Six In The Morning Monday 9 November 2020

 

Pfizer says early analysis shows its Covid-19 vaccine is 90% effective

By Nadia Kounang, CNN

Updated 1449 GMT (2249 HKT) November 9, 2020

Drugmaker Pfizer said Monday an early look at data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective -- a much better than expected efficacy if the trend continues.

The so-called interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who got either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo. It found that fewer than 10% of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine. More than 90% of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo.

ICC Uighur genocide complaint backed by parliamentarians around world

‘Chance should not be squandered’ to bring Chinese government to justice, letter states

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic Editor

Mon 9 Nov 2020 12.08 GMT

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has been urged by an international alliance of parliamentarians to accept a complaint alleging genocide by China against its Uighur Muslim minority.

The complaint, backed by more than 60 parliamentarians from 16 countries, says the Chinese government may be committing crimes amounting to genocide and other crimes against humanity against the Uighur and other Turkic peoples.

The People’s Republic of China is not a signatory to the ICC, but the claim says the court has previously ruled that crimes started on the territory of an ICC state party fall within its jurisdiction. This precedent was established in a case involving crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2019.

‘There are no winners’: Armenia’s president lays out what’s at stake in conflict with Azerbaijan

As Azerbaijan continues its push into the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armen Sarkissian says emotions – and Turkey – are driving the region to a dark place

Oliver Carroll

In Moscow

@olliecarroll

Six weeks of fierce battles over Nagorno-Karabakh are entering an endgame. With Azerbaijani troops closing in on a strategic supply road linking the breakaway region with its backers in Armenia – and the rest of the world otherwise engaged – little would now appear to stand in the way of a final, bloody reckoning. Approximately 100,000 ethnic Armenians are thought to remain in the enclave, with many set to stay to the bitter end.

Armenians back in the mainland have descended into anger and despair, with a stunned political leadership leading the way. But one notable exception is the country’s president, Armen Sarkissian. A former physicist and computer scientist who spent much of his life in the UK, Mr Sarkissian is known locally as the “British queen”. Part of that is down to his largely ceremonial duties, but another part is down to his unusually phlegmatic demeanour.  

As Georgia vote count drags on, tense standoff highlights America's deep divide

Joe Biden, the US president-elect, has called for unity between Americans following four uniquely turbulent years under President Donald Trump and a deeply divisive election campaign.

The Republican incumbent has refused to concede and has accused his Democratic challenger, without evidence, of "stealing" the vote in key battleground states, like Georgia, where a recount is underway.

Sailors stranded on board for five months due to China-Australia dispute

By Eryk Bagshaw

November 9, 2020

Two dozen Indian sailors caught in the middle of the trade dispute between China and Australia have been stranded at a Chinese port for five months with 170,000 tonnes of Australian coal.

Family members of the 23 sailors say they have become increasingly desperate as medications and supplies on board dwindle. Chinese authorities have blocked the ship's application to dock and unload the coal from Gladstone Port in central Queensland.

Marine traffic shipping data shows the 290 metre long vessel Jag Anand has not moved from its position in Jingtang Port in northern China since June 13 after leaving Gladstone on May 24.

If The ACA Is Struck Down, Millions Of Lives Will Be At Risk — Including Mine

“I am living proof of how bad it was before the Affordable Care Act. The fact that I am still alive and survived until it was passed is because I was lucky.”

Meenakshi Bewtra, M.D., M.P.H., Ph. D

In 1998, I graduated college, qualified for the New York City Marathon and was starting an M.D.-Ph.D program at the University of Pennsylvania. I should have been at the top of my game, but I felt terrible. I had abdominal pain that woke me up at night and was going to the bathroom nearly every hour, sometimes urinating what looked like pure blood. I had never been sick in this way before and I was too afraid to tell anyone how I felt.

During the first week of medical school, I nearly passed out while walking up a flight of stairs. Doctors at Penn acted swiftly and within weeks, I had a diagnosis: inflammatory bowel disease. I started treatment but a few months later, the medications stopped working. I also kept this to myself, determined to just get through my classes. But by winter, I was making 20-odd trips to the bathroom every day, and I could barely handle that.