DUBAI: News that several COVID-19 vaccines are passing advanced trials and getting licensed for use has been met with relief and jubilation. The challenge now is finding ways to distribute the vaccines to every corner of the globe in the hope of ending the pandemic once and for all.

Emirates, the Arab world’s biggest commercial carrier, has teamed up with logistics firm DHL to launch a massive vaccine-delivery effort before the year is out, according to company officials.

Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president of Emirates SkyCargo, told Arab News a hub has now been created at Al-Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central, to receive, store and then distribute vaccines to hospitals across the region.

Preparations began in summer when pharmaceutical firms first announced advanced trials. “We are able to store almost a million vaccine doses in our facility under the temperature requirements set by the manufacturers,” Sultan said.

Some of the new vaccines must be stored at ultra-cold temperatures in special containers packed with dry ice — conditions which may be too costly and cumbersome for poorer countries in the developing world.

For instance, the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in partnership with German firm BioNTech, licensed for use in the UK on Dec. 2 and for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 12, must be stored at a frigid -70 C.

Moderna, another US drugmaker, has developed its own vaccine using the same revolutionary mRNA method as Pfizer/BioNTech, which must be stored at a chilly, although more moderate, -20 C.

Meanwhile, both the Chinese-made Sinopharm shot, approved by the UAE on Dec. 9, and the UK-manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperature.

“One of the challenges we came across is that a lot of the countries around us — in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent — lack the infrastructure in terms of storage,” said Sultan.

“Therefore, bringing the vaccine to Dubai in a bigger quantity and (distributing) them in smaller quantities was the ultimate solution.”

Even developed countries are scrambling for resources in preparation for the vaccines, particularly the delicate Pfizer/BioNTech shot, says Dr. Mais Absi, a research scientist at King’s College London.

“The number of refrigerating cabinets with a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius is limited in European countries,” she told Arab News. “So, you can imagine the situation in developing countries.” 

With so many vaccine candidates emerging, governments will soon be able to shop around for the best shots to suit their needs. And, thanks to Emirates, Dubai will be a regional hub.

“Emirates SkyCargo already has a dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport (DXB),” Sultan said. “Together, for the Dubai vaccine hub project, the two facilities offer close to 9,000 square meters of dedicated pharma storage area in addition to over 10,000 pallet storage locations for the vaccine.”

The firm transported more than 75 million kg of pharmaceuticals in 2019 alone, making Dubai a natural choice as a regional vaccine hub. But even for such an experienced cargo handler, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has proved uniquely challenging.

“If you take Pfizer for instance, a box of vaccines will require almost 23 kg of dry ice,” said Sultan. “The maximum limit you can have on a passenger aircraft for instance is roughly 1,000 kg of dry ice. This means you can carry one pallet per passenger aircraft.”

To account for this excess weight, Emirates went back to the aircraft manufacturer and talked with aviation authorities to increase the capacity for cargo and civilian aircraft.

“Now we have a modern fleet of aircraft including 11 dedicated Boeing 777 freighters and 14 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with seats removed from Economy Class for additional cargo capacity, and our Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 passenger aircraft, which transport cargo including temperature sensitive vaccines in the belly hold,” said Sultan. 

The aviation industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments closed borders and flights were cancelled. Even now, with an easing of restrictions, Emirates is operating flights to just 130 of the 170 destinations it served before the outbreak.

By deploying its underutilized fleet for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the airline is no doubt doing its bit for global economic recovery and a hoped-for rebound in commercial travel.

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Twitter: @jumanaaltamimi

AL-MUKALLA: The main road that links the port city of Aden with the province of Abyan was reopened on Wednesday, as the Yemeni government and separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) announced the reorganization of their forces from sites in southern Yemen under the Riyadh Agreement.

Military commanders told Arab News that all units were pulled from the Sheikh Salem area in Abyan under the supervision of a Saudi de-escalation team, and were replaced by neutral forces.

Local media posted videos showing dozens of military vehicles leaving their positions in Sheikh Salem for the first time in months.

“We have completed withdrawing our forces from Sheikh Salem with the help of our brothers in the Saudi team,” an army officer, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, told Arab News by telephone from Abyan, adding the STC forces had headed to Aden and Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province.

Soldiers from the neutral “Giants Brigades,” major military units battling the Iran-backed Houthis along the country’s western coast, were deployed in Sheikh Salem to maintain peace.

Saudi military officers also oversaw the demolition of sand barricades and trenches built by warring factions, and reopened the main road that links Aden with other southern provinces.

Saudi Arabia in November last year brokered a power-sharing deal, known as the Riyadh Agreement, meant to end enmity between the Yemeni government and STC separatists that spilled over into sporadic fighting.

The agreement faced many hurdles as both sides disagreed over the implantation of military aspects of the deal.

But on Dec. 10, the Saudi-led Arab coalition announced that Yemeni factions agreed to immediately put into place the military side of the agreement, and that a new government would be announced when the deployment came to an end.

In Shouqra, the main base of government troops during the fighting, residents told Arab News that peace and calm had returned to the area, and large explosions from the fighting had stopped for the first time since May.

“I see serious steps on the ground and combat forces have largely left Shouqra and neighboring areas. We want them to quickly finish this process as we are fed up with fighting,” Hassan, a resident in Shouqra, told Arab News.

Dozens of fighters had been killed since May when government forces launched an offensive in Abyan to drive out separatists from the province and Aden.

Under the Riyadh Agreement, the separatists abandoned their controversial self-rule in southern provinces and agreed to pull out of Aden and Abyan in exchange for being included in a new government, and the withdrawal of government troops from some southern areas.

In Riyadh, the Yemeni president’s adviser, Abdul Malik Al-Mekhlafi, said on Twitter that the announcement of a new administration would herald the end of implementation of the Riyadh Agreement as the Yemeni government and STC put into place security and military arrangements.

“The announcement of the (new) government is a practical response to intensive campaigns of suspicion and frustration since the announcement of the Arab coalition statement,” he said.
 

CAIRO: Sudan’s military Wednesday said a cross-border attack by Ethiopian forces and militias left causalities among Sudanese troops, a development that could strain ties between the two neighbors.
The military said in a statement that the attack took place late Tuesday as forces were returning from a sweep of the Abu Tyour area in the al-Qadarif province along the border with Ethiopia.
The statement did not say how many troops were killed or wounded.
Separately, military officials said the attack left at least four troops, including a major, dead and wounded a dozen others. They said the military sent enforcement to the borders with Ethiopia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
There was no immediate comment from Ethiopia.
Sudan deployed more than 6,000 troops to the border at the start of fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region that pitted the federal government against regional authorities last month. Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in the fight. However, clashes between Ethiopian federal and regional forces have continued.
The fighting in Tigray has sent over 52,000 Ethiopian refugees into Sudan, mostly in al-Qadarif. The influx of refugees adds to Sudan’s economic and security burdens.
Tuesday’s attack on the Sudanese troops came three days after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met with the Ethiopian leader in Addis Ababa. The visit lasted a few hours, despite an announcement by Sudan that it would be a two-day visit. Hamdok told a news conference that they finished their talks earlier than expected and there was no reason to stay.
Hamdok said the two sides agreed to resume talks next week in Khartoum over the border between the two countries.
Sudan’s transitional government has engaged in talks with Ethiopia in recent months to encourage Ethiopian farmers to withdraw from Sudan’s al-Fashqa border area, which they have cultivated for years.
The government of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had tolerated the incursion of Ethiopian farmers, who were sometimes supported by militias. In May, at least one Sudanese army officer and one child were killed in an attack by an Ethiopian militia group in al-Qadarif.

BEIRUT: Two former Lebanese ministers, Ghazi Zaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil, have refused to appear before Lebanon’s judicial investigator as part of criminal proceedings following the Beirut explosion.

Judge Fadi Sawan charged the ex-ministers, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former minister Youssef Fenianos last week with “criminal negligence causing the death and injury of hundreds of people.”

The two former ministers justified their decision by saying that they “did not receive a formal summons.”

The pair also submitted a request to remove Sawan from the case because of “legitimate suspicions” regarding his neutrality.

A judicial source told Arab News that the revelation means “Sawan should stop the investigation with Zaiter and Hassan Khalil until the Court of Cassation decides on the recusal request after he delivers his remarks.”

Sawan said that he “did not intend” to step down and will continue investigating the file, setting Jan. 4 next year as the new date for the two former ministers to appear for questioning.

Lebanon’s investigation into the port explosion has faced political objections. Many have called for ministers and MPs linked to the disaster to stand before the Supreme Council.

The 1989 Taif agreement established the Supreme Council in Lebanon as a formal body to charge and convict presidents and ministers.

The Supreme Council consists of 7 MPs elected by parliament and 8 judges of the highest rank. Supreme Council procedures are only initiated if a two-thirds majority is reached in Lebanon’s parliament.

However, Col. Bechara El-Khoury, head of the Ministry of Defense legal department, said legal texts have “created ambiguity in drawing the boundary between ordinary crimes and violations resulting from breaching the duties incurred by the prime minister and ministers.”

He added: “The jurisprudence has not resolved the difference in views.”

A source in Lebanon’s judiciary said: “Parliamentary immunity is waived from Zaiter and Hassan Khalil when they are accused of murder.

“This is a criminal offense and is within the jurisdiction of the judicial branch, because their breach of duty resulted in murders.”

On Wednesday, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli criticized Sawan in parliament. “The background to Sawan’s accusation against the prime minister and three ministers is political,” he said.

“What has the principle of separation of powers become? We did not find any serious or nonserious suspicion involving all those whose names were mentioned in the letter that Sawan sent to parliament,” he added.

On Wednesday, Sawan listened to the testimony of former Lebanese Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman. A judicial source said: “Maj. Gen. Salman is a witness until now, waiting to see and study his testimony.”

Sawan previously charged the Beirut Port Administration and Investment Authority with negligence, possible intent to murder and attempted murder. Hassan Quraitem, the port’s director, was arrested about four months ago.

Director-General of State Security Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba also announced his refusal to appear before Sawan in a session scheduled for Thursday, asking to be invited through the Supreme Council of Defense.

Sawan is expected to question caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Friday.

Future bloc MP Mohammed Al-Hajjar questioned the Lebanese president’s responsibility for the disaster.

He said: “The president of the republic knew about the ammonium nitrate 15 days before the explosion. He knew more than others the danger of these materials near neighborhoods, and he is a former commander of the army and the head of the Supreme Council of Defense. So who is responsible?”

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s General Labor Union suspended a general strike on Wednesday that was set to protest against the removal of subsidies on basic materials.

Union head Bechara Al-Asmar said: “The union reached an understanding with Prime Minister Hassan Diab and the ministers concerned about not removing the subsidy on wheat, and it was confirmed that medicines for chronic diseases and diesel will still be subsidized.

“There is a keenness to postpone the move because it coincides with the holiday season and the need to move commercial markets, which are on the verge of bankruptcy.””

A delegation from the union visited President Michel Aoun, who said: “The crisis in which the Lebanese are facing is one of the biggest crises, and we are working so that the economic and financial measures that we are taking are consistent with the situation in which we live.

“The big problem that Lebanon suffers from lies in securing the money needed to put solutions into practice.

“The money in the treasury is very limited and we are working to secure it. We are the ones working on that and we are not the ones who spent this money,” he added.

Aoun warned that “rumors are spreading and have caused great damage in terms of building confidence between the Lebanese people and the judiciary, which I renew my absolute support for in the face of pressures.”
 

ANKARA: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) put rights violation cases in Turkey under the spotlight this month with several rulings on its agenda.

On Dec. 15, the European top court ruled that the Turkish government violated the rights of an employee who was dismissed by a state of emergency decree.

The court said that Turkey violated the employee’s right to a fair trial and right to respect for his private and family life after he was sacked from his post at the public administration over claims of his links to terror groups.

ECtHR ruled that, even in cases where national security had to be considered, the principles of lawfulness and the rule of law should be applied when taking measures that affect an individual’s fundamental rights.

The court sentenced Turkey to pay €4,000 ($4,875) to Hamit Piskin, the applicant, in violation of articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights that Turkey is signed up to as a contracting party.

According to Ayse Bingol Demir, a human rights lawyer and co-director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, the Piskin case concerns the serious human rights violations of Turkey in the course of the state of emergency declared following the July 2016 coup attempt.

“More than four years on, we are starting to hear the voice of the court on the question of the compatibility of the government’s actions with the European Convention on Human Rights,” she told Arab News.

However, Demir added, whether the court’s reaction was strong enough was a matter for consideration.

“Although the court found violations of Article 6 and 8 of the convention in this case, there are several aspects of the court’s interpretations that are problematic, and this might prevent this judgment being a strong basis for those who have been impacted by the emergency decrees in their quests to obtain remedy for the violations they have endured,” she said.

In the meantime, ECtHR will deliver a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas v. Turkey on Tuesday, Dec. 22.

The Demirtas case is widely considered by human rights groups to be a politically motivated prosecution.

The case is about the arrest and pre-trial detention of Demirtas, the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Turkey’s left-wing, pro-Kurdish and second-largest opposition party.

Demirtas challenged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2014 and 2018 presidential elections, attracting 9.76 percent and 8.32 percent of the vote respectively from almost every part of society.

He was arrested on Nov. 4, 2016, in the middle of the night, over his alleged incitement of the violent street demonstrations across Turkey’s southeastern provinces in October 2014 after Daesh attacked the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani. The protests in Turkey caused the death of 50 people and hundreds were injured.

The detention of the deputies was made possible at the time following a controversial constitutional amendment and parliamentary vote in May 2016 that ensured the lifting of their parliamentary immunity.

The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, a European body that advises on constitutional matters, at the time harshly criticized the decision to lift parliamentary immunity, with the risk it carries for damaging democratic institutions in the country.

“Demirtas is one of the most prominent figures in the political scene in Turkey and has been unlawfully kept behind bars for over four years. The interference in the judicial proceedings against him, if not full control of them, by the executive has been so clear,” lawyer Demir said.

Demirtas, who has been imprisoned for four years and two months, lodged his application with the European Court four years ago after having exhausted all domestic remedies.

Previously, lawyers for Demirtas strongly criticized several aspects of the ECtHR Second Section’s earlier judgment in November 2018.

“The Grand Chamber will hopefully agree with their arguments and will properly address, recognize and duly criticize the seriousness of the issue of detention of political opponents and others for political purposes in Turkey,” Demir said.

International groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Article 19, assert that there is no material evidence about the connection of Demirtas to the Kobani protests, saying that the prosecution is only based on his public speeches and political activities as a leader of a political party at the time.

“This case was given priority, the court states. National judicial authorities detain individuals without a ground in 15 minutes. Then it takes ages to undo this decision before the ECtHR, even in the case of a prominent politician. Isn’t it the time to really reform the ECtHR?,” said Kerem Altiparmak, a human rights’ lawyer.

Rights advocacy groups also asked the Turkish government to review the detentions of other former HDP deputies, including the female co-chair of the party, Figen Yuksekdag, but the European Court of Human Rights has not ruled yet on these cases.

“The Turkish government has misused detention and criminal proceedings in a campaign of persecution against Demirtas in particular, including by flouting a European Court of Human Rights’ order to release him and concocting new baseless charges to keep him behind bars,” Human Rights Watch said in a press statement on Nov. 19.

However, Turkish rulers appear determined to keep Demirtas and the other HDP deputies behind bars, blaming them for terror acts in the country.

“Supporters of terrorism cannot be rewarded,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month, indicating his personal objection to releasing Demirtas.

In September, Erdogan also criticized HDP and its jailed ex-leader: “They have penetrated into the parliament. This nation does not and will not forget those who called the people into the streets and then in Diyarbakir had 53 of our children killed. We will follow this business to the end. We won’t release them.”