Bangladesh expects to receive its first batch of coronavirus vaccines by February which people will receive free of charge, the health secretary said. The South Asian country of more than 160 million last month signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India to buy 30 million doses of the vaccine developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca. "We expect to get the vaccine as early as February and people will get it for free," health secretary Abdul Mannan said. Frontline workers like health service providers and police will be given priority. AstraZeneca's candidate is viewed as offering one of the best hopes for many developing countries because of its cheaper price and ability to be transported at normal fridge temperatures. Some experts, however, raised questions around its trial data. Bangladesh will also get 68 million doses of vaccine from the GAVI vaccine alliance, Mannan said, referring to a global health partnership set up in 2000 to increase access to immunisation in poor countries.
Israel set for fourth election in 2 years
Israel took a step toward plunging into its fourth national election in under two years as lawmakers - supported by PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s main coalition partner - passed a preliminary proposal to dissolve parliament. The 61-54 vote came seven months after the coalition took office. But since then, the alliance between Netanyahu’s Likud Party and defence minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White has been locked in infighting. The vote gave preliminary approval to ending the alliance and forcing new polls next year. It must now go through the Legislative Committee and pass three more readings before new elections can be called. “The dissolution of the Knesset is not a victory, it’s the first step toward a different government, which will deal with the coronavirus and the economy and won’t cause Israelis to hate each other,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who proposed the measure, tweeted after the bill was passed.
Ivanka quizzed over misuse of funds
Ivanka Trump, the US president’s daughter and adviser, was questioned this week as part of a civil lawsuit alleging misuse of nonprofit funds for Donald Trump’s inauguration four years ago. District of Columbia attorney general Karl Racine’s office disclosed in a court filing that the deposition had taken place that day. In a January 2020 lawsuit, Racine claimed Donald Trump’s real estate business and other entities misused nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family. According to the suit, a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation called the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Racine’s lawsuit alleged that in one case, the nonprofit paid more than $300,000 to hold a private reception at the Trump hotel for the president’s three oldest children on the inauguration evening of January 20, 2017. “District law requires nonprofits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies,” Racine said.
US court scraps Trump’s tough H-1B visa rules
A US district court has set aside the two recently introduced rules that stifled hiring of H-1B workers, by significantly hiking wages and restricting eligibility norms. The ruling is important from the point of view of Indians already in the US, whose H-1B applications would come up for renewal and also those aspiring to take up employment in the US. These rules were promulgated on a fast-track basis and introduced as interim final rules in early October, without the normal procedure of inviting public comments and vetting the same - a process that can take several months. Judge Jeffrey S White of the US district court (Northern District of California), in his order dated December 1, held that the Trump administration had failed to show there was good cause to dispense with the rational and thoughtful discourse that is provided by the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice and comment requirements.
Trump's attorney Giuliani tests positive for Covid
Rudy Giuliani, who has led US President Donald Trump's legal challenges to try to overcome the outcome of the presidential elections, has tested positive for Covid-19, informed Trump. Giuliani is the latest member of Trump's inner circle to contract the virus. Giuliani's diagnosis comes roughly two weeks after son, Andrew, works in the White House, tested positive for coronavirus. He also held a lengthy, indoor, mask-less press conference in late November with, among others, Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, who tested positive for the virus shortly after. The former New York City mayor is 76, putting him at a higher risk for serious complications from the virus.
Singapore okays sale of lab-created meat
Eat Just Inc, a maker of meat and egg substitutes, has been approved to sell its laboratory-created chicken in Singapore, which becomes the first government to allow the sale of cultured meat. The product, created from animal cells without the slaughter of any chickens, will debut in Singapore under the Good Meat brand as nuggets with seasoning in a single restaurant. Eat Just is initially working with local manufacturer the Food Innovation and Resource Centre to make the cultured chicken. Additionally, the firm is buying more equipment to expand sales to other restaurants and eventually grocery stores. “We want Singapore to be the focus of our manufacturing globally,” CEO Josh Tetrick said. Singapore is moving to allow the sale of alternative proteins like cultured meat, a move that fits into its broader food-security agenda
Saudi Arabia denies role in assassination of Iranian scientist
Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir denied any role of his country in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. He responded through his Twitter account to the allegation by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claiming that the murder of the scientist was a Saudi Arabia-US-Israel plot. It is not the policy of Saudi Arabia to engage in assassinations, al-Jubeir said. Fakhrizadeh was assassinated last week near the Iranian capital Tehran by "armed terrorists," Iranian Ministry of Defense said. In early 2016, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Iran after the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked by the Iranians protesting against the Saudi execution of 47 individuals on terrorism charges, including Saudi Shiite cleric Namir al-Namir.
Kim, N Korean officials given Chinese vaccine
China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jongun and his family with an experimental coronavirus vaccine, a US analyst said, citing two unidentified Japanese intelligence sources. Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest think tank in Washington, said, “Kim Jong-un and multiple other top officials within the Kim family and leadership network have been vaccinated for coronavirus within the last two to three weeks thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government.” Citing US medical scientist Peter J Hotez, he said at least three Chinese companies were developing a coronavirus vaccine, including Sinovac Biotech Ltd, CanSinoBio and China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon detained
Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai has been charged with fraud and detained until a court hearing in April next year. A court denied him bail over a charge relating to the illegal use of his company's premises. It comes a day after three prominent pro-democracy activists were jailed. The cases have raised fears of a renewed crackdown on the city's activists and media figures, spurred by a controversial new security law. Lai was arrested under the National Security Law earlier this year and later released on bail. China has said the new law will return stability to the territory after a year of unrest, but critics say it has silenced dissent.
Many French mosques face closure
France’s embattled interior minister announced raids on dozens of mosques suspected of Islamist extremism following Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to fight “separatism” in the wake of terror attacks.
Gérald Darmanin said 76 mosques out of the more than 2,600 Muslim places of worship had been flagged as possible threats to French Republican values and its security. Any mosque found to be fomenting extremism would be closed down, he added. Eighteen of the 76 are in the Paris area and 18 face imminent closure, according to reports. "There are in some concentrated areas places of worship which are clearly anti-Republican (where) imams are followed by the intelligence services and where the discourse runs counter to our values,” Darminin said. Investigators will probe the mosques' funding and the background of imams deemed suspicious.
Indonesia gets Covid vaccine from China
Indonesia received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China, President Joko Widodo said, as the government prepares a mass inoculation programme. Jokowi, as the president is widely known, said in an online briefing that the Southeast Asian country received 1.2 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a vaccine Indonesia has been testing since August. He added that the government plans to receive another 1.8 million doses in early January. Late-stage trials of the Sinovac vaccine are also under way in Brazil and Turkey, with interim results on efficiency from Brazil expected by mid-December. Indonesia is also expected this month to receive shipments of raw materials to produce 15 million doses and materials for 30 million doses next month, the president said.
Wearing of masks must in Netherlands
A law mandating the use of face masks went into effect in the Netherlands last week. With the country in a “partial lockdown” since October 13, authorities are expected to release weekly figures that will show new Covid infections are about flat from the 36,931cases reported for the week ended November 24. A requirement that masks be worn in public buildings will be imposed for an initial three months. Violators can be fined up to €95. From March through September, the government dad not recommend pubic use of cloth masks other than on public transport. It changed tack on September 30.
Hackers targeting vaccine distribution ops
IBM security researchers say they have detected a cyberespionage effort using targeted phishing emails to try to collect vital information on the WHO’s initiative for distributing Covid-19 vaccine to developing nations. The researchers said they could not be sure who was behind the campaign, which began in September, or if it was successful. But the precision targeting and careful efforts to leave no tracks bore “the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft”, they said in a blog post. The campaign’s targets, in countries including Germany, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan, are likely associated with the development of the “cold chain” needed to ensure coronavirus vaccines get the nonstop sterile refrigeration they need to be effective for the nearly 3 billion people who live where temperature-controlled storage is insufficient, IBM said. “Think of it as the bloodline that will be supplying the most vital vaccines globally,” said Claire Zaboeva, an IBM analyst involved in the detection.
Anti-aging treatment helps restore vision in mice
Scientists said they have restored sight in mice using a “milestone" treatment that returns cells to a more youthful state and could one day help treat glaucoma. “I’m excited about being able to rejuvenate organs and tissues that fail due to aging and disease,” said senior author of the study David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. “We hope to treat glaucoma in human patients (at the trial stage) in two years.” The treatment is based on the properties that cells have when the body is developing as an embryo. At that time, cells can repair and regenerate themselves, but that capacity declines rapidly with age. The scientists reasoned that if cells could be induced to return to that youthful state, they would be able to repair damage. To turn back the clock, experts modified a process usually used to create the “blank slate” cells known as induced pluripotent stem cells. Those cells are created by injecting a cocktail of four proteins that help reprogramme a cell.
