Coronavirus vaccine: Hungary to produce China′s Sinopharm jab

The Hungarian goverment on Monday announced plans to produce the Chinese-developed Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine locally.

Hungary is the only EU country to inoculate its citizens with the Chinese jab after domestic regulators approved its use.

Speaking in China, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said officials would open a planned €157 million ($193 million) vaccine plant in the eastern town of Debrecen.

Read more at Coronavirus digest: Hungary to produce China′s Sinopharm jab | News | DW | 31.05.2021

U.S. Covid cases lowest in a year as Memorial Day travel picks up - by Nicolas Vega

The U.S. has reported the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in more than a year, as the nation’s airports over Memorial Day weekend experienced the largest number of travelers since the pandemic began.

The 11,976 new cases reported on May 29 were the lowest since March 23, 2020, when 11,238 new cases were reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The seven-day average of 21,007 is the lowest since March 31 of last year, when it was 19,363.

Read more at:U.S. Covid cases lowest in a year as Memorial Day travel picks up

The Netherlands: What the Dutch court carbon emissions ruling means for Shell

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to significantly deepen planned greenhouse gas emission cuts, in a landmark ruling that could pave the way for legal action against energy companies around the world. read more

Shell said it was "disappointed" by the ruling which it plans to appeal.

Here are some key points about the ruling:

WHAT WAS THE RULING? The district court ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Shell currently aims to reduce the carbon intensity of products it sells by 20% over the same period from a 2016 baseline.

DOES THE RULING AFFECT SHELL'S GLOBAL OPERATIONS? Yes. The reduction relates to Shell's global operations and is not limited to the Netherlands, the court ruling said. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SHELL? The ruling said that "it is up to RDS (Royal Dutch Shell) to design the reduction obligation, taking account of its current obligations and other relevant circumstances." Shell earlier this year announced a strategy to become a net zero emissions company by 2050, meaning its absolute emissions will also be net zero at that point. It has stated that it believes its emissions peaked in 2018.[USN:L1N2KH0LV] ABSOLUTE TARGETS VS INTENSITY TARGETS? The court ordered Shell to reduce absolute emissions by 45%. Shell's short and medium-term targets are intensity based. Intensity-based targets measure the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy produced. That means that absolute emissions can rise with growing production, even if the headline intensity metric falls. At its annual general meeting this month, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden rejected setting absolute reduction targets, saying: "Reducing absolute emissions at this point in time is predominantly possible by shrinking the business."

HOW BIG ARE SHELL'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS? Shell, the world's largest oil and gas trader, produced 1.38 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2020, roughly 4.5% of global energy-related emissions that year, based on International Energy Agency figures. Shell's 2020 emissions were down from 1.65 billion tonnes the previous year, largely as a result of a fall in oil and gas demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read More at: Explainer: What the Dutch court carbon emissions ruling means for Shell | Reuters

Japan Extends 3rd State Of Emergency Weeks Before Olympics - by Anthony Kuhn

Japan's government extended a state of emergency covering major cities until at least until June 20 — roughly a month before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, which polls show an overwhelming number of Japanese do not want to proceed as scheduled.

It's Japan's third state of emergency of the pandemic and the second extension since the current emergency began on April 25. The emergency shortens some businesses' hours, and caps attendance at large events. It covers the capital Tokyo, second city Osaka and seven other prefectures. Less stringent "quasi-emergencies" will be extended to June 20 in five other prefectures.

Read more at: Japan Extends 3rd State Of Emergency Weeks Before Olympics : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

Covid: China hits back as US revisits Wuhan lab-leak theory

US President Joe Biden has said he expects to release the results of an intelligence report on the origins of the virus.

China's foreign ministry accused the US of "political manipulation and blame shifting".

It has rejected any link between Covid-19 and a virus research lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Read more at: Covid: China hits back as US revisits Wuhan lab-leak theory - BBC News

The Netherlands: World's most expensive drug may not be covered by Dutch insurance

A drug to treat a rare muscle disease which affects some 20 children in the Netherlands a year should not be included in the basic insurance package unless the price is halved, government advisory group Zorginstituut Nederland has said in new recommendations.

In addition, pharmaceutical company Novartis should also agree to payment on the basis of the actual results, the institute said. Zolgensma, known as the most expensive drug in the world, is used to treat spinal muscular dystrophy (SMA) and costs €1.9m per treatment. The institute estimates that if the cost were halved, the drug would add some €11m to the Dutch healthcare budget a year.

Read more at: World's most expensive drug may not be covered by Dutch insurance - DutchNews.nl

US Healthcare Sucks If you have limited funds: Covid Killed His Father. Then Came $1 Million in Medical Bills - by Sarah Kliff -

One coronavirus survivor manages her medical bills in color-coded folders: green, red and tan for different types of documents. A man whose father died of the virus last fall uses an Excel spreadsheet to organize the outstanding debts. It has 457 rows, one for each of his father’s bills, totaling over $1 million.

These are people who are facing the financial version of long-haul Covid: They’ve found their lives and finances upended by medical bills resulting from a bout with the virus.

Their desks and coffee tables have stacks of billing documents. They are fluent in the jargon of coronavirus medical coding, after hundreds of hours of phone calls discussing the charges with hospitals, doctors and insurers.

“People think there is some relief program for medical bills for coronavirus patients,” said Jennifer Miller, a psychologist near Milwaukee who is working with a lawyer to challenge thousands in outstanding debt from two emergency room visits last year. “It just doesn’t exist.”

Read more at: Covid Killed His Father. Then Came $1 Million in Medical Bills. - The New York Times

Digital Nationalism: We’re entering the age of ‘digital nationalism’ — and this will only benefit big tech

The massive digital platform market has until recently been dominated by a handful of US-based companies such as Facebook and Google. However, as foreign governments and competing platforms try to erode this domination, platforms are becoming a new sphere of geopolitical manoeuvring.

The European Union wants to gain more control over international tech companies and achieve more independence in the digital arena. India has banned 177 Chinese apps on the grounds they are “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India”.

And in 2020, the then US President Donald Trump spent months attempting to ban the Chinese-made video-sharing platform TikTok or force its sale to an American owner. While some claimed Trump was piqued by a supposed prank against him by teenage TikTok users, a look at statements from US government officials over the course of the year shows geopolitical concerns were the main driver.

Read more at: We’re entering the age of ‘digital nationalism’ — and this will only benefit big tech

EU Automobile Industry:New battery-electric vehicles take 5.7% share in Europe in Q1; hybrids 18.4%, gasoline 42.2% , diesel 23.2%

Italy's entry, glam rock band Maneskin, won the Eurovision song contest, as the world's most popular live music event was held in the Netherlands after being canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian's raucous "Zitti E Buoni" beat out professional jury favourites Switzerland and France, sweeping the public vote which counts for half the points. Victoria de Angelis of Maneskin told a press conference the win was an important boost for Italy, one of the European countries worst hit by COVID-19.

Read more at: Italy's raucous glam rock takes Eurovision by storm | Reuters

FactCheck on COVID-19 Vaccines: : No, insurance policies aren't 'null and void' if you receive a Covid-19 vaccine

A video circulating online posted to Dolores Cahill’s Facebook page has claimed that peoples’ insurance policies are “null and void” if they receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

This is false, as are a number of other claims made in the video about drivers being technically uninsured if they wear a face mask while driving.

Read more: FactCheck: No, insurance policies aren't 'null and void' if you receive a Covid-19 vaccine

The Netherlands: Amsterdam to become first city in the world to ban advertising by fossil fuels companies

Amsterdam is set to be the first city in the world to ban ads from fossil fuel and aviation companies in a bid to reduce the ‘excesses’ of fossil fuel advertising.

This means that fossil-fuelled vehicles, such as petrol cars and flights, will no longer be advertised in Amsterdam subway stations or the city centre.

The new law follows mass movements in and around the capital which were headed up by the Reclame Fossielvrij (Fossil Free Advertising) initiative. The group co-ordinated a letter from over 50 local organisations demanding Amsterdam to go fossil free.

“The decision to ban fossil fuel advertising from subway stations comes at a crucial moment in the fight against climate change. Adverts that portray fossil fuels as normal worsen climate disruption and have no place in a city − or a country − that has complied with Paris,” says Amsterdam Mayor Femke Sleegers, coordinator of Reclame Fossielvrij.

Read more at: Amsterdam to become first city in the world to ban this type of advert | Euronews

Cryptocurrency market: Nearly $1 trillion has just been wiped off the cryptocurrency market. What happened?

If you follow the cryptocurrency markets you will have noticed it hasn't been a great week for them, with the sector as a whole losing almost $1 trillion (€820 billion) in the biggest one-day drop since March 2020.

The price of Bitcoin fell by almost a third at one point on Wednesday. Despite a later rally, Bitcoin lost around $70 billion (€57.3 billion) in market value in just 24 hours.

Rival coin Ethereum was among the other cryptocurrencies plummeting in value this week, dropping 28 per cent on Wednesday. Reddit favourite Dogecoin reached a low of $0.33 (€0.27) on Wednesday, before falling again to $0.31 (€0.25) on Thursday.

Read more at: Nearly $1 trillion has just been wiped off the cryptocurrency market. What happened? | Euronews

Covid Updates From Around the World

Europe: Starting today, people in England will be able to see what the inside of a pub looks like for the first time in months thanks to an easing of restrictions. And countries including Greece and Portugal are gradually opening their borders for the all-important summer tourist season. But at least in England, officials are worried about the growing prevalence of the highly transmissible B16172 variant first found in India.

Southeast Asia: Despite early successes at taming the coronavirus, Singapore and Taiwan are clamping down aggressively to combat new outbreaks. Singapore is sending most kids back to Zoom school this week, and Taiwan is limiting indoor social gatherings to five people.

North America: The one-week average of new cases in the US hit its lowest level since June. Meanwhile, the Canadian government has started to discuss reopening the border with the US, which has been closed since March 2020.

Read more at: Covid Updates From Around the World

Coronavirus J&J vaccination: EU agency links J&J shot to rare clots, says odds favor use

The European Union’s drug regulatory agency said Tuesday that it found a “possible link” between Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine and extremely rare blood clots and recommended a warning be added to the label. But experts at the agency reiterated that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks.

The European Medicines Agency made its determination after examining a small number of clot cases in people vaccinated in the U.S. It said these problems should be considered “very rare side effects of the vaccine.”

J&J immediately announced it will revise its label as requested and resume vaccine shipments to the EU, Norway and Iceland. In a statement, it said: “The safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority.”

Read more a: EU agency links J&J shot to rare clots, says odds favor use

USA: America’s vanishing workforce - by M. Cassella and R. Rainey

Federal and state officials, who spent the last year trying to keep Americans safe in their homes during the pandemic, are suddenly grappling with the opposite problem: how to lure them back to work.

At least 14 states, including North Dakota, Alabama and South Carolina, have moved to cut off enhanced federal jobless benefits that were supposed to last until September. Florida is among roughly 30 states reinstating a requirement that the unemployed prove they are looking for work to receive state benefits. Montana is offering return-to-work bonuses to unemployment recipients who accept a job offer. Amazon, McDonald's and Chipotle are hiking wages, as is Tyson Foods, which will also start allowing more flexible work schedules.

Read more at: America’s vanishing workforce - POLITICO

International Travel: Vaccinated Travelers Face Chaos and Confusion - by Stephen Hiltner

More than 105 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated. Greece, Iceland and Croatia, among a growing list of countries, are now open to American tourists. Airlines are resuming overseas flights. And perhaps the biggest development of all: Come summer, fully vaccinated Americans will once again be welcome across Europe.

But the optimism may be premature. At the moment, the broader reality is more chaotic, and more sobering.<

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/travel/covid-vaccinated-travel-reality.html

US Economy: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks - by W. James Antle III

We're a long way from the stagflation of those bad old days under President Jimmy Carter, with the economy growing at a brisk 6.4 percent annual rate as the world reopens and the pandemic recedes. Still, a recent spate of bad economic news in what should be a fairly robust recovery is a warning that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats' approach to fiscal policy could reap negative unintended consequences.

Read more at: W. James Antle III: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks

Netherlands - Calvinists: In the Netherlands, traditional Calvinists refuse vaccines and social distancing

In the Netherlands, Protestants make up around 16 percent of the population and a small group of traditional Calvinists are opposed to vaccination and social distancing. Most of these believers, who live in a region known as the "Bible Belt", were never vaccinated as children and are opposed to the idea of injecting sickness into a healthy body. Despite surging case numbers, they continue to attend Sunday services without face masks. But amid some of the country's highest Covid-19 infection rates, some of them are starting to shift their mindset. Our regional correspondents report.

Read more at: In the Netherlands, traditional Calvinists refuse vaccines and social distancing - Focus

EU: Normalizing: Sightseeing, shopping and socializing: Normal life resumes in some EU nations as pandemic restrictions ease

With nearly 180 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in European Union nations, some member nations are slowly easing pandemic restrictions, meaning people can enjoy the sights, shops and nightlife. Here, people visit the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on May 3, the day of its reopening after weeks of closure

Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/photos/sightseeing-shopping-and-socializing-normal-life-resumes-in-some-eu-nations-as-pandemic-restrictions-ease-1.6022581

International Insurance: Latest Research Business Travel Insurance Market Size and Growth Forecast till 2026

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Read more at: Latest Research Business Travel Insurance Market Size and Growth Forecast till 2026 | Insure and Go Insurance Services Ltd., USI Insurance Services LLC, American International Group – KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper

USA: CDC Reports 2 More Infant DEATHS Following Experimental COVID Injections During Clinical Trials

The CDC released more data in their Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) today, and it included two new deaths of infants age 2 and age 1.

While none of the COVID injections have emergency use authorization for children under the age of 17 yet, there are ongoing trials with children being injected with the experimental shots as young as 6 months old.

One of the infants who died was apparently in a Pfizer trial, while the other one was apparently in a Moderna trial.

Read more at: CDC Reports 2 More Infant DEATHS Following Experimental COVID Injections During Clinical Trials

Personal Data Breaches: How US companies could use patients’ data from Covid vaccine drive - by Jessica Glenza

Data rights organizations have warned that patients lack a clear understanding of how information about their health, employment, contact or location details may be used if it is collected by private entities during the Covid-19 vaccine drive.

Some advocates have already expressed concerns that the information could be used for marketing, targeted advertising or de-identified and sold into the multibillion-dollar health data industry.

Read more at How US companies could use patients’ data from Covid vaccine drive | US news | The Guardian

USA: Biden pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030

President Biden is expected to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 50% from 2005 levels by 2030, according to a senior White House official. The administration will express this as a range that has not yet been announced.

Read more at: Biden pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030 - CBS News

Coronavirus: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine not troubled by variants so far, says CEO

One of the people behind the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine says he has yet to see any evidence that emerging variants of the disease have found a way to defeat it.

Dr. Ugur Sahin, who founded BioNTech with his wife Dr. Özlem Türeci, told CBC News Network's Power & Politics today that scientists have two main concerns when it comes to variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Read more at: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine not troubled by variants so far, says CEO | CBC News

EU: Austerity is risking our future! – by Carl Mühlbach and Felix Kösterke

With hindsight, such thinking seems petty, considering the success of vaccination campaigns in Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. Those countries outspent the European Union many times over, per capita, on vaccine procurement.

Read more at:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/FMfcgxwLtkZwjPLPwDNLdzLvQFzkrqCP

Coronavirus digest: EU states ′must monitor sewage systems′ for COVID

The European Union has called on member states to monitor wastewater to detect COVID outbreaks early.

Read more at: Coronavirus digest: EU states ′must monitor sewage systems′ for COVID | News | DW | 02.05.2021

May Day 2021: Know history and significance of Labour Day

May 1 is the International Day of Workers or International Labour Day dedicated to workers and labourers across the world. This day celebrates labourers and encourages them to be aware of their rights. The day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement. Popularly known as May Day, the day is observed in countries such as India, Cuba and China among other countries.

Read more at: May Day 2021: Know history and significance of Labour Day | Hindustan Times