finance
NewsReutersCanada asks court to throw out expert affidavit in Huawei CFO's U.S. extradition case
Canadian prosecutors will ask a court to disregard a former U.S. government lawyer's affidavit submitted by Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's legal team in her U.S. extradition case, arguing it is "irrelevant" and "unnecessary," documents released on Wednesday showed. The affidavit was submitted in July in which Michael Gottlieb, who was a White House lawyer under President Barack Obama, testified that U.S. President Donald Trump had departed from longstanding legal policies designed to promote the "impartial administration of justice," with his comments that he was willing to use Meng as a bargaining chip in trade talks with China. Meng's lawyers have argued that the extradition should be thrown out in part because the case against her in the United States is tainted by political interference, pointing to comments from Trump about her extradition.
NewsAFP NewsGiscard d'Estaing: France's modernising president
Former president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who has died aged 94, brought a wind of change to French politics during his seven-year mandate, breaking with the conservatism that dominated after World War II.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Republicans balk as Trump uses defense bill for leverage on Big Tech
President Donald Trump's threat to veto a defense bill if it does not repeal legal protections for social media companies faced stiff bipartisan opposition on Wednesday, setting the stage for a confrontation with lawmakers scrambling to pass the massive bill by year-end. Unusually, members of Trump's Republican Party broke from the president to join Democrats in objecting to his threat to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a $740 billion annual bill setting policy for the Pentagon, if it does not include a measure eliminating a federal law - known as Section 230 - protecting tech companies such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc. Lawmakers announced on Wednesday that congressional negotiators had completed the conference report on the fiscal year 2021 NDAA, a compromise between separate versions of the bill passed earlier this year by the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-majority House of Representatives.
BusinessReutersAppeals court schedules Dec. 14 hearing on blocked U.S. TikTok new user ban
A federal appeals court said on Wednesday it will hear oral arguments on Dec. 14 on the government's appeal of an order that blocked a ban on Apple Inc and Alphabet’s Google offering TikTok for download in U.S. app stores. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington on Sept. 27 blocked the Commerce Department order hours before it was to prohibit new downloads of the Chinese-owned short video-sharing app. The appeals panel consists of Judge Judith Rogers, Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins.
PoliticsReutersThe Biden Cabinet: President-elect begins to build a team
Biden nominated senior members of his economic policy team on Monday, led by former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary. The former Fed chair deepened the central bank's focus on workers and inequality, and has remained active in policy debates at the Brookings Institution think tank since Republican President Donald Trump replaced her as head of the central bank in 2018. Tanden, president of the progressive Center for American Progress think tank, helped the Obama administration create the Affordable Care Act, the sweeping healthcare overhaul that was one of Democratic President Barack Obama's central accomplishments and whose demolition became a goal for Republicans.
NewsReutersUK PM Johnson says some months until all vulnerable get COVID jabs
British Prime Minister said on Wednesday it would be some months before all the most vulnerable people received COVID-19 vaccines with England's health service boss saying the bulk of the jabs would be given between January and April. "It will inevitably take some months before all the most vulnerable are protected," Johnson told a media conference after Britain approved the first COVID vaccine tested in wide-scale clinical trials. Simon Stevens, the chief executive of England's health service, said the first vaccinations would begin this month.
NewsReutersJohnson says some months until all vulnerable get COVID jabs
British Prime Minister said on Wednesday it would be some months before all the most vulnerable people received COVID-19 vaccines with England's health service boss saying the bulk of the jabs would be given between January and April. "It will inevitably take some months before all the most vulnerable are protected," Johnson told a media conference after Britain approved the first COVID vaccine tested in wide-scale clinical trials. Simon Stevens, the chief executive of England's health service, said the first vaccinations would begin this month.
NewsReutersCVS pilots giving Eli Lilly's COVID-19 antibody drug at patient's home
A unit of CVS will start giving a total of 1,000 doses of the intravenous therapy, similar to the treatment given to U.S. President Donald Trump when he had COVID-19, from Thursday in seven cities over three months. Initial supply of the drug, which has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, will go to patients at risk of severe infections but who are not hospitalized, with no out-of-pocket cost. The U.S. government has the option to extend the pilot to another 1,000 doses for another three months.
NewsReutersBrazil to prioritize elderly, indigenous and health workers for COVID-19 vaccine
Indigenous people, health workers and those aged 75 years and older will be at the front of the line to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Brazil's Health Ministry said on Tuesday as it unveiled a four-stage preliminary plan for national immunization. The final stage, before making a vaccine available to the wider population, would include teachers, security personnel and first responders, along with prison staff and inmates, the Health Ministry said. The four stages would cover 109.5 million people out Brazil's total population of 212 million.
BusinessReutersModerna CEO expects emergency use nod for COVID-19 vaccine shortly after FDA's Dec. 17 meet
The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to hold the meeting on Dec. 17 to discuss the company's request for emergency use authorization for its vaccine. Moderna currently has millions of doses of vaccines that can be shipped as soon as its request is granted, Bancel said, while speaking at the Piper Sandler healthcare conference.
NewsReutersPortugal can get Pfizer COVID-19 shots within 3 days of EU approval, company says
Pfizer's Portuguese unit said on Wednesday the pharmaceutical company would be able to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine in the Iberian country three days after the European Union's medicines agency (EMA) has given it the green light. "Once approved and once we know (...) where the vaccines should be delivered, we will get the vaccines to those places in a maximum of three days," Susana Marques, medical director at Pfizer Portugal, told RTP Television.
NewsReutersBritain will stand by Brexit deal-breaking bill
Britain stands by clauses in legislation the government has admitted breach a divorce deal with the European Union, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday, repeating they were necessary to provide a legal safety net. The Internal Market Bill, which the government says is necessary to provide for unfettered trade between the four nations of the United Kingdom next year, is expected to return to parliament next week. The mood of trade talks could sour further if the government presses on with the controversial clauses.
NewsReutersBrexit Britain just approved a European vaccine, German health minister says
Celebrating Britain's swift approval of BioNtech and Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine as a benefit of Brexit is misplaced since the vaccine was itself a product of the European Union that Britain has left, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. Some hailed Britain's success in being first to approve the vaccine, developed by Pfizer with German biotechnology start-up BioNtech, as a pay-off from leaving the EU's regulatory orbit.
NewsReutersPfizer-BioNTech seeks full marketing approval from UK for COVID-19 vaccine
Pfizer is seeking full marketing authorisation from Britain for its COVID-19 vaccine, an executive said on Wednesday as the U.S. drugmaker gears up to deliver by the weekend the first shots following approval for emergency use in the country. The application for full approval is "in parallel" with emergency use approval (EUA), said Berkeley Phillips, medical director of Pfizer UK, in a briefing. He said regulators will review the same data provided for the emergency use by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech for the full approval.
NewsReutersUK says first batch of 800,000 vaccine doses have been tested
Britain has tested the first batch of 800,000 doses of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, health minister Matt Hancock said on Wednesday. "Batch testing has been completed this morning for the first deployment of 800,000 doses of the vaccine," Hancock told parliament.
BusinessReutersUber, JetBlue join Amazon-backed Climate Pledge
Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos last year pledged to make the largest U.S. e-commerce company net carbon neutral by 2040, as employees and consumers around the world protested for broader moves to address climate change. Environmental activists welcomed that move but said that cutting all emissions related to Amazon, which delivers 10 billion items a year and has a massive transportation and data center footprint, was a huge challenge. "The transportation sector plays a critical role in accelerating our carbon reduction goals," Bezos said in a statement on Wednesday.
HealthReutersCDC chief warns Americans face 'rough' winter from COVID-19 surge
The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Wednesday the COVID-19 pandemic, still raging with unprecedented fury nationwide, will pose the country's grimmest health crisis yet over the next few months, before vaccines become widely available. CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield urged stricter adherence to safety precautions such as wearing face coverings, social distancing and good hand hygiene to slow the spread of a highly contagious respiratory virus now claiming well over 2,000 U.S. lives a day. The sober message from one of the nation's top health officers followed Thanksgiving holiday observances in which millions of Americans disregarded warnings to avoid travel and large gatherings even as COVID infections and hospitalizations surged largely unchecked.
NewsReutersBioNTech-Pfizer vaccine will be sent by plane or ferry to UK - executive
BioNTech will send the COVID-19 vaccine it has developed with Pfizer in temperature-controlled boxes to Britain by ferry or plane, a senior executive said on Wednesday, as it prepares to deliver the shots in the next few days. Chief business and chief commercial officer of the German biotech Sean Marett made the comments in a briefing after Britain approved the vaccine, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe to become the first Western country to formally endorse a jab. The companies are continuing to assess the stability of the vaccine during transportation, and expect more data on storage of the shots at minus 20 degrees Celsius and in normal fridge temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees, he said.
EntertainmentReutersDon't get hopes up too soon for swift vaccine roll out, says UK PM
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned people in Britain on Wednesday not to get their hopes up too soon about the swift roll out of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, saying there were logistical challenges to overcome.
HealthReutersWHO reviewing Pfizer vaccine for possible emergency listing - statement
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it had received data from Pfizer and BioNTech on the COVID-19 vaccine and was reviewing it for "possible listing for emergency use", a benchmark for countries to authorise national use. Referring to Britain's regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, it said in a statement to Reuters: "WHO is also in discussions with MHRA on the possibility of accessing some of the information from their assessment, which could expedite WHO’s emergency listing". Britain approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe to become the West's first country to formally endorse a shot it said should reach the most vulnerable people early next week.
NewsReutersBioNTech-Pfizer vaccine will be sent by plane or ferry to UK - exec
BioNTech will send the COVID-19 vaccine it has developed with Pfizer in temperature-controlled boxes to Britain by ferry or plane, a senior executive said on Wednesday, as it prepares to deliver the shots in the next few days. Chief business and chief commercial officer of the German biotech Sean Marett made the comments in a briefing after Britain approved the vaccine, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe to become the first Western country to formally endorse a jab. The companies are continuing to assess the stability of the vaccine during transportation, and expect more data on storage of the shots at minus 20 degrees Celsius and in normal fridge temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees, he said.
NewsReutersBioNTech-Pfizer testing if vaccine prevents COVID-19; defends UK regulatory process
BioNTech is studying whether the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer helps prevent infection from the virus, a senior executive said on Wednesday as the company defended Britain's regulatory process for emergency approval. Chief executive and co-founder Ugur Sahin said in a briefing he will have results of the study into prevention in three to six months. The comments come after Britain gave the vaccine approval for emergency use on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe to become the West's first country to formally endorse a jab.
NewsReutersUK approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine: Who gets it first?
Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week. The head of the medicines regulator, June Raine, said no corners had been cut. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received the first data on the vaccine in June and carried out a rigorous rolling analysis to international standards before giving its approval.
NewsReutersWhat people are saying about the jailing of three Hong Kong democracy activists
Joshua Wong, 24, one of Hong Kong's most prominent democracy activists, was jailed on Wednesday for 13-1/2 months for his role in an unlawful anti-government rally in 2019, the toughest and most high-profile sentencing of an opposition figure this year. His long-time colleagues Agnes Chow, 23, and Ivan Lam, 26, were jailed for a total of 10 and seven months, respectively, on charges linked to the same siege when thousands of protesters surrounded the police headquarters on June 21 to demand the government withdraw a now-shelved extradition bill. "Prosecution decisions must be fair and impartial, and the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong must be upheld."
NewsReutersCOVID vaccinations in Germany will take over a year - expert panel head
It will take until 2022 to vaccinate the whole population of Germany against COVID-19 due to capacity limits, according to the head of an expert panel that will help decide in which order people should receive the vaccine. "If you can administer shots on 150,000 to 200,000 people a day, so on five or six days a week -- assuming vaccines are available and people are willing to be vaccinated -- then you can calculate how long it will take," Thomas Mertens, head of STIKO, Germany's expert panel on vaccine use, told Rheinische Post. Germany is rushing to prepare vaccination centres across the country so it can start offering shots quickly once a vaccine has been approved in Europe.
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