Daily Discussion - May 7, 2024

AstraZeneca pulls COVID-19 vaccine

According to media, opens new tab reports, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

The firm's application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the Telegraph, which first reported the development.

London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as COVID-19 medicine sales declined.

Half Of North Korean Missiles Used By Russia In Ukraine War Failed

According to a report from Ukrainian state prosecutors, around half of the North Korean KN-23 SRBMs — also known as Hwasong-11 — that have been launched by Russia not only deviated from their trajectory but also exploded in midair.

The analysis from the Ukrainian state prosecutors was based on the debris from 21 of around 50 North Korean ballistic missiles launched by Russia between late December and late February.

“About half of the North Korean missiles lost their programmed trajectories and exploded in the air; in such cases, the debris was not recovered,” the office…  Прочетете още of Ukrainian state prosecutor Andriy Kostin told Reuters.

France and China call for Palestinian state

Israel strongly opposes the plan despite support from many world powers, including the US.

China and France have called for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s two-day official visit with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

The so-called two-state solution, a plan to create a Palestinian state within territory occupied by Israel since 1967, is supported by the UN and a raft of individual nations, including Israel’s key ally the US. If implemented, it would likely require the Jewish state…  Прочетете още to remove its settlers from the occupied territories.

Putin Says Russia Is Building A "New World Order."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was up the West to choose between confrontation and cooperation as he was sworn in for a new six-year term on Tuesday at a Kremlin ceremony that was boycotted by the United States and many of its allies.

More than two years into the war in Ukraine, Putin said he wanted to "bow" before Russia's soldiers there and declared in his inauguration speech that his landslide re-election in March was proof the country was united and on the right track.

Putin told Russia's political elite after being sworn in that he was not rejecting dialogue…  Прочетете още with the West, including on nuclear weapons.

Turkey Converts Byzantine-era church into a mosque

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece.

Turkey formally converted The Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in Turkish, into a mosque in 2020, soon after it similarly turned Istanbul’s landmark Haghia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer.

Both conversions drew praise from Muslim faithful but criticism from Greece and other countries who had urged Turkey to protect the important Byzantine…  Прочетете още-era monuments. Both are listed as U.N. World Heritage Sites.

1 Million Palestinians Face Starvation As Israel "Chokes Off" Aid

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian office, said in a news briefing that Israel had “choked off” the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza. If fuel is not able to enter the enclave for some time, he added, “it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave.”

The main United Nations agency that helps Palestinians in Gaza said Tuesday that the “catastrophic hunger faced by people especially in northern Gaza will get much worse” if aid shipments through the Rafah border crossing were interrupted.

&ldquo…  Прочетете още;This dangerous escalation threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians who depend primarily on this crossing, as it is the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.

TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Law Forcing Sale or Ban

TikTok said it sued the federal government on Tuesday, arguing the law was unconstitutional.

TikTok said that the law violated the First Amendment by effectively removing an app that millions of Americans use to share their views and communicate freely. It also argued that a divestiture was “simply not possible,” especially within the law’s 270-day timeline, pointing to difficulties such as Beijing’s refusal to sell a key feature that powers TikTok in the United States.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech…  Прочетете още platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide,” the company said in the 67-page petition it provided, which initiates the lawsuit. “There is no question: The act will force a shutdown of TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025.”

Ukraine’s pitch to new soldiers: ‘Choose your own adventure’

Outmanned and outgunned by Russian forces on the battlefield, Ukraine’s army urgently needs fresh fighters, as more western military aid is expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

But the queues of patriotic volunteers who lined up outside recruitment centres after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 have long since disappeared.

Ukrainian military units are trying to lure people such as Zolotoverekhky as they seek to raise hundreds of thousands of men needed to hold the line against a renewed Russian offensive.

“It is about control,” Zolotoverekhky said. &ldquo…  Прочетете още;It is the knowledge that I have no stupid commander. I have heard of lots of not so fun stories. [But] there are many more motivated people there.”

Chinese Jet Fires Flares At Australian Plane

Australia has protested to Beijing through multiple channels that a Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian navy helicopter with flares over international waters, the prime minister said Tuesday.

The incident occurred Saturday as the Australian air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart was enforcing U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea in international waters in the Yellow Sea, officials said Monday. There were no injuries or damage reported.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said Monday that a Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter jet released flares in the flight path of an Australian navy…  Прочетете още Seahawk helicopter deployed from the Hobart.

Байдън ще осъди антисемитизма по време на Деня на паметта за Холокоста

When U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to honor 6 million Jews killed eight decades ago, his message will be as much about the present as the past.

Biden will speak to the existential threats faced by Jewish people seven months to the day since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 by Israeli tallies, in what Biden has called the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Speaking at the Capitol, in a keynote address for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance, Biden will aim to cool an increasingly divided and divisive U.S. debate about Jewish security, Zionism, free speech and support for Israel, in the country with the largest Jewish population after Israel.

Русия задържа двама граждани на САЩ, включително служещ военнослужещ.

Russian authorities said on Tuesday they had detained two U.S. nationals, including a serving U.S. soldier, in separate criminal cases.

The soldier, detained on Monday on charges of criminal misconduct, was arrested on theft charges by a court in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, the regional office of the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the case had no political element and there were no allegations of espionage.

"As far as we understand, this is a purely everyday crime", the TASS state media agency cited the ministry's Vla…  Прочетете ощеdivostok branch as saying.