Facebook, Google expect jabs for office return

Big tech firms are altering their return-to-work plans for employees, as Covid-19 cases rise in the US - with some stipulating that staff working in the office must be vaccinated.

Google announced that it would delay a return to the office until 18 October.

The company joined Facebook in saying it would require US workers returning to the office to be vaccinated.

Twitter said it would pause office re-opening, closing offices in San Francisco and New York once again.

The two Twitter offices had been operating at up to 50% capacity for staff who wanted to return.

In a statement, the company wrote that it was "continuing to closely monitor local conditions and make necessary changes that prioritise the health and safety of our Tweeps".

Twitter said it remained committed to giving employees the option to work from home where possible.

Other tech firms have also put back, or changed, return-to-work plans

Apple has reportedly delayed a  planned return to on-site working until October. 

Amazon has previously announced  a three-day-a-week return to work for "corporate" staff, in a seeming shift of policy.

It comes as  the US administration struggles with flagging rates of vaccination.

 President Biden recently ordered two million federal employees to show proof of vaccination or be subject to mandatory testing and mask-wearing.

Some tech firms are now taking a similar stance. 

In an email to all employees on Wednesday, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the firm would extend a global, voluntary, work-from-home policy through to 18 October.

In addition, the email said "anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated".

The policy will be rolled out in the US, and later expand to other regions.

The Google boss said its implementation of the policy would vary according to local conditions and regulations, and would only apply once vaccines are widely available in an area. More details would be forthcoming about exemptions for medical and other "protected" reasons, he added.

Facebook has also announced that it would "require" US staff returning to offices to be vaccinated.

In a statement, Facebook vice president Lori Goler wrote: "We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves.

Ms Goler said the company's return-to-office plans would "prioritise everyone's health and safety".

Excerpt from BBC News Homes.....

Israel accuses Iran over deadly oil tanker attack

Israel has accused Iran of being behind an attack on an oil tanker in which two crew members - a British national and a Romanian citizen - were killed.

The MV Mercer Street, operated by the London-based company Zodiac Maritime, was off Oman's coast in the Arabian Sea when the incident occurred on Thursday.

The company, which belongs to Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer, said it was working to establish what had happened.

Iran has not commented on the Israeli foreign minister's allegations.

In a statement on Friday, Yair Lapid blamed "Iranian terrorism".

"Iran is not just an Israeli problem," Mr Lapid said, adding: "The world must not be silent."

However, details of the attack on the Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned tanker remain unclear.

The incident appears to be a serious escalation in tensions in the region, and some reports suggest that a drone was involved.

A spokesperson for the UK government said it was also trying to "urgently establish the facts".

"Our thoughts are with the loved ones of a British national who has died following an incident on a tanker off the coast of Oman," the statement said.

It added that vessels "must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law".

In a statement on Friday, Zodiac Maritime announced the two deaths with "profound sadness". It said no other injuries had been reported.

The company added that the vessel was now "sailing under the control of her crew" and heading to a safe location with a US naval escort.

The undeclared "shadow war" between Israel and Iran appears to be hotting up.

There have been several attacks in recent months on both Israeli and Iranian-operated vessels, with both countries trading accusations and denials.

But this attack marks a significant escalation with its human casualties.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapad called for a tough response and said he was in consultation with his British counterpart Dominic Raab, and that the issue would be taken to the UN.

An Iranian Arabic-language television station quoted unnamed sources saying the attack was revenge for an alleged Israeli attack on an airport in Syria, an ally of Iran's.

An unnamed Israeli official said it would be hard for Israel to turn a blind eye to the attack.

EXPLAINED: Iran and Israel's shadow war

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) naval authority said it was investigating the incident, which occurred near the Omani island of Masirah, and confirmed that "coalition forces" were assisting the vessel.

The US state department said it was "deeply concerned" by the reports and was "monitoring the situation closely".

The tanker had been travelling in the northern Indian Ocean to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

According to Zodiac Maritime, it had no cargo on board at the time of the incident.

A number of previous incidents have been reported on both Israeli and Iranian-owned ships in the area. Vessels have been damaged in these incidents, but casualties are rare.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......

 

Taxi and food discounts offer to boost youth jabs

Young people will be offered discounted takeaways and taxi rides to get their Covid jabs in a bid to boost vaccine uptake, the government has said.

Food delivery and taxi-hailing firms including Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Pizza Pilgrims will offer incentives to people to get vaccinated.

The Department of Health and Social Care said details on more partnerships would be released "in due course".

It said about 67% of 18 to 29-year-olds in England have had a first jab.

More than 72% of UK adults have had two doses so far, while 88.5% have had one.

Ride hailing firm Uber will send reminders to all users in August urging them to get vaccinated - and will offer discounted rides and meals on its Uber Eats platform for young people who have the vaccine.

Bolt, another taxi app firm, will offer "free ride credit" to vaccination centres, while food delivery firm Deliveroo will give vouchers to young people who get vaccinated.

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• Jab will not be compulsory for university lectures
  

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said other incentives could include "vouchers or discount codes for people attending pop-up vaccine sites and booking through the NHS, social media competitions and promotional offers for restaurants".

It added that firms would not request or store any health data for the incentive scheme.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid thanked companies for "stepping up" to help the vaccine drive, and urged people to "take advantage of the discounts".

The announcement of the latest initiative in the government's vaccine drive comes after  a string of pop-up vaccine centres opened across England this

 weekend   - with sites including Burnley FC's Turf Moor ground, Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, and the Summer of Love Festival in west London's Holland Park.

A four-day festival with live music and free food, and walk-in vaccine clinics, is taking place in Poplar, in east London, until Monday

Everyone over 18 has been able to sign up for a Covid jab in England since mid-June.

So far two-thirds of 18-29 year olds have come forward.

That's much lower than the population as a whole and ministers are desperate to increase uptake before the end of summer.

We've already seen the stick; the prime minister warning Covid passports could stop the unvaccinated getting into nightclubs and other venues.

Now for the carrot; giving people discounts and other incentives to get a jab.

Downing Street hasn't said exactly what the incentives will be.

But ministers are in talks with other firms - and discounts in cafes, restaurants and cinemas could follow soon.

The latest plans come weeks after the government said that people attending nightclubs and other crowded venues in England  would need to be fully vaccinated from the end of September.

The announcement was met with some criticism, with Kate Nicholls, the boss of UK Hospitality calling the announcement "a hammer blow" for a struggling industry trying to rebuild, while Mark Harper MP, who chairs the Covid Recovery Group of Conservative backbenchers, said the government was "effectively moving to compulsory vaccination".

The BBC understands that  ministers are no longer considering  making it compulsory for university students to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence in England - after the foreign secretary previously said

students would get "advance warning" if they needed to be double jabbed.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......

 

Afghanistan: Fighting rages as Taliban besiege three key cities

Fighting is raging around three major cities in southern and western Afghanistan as Taliban militants seek to seize them from government forces.

Taliban fighters have entered parts of Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar.

They have made rapid gains in rural areas since it was announced almost all foreign troops would go by September.

But the fate of these key cities could be crucial amid fears of a humanitarian crisis and how long government forces will be able to hold out.

The fundamentalist Islamist militia is already thought to have captured up to half of all Afghanistan's territory, including lucrative border crossings with Iran and Pakistan.

• Mapping the advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan

In Lashkar Gah, insurgents were reportedly only a few hundred metres from the governor's office on Saturday - but had been pushed back by nightfall.

It was their second such attempt in as many days. The commander of Afghan forces said they had inflicted significant casualties on the militants on Friday.

Analysis by Secunder Kermani, BBC News

The Taliban's firm focus is now on Afghanistan's cities. The situation is fluid but Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province where many US and British soldiers lost their lives, looks the most vulnerable right now. Pro-Taliban social media accounts have uploaded videos of their fighters in the heart of the city.

Afghan special forces are being sent in to help push them back, but one local resident told us even if that does end up happening, the Taliban's advance is a powerful assertion of their strength.

The militants are understood to have taken up some positions in the homes of ordinary families, which will make it harder to dislodge them. More lengthy and bloody fighting looks to be ahead.

One MP in Kandahar told the BBC the city was at serious risk of falling to the Taliban, with tens of thousands of people already displaced and a humanitarian disaster looming.

Gul Ahmad Kamin said the situation was getting worse hour by hour, and the fighting within the city was the most severe in 20 years.

He said the Taliban now saw Kandahar as a major focal point, a city they want to make their temporary capital. If it fell, then five or six other provinces in the region would also be lost, Mr Kamin said.

He said the Taliban fighters were on several sides of the city and because of the large civilian population government forces would not be able to use heavy weaponry if the militants got fully inside.

•  EXPLAINER: Life in Afghanistan after America leaves
• 
  
• BACKGROUND: Who are the Taliban?
• 
  
• ANALYSIS: Was 20 years in Afghanistan worth it?
  

In Herat, a Tolo News reporter said clashes had intensified, with Taliban fighters entering southern parts of the economically important city.

There are reports of fighting in at least five different locations.

The US is still carrying out air strikes to support the Afghan forces, who have recaptured a district around the airport.

A guard outside a UN compound near the airport was killed on Friday in what the UN described as a deliberate Taliban attack.

Residents say few places in the city are safe and some people are taking up arms to defend themselves.

'Islamic emirate'

The EU's special envoy for Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, said he believed the war was set to get much worse.

He said he feared the Taliban way of thinking now was "something they had in the past - re-establishing... their Islamic emirate".

And the former head of the British Armed Forces, Gen David Richards, warned the international withdrawal could result in the collapse of the Afghan army's morale, leading to Taliban control and possibly a renewed international terrorist threat.

Humanitarian organisations have also warned of a major crisis in coming months as the Taliban continue their offensive - with a lack of food, water and services, and overcrowding in camps for the displaced.

US troops and their Nato and regional allies forced the Taliban from power in November 2001.

The group had been harbouring Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures linked to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.

But despite a continued international presence, billions of dollars of support and training for the Afghan government forces, the Taliban regrouped and gradually regained strength.

In February 2020, then-US President Donald Trump and allies agreed to formulate a deal with the Taliban on the withdrawal of international combat forces.

This year, President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal would take place by September.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......