Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Usefulness of aducanumab is disputed but US approval will trigger push to make it available globally
A controversial new drug for Alzheimer’s disease, the first in nearly 20 years, was approved in the US on Monday, which will trigger pressure to make it available worldwide in spite of mixed evidence over its efficacy.
While doctors, patients and the organisations that support them are desperate for treatments that can slow mental deterioration, the usefulness of the new drug, aducanumab, is disputed by scientists. Two trials were stopped in March 2019 because the drugs appeared not to work. The manufacturer, Biogen, said the drugs were unlikely to improve people’s memory and thinking.
The US will donate 750,000 vaccine doses to Taiwan, a cross-party delegation of US senators said as they arrived in the country.
AFP report that the high-profile delegation and gift come as Taiwan accuses China of hampering its efforts to secure enough doses as part of Beijing’s ongoing campaign to keep the island isolated.
Morocco will reopen its airports to international traffic starting from 15 June to help the return of its nationals living abroad, the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Foreign nationals will also be allowed into the country if they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or had a negative PCR test.
The new Delta variant of coronavirus appears to be about 40% more transmissible than the variant it has largely replaced, Matt Hancock has said, making government decisions about whether to ease restrictions in England on 21 June “more difficult”.
Saying that under-30s in England will be called to begin vaccinations from next week, the health secretary confirmed it was still possible the reopening programme could be delayed or some rules kept in place.
In the summer of 1981, public health professionals faced a terrifying crisis. Their work helped shape victories against the current pandemic – but some fear hard-won ground is lost
As Anthony Fauci marks 40 years since HIV emerged, he regrets how the extraordinary disruptions that Covid-19 have wreaked upon society have hampered efforts to tackle the major pandemic that preceded it.
Call for ‘solidarity’ in Covid fight as Boris Johnson calls on world leaders to help vaccinate global population by end of 2022
Progress on climate change could be scuppered by developing nations if they are not given equitable access to vaccines, Boris Johnson has been warned, as rich nations come under new pressure to donate more doses.
Figures compiled by the Observer show that the wealthiest nations, including the UK, have enough vaccines to inoculate their populations more than twice over.
International trials of olaparib were stopped early as benefits of ‘groundbreaking’ drug became clear
Women with hereditary breast cancer, triggered by the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, stand a better chance of survival following successful trials of a drug that cuts the likelihood of the cancer returning after treatment.
A major trial carried out by academic researchers to see whether olaparib can prevent recurrence was stopped early – after two-and-a-half years instead of the planned 10 years – when the benefits of the drug became clear.
Ministers have moved to tighten Britain’s borders as new data suggests the Delta coronavirus variant is much more likely to cause serious illness and is circulating more rapidly within schools.
With England’s reopening on 21 June hanging in the balance, the government removed Portugal from the green list of countries and added seven more countries to the red list – moves that provoked fury within the travel industry and left many holidaymakers in limbo.
On Wednesday Boris Johnson said he saw nothing in the current data to stop the planned lifting of Covid restrictions in England on 21 June. But he said questions remained over how much protection the current vaccines offered against the Delta variant, B.1.617.2.
Man, 41, in Jiangsu, diagnosed on 28 May but risk of avian virus spread is low, says state health agency
A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, although health officials in China said the risk of large-scale spread remained low.
The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, went to hospital on 28 April after developing a fever and other symptoms, China’s national health commission said.
If Dominic Cummings is to be believed, Boris Johnson was so sceptical that Covid-19 was a threat early last year that he was willing to inject himself with the virus that causes the disease on television. But there are actual volunteers – young and healthy people – who elected to be infected with the virus, all in the name of science.
These volunteers lined up to participate in “human challenge trials”, which have long been successfully employed to develop vaccines for diseases from typhoid to cholera.
Anti-vaccine protest in London descends into clashes between protesters and police.
Boris Johnson and the UK government are too busy “covering their own backs” to properly counter the threat posed by the Indian coronavirus variant, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed.
Following Dominic Cummings’ explosive evidence about the prime minister’s handling of the pandemic, Sir Keir said “mistakes are being repeated” as the government considers whether to further ease restrictions.
Vietnam has discovered a new Covid-19 variant which spreads quickly by air and is a combination of variants first identified in India and the UK, state media has reported.
The country is struggling to deal with fresh outbreaks across more than half of its territory including industrial zones and big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccine deployment minister, is responding to a Commons urgent question.
He says average Covid deaths are now down to nine per day.
The conclusions of the report (pdf) into Islamophobia in the Conservative party as set out in the document itself (pages 59 to 61) are much stronger, and more interesting, than the conclusions as set out in the press notice from the inquiry. (See 10.50am.) Here are the key points.
Judging by the extent of complaints and findings of misconduct by the Party itself that relate to anti-Muslim words and conduct, anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem within the party. This is damaging to the party, and alienates a significant section of society.
The Conservative and Unionist party of the United Kingdom has faced sustained allegations of discriminatory behaviours and practices against minority groups, with Islamophobia being the most prominent and damaging allegation in recent years. The perception that the party has a ‘Muslim problem’ is widespread, with numerous instances of party members and elected officials alleged to have behaved in a discriminatory manner.
We discovered some examples of discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiment, most of which were at local association level. We did not, however, find evidence of a party which systematically discriminated against any particular group as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or one in which the structure of the party itself disadvantaged any group, on a direct or indirect discriminatory basis.
While the party leadership claims a ‘zero tolerance approach’ to all forms of discrimination, our findings show that discriminatory behaviours occur, especially in relation to people of Islamic faith. The data collection of such incidents is weak and difficult to analyse, hampering early identification of problems and effective remedial action. The party needs to be explicit and specific about what ‘zero tolerance’ means in the context discrimination, both in policy and practice.
There are shortcomings in the codes of conduct, too, which are not adequate given the twenty-first century social media landscape and 24-hour rolling news cycle. As we have suggested, these should be strengthened and merged into a single code of conduct.
The Investigation recommends that all major political parties consider, in discussion with the EHRC, the creation of a cross-party, non-partisan, and independent mechanism for handling complaints of discrimination against their parties or party members on the basis of Protected Characteristics. This could be similar to the current Parliamentary Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme for Sexual Misconduct.
The investigation has chosen not to recommend or endorse any particular form of equality or diversity training. Our brief perusal of published literature confirms that few, if any, of the suggested training models have been proven to show any sustained change in behaviours or attitudes, while there is some evidence of potentially adverse consequences such as promoting divisions, fostering a ‘shame and blame’ culture and the training being perceived as patronising and infantilising. In healthcare, where cultural diversity training has been extensively used to reduce health inequalities, evidence for its effectiveness is lacking.
Confusion is reigning after airlines swiftly increased the number of planes travelling to “amber list” holiday destinations from the UK, before the prime minister contradicted ministers over whether trips to such places were permitted. They are not, in fact, allowed, Boris Johnson said.
But if we always believed what the PM said, well, we would be rather foolish. The ins and outs of the guidance are quite nuanced.
A coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff, a mountaineering guide said, giving the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials that the disease has spread to the world’s highest peak.
Lukas Furtenbach of Austria, who last week halted his Everest expedition due to virus fears, said one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides had tested positive.
I think with all the confirmed cases we know now confirmed from (rescue) pilots, from insurance, from doctors, from expedition leaders, I have the positive tests so we can prove this … We have at least 100 people minimum positive for Covid in base camp, and then the numbers might be something like 150 or 200.”
Australia has now administered more than 3.5m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, with a further 89,000 jabs delivered around the country.
New South Wales delivered 12,485 doses in the past 24 hours, becoming another one-day record for the state. Around 5000 of them were administered at its Olympic Park mass vaccination hub alone, AAP reports.
Malaysia has reported a further 6,320 coronavirus cases amid a recent surge in infections, as well as 50 new deaths. Saturday’s figures compare with 4,140 cases and 44 deaths a week today.
The nation reported a record high of 6,806 new cases on Thursday when it also saw its highest daily toll of 59 deaths. Taking the total number of cases since the onset of the pandemic to 505,115, Reuters reports.
Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs are highly effective at protecting people from the strain of the Covid-19 virus first found in India, a study by Public Health England (PHE) has found.
The analysis, carried out between 5 April and 16 May, found the Pfizer vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the India variant two weeks after a second dose, compared with 93% effectiveness against the Kent strain. For its part, the AstraZeneca jab was 60% effective, compared with 66% against the Kent variant over the same period.
Australian and international scientists publish open letter defending Dr Elisabeth Bik and calling for science whistleblowers to be protected
A world-renowned Dutch expert in identifying scientific misconduct and error, Dr Elisabeth Bik, has been threatened with legal action for questioning the integrity of a study promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.
The case, filed with the French state prosecutor by controversial infectious diseases physician Dr Didier Raoult, has prompted hundreds of scientists from across the world to publish an open letter calling for science whistleblowers to be protected.
Pressure growing for UK and others to follow Biden’s lead at WTO to avoid ‘moral and public health failure’
The UK government is in talks about a plan to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents to boost the production of shots in low and middle-income countries, the Guardian can reveal.
The discussions come amid growing calls for Britain and other European countries to follow the US in supporting the proposal put before the World Trade Organization (WTO).
UK study of 25,000 people finds even moderate drinking is linked to lower grey matter density
There is no safe amount of alcohol consumption for the brain, with even “moderate” drinking adversely affecting nearly every part of it, a study of more than 25,000 people in the UK has found.
The study, which is still to be peer-reviewed, suggests that the more alcohol consumed, the lower the brain volume. In effect, the more you drink, the worse off your brain.