.Read more at : https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.add5446
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September 9, 2022
Corona vaccine: a vaccine to cover all variants
Our current vaccines don't protect well against the omicron variant of
SARS-CoV-2. But scientists say they have produced an antibody in a mouse
model that could lead to new vaccines that fight all variants
September 8, 2022
BRITAIN: Queen Elisabeth dies at age 96.
Buckingham Palace has announced that Queen Elizabeth II has died.
A statement on the royal website said the 96-year-old monarch died peacefully at Balmoral Castle on Thursday afternoon.
July 23, 2022
Russia-Ukraine war: missile strikes on Odesa threaten grain deal, says Ukraine; US calls Russian attack ‘outrageous’ – live
The US ambassador to Kyiv said Moscow should be held to account for what she said was an “outrageous” Russian strike on the port city of Odesa on Saturday.
Russian missiles hit infrastructure in Odesa a day after Russia and Ukraine, with mediation by the United Nations and Turkey, signed a deal to reopen Black Sea ports and resume grain exports.
Read more at: Russia-Ukraine war: missile strikes on Odesa threaten grain deal, says Ukraine; US calls Russian attack ‘outrageous’ – live
Russian missiles hit infrastructure in Odesa a day after Russia and Ukraine, with mediation by the United Nations and Turkey, signed a deal to reopen Black Sea ports and resume grain exports.
Read more at: Russia-Ukraine war: missile strikes on Odesa threaten grain deal, says Ukraine; US calls Russian attack ‘outrageous’ – live
April 30, 2022
EU Economy: Weak EU growth and Covid-hit China raise prospect of global downturn - by Martin Arnold and Valentina Romei
New data on Friday showed that the Russian invasion is weighing on Europe’s economy, pushing up energy and food prices, worsening supply bottlenecks for manufacturers as well as sapping business and consumer confidence.
The disappointing news came a day after the US announced that its economy suffered an unexpected 0.4 per cent quarterly contraction, while worries about the impact of severe Covid-19 lockdowns in China caused the steepest monthly fall in the renminbi on record.
The Chinese currency has fallen 4.2 per cent this month to about Rmb6.6 per dollar, the biggest drop since the end of its US dollar peg, which was in place from 1994 to 2005. The fall is greater than a one-off devaluation by the Chinese central bank in 2015 that rattled global markets and a tumble in 2018 during the US-China trade war under the Trump administration.
Economists said the combination of weak global growth, soaring commodity prices and a series of expected interest rate rises by western central banks — including an unusually large 0.5 percentage point hike by the US Federal Reserve that could come next week — would spell trouble for the global economy.
“The world is in really bad shape,” said Erik Nielsen, chief economics adviser at UniCredit. “Particularly in Europe, where we have entered stagflation now.” He predicted that the eurozone was heading for a “double whammy” of an economic downturn and rising borrowing costs as the European Central Bank was likely to raise interest rates as early as July.
Read more at: Weak EU growth and Covid-hit China raise prospect of global downturn | Financial Times
The disappointing news came a day after the US announced that its economy suffered an unexpected 0.4 per cent quarterly contraction, while worries about the impact of severe Covid-19 lockdowns in China caused the steepest monthly fall in the renminbi on record.
The Chinese currency has fallen 4.2 per cent this month to about Rmb6.6 per dollar, the biggest drop since the end of its US dollar peg, which was in place from 1994 to 2005. The fall is greater than a one-off devaluation by the Chinese central bank in 2015 that rattled global markets and a tumble in 2018 during the US-China trade war under the Trump administration.
Economists said the combination of weak global growth, soaring commodity prices and a series of expected interest rate rises by western central banks — including an unusually large 0.5 percentage point hike by the US Federal Reserve that could come next week — would spell trouble for the global economy.
“The world is in really bad shape,” said Erik Nielsen, chief economics adviser at UniCredit. “Particularly in Europe, where we have entered stagflation now.” He predicted that the eurozone was heading for a “double whammy” of an economic downturn and rising borrowing costs as the European Central Bank was likely to raise interest rates as early as July.
Read more at: Weak EU growth and Covid-hit China raise prospect of global downturn | Financial Times
March 24, 2022
EU-Turkey Relations: Turkey's Erdogan asks EU to relaunch membership negotiations
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday asked the European Union to relaunch talks for Ankara to eventually become an EU member, on the eve of a summit focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We expect the EU to open quickly the chapters of the membership negotiations and to start negotiations on a customs union without yielding to cynical calculations," Erdogan said after talks with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The Turkish president's comments come as Ankara has emerged as a pivotal player in the war in Ukraine, reviving its place in institutions like Nato after years of tensions with western states.
Last month Turkey invoked the 1936 Montreux Convention to close the Bosporus straight to foreign battleships. It has also sold armed drones to Ukraine and is attempting to mediate an end to the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow.
Read more at: Turkey's Erdogan asks EU to relaunch membership negotiations | Middle East Eye
"We expect the EU to open quickly the chapters of the membership negotiations and to start negotiations on a customs union without yielding to cynical calculations," Erdogan said after talks with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The Turkish president's comments come as Ankara has emerged as a pivotal player in the war in Ukraine, reviving its place in institutions like Nato after years of tensions with western states.
Last month Turkey invoked the 1936 Montreux Convention to close the Bosporus straight to foreign battleships. It has also sold armed drones to Ukraine and is attempting to mediate an end to the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow.
Read more at: Turkey's Erdogan asks EU to relaunch membership negotiations | Middle East Eye
March 23, 2022
Russian Invasion of Ukraine: How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad
VSo who are the enablers of the offshore system? They range from global law firms, like Baker McKenzie, an architect of the modern tax avoidance system, to tiny one-person operators working from Bermuda.
Here is a selection of facilitators, offshore agents and banks that ICIJ has identified as aiding Russia’s elite move and hide money. Facilitators
Firms and individuals who have set up or used opaque financial structures for Russian elites
Alastair Tulloch: Tulloch & Co., run by the British attorney Alastair Tulloch, is situated in a posh district in London, one of the most well-known destinations for elite Russian wealth. ICIJ’s Pandora Papers investigation reported that Tulloch’s firm structured networks of companies for former Russian Deputy Finance Minister Andrey Vavilov; Alexander Mamut, a billionaire oligarch and political insider; and Vitaly Zhogin, a banker wanted in Russia for alleged fraud. Tulloch used offshore services provider Trident Trust to arrange for their assets to be transferred to shell companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and the Bahamas. Tulloch did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more at: How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad - ICIJ
Here is a selection of facilitators, offshore agents and banks that ICIJ has identified as aiding Russia’s elite move and hide money. Facilitators
Firms and individuals who have set up or used opaque financial structures for Russian elites
Alastair Tulloch: Tulloch & Co., run by the British attorney Alastair Tulloch, is situated in a posh district in London, one of the most well-known destinations for elite Russian wealth. ICIJ’s Pandora Papers investigation reported that Tulloch’s firm structured networks of companies for former Russian Deputy Finance Minister Andrey Vavilov; Alexander Mamut, a billionaire oligarch and political insider; and Vitaly Zhogin, a banker wanted in Russia for alleged fraud. Tulloch used offshore services provider Trident Trust to arrange for their assets to be transferred to shell companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and the Bahamas. Tulloch did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more at: How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad - ICIJ
March 22, 2022
Ukraine war: Time to shift strategies: We must do more to aid Ukraine - "give terrorist Putin an ultimatum to declare cease-fire or else"
War is dynamic, a contest of wills between warring parties, each of which is fighting to achieve its political objectives and thwart its enemy. War reveals vulnerabilities not apparent when it begins, and opportunities absent at the start. Momentum shifts. Strategies should shift accordingly. This is where we are with the war in Ukraine today.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin started his illegal war to conquer and subjugate Ukraine, in his mind, Russia would quickly defeat the Ukrainian military and, thereby, the nation’s will to fight. That didn’t happen. Ukraine resisted, showing weaknesses in the Russian military machine. And global sanctions reduced Russia’s ability to fund the war. The result: stalemate. Russia has lost tactical momentum. Now Ukraine must seize it.
Two opportunities emerged. The stalemate allowed Ukraine to go on the offensive — local counterattacks and maybe a more general counter-offensive. And it provided an opportunity for the Allies to shift strategy.
Read more at: https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/598908-time-to-shift-strategies-we-must-do-more-to-aid-ukraine
When Russian President Vladimir Putin started his illegal war to conquer and subjugate Ukraine, in his mind, Russia would quickly defeat the Ukrainian military and, thereby, the nation’s will to fight. That didn’t happen. Ukraine resisted, showing weaknesses in the Russian military machine. And global sanctions reduced Russia’s ability to fund the war. The result: stalemate. Russia has lost tactical momentum. Now Ukraine must seize it.
Two opportunities emerged. The stalemate allowed Ukraine to go on the offensive — local counterattacks and maybe a more general counter-offensive. And it provided an opportunity for the Allies to shift strategy.
Read more at: https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/598908-time-to-shift-strategies-we-must-do-more-to-aid-ukraine
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