Fox apologises for Birmingham 'Muslim-only city' gaffe

January 19, 2015

Fox apologises

London, Jan 19: US Broadcaster Fox News today apologised for airing comments from an American terrorism expert who claimed that the British city of Birmingham is "a totally Muslim city" where non-Muslims simply "don't go".

Steven Emerson, an American terrorism commentator, made the claims as he spoke to the channel about the terror attacks in France last week.

Emerson retracted his claims after being contacted by media outlets.

Fox yesterday said it "deeply regrets" the errors and apologised to the people of Birmingham.

Issuing the apology presenter Jeanine Pirro, who was interviewing Emerson when he made the claims, said a guest had made "a series of factual errors that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected."

"The guest asserted that the city of Birmingham, England, is totally Muslim and that it is a place where non-Muslims don't go," she said.

"Both are incorrect." She went on to say census data from 2011 indicated 22 per cent of the population of Birmingham identified themselves as Muslim.

"We could find nothing that indicated Birmingham is a so -called no-go zone.

"We deeply regret these errors and apologise to the people of Birmingham, our viewers and all who have been offended."

Emerson's comments led to a Twitter backlash with the hashtag Fox News Facts trending with people inventing humorous "facts".

British Prime Minister David Cameron had also criticised Emerson dubbing him as a "complete idiot".

"Frankly I choked on my porridge and thought it must be April Fool's Day. This guy is clearly a complete idiot," Cameron had said last week.

The apology also comes after Emerson attempted to make amends by donating 500 pounds to Birmingham Children's Hospital, and telling Sky News listening back to his comments is like "water-boarding", the Telegraph reported.

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Global COVID-19 tally surpasses 634,000, toll approaches 30,000: WHO

News Network

March 30,2020

Geneva, Mar 30: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has reached 634,835, among them 29,957 fatalities, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.

Over the past 24 hours, 63,159 people were confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus and 3,464 people died, the WHO said.

According to the latest situation report, the majority of the confirmed cases - more than 361,000 - are presently concentrated in Europe, with Italy leading the tally with over 92,000 cases, followed by Spain with over 72,000 cases, and Germany with over 52,000 cases.

Italy and Spain are also the countries that top the worldwide death toll from COVID-19, with 10,023 and 5,690 fatalities, respectively.

The second most affected region is currently the Americas with over 120,000 verified COVID-19 cases, of which the majority - over 103,000 - have been found in the United States. The US is also the country with the highest single tally of COVID-19 cases at the moment.
The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

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Will Russia approve world’s first covid-19 vaccine for public use by August 10?

Agencies

July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide.

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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China Says Doesn't Wish To See More Clashes on Border with India

News Network

June 17,2020

Beijing, Jun 17: China said Wednesday it wanted to avoid further clashes with India along their border after the first deadly confrontation between the two nuclear powers in decades.

The two countries have traded blame for Monday's high-altitude brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, with China refusing to confirm so far whether there were any casualties on its side.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted again Wednesday that it was Indian troops who illegally crossed the border and attacked the Chinese side.

This led to "a serious physical confrontation between both sides that caused deaths and injuries", Zhao said at a regular briefing, without providing more details about the casualties.

He said China urges India to "strictly restrain frontline troops, do not illegally cross the border, do not make provocative gestures, do not take any unilateral actions that will complicate the border situation".

But he added that the two sides "will continue to resolve this issue through dialogue and negotiations".

"We of course don't wish to see more clashes," Zhao said.

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we have 56 inch chest man as our leader...he alone will fight the war and give victory to india..jai bakth