again 31 December 2020 MYEFO fails to provide hope or confidence for 2021 to millions on low incomes 17 December 2020 New report shows who is most impacted by inequality in Australia 17 December 2020 ACOSS welcomes new investment in home care packages 16 December 2020 COVID shines light on failure of energy system for people experiencing disadvantage 16 December 2020 Fundraising reform a welcome first step 15 December 2020 Millions left to dread 2021 thanks to Government’s Christmas cut to income support 11 December 2020 Community organisations slam decision to continue discriminatory and punitive Cashless Debit Card 10 December 2020 ACOSS delivers hundreds of Christmas messages from people on JobSeeker to Parliament 1 December 2020 Retirement Incomes Review highlights growing divide 20 November 2020 Thousands take action against Christmas-cut to income support as unemployment hits 7% 19 November 2020 ACOSS response to Robodebt Settlement 16 November 2020 Government decision to cut income support at Christmas is a cruel and damaging mistake 10 November 2020 ACOSS warns Government against a Christmas cut to income support 10 November 2020 Community sector urges Parliament to progress the Climate Change Bill 2020 9 November 2020 COVID Commission needs community input to minimise outbreaks 4 November 2020 ACOSS appearing at Senate Inquiry hearing today on JobMaker wage subsidy for people under 35 2 November 2020 Post-Budget Analysis in Anti-Poverty Week 12 October 2020 Post Budget Briefing Media Release 8 October 2020 Glimmer of hope for some, but millions still stranded 6 October 2020 PBO report signals older women at risk of long-term unemployment without Government action 30 September 2020 People on JobSeeker need financial security, not cuts, to rebuild from crisis 24 September 2020 Technology Roadmap needs to prioritise job creation and emissions reductions 22 September 2020 New survey shows impact of COVID-19 on community sector and those it helps 18 September 2020 More investment needed in job-rich energy efficiency for low-income homes 17 September 2020

India’s trade union demands ‘serious action’ against Amazon after report alleges it worked to dodge country’s regulations

India’s trade union demands ‘serious action’ against Amazon after report alleges it worked to dodge country’s regulations

‘Wildly unfair’: UN boss says 10 nations used 75% of all vaccines

Al Jazeera Antonio Guterres urges wealthy nations to lead global effort to ensure people in every country get inoculated for COVID as soon as possible. The United Nations chief has sharply criticised the “wildly uneven and unfair” distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, pointing out that just 10 countries have administered 75 percent of all vaccinations. Addressing a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Antonio Guterres said 130 countries have not received a single dose of vaccine. First COVID-19 vaccines enter Gaza after Israel hold up Left out by EU, Balkan nations turn to Russia, China for vaccine COVAX to send millions of AstraZeneca shots to Latin America COVAX sets out plan for global distribution of 337m vaccines “At this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community,” he said. Guterres called for an urgent Global Vaccination Plan to bring together those with the power to ensure fair vaccine distribution – scientists, vaccine producers and those who can fund the effort – to ensure all people in every nation get inoculated as soon as possible. The secretary-general further called on the world’s leading economic powers in the Group of 20 to establish an emergency task force that should have the capacity to bring together “the pharmaceutical companies and key industry and logistics actors”. Guterres said a meeting on Friday of the Group of Seven top industrialised nations “can create the momentum to mobilise the necessary financial resources”. Reporting from the UN headquarters, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays said there was a broad agreement over the potential future problems in the fight against the pandemic due to the uneven distribution of vaccines. “Rich countries are vaccinating people but many other parts of the world are not. You’re never going to get rid of COVID-19 if you have it spreading in some parts of the world and potentially mutating, and potentially in the future making vaccines not work,” Bays said. “Less than 1 percent of COVID-19 vaccines so far globally have been administered in the 32 countries currently facing the most severe humanitarian crises.”

Russia NAVALNY'S TEAM TARGETED

NAVALNY'S TEAM TARGETED Navalny was jailed immediately after his Jan. 17 return from Germany — where he spent five months recovering from the nerve-agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. Since then, authorities have moved swiftly to silence and isolate his allies. Last week, a Moscow court put his brother, Oleg, top associate Lyubov Sobol, and several other key allies under house arrest — without access to the internet — for two months as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during protests. All across Russia, top members of Navalny's team in the regions also faced arrests. Despite these moves, associates of Navalny who remain free have used social media platforms to organize the protests, designating assembly points and routes of marches and posting advice on how to bypass police cordons and avoid detention. During the Jan. 31 protest in Moscow, authorities imposed an unprecedented lockdown of the city center, closing large swaths to pedestrian traffic, shutting several subway stations, and closing restaurants and stores. The shutdown was aimed at preventing demonstrators from rallying near the main headquarters of the Federal Security Service and other government buildings.

A large majority of Britons are dissatisfied with Boris Johnson's Brexit deal and want it overhauled, a new study has found. The report by think-tank the British Foreign Policy Group found just 24 per cent of the population believes the Brexit deal is the best framework for future relations with the EU. The study, based on polling by Opinium, found that 27 per cent want the UK to pursue a much closer relationship with the bloc, eventually rejoining it. A further 22 per cent want a closer relationship but to remain outside – a relationship resembling Norway or Switzerland's – bringing total support for closer integration to 49 per cent

New Caledonia has a pro-independence government for the first time since 1999 - SBS News

New Caledonia has a pro-independence government for the first time since 1999 - SBS News

Charles Seeger The Purposes of Music

Martyn Wyndham-Read has been involved with folk music for over forty years.

Martyn Wyndham-Read has been involved with folk music for over forty years. In his late teens he left his mother’s farm in Sussex and headed off, with his guitar, to Australia where he worked on a sheep station Emu Springs in South Australia. It was while he was there that he heard, first hand, the old songs sung by some of the station hands at Emu Springs and he became captivated by these songs and the need to know more of them and where they came from grew. He headed off to Melbourne and became part of the folk song revival there and throughout Australia during the early1960’s Back to England in 1967 where he met up with the renowned singer and song collector Bert Lloyd, who himself had spent time in Australia. Martyn was asked by Bert Lloyd to be part of the album ‘Leviathan’ on the Topic label and soon after he started recording for Bill Leader and touring extensively worldwide. In the early 1970’s Martyn started the ‘Maypoles to Mistletoe’ concerts which portray the seasons of the year through song, music, dance and verse and illustration. Martyn is also the instigator of the well known Song Links Project, Martyn is currently working with Shirley Collins on a production called ‘Down the Lawson Track’ featuring stories, poems/songs of the great Australian Poet of the People, Henry Lawson with Pip Barnes, Iris Bishop, Gary Holder and Jackie Oates. His CD Jackeroo portrays his life so far through songs both old and new.

The Morning Star

WEALTHY areas are seeing bigger falls in Covid-19 infections following vaccine distribution compared with poorer, working-class areas, research by Labour found today. The party said that people in poorer areas cannot afford to self-isolate to protect themselves from infection and called for more government financial help. Labour’s research analysed government data showing the rate at which infections were decreasing in poor and wealthy areas by parliamentary constituency. It looked at three mainly working-class areas: Preston in Lancashire, Bradford West in West Yorkshire, and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The analysis covers the fall in infection rates during the last three weeks of January. In Preston, the infection rate fell by 9 per cent, in Bradford West by 14 per cent, and in Rotherham by 18 per cent. But in better-off areas the decline was far steeper. In Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, cases declined by 72 per cent, in Saffron Walden, Essex, by 72 per cent, and in Surrey Heath by 70 per cent. Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth blamed lack of financial support for low-income families who could not afford to self-isolate. “Without decent financial help, transmission chains won’t be broken in these areas. People will remain at risk of illness while Boris Johnson’s promise to ‘level up’ lies in tatters,” he said Greater Manchester Labour Mayor Andy Burnham has called for greater quantities of the vaccine to be sent to poorer areas because that is where unemployed workers and others at high risk, such as supermarket staff and bus drivers, live. Mr Burnham said distribution of the vaccine “has to be a judgement based on health.” He said: “The life expectancy rate varies widely across the UK. “There are places where life expectancy is 10 years behind the areas where it is highest.” He said areas with the lowest life expectancy tended to have high unemployment or have people working in jobs such as “essential retail and supermarkets, or driving buses or driving taxis.” “So clearly they are at greater risk,” he said. “What I am saying is put greater supplies of the vaccine into those areas where life expectancy is lowest.”

Brian Mooney Folk Singer

The number of musicians in the group means The Irish’s stage goes unused, although one gets the feeling that much of the session’s charm comes from the complete lack of separation between musician and punter. Mooney agrees that there’s something uniquely inclusive about folk music. “I think a lot of people like to stay around for that because songs that are felt and meant... the spirit of it goes around and it comes across the people who are listening. “I think that’s always been the story because in Ireland there’s just an unquestioned tradition, people go to the pubs that play the music and the songs, and the ones who don’t participate will sit around and listen and enjoy it.” The band plays at the Royal Oak Hotel every Sunday at 5pm and at The Irish from 2pm on the first Sunday of every month.

Ruth Hazleton is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been a driving force in the creation and growth of Musicians Australia.

Ruth Hazleton is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been a driving force in the creation and growth of Musicians Australia. I am a singer, songwriter, and I play guitar and five-string banjo. I have been performing and recording for more than 25 years in Australia’s traditional, folk and roots music sector. I’ve toured nationally and internationally and released more than 10 albums (some award-winning) with various acts over the years. Highlights include playing with my duo at Whelan’s Theatre in Dublin with iconic Irish musician Andy Irvine and performing at the Bluebird Café in Nashville with my partner Bill Jackson. For years, musicians and other arts workers have endured the impact of conservative governments who do not value workers and fair work conditions. Conditions are worse than they were decades ago, and it is becoming harder and harder to make a career out of music. Funding for the arts has been gradually eroded by successive governments and the situation for gig-economy workers and independent musicians in this country is dire. The only way forward as far as I can see is collective lobbying and action, and MEAA has a proven track record of being engaged in these areas. I was introduced to MEAA Musicians’ Director Paul Davies in 2018 by ex-ABC Radio National music presenter Paul Gough. I was the convenor of the #saveRNmusic campaign in 2016, which highlighted some of the big cracks and fundamental flaws in the Australian music industry. I joined MEAA after talking with Paul about the issues facing independent musicians and agreeing to work with him and others to bring about systemic and cultural change. Since then, I have worked with Paul and a growing leadership team of independent musicians to untangle the extremely complex issues facing live music-making in Australia. Despite great cynicism from musicians and having to confront the failures of previous unions to successfully represent Australian musicians, we now have a steadily growing membership and increased presence in Australia’s music industry landscape. It’s very exciting to be part of something that will hopefully bring significant long-term change to the live music culture in Australia. Earlier this year, I appeared at the COVID Parliamentary Inquiry on behalf of Musicians Australia and I’ve appreciated the moral support and sense of community that MEAA has provided for me and fellow members. Like so many others, all my gigs and promotional opportunities disappeared almost overnight when our industry was shut down by COVID-19. I am fortunate in that I have several sources of income, so I have managed to stay financially afloat during the pandemic. But the four band members I contracted to play with me over the next 12 months have lost most, if not all, of their income and been unable to receive JobKeeper. To any prospective MEAA member, I’d ask them: Why wouldn’t you consider joining? With membership you get your required insurances, the opportunity to join a community of like-minded creatives and be a part of the change we all so desperately desire.

Vale Anne Feeney, the legendary Pittsburgh folk singer-songwriter

Anne Feeney, the legendary Pittsburgh folk singer-songwriter and self-described rabble-rouser, has died of COVID at age 69. Her daughter, Amy Sue Berlin, shared the news in a Facebook post on Wednesday night, writing, in part, “It is with a very heavy heart that we must announce the passing of our courageous, brilliant, beautiful mother, Anne Feeney. We were very lucky that she fought hard enough to open up her eyes, and give us a couple days to be with her before she finally decided it was time to let go.” "It is with a very heavy heart that we must announce the passing of our courageous, brilliant, beautiful mother, Anne..." Posted by Amy Sue Berlin on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 Born in Charleroi and raised in Brookline, Feeney took early inspiration from her grandfather, William Patrick Feeney, a mine worker's union organizer and a violinist. In 1967, while still in high school, she bought a Martin guitar and did her first public performance, singing Phil Ochs songs, at an anti-war rally in 1969. She was arrested at the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1972 protesting the nomination of President Richard Nixon. In 2016, musicians assembled tribute album to Anne Feeney Also in 1972, while at the University of Pittsburgh, she co-founded Pittsburgh Action Against Rape. She graduated from the Pitt School of Law in 1978, worked 12 years as a trial attorney and served as president of the Pittsburgh Musician's Union. She also was president of a NOW chapter and served on the board of the Thomas Merton Center. During that period, she married labor attorney Ron Berlin, with whom she raised two children, Dan and Amy. (They were divorced in 1995.) In 1991, she hit the road hard, traveling around the country to perform at folk festivals, labor conventions and rallies, including the WTO demonstrations in Seattle, Solidarity Day in Washington, D.C., and the 2004 March for Women's Lives. Her business card read: “Performer, Producer, Hellraiser.” In 1992, she delivered her debut album, “Look to the Left.” Her subsequent albums in the ‘90s and ‘00s — mixing original and traditional songs and blending folk, pop, Irish and bluegrass — included “Union Maid," "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" and “Dump the Bosses Off Your Back.” Her songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and she shared stages with such legends as Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg and Loretta Lynn. Her song "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" is featured in such documentaries as “This is What Democracy Looks Like” and “Get Up/Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest.” In reviewing one of her albums, The Fort Worth Weekly wrote, “Dissent is an essential element of the American ideal. Feeney has never shied away from expressing opinions that are unpopular with people who have the loudest voices.” In 2005, she received the Joe Hill Award from the Labor Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Feeney’s career was put on hold in 2010 when she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. Three years later, it was in remission. To help her during the downtime, Berlin, a folk singer herself, curated the benefit tribute album to her mom, “War on the Workers,” which featured Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Holly Near, Dan Bern, Anti-Flag, Emma’s Revolution and more doing political/protest songs. Her second husband, Swedish political artist Julie Leonardsson, created the cover art. Mr. Yarrow stated in the liner notes, “For decades, I’ve held Anne in great esteem: for her determined heart, her passionate commitment to justice and the way she’s lived the messages of the folk tradition (just as Peter, Paul, and Mary did) putting her life and her presence out there to speak about and sing about what needs to be shared.” “I had seen artists include politics in their show before,” Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane said upon its release, “but Anne Feeney was the first artist I encountered whose set was unapologetically and ferociously political. That set had a major impact on me as an artist. I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is the kind of musician I want to be. This woman is punk as hell!’ And she still is!” Rusted Root’s Liz Berlin, who covered Feeney’s “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?” in her Social Justice Disco project with Phat Man Dee, noted last week that Feeney, her musical mentor, “introduced me to the world of folk music and activism.” “First time I saw her I was 17 at a hospital workers strike in Canonsburg,” Man Dee said. “She was [expletive] fierce, with amp on back and guitar in her arms, her hair bouncing out of her sun visor like a shampoo commercial as the cops were throwing protestors into school busses. I wanted to be just like her.” Feeney’s friend and bandmate Rick Lacy posted Wednesday night that he met Feeney in 1968 when he was 18 and she was 16. She had placed an ad looking for musicians to play with. They gigged together and he would become her bassist in 1990. “I had no idea,” he wrote, “she had gotten so well known in the interim. My first job with her was at Penn State in front of close to 1,000 people. I had just learned her songs and was playing a totally unfamiliar instrument but it worked out okay. I will tell you that my knees were shaking though. We had some wonderful tours and I got to play bass on 2 of her albums. Traveling and playing with her rank up with my top memories and there are so many stories to tell.” Among them, he notes, was a gig in Vegas with Tony Orlando and Dawn. According to Amy Berlin’s Facebook posts, Feeney was living in a senior care facility, where she suffered a fractured vertebrae that sent her to a nursing facility. She was diagnosed with a Covid-related pneumonia in late January. In a 2008 interview, Feeney told the Post-Gazette, “I think music is a fantastic way of empowering people and giving them strength and energy. I've spent a good part of my life trying to find and write music that will empower people to resist and stand up for what's right."

ABOUT THE FOLK SINGERS AND THE BUREAU The first book to document the efforts of the FBI against the most famous American folk singers of the mid-twentieth century, including Woody Guthrie, ‘Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Burl Ives. Some of the most prominent folk singers of the twentieth century, including Woody Guthrie, ‘Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Burl Ives, etc., were also political activists with various associations with the American Communist Party. As a consequence, the FBI, along with other governmental and right-wing organizations, were monitoring them, keeping meticulous files running many thousands of pages, and making (and carrying out) plans to purge them from the cultural realm. In The Folk Singers and the Bureau, Aaron J Leonard draws on an unprecedented array of declassified documents and never before released files to shed light on the interplay between left-wing folk artists and their relationship with the American Communist Party, and how it put them in the US government’s repressive cross hairs. At a time of increasing state surveillance and repression, The Folk Singers and the Bureau shows how the FBI and other governmental agencies have attempted to shape and repress American culture.

AAron J Leonard The Folk Singers And The Bureau

BBC

Moscow's metro says it has hired its first female train drivers since controversial rules banning women from certain jobs were lifted last year. The city's transport department welcomed "the [Moscow metro's] first female electric train drivers" on Sunday, likening it to a new era. Twelve women joined the network in the Russian capital on 1 January 2021. Moscow's metro stopped hiring women drivers in the early 1980s. The last female driver left the service in 2014. The profession had been added to a list of jobs considered too physically demanding or dangerous for women to undertake. However, it was removed from this list - along with jobs including lorry drivers and boat skippers - after much of the physical aspects of the role became automated. In a joint statement on Sunday, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, and the city's transport department said 12 of 25 women joining the network had completed their training, received permits and were ready to "take the first passengers". Female drivers have the option of choosing the uniform they feel most comfortable in, depending on "what is more convenient for them to drive the train - in a skirt or in trousers", the statement added.

MEAA, the union for Australian journalists, welcomes today’s decision by a British judge to prevent the extradition to the United States of our member Julian Assange and calls on the US government to now drop his prosecution. The court ruled against extradition on health grounds, accepting medical evidence that Assange would be at risk in US custody. However, journalists everywhere should be concerned at the hostile manner in which the court dismissed all defence arguments related to press freedom. “Today’s court ruling is a huge relief for Julian, his partner and family, his legal team and his supporters around the world,” said MEAA Media Federal President Marcus Strom. “Julian has suffered a 10-year ordeal for trying to bring information of public interest to the light of day, and it has had an immense impact on his mental and physical health. “But we are dismayed that the judge showed no concern for press freedom in any of her comments today, and effectively accepted the US arguments that journalists can be prosecuted for exposing war crimes and other government secrets, and for protecting their sources. “The stories for which he was being prosecuted were published by WikiLeaks a decade ago and revealed war crimes and other shameful actions by the United States government. They were clearly in the public interest. “The case against Assange has always been politically motivated with the intent of curtailing free speech, criminalising journalism and sending a clear message to future whistleblowers and publishers that they too will be punished if they step out of line.” MEAA now calls on the US government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and for the Australian government to expedite his safe passage to Australia if that is his wish.

Public Security Minister Amir Ohana didn’t have the authority to order the delay of coronavirus jabs to Palestinian prisoners

Public Security Minister Amir Ohana didn’t have the authority to order the delay of coronavirus jabs to Palestinian prisoners, who were in the second priority group to get vaccinated, the Israeli High Court of Justice said. The three judges were unanimous in their ruling, pointing out that Ohana acted “without legal authority” as only the health minister had the power to make such a decision. They also insisted that denying vaccines couldn’t be used as a punishment for inmates. Justice Menachem Mazuz was the harshest in his explanation of the verdict, saying that the order to postpone vaccination was issued “with blatant lack of authority and illegally, and it is void of all legal validity.” The prisoners eventually got their shots of the Pfizer vaccine over the past few weeks, but Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was still pushing for the High Court to evaluate the minister’s behavior. Human rights activists slam Israel for ‘politically motivated’ decision to postpone vaccination of Palestinian prisoners In late December, Ohana, who is Israel’s first openly gay minister, faced harsh criticism from human rights groups after saying that the vaccination of Palestinian prisoners will be postponed. The inmates were in the second priority group to receive the injections after the medics, but the order said that shots will be administered to them “in accordance with the progress of vaccinating the general public.” Around 4,400 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons, with some 300 of them being infected with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the NGO, Palestinian Prisoner Society. Israel is undertaking one of the world's most ambitious vaccination campaigns, with more than three million people or 32 percent of the population already getting immunized against the coronavirus. Israel to send 5,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Palestinians, overturning its much-criticized refusal The country has long been reluctant to provide vaccines to the occupied territories in Gaza and the West Bank, but military sources told the local media on Sunday that the transfer of 5,000 doses of the jab to Palestinian frontline medics was approved on the recommendation of Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

ALJAZEERA

A Dutch court has ordered the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell to pay compensation over oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, a ruling which could pave the way for more cases against multinational oil firms. The Court of Appeal in The Hague on Friday ruled that the Nigerian arm of the British-Dutch company must issue payouts over a long-running civil case involving four Nigerian farmers who were seeking compensation, and a clean-up, from the company over pollution caused by leaking oil pipelines. Biden to announce moratorium on oil, gas drilling on federal land Ecuadorian Amazon: Three European banks stop funding trade of oil IMF says Iraq seeking emergency loans after oil price plunge For first time, oil giant Exxon reveals full scope of emissions It held Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary liable for two leaks that spewed oil over an area of a total of about 60 football pitches in two villages, saying that it could not be established “beyond a reasonable doubt” that saboteurs were to blame. The Hague appeals court ruled that sabotage was to blame for an oil leak in another village. However, it said that the issue of whether Shell can be held liable “remains open” and the case will be continued as the court wants clarification about the extent of the pollution and whether it still has to be cleaned up. Under Nigerian law, which was applied in the Dutch civil case, the company is not liable if the leaks were the result of sabotage. “Shell Nigeria is sentenced to compensate farmers for damages,” the court said in its ruling, which can be appealed via the Dutch Supreme Court. The amount of compensation will be established at a later date. The court did not specify how many of the four farmers would receive compensation. The court did not hold Shell’s parent company, which is based in the Netherlands, directly responsible. However, it ruled that Shell’s parent company and its Nigerian subsidiary must fit a leak-detection system to a pipeline that caused one of the spills. Leaking oil pipelines are a big problem in the Niger Delta region, the heart of the Nigerian oil industry [File: Sunday Alamba/AP Photo] Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, said the verdict would be greeted with “relief and joy” by farmers in Nigeria and could “open the floodgates” for many other similar cases.