Nachrichtenagentur Radio Utopie
Nachrichten direkt von der Quelle. Im Kontext sehen. News directly from the source. There is context in life. Deutsch, English. 24 h. – Democracy First!
(February 2, 2023)
The one thing we can say with certainty is that it definitely won’t happen in 2023 – probably. That probably comes from not knowing for certain what stage in the journey to quantum computing has been achieved by foreign nations or their intelligence agencies – and they’re not likely to tell us. Nevertheless, it is assumed that nobody yet has a quantum computer powerful enough to run Shor’s algorithm and crack PKI encryption in a meaningful timeframe.
Why was The Spectator being hauled up under a technical FB rule applying to political adverts? As a news organisation, we thought we were exempt from such rules.
(Dec 7, 2022)
U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry on Wednesday hailed the decision to hold next year’s COP28 climate summit in OPEC member the United Arab Emirates, saying fossil fuel economies should be encouraged to lead the transition to clean energy
(03.12.2022)
Beep boop beep.
(October 21, 2022)
Schneider is a co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, as well as a lead sponsor of the DEFEND Act, which seeks to promote the creation of an integrated Middle East air-defense infrastructure, potentially including both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), also an Abraham Accords Caucus co-chair and lead DEFEND Act sponsor, raised concerns that the White House was “disrupting… momentum” toward integrated air defense by postponing a United States-Gulf Coordination Council meeting focused on the issue following the oil production cut announcement.
Earlier on Nov. 18, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukrainian experts were already working on the explosion site and added that he was grateful to Poland for giving them access.
According to Rzeczpospolita sources, however, Ukrainian investigators didn’t perform any procedural activities on the site because it’s against the law — they were just able to see the place.
Poland’s president said on Wednesday that a Ukrainian air defense missile had most likely caused a deadly explosion in his country a day earlier, calling it an “unfortunate accident” and easing fears that his country and its NATO allies could be drawn into a direct conflict with Russia.
President Andrzej Duda said early indications suggested that Ukrainian efforts to counter a barrage of roughly 100 Russian missiles had been the cause of the blast on Tuesday — not a direct attack on his country.
(October 21, 2022)
Schneider is a co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, as well as a lead sponsor of the DEFEND Act, which seeks to promote the creation of an integrated Middle East air-defense infrastructure, potentially including both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), also an Abraham Accords Caucus co-chair and lead DEFEND Act sponsor, raised concerns that the White House was “disrupting… momentum” toward integrated air defense by postponing a United States-Gulf Coordination Council meeting focused on the issue following the oil production cut announcement.
(October 21, 2022)
Schneider is a co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, as well as a lead sponsor of the DEFEND Act, which seeks to promote the creation of an integrated Middle East air-defense infrastructure, potentially including both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), also an Abraham Accords Caucus co-chair and lead DEFEND Act sponsor, raised concerns that the White House was “disrupting… momentum” toward integrated air defense by postponing a United States-Gulf Coordination Council meeting focused on the issue following the oil production cut announcement.
(Oct. 24, 2022)
If the United States follows through on its threats, the Biden administration would be a true maverick in Middle East policy, because no other administration — Republican or Democratic — has ever retaliated against Saudi Arabia in any serious manner for its oil policies.
(17.10.2022)
Democratic Senator Robert Menendez raised ’serious concerns‘ about the possibility of Netanyahu establishing a coalition with far-right Religious Zionism after the next Israeli election, according to a report from news site Walla
The prosecutor in the “lavish gifts” corruption trial of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the court Tuesday that although the prosecution doesn’t know the whereabouts of James Packer, an Australian businessman who gave Netanyahu gifts, it has no intention of forgoing the testimony of the state’s key witness.
n response to a question from the head of the panel of judges that is hearing the case in Jerusalem, Alon Gildin said: “The prosecution hasn’t given up on anyone.”
These claims that Iran could rapidly step in to solve Europe’s woes are somewhat overstated. Although Iran does have massive natural gas reserves, the necessary pipeline and shipping infrastructure simply does not exist at present for exporting gas to Europe. To put it simply, there is no flip of a switch that can rapidly turn on supplies to Europe and help them cope with the winter ahead.
“In my estimation, it’s not going to happen in the very near future, not in the next few weeks,” one source, speaking not for attribution, said Sept. 6. “I think we’ll see continuation of a dialogue, very low key, until after the midterm elections.”
The assessment comes as the head of Mossad was the latest senior Israeli official to arrive for consultations in Washington this week.
However, Mossad director David Barnea has canceled earlier plans to brief the Senate Intelligence committee on Israeli objections to the Iran deal, sources said, and a committee spokesperson confirmed.
The role of the High Court is to oversee and restrain the Shin Bet, not to become its abject servant. This week the court showed it fails in this duty, and also made a laughingstock of itself.
Is there international action that can be taken now?
It appears increasingly likely that some forms of coordinated international action will be taken, mirroring responses to the global financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and the Covid pandemic.
The former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi floated the idea of “a cartel of buyers” at a meeting with the US president, Joe Biden, in May. This would involve large oil consumers working together to negotiate prices.
But so far, it seems there are a few remaining sticking points that are proving fairly difficult to resolve. The main issue of contention between the Iranian and Western camps is an ongoing investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency — the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog — into unexplained traces of uranium found at Iranian facilities in the early 2000s. Tehran wants the investigation closed before they’ll accept any deal; the IAEA and U.S. and European governments are so far refusing.
Energy analysts have been highly skeptical about the integrity of the proposal, however, warning the policy could backfire if key consumers such as China and India are not involved.
Oil prices were higher on the news.
Benny Gantz, a retired Israeli army general and the country’s minister of defense, told a local media outlet yesterday that a New Yorker report which said Netanyahu encouraged U.S. action against Iran was likely „not what happened.“
„I don’t know of this story and I assume this is not what happened,“ Gantz said in an interview, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“Although everything was done lawfully, the National Intelligence Service (EYP) underestimated the political dimension of that particular action. It was formally legitimate, but politically unacceptable. It should not have happened [and it] undermined citizens’ confidence in national intelligence,” Mitsotakis said.
To make an impression on the race, Sunak announced last night plans to charge patients £10 for a missed medical appointment to help clear the Covid backlog. He said he would revive high streets, slash the number of empty shops and backed tougher punishment for graffiti and littering, as well as additional powers for police to tackle anti-social behaviour.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman stressed in his report major shortcomings in the force’s work to gather intelligence and anticipate the violence, specifically in mixed Jewish-Arab cities like Lod, Acre, and Jaffa.
Planned evictions of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem and tensions surrounding the city’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound spilled into violence across the country. On May 10, 2021, Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem, prompting an Israeli response, and the fighting lasted for 11 days. During that time, violence between Arabs and Jews in Israel intensified.
(today)
Lord Cruddas, who was last year forced to defend donating £500,000 to the party just three days after he was admitted to the House of Lords, said he wanted Boris Johnson to stay on as Prime Minister.
He said: “If the membership are asked to vote for the last two contenders they will be voting for two people that they do not want on the ballot. The ballot only has credibility if Boris is part of the process.”
„One Friday, I received a call from Arnon and he said to me, ‚Speak to Yossi Cohen and tell him that Sara likes him,'“ Klein continued. „‚Tell Yossi what Sara says about him.‘ Arnon told him that he spoke with the Netanyahus. And then Arnon met with [then-Mossad chief] Tamir Pardo on Friday afternoon. He told Pardo that he spoke to the Netanyahus and they both approved this appointment, and Tamir told Milchan: ‘You did something bad for the State of Israel.’”
“We are being provoked,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta on Saturday.
“I must tell you that around three days ago, maybe more, they tried to strike military targets in Belarus from Ukraine.
“Thank God, our Pantsir anti-air systems intercepted all the missiles fired by the Ukrainian forces.”
The claim, which Lukashenko did not provide evidence for, came one week after Ukraine said missiles struck a border region from Belarus, a long-term Russian ally.
(7 May 2020)
(June 18, 2022)
„She wanted data, she wanted money, and she wanted to brag,“ Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Friedman said in closing arguments, according to the release. The Justice Department didn’t identify the other organizations affected by Thompson’s activity.
Sinisa Mali, the current finance minister and former mayor of Belgrade, is mentioned first as a possible candidate. He is one of Aleksandar Vučić’s closest associates and has been involved in several scandals – from the destruction of the Savamala quarter in Belgrade to allegedly owning 24 apartments in Bulgaria. The University of Belgrade stripped him of his doctorate after it was confirmed that he had plagiarized his thesis.
According to European intelligence, Nikola Selaković, current Minister of Foreign Affairs, also has a chance to become the new PM. He is also a loyal associate of Aleksandar Vučić…
„Scholz has brought new energy and new hope. He wants to hear everyone in the Western Balkans and wants real prospects for EU expansion which is an important, excellent message for everyone in the Western Balkans. We also talked about the fact that Serbia must progress much faster in terms of the rule of law, democracy…“, he said.
Boris Johnson won’t be fined again for breaking coronavirus regulations after UK police concluded a probe into rule-breaking gatherings during lockdown, a major boost for the prime minister after months of turmoil.
Several conspiracy theories assert that the CIA used Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport to smuggle weapons and ammunition to the Contras in Nicaragua, and drugs back into the United States.[19][20] Some theories even invoke the involvement of political figures, including Oliver North and former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.[20][21]
The CIA’s self-investigation, overseen by the CIA’s inspector general, stated that the CIA had no involvement in or knowledge of any illegal activities that may have occurred in Mena.
(March 27, 2022)
Democrats point to the pandemic and stuck supply chains for the current inflation woes, blaming corporations for pocketing profits while Americans pay the price at the pump.
Published Mon, Mar 14 202211:14 AM EDT
U.S. oil tumbled on Monday, breaking below $100 per barrel, amid talks between Russia and Ukraine as well as new Covid-19 lockdowns in China.
Ukraine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court („ICC“ or the „Court“), so cannot itself refer the situation to my Office. But it has twice exercised its prerogatives to legally accept the Court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute occurring on its territory, should the Court choose to exercise it. The first declaration lodged by the Government of Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed on Ukrainian territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014. The second declaration extended this time period on an open-ended basis to encompass ongoing alleged crimes committed throughout the territory of Ukraine from 20 February 2014 onwards.
I have reviewed the Office’s conclusions arising from the preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation.
Ministers paid tribute to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Sunday, who is set to leave the job this week after six years.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Mandelblit has filled a “great and significant” role. “We all owe you a debt of gratitude. On behalf of the government of Israel, I would like to thank you, Avichai, for many dedicated years of service to the State of Israel.”
Asked at Yesh Atid’s faction meeting if he still thinks his rotation as prime minister would happen if Netanyahu signs a plea deal, Lapid said: „This government will last because it does not depend on Netanyahu. It depends on working together & national unity.“
(24.12.2021)
White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter that the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Munoz said the temporary travel bans bought scientists necessary time to study the new virus variant and conclude that the current vaccinations are effective in blunting its impact.
(20.10.2021)
Mr Wright said that while there are some shortages on shelves, the UK does have sufficient food.
He added: „We are not going to run out of food but there are some shortages, we have seen some problems with pigs and poultry, with some of these being solved.“
When an educator asked if that meant requiring vaccines for school children, McAuliffe did not hesitate.
“If the CDC says these vaccinations are safe for our children than I want everybody to be vaccinated,”he said.
With the German chancellor now on the way out, only one leader even remotely has the stature to fill her shoes. He’s in Rome, not Paris.
Elizabeth and Angela: two opposite worlds, two entirely different functions, and yet, similarities. Those boring speeches no one dares to make any more. That style, that calm, that stability and that way of embodying their countries.
Merkel now embodies more than Germany; she embodies Europe. She’s a pop icon, who has entered our consciousness like a song.
In the last week alone, 4,568 new breakthrough cases — infections in people who have been vaccinated — have been reported. Health officials said 178 of the new breakthrough cases resulted in hospitalization, or about 0.02% of all fully vaccinated individuals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks only breakthrough cases that result in hospitalization or death, as these incidences are both serious and very rare.
COVID-19 cases are up to five times more common in unvaccinated individuals compared with the vaccinated, according to the CDC. But state-level data shows that milder breakthrough cases that do not result in hospitalization are on the rise among the fully vaccinated as virus transmission increases and vaccine efficacy decreases.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) quietly changed their definition of “Vaccination” on September 1st, exchanging the word “immunity” for “protection,” now that it appears that breakthrough cases can no longer be explained away as an anomaly.
The definition change occurred on the same day – September 1st – that a massive study was released demonstrating that those who had been vaccinated were “13 times more likely to be infected with the Delta variant (what has been called a “breakthrough” infection) than those with natural immunity,” as summarized at the American Conservative.
Explanations for Israel’s vaccine effectiveness data
When Israeli researchers announced last month that people vaccinated in the winter were more likely to contract Covid than those who had been vaccinated in the spring, many assumed this demonstrated waning vaccine effectiveness.
The data from Israel’s Ministry of Health suggested that vaccine effectiveness against both infection and symptomatic disease had decreased to around 40%, but this decline may have been due to other factors and not the vaccines, Wu writes
For the purpose of this surveillance, a vaccine breakthrough infection is defined as the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen in a respiratory specimen collected from a person ≥14 days after they have completed all recommended doses of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized COVID-19 vaccine.
Identifying and investigating hospitalized or fatal vaccine breakthrough cases
CDC monitors reported hospitalized or fatal vaccine breakthrough cases for clustering by patient demographics, geographic location, time since vaccination, vaccine type, and SARS-CoV-2 lineage. Reported data include hospitalized or fatal breakthrough cases due to any cause, including causes not related to COVID-19.
(<....) Hospitalized or fatal COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases reported to CDC as of August 30, 2021
As of August 30, 2021, more than 173 million people in the United States had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
During the same time, CDC received reports from 49 U.S. states and territories of 12,908 patients with COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infection who were hospitalized or died.
(May 26, 2021)
The CDC’s recent shift in monitoring breakthrough COVID-19 infections after vaccination hasn’t sat well with everyone, as some scientists are concerned it could miss the full picture of what is happening with these breakthrough cases.
As of May 1, the agency went from monitoring all breakthrough infections after COVID-19 vaccination to focusing on only hospitalized or fatal cases.
Saudi ambassador Rayed Krimly, head of policy planning at the Kingdom’s foreign ministry, confirmed Riyadh was in talks with Tehran in comments made to Reuters in May.
He said the talks were aimed at exploring ways to reduce the tensions in the region and that Saudi Arabia wanted to see actions rather than words.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in comments reported widely in Iranian state-owned media, said: „The other side understands that it will take two or three months for the new government in Iran to be established and be able to plan.“
Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi has said that his government would support any initiative that works towards the ending of US sanctions, but …
(07.08.2021)
Because they want to.
The current US administration has not yet fulfilled the promises Joe Biden made during his presidential elections campaigns to undo Trump’s actions and return to the deal. In the meantime, Tehran has also stressed that the Biden administration’s return to the agreement without lifting the sanctions is not important at all.
The report falls short of concluding whether the coronavirus jumped from animal to human, or might have accidentally escaped from a lab in China
(27.08.2021)
– If you’ve had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should get tested 3-5 days after your exposure, even if you don’t have symptoms. You should also wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until your test result is negative. You should isolate for 10 days if your test result is positive.
(…)
What We Know
– COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, including severe illness and death.
– COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe disease and death from variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 currently circulating in the United States, including the Delta variant.
– Infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. When these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild.
– If you are fully vaccinated and become infected with the Delta variant, you can spread the virus to others.
– People with weakened immune systems, including people who take immunosuppressive medications, may not be protected even if fully vaccinated.
(20.08.2021)
Late Friday, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that the FDA could approve the vaccine, which up until now has been distributed on an emergency basis, as early as Monday but could possibly go past that if regulators need more time to review data.
The briefing, which is believed to be the first in-person meeting with lawmakers, comes as four separate congressional committees have pledged to conduct oversight efforts into the administration’s moves in withdrawing from Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Kaag told NOS broadcaster that although a Dutch military plane was able to land, the short turnaround time at the airport controlled by American troops meant that they were unable to board. ‘There was a half-hour slot to get people on the tarmac,’ she said. ‘Lots of people were there, and at the airport gates, with their families. I think it is awful.’ She had called for the 6,000 American troops, who have been sent back into Afghanistan after their withdrawal, to allow people more time for boarding.
(27.08.2021)
– If you’ve had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should get tested 3-5 days after your exposure, even if you don’t have symptoms. You should also wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until your test result is negative. You should isolate for 10 days if your test result is positive.
(…)
What We Know
– COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, including severe illness and death.
– COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe disease and death from variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 currently circulating in the United States, including the Delta variant.
– Infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. When these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild.
– If you are fully vaccinated and become infected with the Delta variant, you can spread the virus to others.
– People with weakened immune systems, including people who take immunosuppressive medications, may not be protected even if fully vaccinated.
Published July 28, 2021
Updated Aug. 12, 2021
Anyone who has been potentially exposed to the virus should get tested, the C.D.C. now says. Previous guidance recommended testing only for fully vaccinated people who were symptomatic.
(March 9, 2020)
The length of a year has been constant over Earth’s history, because Earth’s orbit around the Sun does not change.
(04.03.2015)
The prime minister has been warning for over 20 years that Tehran is close to achieving its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
U.S. and European sources familiar with intelligence reporting said on Friday Iran was their leading suspect for the incident, which a U.S. defense official said appeared to have been carried out by a drone, but stressed their governments were seeking conclusive evidence.
(26.06.2021)
Israel’s defense exports, including the sale of offensive cyber technologies to foreign countries, and the policy that governs them is beyond the jurisdiction of Israeli courts, the Supreme Court ruled Sunday. The court’s justices refused to hear a petition filed by human right activists against the director of Israel’s Defense Ministry and Cellebrite, the digital forensics company, for the sale of phone-hacking tech to Russia.
(22.07.2021)
The Israeli interministerial team „will conduct its checks, and we will be sure to look into the findings and see if we need to fix things here,“ Ben Barak said.
DECA is within Israel’s Defense Ministry and oversees NSO exports.
(yesterday)
– Sir Patrick Vallance corrected a mistake about Covid hospitalisation rates
– He originally said 60 per cent of people going to hospital were doubled jabbed
– But he later tweeted the figure applied to the unvaccinated people
A new joint effort by NATO members, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and Japan will call out and confront the threat posed by Chinese state-sponsored cyberattacks.
The nations will share intelligence on cyberthreats and collaborate on network defenses and security, said a senior Biden administration official.
The group will publicly blame China’s Ministry of State Security for a massive cyberattack on Microsoft Exchange email servers earlier this year.
The Prime Minister has urged Brits to self-isolate if contacted by Test and Trace – hours after trying to wangle his way out of a period of quarantine himself.
The material was kept in safes in the so-called ‘aquarium,’ where prime ministers and their most senior aides sit. It’s unclear which, or how many, documents were destroyed at Netanyahu’s orders
Dozens of private diplomatic conversations with world leaders, agreements and understandings that go unmentioned in meeting minutes, the Iranian nuclear issues or strategic ties with the American government about which private conversations were held with Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump: All of these remain in Netanyahu’s notebooks and his memory, as if they were his private possession. The heads of the intelligence community who briefed Bennett know only some of these issues – what they were told.
(10.06.2021)
Although the new vaccine variants shows considerable promise, Prof Gilbert said there was no guarantee it would be mass-produced since existing jabs are proving effective against new strains – so it may make more sense to carry on producing those rather than manufacturing different ones.
Tuesday will be remembered as the day the internet broke — before swiftly being fixed again. Early in the morning, websites including Amazon, Reddit, Spotify, Ebay, Twitch, Pinterest and, unfortunately, CNET went offline due to a major outage at a service called Fastly. Everywhere you looked, there were 503 errors and people complaining they couldn’t access key services and news outlets. It all demonstrated just how much of the internet relies on this largely unheard-of cloud computing service.
Britons will soon be barred from entering Germany after the country’s Public Health Institute designated the UK as a virus variant area of concern.
From midnight on Sunday people travelling there from the UK may only enter the country if they are a German citizen or resident.
(20.05.2021)
In an interview with US network MSNBC, Yamina head Naftali Bennett says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not using the fighting in Gaza for his own political ends.
When asked directly about the claim that the premier was using the situation to shore up political support, Bennett says: “No. I think the fundamental problem here is that Hamas wants to destroy [Israel].” He then reads sections of the Hamas charter aloud.
„The US now has incredible leverage over Iran,“ former Trump national security advisor John Bolton told FRANCE 24. „If Biden gives it away, he will virtually guarantee that the sanctions will collapse, and ultimately Iran will get nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them both on Europe and on the United States.“
Iranian lead delegate Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the issues that needed resolution were difficult. Araqchi said Iran is standing firm on its position that the US needs to fully lift all sanctions in a verifiable manner before Tehran can take action to come back to full compliance with the JCPOA.
Reports indicate that though the US has agreed to ease sanctions on various sectors like oil and gas, banking, shipping and insurance there are still differences on sanctioned individuals and entities including Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
(today)
Bensouda announced on March 3 that she had opened a full investigation into actions committed by Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem since 2014.
Three months of curfew have not had any effect on the number of coronavirus-related hospital admissions in the Netherlands but the measure was needed to slow the spread of the virus, the head of the Dutch intensive care association has said. Ernst Kuipers told television talk show Beau on Wednesday evening that the curfew was an essential but ‘uncontrolled experiment’ which ‘had to be done’.
He also said that implementing the curfew was necessary, even if measuring the effects are statistically challenging because it was enforced along with many other measures.
„When the curfew was introduced, the calculation was that it would reduce new infections by 10 percent. If you look at the course of hospital admissions over time, we saw no effect whatsoever with the introduction of the curfew,“ Kuipers explained on Wednesday evening on the talk show Beau.
(14.04.2021)
The PM suggests the millions of jabs given over the past few months was not key to the reduction in COVID levels.
According to sources who spoke with Haaretz, the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Council did not know of the Chinese corporation’s involvement, and claimed that the matter is under the purview of the Defense Ministry.
“The fact that people even go out to vote is very disturbing to economists. After all, you won’t change the result of the election with your lone vote, and on the other hand it costs you time and money. If you do a cost-benefit analysis of it – clearly one shouldn’t vote. Classical economists are very disturbed by people who go out to vote and also by people who leave tips in restaurants that they don’t plan to visit again.”
(31.01.2021)
First, the parties.
The agreement is between the European Commission, acting on behalf of European Union member states, and AstraZeneca AB, incorporated in Sweden.
That this is the AstraZeneca entity that is party to the agreement may be significant, for (all other things being equal) only that entity will be bound by obligations on AstraZeneca in the agreement – and not any other AstraZeneca entity.
BORIS Johnson has reassured Brits that the AstraZeneca jab is safe and effective – as he calmed nerves about the country’s vaccine rollout.
– Matt Hancock under fire for raising hopes of huge ramp up in vaccines only for supplies setback to emerge
– Serum Institute of India has been told it must hand jabs to its own citizens before exporting vaccine stocks
– One batch of five million doses of the AstraZeneca jab bound for the UK has been delayed by a month
. Confusingly Boris Johnson insisted Indian government has not blocked any exports, as he prepares to visit
The move came after President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin would „pay a price“ for Moscow’s interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In an interview with ABC News, Biden was also asked if he thought Putin is a killer.
„I do,“ Biden responded.
While immigrants from the former Soviet Union are often viewed as a valuable political bloc and targeted directly by election campaigns in Israel, olim from English-speaking countries are generally regarded as much more politically diverse and so receive significantly less attention.
“We trust that our European friends will stand by us in the important fight on the misuse of the International Criminal Court against our soldiers and civilians,” he said.
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, who accompanied Rivlin on the trip, said Israeli soldiers “do everything” to avoid harming innocent civilians.
Findings not yet peer-reviewed, interaction of vaccine with B1351 variant unclear due to limited data
Professor Paul Dolan, Professor of Behavioural Science, LSE
Professor Lord Richard Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics, LSE
Lord Gus O’Donnell, Chair of Frontier Economics and Visiting Professor, LSE
Professor Liam Delaney, Professor of Behavioural Science, LSE
Dr ChristianKrekel, Assistant professor of Behavioural Science, LSE
Dr Jet Sanders, Assistant Professorof Behavioural Science, LSE
Dr Celia Blanco-Jimenez. Fellow in Behavioural Science, LSE
Dr Kate Laffan, Fellow in Behavioural Science,University College Dublin
Dr Georgios Kavetsos,Associate Professor in Behavioural Science, QMC London
Dr Laura Kudrna, Fellow in Behavioural Science, University of Birmingh
(…)
4.5. The foregoing discussion highlighted the importance of processes as well as outcomes, and so a separate wellbeing commission should be established …
(02.03.2021)
Health experts say most at-risk Israelis are now vaccinated, and they expect the number of seriously ill coronavirus patients to drop
(01.03.2021)
“In fact, the detailed data show that the protection that you get from catching Covid 35 days after a first jab is even slightly better for the Oxford jab than for Pfizer, albeit both results are clearly very strong.”
(26.02.2021)
„The Department of Defense briefed Congressional leadership before the action last night,“ confirms @PressSec
. „The administration has been briefing the Hill at the Member- and staff-level today. There will be a full classified briefing early next week at the latest.“
(26.02.2021)
“The Department of Defense briefed Congressional leadership before the action last night. The Administration has been briefing the Hill at the Member- and staff-level today. There will be a full classified briefing early next week at the latest,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
In the wake of President Biden’s bombing of eastern Syria, some members of Congress are speaking out and questioning the legality of the move,including Bidens Fellow Democrats
But some Democrats said that Congress has not passed an authorization for the use of military force specifically in Syria, and previous resolutions passed in 2001 and 2002 were designed for attacking those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks and to go into war with Iraq. Congress has not declared war since 1942.
„This makes President Biden the seventh consecutive US president to order strikes in the Middle East,“ said California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.
“The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel,” Kirby said. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.”
The U.S. strike comes after three rocket attacks since last week targeted U.S. personnel and other interests in Iraq.
Neuberger notably said the attack, which compromised „9 federal agencies and about 100 private companies,“ was launched from inside the United States.
SolarWinds shares are down 1.4%. Two security names closely tied to the hack, FireEye (FEYE -3.2%) and CrowdStrike (CRWD -2.5%), are also in the red.
The US government’s probe into the devastating SolarWinds breach is likely to take „several months“ at least, according to the top White House cybersecurity official, speaking to reporters Wednesday in the Biden administration’s first public assessment of the gravity of the suspected Russian spying campaign.
(09.02.2021)
It expects to have a vaccine designed to address the variant discovered in South Africa ready by autumn.
(14.02.2021)
The Anglo-Swedish company, which makes a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, said it is working with the university’s scientists to adapt the shot to combat new variants.
(12.02.2021)
SAGE member Professor John Edmunds painted a darker picture and suggested the measures could last even longer.
He told ITV’s Peston face masks could be required „probably forever“ if COVID-19 becomes endemic in the UK.
Dr Dix added: ‚I think 40 days would be a real stretch but we would aim for something as good as that.
‚But certainly within 60 days and then, after that, we would start the manufacturing.‘
Manufacturing vaccines takes different amounts of time depending on the type of jab.
Professor Gilbert earlier told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that her team currently has ‚a version with the South African spike sequence in the works‘ with hopes it will be ready to administer by the autumn.
‚It’s not quite ready to vaccinate people with yet, but, as all of the developers are using platform technologies, these are ways of making a vaccine that are very quick to adapt,‘ she added.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) announced late Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
Asked about the cross-Channel blame game over not just vaccines, but Brexit and coronavirus controls, in which he is often personally named, Macron laughed off the personal attacks: “Whenever there’s a problem with the EU, the British just love to detest the French – and me – and say we are responsible.
“I have accepted this role. Sometimes when there are tensions, I ask ‘Why me?’ – perhaps making me out to be more important than I am!”
A government source said the Taoiseach had not been given any advance warning of the EU decision to invoke the article in the protocol.
The source said the article may have been inadvertently triggered by “someone who did not understand the political implications” of the decision.
Some EU officials are understood to be livid about the move, which they see as ruining the work they’ve done since the Brexit vote in 2016.
Prof Andy Pollard, of the University of Oxford, said the lack of data is understandable. “In our trials, the older adults were recruited later and, because they were recruited later there has been less time for cases to occur, and, older adults are known to be more cautious in the pandemic, meaning the ‘attack rate’ is lower,” he said.
AstraZeneca has stressed that older adults were recruited later because the team wanted to be sure the vaccine was safe before administering it to older age groups.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine has not been granted approval yet for general use in the European Union, but the bloc’s medicines regulator EMA is poised to authorise it on Friday.
The German panel, STIKO did not detail the data from clinical trials on the vaccine on older people, but two prominent German media outlets had reported that the efficacy on above-65s was below 10 per cent.
(25.01.2021)
Pascal Soriot said world leaders “could and should have been better prepared for this pandemic” and criticised what he called the “me first” attitude many have adopted in tackling the crisis.
“Globally, it’s fair to say we could and should have been better prepared for this pandemic,” AstraZeneca boss Soriot said during an appearance on a virtual panel on Monday.
(24.01.2021)
Two polls conducted in April found that between 51 and 70 per cent of people were likely to support these passports.
Why does the Netherlands need a curfew?
The weekly report from the National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) suggested that the number of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands was dropping, as they observed that the effects of the national lockdown announced on December 14 could finally be seen. However …
(DEc 3, 2020)
Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.”
The company was expected to deliver around 80 million doses to the 27 EU countries by the end of March, an EU official told the agency.
However, it now expects that to be cut to 31 million doses due to „production problems“ at a vaccine factory in Belgium run by its partner Novasep.
“We don’t know yet whether an individual can, although not becoming ill from the virus because they have been vaccinated, still catch it and spread it on to others.
Asked whether people who had received the jab could hug their children, Janet Lord, director of Birmingham University’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “I would certainly advise not to do that at the moment because as you probably know with the vaccines they take several weeks before they are maximally effective.“
(05.12.2020)
In order to halt the spread of coronavirus completely, a vaccine would need to produce antibodies that stop the virus from replicating. „To prevent asymptomatic infection and transmission, you need what’s called sterilizing immunity,“ Greg Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, explained to USA Today. While it’s possible that one or more of the vaccines could produce sterilizing immunity, it currently remains unproven.
(11.01.2021)
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. In these exceptionally grim times we’re all – Boris Johnson included – looking for a saviour to rise from these streets. And right now that salvation appears to be the England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty. Just about the only person left whom anyone can trust to tell the country the naked truth about coronavirus.
(16.07.2020)
Ms Alfaro added that the outbreak may have been exacerbated by the fishermen’s hardiness and acclimatisation to rough conditions, in that they may have spent significant time in discomfort without recognising or acknowledging symptoms.
The news comes depsite the Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, ruling out immunity passports back in December, a week after suggesting it was something ministers were considering, saying: “We are not looking at immunity passports at all.”
Matt Hancock also denied plans to implement passporting last week, telling the Spectator: „It’s not an area that we’re looking at.“
– Thousands of Britons will be offered vaccine passes in trial starting this month
– Passport will be issued as a free app which show if people have had Covid jab
– Government agency Innovate UK has pumped £75,000 into project so far
– Vaccines tsar Nadhim Zahawi has flip-flopped over controversial policy
Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz called on leaders of center-left parties to unite ahead of Israel’s March 23 election in order to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – his coalition partner over the past year.
Trademark symptoms of seasonal flu could be mistaken for symptoms of Covid-19 if the individual tests positive for the virus, it is claimed.
More than eight in ten people who test positive for coronavirus show none of the main symptoms at the time they are tested, a major study by UCL previously revealed.
However, those who test positive when they have cold symptoms may mistake them as being a part of the virus – adding to fears that it is taking a new guise as fresh strains emerge.
(07.01.2021)
The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security has called for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the FBI to ban those involved in Wednesday’s insurrection that breached the U.S. Capitol building from flying on airplanes.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) issued a statement Thursday urging the agencies to add the „violent perpetrators involved in the domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol“ to the no-fly list.
President-elect says Trump supporters who attacked legislative complex were insurrectionists, not protesters.
However, with Labour saying it will support the measures, the law enforcing them is likely to be approved.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is updating the Commons now, telling MPs – many of whom are participating remotely – that says the vaccine programme provides a „means of escape“ from the current lockdown, with 1.3 million people in UK already vaccinated.
(09 Dec 2020)
Vallance and chief medical officer Chris Whitty were asked if there was something that could be done in the structure in scientific advice that could be a bit more forensic about those restrictions on the sector that have a very big impact on certain people. The scientific advisers said they are trying very hard to get data but can´t give specific data on it, and nor can anyone else across the world.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that Boris Johnson’s tier system is “no longer strong enough” to deal with the new more virulent variant of coronavirus.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party said Sunday that it has agreed to postpone the Tuesday deadline to pass Israel’s 2020 state budget by one week, in a move that could give it more time to negotiate a deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud to avoid what would be a fourth election cycle in two years.
Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz has agreed to curb Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn’s powers, sources said, in bid to stave off election.
In return, Gantz hopes to cement the rotation agreement for the premiership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is upheld.
Defense Minister and Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz met on Saturday with breakaway Likud lawmaker Gideon Sa‘ar, three days before the Knesset is expected to disband.
Trump’s threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) could scramble Congress’s year-end schedule; lawmakers had been hoping to leave town once they pass a forthcoming deal to fund the government and provide year-end coronavirus relief.
But leaders are warning that if Trump vetoes the bill they are prepared to return to Washington to vote on trying to override.
„As I said in a news briefing, Election Day was ‘just another Tuesday on the Internet,’“ he wrote. „Normal sorts of scanning and probing were happening, but we did not see any successful attacks or damaging disruptions.“
Yet hackers were arms deep in a slew of federal agencies. The infiltration, believed to have been conducted by the Russians, appears to have compromised the Departments of Energy, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury and Commerce. His name did not appear in CNN’s story about CISA and the hack published Thursday.
(17.12.2020)
The compromise of multiple US federal networks following the SolarWinds breach was officially confirmed for the first time in a joint statement released earlier today by the FBI, DHS-CISA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
„Over the course of the past several days, the FBI, CISA, and ODNI have become aware of a significant and ongoing cybersecurity campaign,“ the US intelligence agencies said …
Fakhrizadeh’s death potentially complicates a path back to a nuclear deal and follow-up agreements.
The report consisted of interviews with three people with knowledge of the Mossad — journalist Ronen Bergman and agency veterans Victor Ostrovsky and Ram Ben-Barak. Channel 12 noted the report was approved by Israel’s military censor.
Determining whether a vaccine can protect against severe disease and death from COVID-19 may not be possible in phase 3 clinical trials and will often require long-term, ongoing studies after widespread deployment of a vaccine.
To ensure ongoing evaluation of vaccine safety, well-supported pharmacovigilance studies after licensure will be necessary.
Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.”
But no matter the source of the rumors and media reports, progressives are using their growing numbers in Congress to attempt to exert influence over Biden’s cabinet picks and establish that they will not quietly fall in line for nominees who are hostile to their popular policy agenda.
– SAGE admitted early virus modelling based on figures from online encyclopedia
– Committee of scientists advising PM also had no expert on human coronavirus
‚Once you step up to the mark you become a target, which isn’t going to help anyone,‘ one MP told MailOnline.
A former Tory adviser – who is no fan of Mr Cummings – described the events of the past week as ‚unreal‘, saying Ms Symonds had been an ‚absolute nightmare‘ to work with in the past.
Taxi for Cummings: The No 10 lieutenant waited with a box of his belongings on the street after exiting No 10
Dominic Cummings arrived home with bottles of alcohol last night after he was kicked out of Number 10 for good – following a dramatic was confrontation with Boris Johnson who showed him texts allegedly proving he briefed against his fiancee, Carrie Symonds.
In a tense 45-minute meeting, the Prime Minister is said to have ordered his most senior adviser to leave having shown incriminating text messages which had been forwarded to his partner. The explosive claims were denied by No10.
One of President Trump’s signature foreign policy moves was withdrawing from the pact.
According to a press release from the county Tuesday night, about half of the ballots received by mail had been counted by 8 p.m. but the process was going more slowly than anticipated due to mechanical issues with the ballot scanner.
After the high speed scanner had been operating all day, a technician was called into the Election Bureau to allow the scanning to continue until 11:30 p.m. before picking back up again around 8:30 a.m. A second scanner is also expected to be available on Wednesday.
County clerk Cathy M. Garrett declined to give a specific time frame on when we can expect it to be completed.
“Because of how large our county is, I don’t want to be boxed in with that. But just know that we’re not in a competition.“
– Beds have never been less than 85% full for a three-month period since 2010
– Spring this year was the first time, because patients were turfed out for Covid-19
– And occupancy remains below average levels despite second wave, stat shows
– Boris Johnson announced England-wide lockdown after weeks insisting he would stick to his local ‚Tiers‘
– The PM summoned a dramatic press conference Saturday night after details of the U-turn idea were leaked
– Sir Patrick Vallance gave blood-curdling briefing about the situation on Friday before ministers made decision
– More details were then leaked overnight before the wider Cabinet had been gathered, forcing the PM’s hand
Mr Johnson is set to use a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon to say there is ’no alternative‘
– Sir Patrick Vallance presented worst-case scenario in Saturday’s briefing when lockdown was confirmed
– But it has emerged it was based on forecasts made weeks ago and since updated to give lower estimates
– Oxford’s Carl Heneghan said he was ‚concerned‘ at officials‘ choice to use old data which could be misleading
– Tory MPs accused SAGE, of which Vallance is chair, of ‚cherry-picking‘ figures and not giving full picture
– England will be thrust into a second lockdown from Thursday, pending a vote in Parliament on Wednesday
(25.10.2020)
Former vice president Joe Biden, meanwhile, is hosting a virtual “I Will Vote” concert, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), is spending the day in Michigan. Harris participated in a drive-in church service and canvass kickoff event outside Detroit;
For the second successive year, Transparency International ranks Israel in its highest category for enforcement against bribery of foreign officials.
Asked if she had spoken to President Donald Trump about the possibility of a coronavirus stimulus deal, Pelosi said she doesn’t „speak to the President.“ Pressed on why not — given the suffering of people in desperate need of a stimulus deal to keep their business open or pay their bills — Pelosi responded this way: „What makes me amused if it weren’t so sad, is how you all think that you know more about the suffering of the American people than those of us who are elected by them to represent them at that table.“
Uh, OK.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was a ‚great honor‘ to host the high-level summit
The official dashboard said on Saturday that due to a technical issue, which has now been resolved, there was a delay in publishing a number of cases.
This means that the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between September 24 and October 1.
But appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show this morning, Mr Johnson suggested that the issue might have gone deeper and affected crucial efforts to track down contacts of those who tested positive.
‚The reason for that is there was a failure in the testing system… It was a computing issue,‘ he said.
(13.03.2020)
We’ve long known that an Earth day lasts 24 hours, and that remains constant because Earth’s trip around the sun doesn’t vary.
However, the number of days that make an Earth year have shifted and shortened because days have grown longer. That is thanks to the moon’s gravity, which draws on ocean’s tides and slows Earth’s rate of rotation.
The former leaders, both vehement opponents of Brexit, said that respecting treaty obligations was „just as important“ as domestic law, and called for MPs to reject the legislation.
„As the world looks on aghast at the UK – the word of which was once accepted as inviolable – this government’s action is shaming itself and embarrassing our nation,“ they added.
After a career built on incremental progress, Joe Biden is promising a Presidency of transformational change. The election will test whether his campaign can bring together a divided Party and a beleaguered country.
Behind the scenes, some Biden allies have been reaching out through backchannels to friends in the Bush universe to see if an endorsement would ever happen — or if it’s just a pipe dream.
“We tried a little unofficially to see if there was a way to make it happen but we couldn’t get there,” said one Biden ally. “And I do think it would make a difference because we’ve learned every vote counts.”
(22.06.2020)
A new Cato national survey finds that self‐censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds—62%—of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. The share of Americans who self‐censor has risen several points since 2017 when 58% of Americans agreed with this statement.
The original tweet, which was later deleted from the Galey Israel account, read: „My dad is a strong man, he sees what we all see, these aliens at the protests, it’s funny to him, it’s like entertainment.“
Later, Yair Netanyahu attempted to clarify his words in another tweet.
Are you in Spain and worried about having to quarantine on your return and will it have an impact on your job? Contact me: james.robinson@mailonline.co.uk