Putin urges Russia to get Covid jabs, no mandatory vaccines

AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday made another appeal to sceptical Russians to vaccinate themselves against Covid-19 but remained opposed to mandatory vaccinations.

Putin also said he took part in trials of a nasal Covid vaccine and that he had experienced no problems after receiving a booster jab last week.

Despite his repeated pleas, only around 37 percent of Russians are fully vaccinated. The country has in recent weeks seen more than 1,000 Covid deaths a day.

“I recommend for everyone to not only undergo the vaccination procedure on time, but also revaccination,” the Russian leader said at a televised government meeting.

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He said this was “extremely important” but added he was still opposed to mandatory vaccination.

“In general, I think vaccinations should be voluntary, especially for children,” he added, as Moscow expects to register a vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 17 next month.

The long-serving 69-year-old leader said last week he had received a booster injection of Russia’s Sputnik V jab and “did not have any sensations”.

He said he took part in a Russian nasal vaccine trial the following day and felt well after both procedures.

“The next day after the jab, they put this powder in (my) nose,” he continued.

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“Today I already did some sport,” he added.

Russia is one of the world’s hardest-hit countries and is struggling with widespread opposition to vaccination, even though it has developed several homegrown jabs including Sputnik V.

The country has recorded more than 9.4 million coronavirus cases, the fifth-highest number in the world, and more than 266,000 virus-related deaths, according to government figures.

State statistics agency Rosstat said the actual death toll from the pandemic in the country was closer to 450,000 by the end of September.

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Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.