Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Secretly Hold First Ever Meeting, Reports Say

Reuters/Ohad Zwigenberg

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly made a secret trip to Saudi Arabia to meet the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. If confirmed, it would be the first known meeting between high-level leaders of long-time enemies Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to the New York Times. Neither side has confirmed the visit, but reports in Israel state that Netanyahu flew with Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad spy agency, to Neom, where Prince Mohammed and Pompeo had a scheduled meeting on Sunday night. Flight tracking data reportedly shows that the Israeli aircraft remained in the city for a few hours before heading home. Officially, Israel and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations, but there has been speculation that the Saudis were seeking closer ties with the country.

Read it at The New York Times

Pope says anti-maskers stuck in 'their own little world of interests'

Francis contrasts opposition to Covid measures with ‘healthy indignation’ over racism

Pope Francis has taken aim at protests against coronavirus restrictions, contrasting them with the “healthy indignation” seen in demonstrations against racism after the death of George Floyd.

“Some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions – as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom,” he said in a new book.

Photograph: CPP/IPA/Rex/Shutterstock

He railed against those who claim “that being forced to wear a mask is an unwarranted imposition by the state”.

“You’ll never find such people protesting the death of George Floyd, or joining a demonstration because there are shantytowns where children lack water or education, or because there are whole families who have lost their income,” he said. “On such matters they would never protest; they are incapable of moving outside of their own little world of interests.”

The book, Let Us Dream: A Path to a Better Future, is derived from conversations with his British biographer Austen Ivereigh, and is largely centred on his response to the coronavirus crisis.

“With some exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the wellbeing of their people first, acting decisively to protect health and to save lives,” the pope said.

However, he added that some had put the economy before public health. “Those governments have mortgaged their people,” he said.

Source: Guardian

Oxford University breakthrough on global COVID-19 vaccine

The University of Oxford, in collaboration with AstraZeneca plc, today announces interim trial data from its Phase III trials that show its candidate vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019, is effective at preventing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and offers a high level of protection.

• Phase 3 interim analysis including 131 Covid-19 cases indicates that the vaccine is 70.4% effective when combining data from two dosing regimens

• In the two different dose regimens vaccine efficacy was 90% in one and 62% in the other

• Higher efficacy regimen used a halved first dose and standard second dose

• Early indication that vaccine could reduce virus transmission from an observed reduction in asymptomatic infections

• There were no hospitalised or severe cases in anyone who received the vaccine

• Large safety database from over 24,000 volunteers from clinical trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, with follow up since April

• Crucially, vaccine can be easily administered in existing healthcare systems, stored at ‘fridge temperature’ (2-8 °C) and distributed using existing logistics

• Large scale manufacturing ongoing in over 10 countries to support equitable global access

Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said:

‘These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply. Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around the world.’

Professor Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said:

‘The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by SARS-CoV-2. We will continue to work to provide the detailed information to regulators. It has been a privilege to be part of this multi-national effort which will reap benefits for the whole world."

Source: Oxford