Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Six In The Morning Tuesday 8 December 2020

 

Safety data on Pfizer jab released by US


By Rachel Schraer
Health reporter

US regulators have confirmed the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine is 95% effective, paving the way for it to be approved for emergency use.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found no safety concerns to stop approval of the vaccine.

It is the first time this level of detail for the jab, which the UK has already started using for mass vaccination, has been published.

The FDA will meet on Thursday to make a formal decision.


Dueling events will starkly contrast Biden's and Trump's approaches to pandemic


Updated 1515 GMT (2315 HKT) December 8, 2020


President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday will introduce the scientists and doctors he says will finally defeat the pandemic -- but for now, his team can only watch as a wave of infection and death deepens the crisis he will face after January 20.

As Biden will give his most significant preview yet of his plan to tackle the worst health challenge in 100 years, President Donald Trump -- whose dereliction of duty has contributed to the alarming winter surge -- will hold his own pandemic event. He will pitch for credit for the swift development of Covid-19 vaccines and sign an executive order prioritizing their supply for Americans.


Christchurch shooting: security agencies were focused on Islamist terror, inquiry finds

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern apologises for police and security failings but says they would not have stopped the attack

New Zealand’s security agencies were “almost exclusively” focused on the threat from Islamist terrorism at the time of the 2019 Christchurch shooting, in which a gunman shot dead 51 Muslim worshippers, an inquiry into the country’s worst peacetime massacre has found.

The landmark Christchurch royal commission report, which was released on Tuesday after 20 months of consultation, also revealed police failed to enforce proper checks on firearm licences.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, apologised for the failings but noted: “The commission made no findings that these issues would have stopped the attack.”


Fifth mysterious monolith discovered in the Netherlands

‘It was just as if it was placed from above,’ finder says

Andy Gregory

Yet another metal monolith has been discovered – this time in a Dutch nature reserve, overlooking an icy puddle.

The structures have stolen headlines around the world since one was first discovered in the Utah desert by state officials as they counted sheep from a helicopter.

While the initial statue was removed by “an unknown party” just days later on 28 November, apparent copycats then appeared on a Californian mountaintop, and a hillside in Romania.


India: Farmers launch nationwide strike over new laws

Farmer unions in India have called for a general strike over new agricultural laws that are aimed at liberalizing the industry. The nationwide shutdown comes a day before talks with the government.

Indian farmers called for a one-day nationwide strike on Tuesday after days of blockading New Delhi in a bid to force the government to repeal its new market-friendly farm laws.

Tuesday's strike, called Bharat Bandh, saw tens of thousands of farmers blocking key roads and rail lines across the country, affecting transport services and offices.

Warnings intensify as badly needed aid still not reaching Tigray

Humanitarians describe situation in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region as ‘increasingly critical’, renew calls for access to deliver food and other aid.

Humanitarian agencies have reiterated urgent calls for immediate access to Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, warning of an “increasingly critical” situation more than a week after the United Nations announced a deal with the Ethiopian government to allow in desperately needed food and other aid.

Following months of rising tensions, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on November 4 ordered a ground and air offensive into the northern region in response to alleged attacks by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces on federal military camps there.












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