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U.S. well being company casts doubt over AstraZeneca vaccine knowledge

U.S. health agency casts doubt over AstraZeneca vaccine data

A nurse makes syringes with the preparation of Astrazeneca in Axel Stelzner’s family doctor’s practice.

Hendrik Schmidt | Image alliance via Getty Images

LONDON – A US health agency on Tuesday expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included out of date information from a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine, which may cast doubt on the published efficacy results.

The Data Safety Monitoring Board “was concerned that AstraZeneca may have included out of date information from this study that may provide an incomplete view of the efficacy data,” the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in a statement.

“We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review efficacy data and ensure that the most accurate and up-to-date efficacy data is released as soon as possible.”

The NIAID is led by the White House Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, directs and is part of the National Institutes of Health.

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

The statement comes just a day after the results of a large U.S. study showed that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University is 79% effective against symptomatic illness and 100% effective against serious illness and hospitalization.

Data from the late-stage human study was based on more than 32,000 volunteers at 88 trial centers in the United States, Peru, and Chile.

The results were welcomed as “surprisingly positive” and “good news for the global community”.

AstraZeneca said it plans to prepare the primary analysis, which will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval before mid-April.

The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine had been temporarily suspended in several countries after blood clots were reported in some people who had been vaccinated. However, AstraZeneca said Monday that the independent DSMB had not found an increased risk of blood clots.

Ruud Dobber, executive vice president of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals business, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday that it was “very gratifying to see that the Data Safety Monitoring Board, even with a magnifying glass, is not an imbalance between the vaccinated group and the vaccinated group the placebo group. “

“That gives us a lot of confidence,” he added.

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Mom of Killed Indigenous Man Advised to ‘Get It Collectively’ by Canadian Police

Mother of Killed Indigenous Man Told to ‘Get It Together’ by Canadian Police

OTTAWA – When seven police officers arrived at Debbie Baptiste’s house in August 2016, circling the house and carrying rifles, they informed her that her son was dead. Instead of comforting the grieving mother, they asked if she had been drinking and told her to “put it all together.”

The persistent treatment of Ms. Baptiste, a Cree woman, as well as other incidents of racial discrimination by police against her family were described in an independent review, which was released to the public on Monday, that examined the police’s conduct and investigation into the death of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man in Saskatchewan.

The damning report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Civilian Review and Complaints Commission found that officers treated Ms. Baptiste “with such insensitivity that her treatment amounted to a pretense of discrimination.” The surveillance group, which has no power to punish, also found that the police could not protect the evidence at the scene where Mr. Boushie was killed and destroyed records of the handling of the case.

“It felt like I was forever fighting a battle that could never be won,” Ms. Baptiste said at a press conference Monday. “The injustices of racism in the courtroom, the discrimination must stop. Things have to change. We need a change for the future generation. “

Mr Boushie was shot dead after he and four other Indians drove into Gerald Stanley’s property in August 2016. Mr Stanley testified in court that he believed their goal was theft, which he and his son were trying to prevent.

Mr Stanley was acquitted in 2018 after testifying that he accidentally shot Mr Boushie in the back of the head when his semi-automatic pistol exhibited a rare mechanical malfunction. The verdict shocked many Indigenous Canadians.

In a country where politicians typically shy away from court rulings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has made healing Canada’s relations with its indigenous peoples a priority, released a message of support and met with Mr Boushie’s family after the 2018 trial.

On Monday, Mr Trudeau told reporters that the treatment of Mr Boushie’s family and friends was “unacceptable”, adding, “Unfortunately, we have seen examples of systemic racism within the RCMP in many of our institutions and we need to do so.” better.”

The National Police Federation, a union that represents the mounted police force, disagreed with the report’s findings, saying it “promotes a perspective that disregards our members and challenges their impartiality, commitment and professionalism.” In a separate response to the report, the union rejected the commission’s report on what happened at Ms. Baptiste, claiming that it “only reflected the Boushie family’s interpretation of the interaction” and not the reports of the officials present.

“The RCMP union is still asking the people of this country not to believe this woman,” Chris Murphy, lawyer for the Boushie family, told reporters. “Shame on you.”

The killing and acquittal remain a source of anger for many Indigenous Canadians who have argued the case, which has exposed significant flaws in the Canadian legal system. Mr Boushie’s family and others said the police were racially discriminatory towards them while being respectful of a farmer who was ultimately charged with murder.

Mr. Boushie was out swimming with friends when a tire fell on her Ford Escape near Mr. Stanley’s farm in central Saskatchewan. Mr Stanley testified that he and his son believed the group, many of whom were drunk, were trying to steal vehicles. The two men came out with guns and attacked the escape with a hammer. After Mr. Boushie was killed, the others fled.

As a result, the commission said, police descended on Ms. Baptiste’s home in Red Pheasant Cree Nation, her indigenous community, with two goals: to inform them of Mr. Boushie’s death and to look for a member of Mr. Boushie’s group Friends on a related investigation into theft and attempted theft. No one in the group was ultimately charged with theft.

Officers armed with rifles circled Ms. Baptiste’s house and told her about her son’s death when she came to the porch. After hearing the news, Ms. Baptiste collapsed and was taken to the house by police.

“MS. Baptiste was concerned about the news they had just given her. A member told her to bring it together,” the report said. “One or more RCMP members smelled their breath,” apparently because of it Signs of alcohol.

Although they lacked a required search warrant, police officers ransacked Ms. Baptiste’s home.

Back at the scene, the report found lax investigative practices. Immediately thereafter, little effort was made to gather forensic evidence and little was done to protect evidence on-site. Despite bad weather predictions, the Ford Escape that killed Mr Boushie was not covered, allowing rain to wash away blood spatter evidence before forensic scientists arrived about three days later, the commission said.

The commission said it also had “serious concerns” about the failure of the Serious Crimes Division to visit the scene when it took over the case. She also criticized the police for failing to tell Mr. Stanley, his wife, and son not to discuss the case together before making statements and that they were together in a family car that was part of the crime scene assembled police station were allowed to drive.

The report also found that the police were destroying records and transcripts of their communications from the time of the murder, which were in accordance with standard on-file records, but knowing that Mr Boushie’s family and the commission had filed complaints for which they were Files would have been relevant.

“We have recognized that there is systemic racism in the RCMP,” the Mounted Police Department in Saskatchewan said in a statement, adding that it plans to implement the recommendations in the commission’s report.

In addition to making recommendations that include reviewing the procedures with the officers involved in the case as well as reviewing general Mounties practices in this part of Saskatchewan, the commission said that cultural awareness training should be offered to all police officers. “Taking into account the factors identified in the latest research. “

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Brenda Lucki, who had the opportunity to comment on the Commission’s findings prior to their publication, said she accepted the main findings, despite rejecting a few small points in the report

“This entire judicial system from top to bottom must be restored,” said chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents the First Nations in Saskatchewan, at a press conference. “Brenda Lucki, what are you going to do instead of just saying that we agree with what has been found? Big thing. Brenda Lucki, do something. ”

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Cryptocurrencies usually are not helpful shops of worth, says Fed’s Powell

Cryptocurrencies are not useful stores of value, says Fed's Powell

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference following the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee on July 31, 2019 in Washington.

Sarah Silbiger | Reuters

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday that cryptocurrencies remain an unstable store of value and the central bank is in no hurry to introduce a competitor.

“They are very volatile and therefore not really useful stores of value and are not supported by anything,” Powell said during a virtual panel discussion on digital banking hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. “It’s more of a speculative asset that essentially replaces gold, not the dollar.”

Powell spoke on a day when Bitcoin had dipped on Coinbase but was still trading near $ 57,000 apiece. The cryptocurrency has seen its price spike in the past seven months due to rapid trading activity and growing acceptance in the financial industry.

In recent years, the Fed has been working on its own payment system that allows for faster money transfer. The final product is expected to be revealed over the next two years.

Alongside this, the Federal Reserve has also conducted other research to determine whether a central bank digital coin would be necessary or practical.

On the latter, Powell said the Fed was taking its time before doing anything.

“To move this forward, we would have to let Congress, the administration and broad sections of the public buy us in, and we haven’t really started the task of that public engagement,” he said. “So you can expect us to be very careful and transparent about developing a central bank digital currency.”

The Boston Fed partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year to conduct a multi-year study into the development of a central bank digital currency. The work is expected to take two to three years and, even then, will focus on the hypotheses of a central bank sponsored cryptocurrency rather than its upcoming implementation.

Powell said Congress will likely have to pass some sort of enabling bill before the Fed can proceed with its own currency.

However, he noted that the Covid-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of developing better payment systems so that money can get to those in need quickly.

“It has, in a whole range of things, highlighted the different effects of so many things on poor and low-income and low-income communities,” Powell said.

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The Democrats’ Immigration Drawback – The New York Instances

The Democrats’ Immigration Problem - The New York Times

For most of the decades the Democratic Party had a fairly clear stance on immigration. It advocated a mix of enforcement (like border security and deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes) and new laws for immigrants (like an increase in legal immigration and a path to citizenship for undocumented people).

In recent years, however, immigration advocates and progressive Democrats have grown dissatisfied with this combination. You have pointed out that Democratic support for tighter border security has not resulted in the bipartisan compromise it should have: Republicans continue to block bills that provide a route to citizenship.

In response, these progressives and activists have pushed the party to change. Bill Clinton ran for re-election on a platform that said, “We cannot tolerate illegal immigration and we must stop it.” Barack Obama once said: “We simply cannot allow people to flood into the United States undetected, without papers and without controls.” Instead, President Biden has emphasized the humane treatment of immigrants regardless of their legal status.

After taking office, Biden began to put this idea into practice. He announced a 100-day suspension of deportations (which a judge has blocked). He allowed more migrants – especially children – to enter the country instead of being detained. And Central American migrants, feeling the US has become more welcoming, are pouring north in the greatest numbers in two decades.

The upswing seems to have surprised the von Biden government, as Doris Meissner from the Institute for Migration Policy, which headed the immigration and naturalization service in the 1990s, told me. The Republicans have overthrown and accused the Democrats of preferring an “open border”.

Some Democrats are also unhappy. Biden’s policy “is an incentive for multitudes of people to come, and the only way to slow it down is to change the policy on our doorstep,” Texas representative Vicente Gonzalez told the Washington Post. Henry Cuellar, another Texas House Democrat, said the government was sending “terrible news.”

All of this is based on the fact that the Democratic Party no longer has a clear immigration policy.

While Donald Trump was president, he smoothed out internal tensions among the Democrats because they could unite against him. Trump used racist language; Democrats hated it. Trump separated families and caged children; Democrats promised to end this policy. Trump said he would build a border wall that Mexico is paying for; Democrats mocked his failure.

However, with Trump out of office, the party faces some tough, unresolved questions, including:

Do Democrats Still Advocate Deporting Anyone? Some activists criticized Obama as a “top deporter”. However, he focused the deportations on only two groups: newcomers and immigrants who had committed serious crimes.

If Democrats prefer more lenient policies than Obama’s, it’s not clear whether they support the deportation of anyone – or whether they believe instead that the humane solution is to allow anyone who can legally or illegally enter the US , to stay. The party’s 2020 platform does not mention any conditions under which a deportation is acceptable. Biden’s attempt to stop the deportations for 100 days underscores the party’s new stance.

Which migrants should be turned away at the border? And what should happen to them next?

There are no easy answers. One option is to prevent people from entering the country (as is currently the case with many adults traveling alone) – but this can lead to miserable conditions on the Mexican side of the border. A second option is to arrest people in the US while their legal cases are being investigated. Child detention is difficult, however, and many Democrats consider immigrant detention to be similar to Trumpism.

A third option is to take in migrants and order them to appear at a future court hearing (as is the case with many children and families). The adults often have to wear anklets. Still, the process can take years and raise other sensitive questions. Many migrants are not good asylum seekers; They come to find work or to be around relatives, which does not necessarily qualify them for legal entry.

Often it is left to the administration to decide who is ready for deportation.

There are possible political solutions to all of these questions. The US could increase legal immigration. It could build more detention facilities in humane conditions. It could do more to improve conditions in Latin America and get Mexico to control its own southern border. The Biden government follows many of these guidelines.

But if Biden and his aides seem less stable on immigration than many other policies, there is a reason: They are less stable.

Congress is unlikely to increase legal immigration many times over. Surveys show that while public opinion favors a route to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants, it also supports strict border security and the enforcement of existing immigration laws.

I’m not even sure if these views should be called conservative. In the past, many progressives supported immigration restrictions to keep wages high in the US. Today, working-class Americans – including many Asian-American, Black, and Latin American voters – tend to prefer more restrictions than progressive Democrats, who are often high-income professionals. This contrast could play a role in the recent Republican gains with minority voters.

“Unfortunately, the way the debate goes too often feels like, ‘Everyone should come and the border should be open,” said Cecilia Muñoz, a longtime immigrant attorney and former Obama adviser. “And that is what makes Americans fearful. “

One of the advantages of the old Democratic approach to immigration was that it was easy to describe: be firm on the border, be generous to people who have lived in the US for years. The new approach also has a lasting idea: be kinder to people who want to enter the country. But the Democrats still haven’t figured out the limits of this idea, which created an early problem for the Biden presidency.

How many immigrants should the US legally accept?

  • More: “There’s nothing wrong with open borders,” wrote Farhad Manjoo of the Times. Shikha Dalmia has argued that more immigration will fuel economic growth, and Matthew Yglesias wrote “One Billion Americans” in a book claiming that more immigration will help the US compete with China.

  • Fewer: “The ongoing argument for reducing immigration,” according to Philip Cafaro, revolves around higher wages. And David Frum of the Atlantic has suggested that less immigration will reduce the political appeal of nativism.

In flower: Spring has arrived in New York. Here come the cornflowers, butterfly milkweed, and black-eyed susans.

Lived life: Dr. Nawal el Saadawi was an Egyptian writer, doctor and advocate for women’s rights in the Arab world who told her own story about female genital mutilation in her memoirs. She died at the age of 89.

Model trains are the newest industry getting a pandemic boost from people looking for new hobbies. Märklin, a 162-year-old German company, is hiring new trainees as sales increase to learn the precise art of making miniature trains. (Take a virtual tour of the factory here.)

“It’s total chaos outside,” said one enthusiast. “But inside, around my little train set, it’s quiet, it’s picturesque.”

Spelling Bee’s pangram on Friday was unpopular. Here is today’s puzzle – or you can play online.

Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle and a clue: palpitations (five letters).

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Inventory futures slip as Wall Road appears to rebound from dropping week

Stock futures slip as Wall Street looks to rebound from losing week

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: NYSE

US stock futures fell slightly on Sunday night as Wall Street appeared to be recovering from a lost week.

Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68 points, or 0.2%. Those for the S&P 500 were also down 0.2%, while those for the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.1%.

The movement in futures comes after the three major indices lost ground last week. The Dow and S&P 500 slid on Friday, ending the week 0.5% and 0.8% respectively, breaking two-week winning streaks. The Nasdaq Composite rose on Friday but ended the week down 0.8%.

The struggles for stocks came as bond yields rose again last week, putting pressure on tech and growth stocks that dragged the market back from its pandemic-triggered sell-off last year. On Sunday, futures rose at the price of the 10 year Treasury note, indicating lower yields.

Despite last week’s weakness, the S&P 500 and Dow are still near record highs, and the Nasdaq is not too far away. Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer of Wells Fargos Wealth and Investment Management, said the stock market is still on track for multi-year growth.

“If you went down the list and started putting check-check-check-check boxes, you’d look at this in a vacuum … and say it looks like an early recovery cycle that goes on for about a year and probably a number of years left to run, “said Cronk.

Optimism about markets and the path of the US economy has increased as vaccines roll out across the country. In the past few weeks, the American pace has increased. However, there has been an increase in Covid-19 cases in several states.

Over the weekend, the industrial sector produced an important corporate news item. The Canadian Pacific Railway announced that it is buying $ 25 billion worth of Kansas City Southern, creating a railroad giant connecting Canada, the United States and Mexico.

In terms of economic data, investors will take another look at the property market on Monday when the National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for February. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a decline of 2.8%.

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Your Monday Briefing – The New York Occasions

Your Monday Briefing - The New York Times

We report on a visit by President Biden’s Defense Minister to Afghanistan and on India’s race for a second wave of the coronavirus.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Kabul on Sunday morning and was the first member of President Biden’s cabinet to enter the country that is home to America’s longest war.

The trip comes at a crucial time: The US is expected to withdraw its forces from the country on May 1st. Mr Biden said in an interview last week that meeting the deadline was “difficult”. He has not announced any specific plans for the withdrawal.

Mr. Austin’s arrival in Kabul came on Nowruz, the Persian New Year – a date on which the Islamic State committed to launch attacks in Afghanistan. The trip was supposed to remain confidential until two hours after he left, but local reporters reported his visit after meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The stakes: A US withdrawal could increase the risk of the Taliban’s takeover of the country’s most important cities. When asked about Afghans’ concerns about withdrawal, Mr. Austin said: “We have done a lot to work with the Afghan security forces. And I don’t want to speculate about what might or might not happen in the future. “

The payment: Around 3,500 US soldiers are now stationed in Afghanistan. American troops have been permanently present in the country since 2001.

The coronavirus is once again spread across India. Confirmed infections have increased from a low of around 9,800 in February to around 31,600 daily. In the past two weeks, deaths from the virus have increased 82 percent.

The outbreak is concentrated in the state of Maharashtra, home of Mumbai. Entire districts are closed again. Scientists are investigating whether a new strain is more virulent in the state, like variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

Officials are under pressure to aggressively promote tests and vaccinations, particularly in Mumbai. Increased vaccination in India could have an impact worldwide. India is a crucial link in the vaccine supply chain: it has dispensed or sold tens of millions of doses to other countries even though it has difficulty vaccinating its own people.

The Foreign Minister has said the availability of vaccines in India will determine how many doses go overseas. India’s slow vaccination campaign has also been plagued by public skepticism.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

The Chinese government has changed the political landscape in Hong Kong. His plan to drastically overhaul the local electoral system by demanding absolute loyalty from candidates running for office leaves political groups across the political spectrum wondering what participation, if any, is still possible.

Moderates aren’t sure they would pass Beijing’s litmus test, and opposition leaders aren’t sure they will try again to run candidates. The changes are also likely to reduce the number of directly elected seats in the local legislature, meaning the majority of lawmakers will be elected by allies of the government.

Quote: “If we keep playing this game, it’s like accepting what they are doing,” said a pro-democracy activist. “That would make me feel like an accomplice.”

Context: The changes to the voting system signal the exemption of a promise central to Hong Kong since its return to Chinese control in 1997: that its residents could one day choose their own leaders instead of being subject to the whims of London or Beijing.

Chandro Tomar may look like your typical Indian grandmother, but she is anything but: at 89, she is considered the oldest professional sniper in the world, and she has dozens of medals to show off. She is also a feminist icon in India.

In memory: Nawal el Saadawi, an Egyptian author, activist and doctor who became a symbol of the struggle for women’s rights in the patriarchal Arab world and who campaigned against female genital mutilation. She was 89 years old.

Caity Weaver, a member of the Times styles desk, ventured to Santa Fe, New Mexico to try Equus, a horse riding experience with a long list of famous clients including Bette Midler and Jeff Bezos. The program’s website encourages customers to imagine creating the life you truly deserve. In a recent conversation she reflected on her experience researching a story about whether we can learn from horses.

What did you know about Equus before you arrived in Santa Fe?

Little. They purposely don’t have a lot of photos on their website. The founders told me that they don’t want people to come up with a certain idea of ​​what their experience will be, because if it doesn’t work out, customers might be disappointed.

So what increased it to “I have to try”?

One thing that you keep asking yourself when you have an interesting experience is: is someone actually paying for it? And often the answer is no. But the customer list was so impressive – Margaret Atwood, Microsoft, many other names I recognized. So I was curious to probably get out whatever they wanted to get out. I would love if my life was as good as Bette Midler’s – I think.

What is something fun or unexpected that you learned?

Candace Croney, professor of animal behavior and wellbeing at Purdue University, told me to think of horses the way you think of cats – they are not like a dog that wants to be with you and want attention. A horse doesn’t really want to be the main thing – maybe it wants to be petted and petted, maybe not. I didn’t learn this before I left, but if I ever meet another horse I’ll just picture it like a big cat.

That’s it for today’s briefing. Until next time. – Carole

PS The New York Times Climate Hub, a 10-day event of live journalism, thought leaders and action on climate change, will be held in Scotland this November, alongside the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

The latest episode of “The Daily” is about the career of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

You can reach Carole and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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Saudi Aramco revenue drops after Covid-battered 12 months, upholds dividend

Saudi Aramco profit drops after Covid-battered year, upholds dividend

A worker at an oil processing plant for Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian state oil and gas company, in the Abqaiq oil field.

Stanislav Krasilnikov | TASS | Getty Images

Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a 44% drop in full-year 2020 results but maintained its dividend payout of $ 75 billion. CEO Amin Nasser described the last twelve months as one of the “most challenging years” in recent history.

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s giant state-owned oil company, posted net income of $ 49 billion in 2020, up from $ 88.19 billion in 2019. Earnings were slightly below analysts’ expectations of $ 48.1 billion, but is still the highest of all listed companies in the world.

“In one of the most challenging years in recent history, Aramco has demonstrated its unique value proposition through considerable financial and operational agility,” said Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, in a statement from the company on Sunday.

Aramco said sales were impacted by lower crude oil prices and volumes sold, as well as weaker margins in refineries and chemicals.

The company also expects to cut investments in the coming year, slashing its spending forecast from $ 40 billion to $ 45 billion to around $ 35 billion.

Free cash flow was down nearly 40% to $ 49 billion, well below the level of the highly anticipated dividend. Aramco also declared a $ 75 billion payout for 2020, despite fears it would take on additional debt to keep it up.

“Looking ahead, our long-term strategy to optimize our oil and gas portfolio is on track. As the macro environment improves, we see a pickup in demand in Asia and positive signs in other countries,” he added.

Shares in leading Western oil and gas companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP, fell to multi-year lows in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic devastated the global economy and sparked historic oil prices. Exxon Mobil, the largest US energy company, posted its first annual loss.

Escalating attacks on oil facilities

Aramco’s facilities have been the target of several attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen – attacks that escalated this year, with Saudi Arabia and Iran, the latter of which supports the rebels, opposing the sides of the bloody civil war in Yemen.

Houthi rocket bursts in parts of Saudi Arabia, which hit Aramco’s facilities in early March, briefly brought the price of oil above USD 70 a barrel to the highest level in more than a year. Most recently, the rebels took responsibility for drone attacks on an Aramco plant in the capital Riyadh on Friday, which led to a fire that, according to the Saudi energy ministry, was quickly brought under control without any losses.

When asked how the company wanted to reassure investors and the global community that its infrastructure was well protected and ready to prevent serious business disruptions, CEO Amin Nasser said the attacks had “no business impact.”

“I think the most important thing is the willingness of our employees,” Nasser told CNBC during a press conference after the results were released. “There is always something you learn from every attack and you go out and improve your emergency response … and you make sure you have what it takes to restore these facilities if they are attacked.”

“We learned a lot and were able to prove with a reliability of 99.9% that we are able to put the system back into operation in every scenario, to guarantee the safety of our employees and to guarantee this at the same time.” The deliveries to our customers are fulfilled, “added Nasser.

“The attack on Riyadh is a good demonstration. Within hours of putting the fires out and completing the investigation, we started (re) operating the facility,” he said. “The Riyadh refinery went live today. This is a demonstration of the capabilities and contingency plan and emergency response of the first responders.”

Nasser was also optimistic about the outlook for oil demand in 2021.

“We have seen prices improve, with demand picking up and recovery much better. China is also very close to pre-pandemic levels,” said the CEO.

“As the use of vaccines increases, we will see a stronger pick-up in demand, so we are very optimistic about demand growth, especially in the second half of the year, and we can see that prices so far are responsive to what we see in the market We look forward to a much better year in 2021. ”

The international benchmark for Brent crude is $ 64.53 a barrel, up 25% year-to-date and a whopping 73% year-over-year.

Several oil analysts have raised their 2021 price predictions for vaccine and demand confidence. Goldman Sachs is forecasting a spike to $ 80 a barrel by the third quarter of this year – something unimaginable when WTI prices went negative for the first time in history about one year ago.

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AstraZeneca Vaccine Beneath Extra Scrutiny After Denmark Demise

AstraZeneca Vaccine Under More Scrutiny After Denmark Death

Denmark reported on Saturday that after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, two people suffered cerebral haemorrhage, one of whom died. The Danish Medicines Agency said it was looking to see if the disease was a possible side effect.

A spokesman for the capital region of Denmark confirmed the death, and the Danish news agency Ritzau reported that the other person, a civil servant in her thirties, was seriously ill.

Millions of people in dozens of countries have received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with few reports of side effects. However, the European Medicines Agency, the continent’s top medicines agency, carried out a review after several countries stopped using the vaccine. On Thursday, the agency said it thought the vaccine was safe, although it would continue to look out for links to blood disorders. It was determined that any threat would be very minor and that the gunfire would prevent far more deaths than they could cause.

Recent blood clots and abnormal bleeding in a small number of vaccine recipients in European countries raised safety issues and resulted in suspensions. This resulted in a disruptive pause in vaccination campaigns this week, although some European countries entered a third wave of infections.

“At the moment we are investigating whether this is exactly the same clinical picture with multiple blood clots, low platelet counts and bleeding,” said Tanja Erichsen, director of the Danish Medicines Agency, in a radio interview with the Danish national broadcaster DR.

“We prioritize reports of suspected serious side effects like these and investigate them thoroughly to determine whether there is a possible link to the vaccine,” Ms. Erichsen said on Twitter on Saturday. “We are in the process of dealing with the two specific cases.”

This is the second death in Denmark after a person received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Norway is investigating the deaths of two people who received the vaccine.

Denmark has suspended the use of AstraZeneca until Thursday, despite assurances from the European Medicines Agency. Other Scandinavian countries and Finland have made similar decisions. However, some European countries, including France and Germany, have resumed recording.

Part of the continued caution is due to preliminary results from medical experts in Norway and Germany, which suggest a possible link between the vaccine and the extremely rare blood disorders. The German experts said the sinus or cerebral vein thrombosis, which Germans suffered 13 days after receiving the vaccine, was caused by an immune system reaction they believe may be related to the shot. They did not publish detailed data, but planned to present their results to The Lancet.

AstraZeneca didn’t immediately comment on the claims on Friday.

Dr. James Bussel, an expert in platelet disorders and professor emeritus at Weill Cornell Medicine, said the occurrence of abnormal clotting and low platelets in people under the age of 50 was unusual. He found that researchers in Europe had identified antibodies produced by the immune system – possibly in a highly unusual response to the vaccine – that may have activated platelets and triggered a cascade of abnormal clotting and bleeding.

Researchers in Germany and Norway will continue their research. In Germany, where the vaccine is being re-administered, doctors are now warning anyone who receives an AstraZeneca shot to see a doctor immediately if they have a headache, dizziness, or blurred vision more than three days later. They said the problems could very likely be addressed if identified in time.

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U.S.-China commerce relations strained, Biden group retains Trump’s powerful stance

U.S.-China trade relations strained, Biden team keeps Trump's tough stance

The prospect for US-China trade is likely to continue to be questioned after high-level diplomatic talks this week revealed that President Joe Biden’s team is not planning to use the Trump administration’s harsh tone in talks with Beijing to give up completely.

Although Washington and Beijing signed a ceasefire in their trade feud with last year’s “Phase 1” agreement, representatives on both sides are far from satisfied with the status quo and see the other as major economic rivals.

This competition was seen on Thursday when the countries began two day meetings in Anchorage, Alaska.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken began by stating that the US “would highlight its deep concern about actions by China, including cyber attacks against the United States in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan [and] economic constraint on our allies. “

Yang Jiechi, director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, said the US “does not have the qualifications to say it wants to speak to China from a position of strength”.

Although the talks were viewed as a diplomatic exercise rather than an economic exercise, the prickly exchange is likely an early snapshot of the fierce battles ahead for the Biden trade team. And it is about one of the most valuable trade relationships in the world.

China is currently the US’s third largest merchandise trading partner with a total of $ 558.1 billion (reciprocal trade) in 2019, according to the USTR office. That massive volume of trade supported an estimated 911,000 U.S. jobs as of 2015, with 601,000 from goods exports and 309,000 from service exports.

China is also the third largest export market for American farmers, and annual trade in agricultural commodities totaled $ 14 billion two years ago. China is the largest importer of goods in the United States.

Clete Willems, a former World Trade Organization litigator in the USTR office, told CNBC on Friday that he was not surprised at the lack of progress in Anchorage.

Willems, who was once a member of Trump’s trade team and is now a current partner with the Akin Gump law firm, said the Anchorage meetings were more a chance to officially voice complaints rather than a realistic attempt to take economic remedial action.

“I had low expectations of Alaska and those expectations were met,” said Willems happily of the talks.

“I think [the Chinese government] I misunderstood the situation with the Biden team and they thought these guys would come in and undo all Trump action, “he added.” I think they find out that it won’t. But I think you need to hear it right from blinking. “

The trade negotiations with China are of economic importance, but also provide an opportunity to protect US national security interests and secure access to critical technologies.

Weeks before the meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, the Biden government drafted an executive order directing government departments to review key supply chains, including those for semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, medical supplies, and rare earth metals.

“The Biden administration has signaled that trade at any price is not their position and that they will not curtail their views and neglect human rights or national security (for example) in order to have a ‘good’ trade relationship,” said Dewardric McNeal. An Obama-era political scientist at the Department of Defense said in an email on Friday.

Although Biden’s mandate did not mention China by name, he directed the agencies to investigate gaps in domestic manufacturing and supply chains that are dominated or passed through by “nations that are becoming or becoming unfriendly or unstable.”

The directive has been widely viewed as part of China, one of the world’s largest exporters of rare earth metals, a group of materials used in the manufacture of computer screens, state-of-the-art weapons, and electric vehicles.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R) speaks together with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R) in front of Yang Jiechi (2nd L), director of the office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, and Wang Yi (L), China’s foreigner minister at the US-China talks opening session on March 18, 2021 at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska.

Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Still, Chinese negotiators, including Foreign Secretary Wang Yi, may have hoped for a warmer reception from Blinken after four turbulent years under President Donald Trump and his top diplomat Mike Pompeo.

The Trump administration has made it a habit of imposing punitive tariffs and sanctions to counter ongoing complaints about China’s lack of intellectual property protection, required technology transfers, and other unfair business practices.

“The Biden team understands the complexities of trade and commerce between the two countries and hopes to be more focused and predictable in identifying and addressing issues and concerns (more surgical and less destructive), competitive and collaborative,” said McNeal , a senior policy analyst at Longview Global, added on Friday.

As of Friday afternoon, the U.S. team in Alaska had taken no steps to ease restrictions on American sales to Chinese companies, including telecommunications giant Huawei, to ease visa restrictions for members of the Communist Party, or to reopen the Chinese consulate in Houston .

Negotiations with Beijing will likely be a top priority for newly confirmed US sales representative Katherine Tai.

The Senate’s unanimous vote to confirm her nomination, a first for the Biden government, reflects cross-party confidence in her ability as an accomplished and practiced trade attorney.

“Katherine Tai is exactly the kind of qualified and established person who is able to serve President Biden and the country reasonably well,” said Mitch McConnell, chairman of the Senate minority, in the Senate ahead of the confirmatory vote in early March.

Katherine C. Tai speaks ahead of the Senate Finance Committee hearings to consider her appointment as Ambassador of the United States Commercial Agent on February 25, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Bill O’Leary | Pool | Reuters

Tai will soon face a litany of trade disputes instigated by the Trump administration, but talks with Beijing are expected to be a top priority.

She and her team are expected to review Trump’s ongoing policies, including tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum and consumer goods, as well as components of the Phase 1 deal.

“She knows how to be tough on China and she knows how to do it in coordination with others,” said Willems, who previously represented the US with Tai at the WTO. He added that it will be important for Tai to act as the voice for US trade interests in a government with a deep diplomatic bank.

“You have a government with a very strong secretary of state, very strong national security advisers who are very close to President Biden and who are very oxygen-consuming in US politics in general. And they are going to have to get through that.”

– CNBC’s Nate Rattner and Yen Nee Lee contributed to the coverage.

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World News

Migrant Households at U.S.-Mexico Border Deported by Shock

Migrant Families at U.S.-Mexico Border Deported by Surprise

When 149 migrants were taken to a bridge by US border guards, they had no idea where they were being taken. Many broke down crying when they learned they were back in Mexico.

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – They arrived in groups of 30, children dangling from adults’ arms, and were escorted across the Paso del Norte bridge by United States border guards on Thursday afternoon until they reached halfway point. Then they were handed over to the Mexican authorities.

“Where are we?” A father asked a journalist at the New York Times.

“Ciudad Juarez” came the answer.

The father, who had not been told where he and the rest of the migrant group were being taken by US officials, looked confused.

“Mexico,” the journalist clarified.

Faces twisted from confusion to fear. Many of the parents began to sob and tears of frustration fell on the children who cradled them.

“You betrayed us!” yelled one parent.

“They promised they would help us!” another moaned.

Most of the 149 migrants brought across the bridge on Thursday had entered the United States from Reynosa, a border town in northern Mexico, where they were arrested by US border guards. They were then flown 600 miles to El Paso, Texas, where they were put on buses, driven to the border, and walked to the bridge.

No one was informed that they were being sent back to Mexico.

As they crossed the bridge that connected El Paso to Ciudad Juarez, they realized that everything they had risked on their journey – their lives, the well-being of their children, the loans they had bankrupted themselves – was for them to take up smuggling the United States – fell apart.

Below, Elvin Bautista Pérez (26) from Honduras and his daughter Mía (5) are trying to text his family after the deportation.

Vilma Iris Peraza, 28, struggled to carry Erick, her 2-year-old, pantless, in a dirty diaper, and her daughter Adriana, 5.

Adriana was standing in a pool of vomit on top of the bridge when Mexican officers surrounded her. The braids that Mrs. Peraza had so diligently woven into her daughter’s hair were a frizzy mess. The mother wanted her daughter to look her best for her new life in America.

Mrs. Peraza tried to comfort Adriana and gave her a sip of water when Erick wiggled in her arms. Eventually she collapsed on the bridge, hugged her children and cried.

“We couldn’t get through my dear,” Ms. Peraza told her husband on the phone when she was finally able to connect. “Here in Mexico we all cry. I don’t know what we’re gonna do. “

The family from Copán, Honduras, had tried days earlier to reunite with Ms. Peraza’s husband in Nashville. They have been a family divided since he left to work in Tennessee two years ago. The smugglers had billed them $ 12,000 to cross – the equivalent of nearly three years’ salary in Honduras – and they no longer minded huddled on the bridge.

“I just want to reconnect with my husband to give our children a better future,” said Ms. Peraza. “There is a lot of poverty in my country, nothing can be done.”

Above, US Customs and Border Protection officers escort migrants back to Mexico at the border crossing in Ciudad Juarez.

It had taken many of the migrants a month or more to complete the dangerous migration from Central America to the United States.

The dangerous journey was worth it, many had argued, as long as they could settle in America. They did not want to leave their homes, but their countries were broken under corrupt governments that neglected them and allowed gangs to rule the streets.

Now they were in Mexico with bad options: give up everything and return home or try to cross illegally again. Both decisions left them at the mercy of the Mexican criminal networks.

Another migrant asked a Times journalist about the situation in Juarez, one of Mexico’s most dangerous border towns.

“How is this town?” he asked. “Is it safe to go out?”

Migrants are loaded into vans to be taken to emergency shelters in Juárez.

Elvin Bautista Pérez, 26, clutched his daughter as he tried to get a reception on his phone to share the disappointing news with family members.

He and Mía, 5, had left their home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in January for the United States.

Mr Bautista said he never wanted to be an immigrant, never wanted to leave his family to learn a new language and new customs. He had found a way to live with the poverty and corruption that had plagued Honduras since childhood. But then, within a few weeks, two powerful hurricanes hit Honduras, leaving him unemployed and homeless in November.

“They deceived us because they never told us in the US that they would deport us,” said Bautista.

Mrs. Peraza downstairs with her children.

Mexican officials led the migrants from the bridge to their offices, where they were registered and said they would be taken to emergency shelters pending deportation home.

But the shelters were for those whose limits of despair had been reached. Among the crowd of migrants, there were still the hopeful, those who did not run out of money or who were determined to try again to cross. Instead of filling out the government forms, they slipped out of the chaotic offices onto the streets of Juarez.

A yellow sports car and a family appeared out of nowhere was led to the back seat. They had called their coyote or people smuggler to pick them up at government offices. As soon as everyone was packed into the car – as conspicuous as the coyotes are bold – the family sped off to try the dangerous crossing again.