Day: November 30, 2020

America is sliding into a winter limbo of alarming spikes in Covid-19 cases and deepening economic pain while an apathetic lame duck White House and a deadlocked Congress provide no political leadership.The darkest holiday season in modern history beckons, yet President Donald Trump and his closest aides, sulking after his election defeat, are doing little to save lives, apart from claiming credit for a vaccine that represents a way out of the nightmare of 2020 but remains months away for most Americans.

London, United Kingdom – A second lockdown in England reduced COVID-19 infections by 30 percent, according to the results of a new large-scale study.

The findings from Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI’s React-1 study, published on Monday, suggest that 96 people per 10,000 contracted the novel coronavirus between November 13-24. The second lockdown, soon to be lifted, started on November 5.

US firm Moderna said it would ask US and European regulators on Monday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection — ramping up the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

“Moderna plans today to request EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) from the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration),” Moderna said in a statement, adding it would also “apply for a conditional marketing authorization with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).”

Tehran, Iran – Iran has laid to rest assassinated nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in the capital Tehran as authorities blamed Israel for the killing and repeated vows to avenge it.

The funeral on Monday, scaled down due to coronavirus protocols and attended only by Fakhrizadeh’s family and some military commanders, was held at the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran.

Doctors and nurses in Italy are astounded at the resilience of one Maria Orsingher, a 101-year-old who has lived through the Spanish Flu, the Second World War, and who has now survived Covid-19… three times.

Orsingher first tested positive back in the early days of the pandemic in February. 

“In February, mother was hospitalized in Sondalo and then also the doctor of the hospital in Sondalo, where she was treated, told us that she had never had such an elderly person come out of the coronavirus in this way, she was breathing alone and not he had a fever,” says daughter Carla.

Having recovered, the centenarian then celebrated her 101st birthday in July.

The weapon used in the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, on Friday was made in Israel, Iranian state media claims. Tehran had previously accused Israel of being behind the assassination.

The “remains of the weapon” from the site of the attack outside Tehran bear “the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry,” an informed source told Iranian English-language broadcaster, Press-TV. 

https://www.rt.com/news/508195-iran-fakhrizadeh-assassination-israel-weapons/

The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) rose to 52.1 in November from 51.4 in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. It was the highest PMI reading since September 2017 and remained above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Analysts had expected it to climb slightly to 51.5.

China’s vast industrial sector is steadily returning to the levels of activity seen before the pandemic and tough containment measures paralysed huge swathes of the economy early this year.

Mexico reported 6,388 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 196 additional deaths on Sunday, health ministry data showed.

The latest tally brought the official number of cases to 1,107,071 with a total death toll of 105,655.

Health officials have said the real number of both is likely to be significantly higher due to little testing.