Britain could donate a fifth of its Covid-19 vaccine supply to poorer countries and remain on track to vaccinate all adults by the end of July, analysis by Unicef suggests.
The UN children's fund said the UK would have enough excess supply to inoculate 50 million people globally with two doses – a total of 100 million doses – even after every adult in the UK was vaccinated and a third booster dose given to high-risk groups.
This figure could rise to 200 million surplus doses if all the Covid-19 vaccines the UK ordered were approved by the medicines regulator.
Britain has secured more than 500 million doses of seven vaccines for a population of 66 million. These include those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna, which are approved for UK use.
Joanna Rea, director of advocacy at Unicef UK, urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to commit to donating excess doses ahead of the G7 summit in England next month.
“We can’t ignore that the UK and other G7 countries have purchased more than a third of the world’s vaccine supply, despite making up only 13 per cent of the global population, and we risk leaving low-income countries behind,” she said.
“Unless the UK urgently starts sharing its available doses to ensure others around the world are protected from the virus, the UK will not be safe from Covid-19.
"Our vaccine success could be reversed and the NHS could be fighting another wave of the virus due to deadly mutations.”
France, a G7 member, previously committed to donating 5 per cent of its vaccine supply to the Covax initiative, a health partnership that delivers doses to poorer countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on the US and the rest of Europe to do the same.
"We're not talking about billions of doses immediately, or billions and billions of euros," he told the Financial Times.
“It’s about much more rapidly allocating 4 to 5 per cent of the doses we have.
"It won’t change our vaccination campaigns, but each country should set aside a small number of the doses it has to transfer tens of millions of them, but very fast, so that people on the ground see it happening.”
Britain has committed £548m ($744m) to Covax but was accused recently of vaccine hoarding, as many nations struggle to secure access to doses.
The Covax initiative has delivered just 59 million doses across the globe to date – and less than two per cent of the world's Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Africa.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson this month said the UK had no excess doses to donate at that stage.
"We committed in February to sending excess doses from the UK's supply to the Covax procurement pool and to countries in need once they are available," he said.
"Right now, we are moving through the UK prioritisation list for our domestic rollout and we don't have surplus doses but … we will keep this under review."
In April, Covax said a "very big push" was needed to achieve the goal of delivering two billion doses to poorer nations by the end of the year.
“It’s not all smooth sailing and we are facing a number of challenges,” Covax chief Aurelia Nguyen said.
Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown warned of a "man-made catastrophe" if poor nations remained unvaccinated, while his predecessor Tony Blair said those countries could become "isolated from the world".
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
RESULT
Chelsea 2
Willian 13'
Ross Barkley 64'
Liverpool 0
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
