WHO investigator claims China refused to hand over key Covid information
Australian infection expert, part of a team visiting Wuhan, says they were provided only with a summary of data
There is growing controversy over a World Health Organization investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic after one of its members said China had refused to hand over key data, and the US national security adviser said he had “deep concerns” about the initial findings.
An international delegation travelled to the Chinese city of Wuhan last month, as part of efforts to understand how the outbreak began. Dominic Dwyer, an Australian infectious disease expert who was part of the team, said they had requested raw patient data but were only given a summary.
Dwyer told Reuters on Saturday that sharing anonymised raw data is “standard practice” for an outbreak investigation. He said raw data was particularly important in efforts to understand Covid-19 as only half of 174 initial cases had exposure to the now-shuttered
Far-right Le Pen could win French presidency in 2022, minister warns
Bruno Le Maire says the possibility ‘must be opposed’
Far-right politician Marine Le Pen could win France’s next presidential election, a minister has said.
Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said the possible election of the National Rally leader, known for her xenophobic views, as the country’s president has to be “opposed”.
Ms Le Pen lost to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 election.
Russia: Navalny supporters hold Valentine's Day protests
Protesters across Russia tried a new tactic to show support for the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny without being arrested. People posted photos on social media with the hashtag #LoveIsStrongerThanFear in Russian.
Supporters of the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalnyheld novel candle-lit mini demonstrations in residential courtyards across Russia on Sunday.
On Valentine's Day evening, people stood outside for 15 minutes. They used the flashlight function on their smartphones and arranged candles in the shape of a heart.
Pfizer vaccine gets final OK in Japan, with rollout to begin this week
BY OSAMU TSUKIMORI
STAFF WRITER
A little over a year after the deadly coronavirus started spreading in Japan, the government has approved its first vaccine, kick-starting a massive rollout program for the nation of 126 million people.
Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine got the final OK for emergency use on Sunday from health minister Norihisa Tamura, two days after a government committee gave the shot its seal of approval, paving the way for inoculations to start as early as Wednesday.
Vaccine approvals usually take a year or two, but the government shortened the review period to less than two months, scrapping the requirement for large, third phase clinical trials in Japan amid the mounting toll of the pandemic.
Huge rallies in Myanmar for ninth day as army steps up arrests
Tens of thousands take to streets as the military hunts protest backers and steps up arrests.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Myanmar’s big cities for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations, as the country’s new military rulers rolled back laws protecting freedom and stepped up the arrests of politicians and activists.
Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, on Sunday, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the military overthrew her elected government on February 1.
Tanks on streets of Myanmar city prompt US embassy warning
US warns of ‘military movements’ in Yangon and expects internet to be cut in next 12 hours
The US embassy in Myanmar has warned of “military movements” in the country’s main city, Yangon, and has said it expects the internet to be interrupted over the next 12 hours.
The warning came after the appearance on Sunday of three Tatmadaw armoured vehicles on the streets of the commercial capital and the site of major daily protests against the military’s coup on 1 February.
The expected outages, which have not been confirmed by the Norwegian telecommunications firm that runs the country’s communication grid, have raised fears of a possible crackdown overnight.
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