LONDON: A manufacturer of a possible COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists said on Friday it may know by the end of May if it can make a million doses a month with a view to building stocks for commercial supply when the vaccine is approved.
Cobra Biologics is one of the firms working to make a potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 being developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.
Chief Executive Peter Coleman said the firm is not responsible for proving the efficacy of the vaccine, with those trials being run by the Oxford team, and there was a lot of risk involved in the project.
But he said that if a 200-liter manufacturing run planned for the middle of May were successful, the company would be ready to produce 1 million doses a month.
“(That’s) more than enough for clinical trials, but also potentially a start to stock up for commercial supply,” Coleman told Reuters, adding that it could have capacity for up to two million doses in repeat batches.
“The speed at which we’re operating is much quicker than it ordinarily is. And to start building up batches for commercial supply before you’ve even got to phase one (clinical trials) is pretty unusual.”
British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has joined the Oxford vaccine program to develop, produce and distribute the potential vaccine to help make it available as soon as possible if it succeeds in clinical trials.
Coleman said AstraZeneca’s involvement could help with the rapid scaling-up of the vaccine on a global stage, but said that Cobra Biologics and two other contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) with a similar capacity that were already involved would still play a pivotal role.
“The current consortium of CDMOs will be a fundamental part of the manufacturing of this vaccine. AstraZeneca has a lot of capability,” he said.
“But I think at this moment in time, given the intensity and speed that’s required, it makes common sense to stick with the CDMOs you’ve got at the moment and then at some point in the future, transition to something else.”
Coleman said that processes that might previously have taken years were being boiled down to five months, and that safety work already carried out on a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) vaccine could help speed up the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“It’s not from a standing start. There’s been a lot of work, and the products have been modified in such a way that the safety work from the early clinical trials is equally applicable,” Coleman said.
Asked about comments by AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot that it will know whether the vaccine will be effective in June or July, Coleman said that his firm was focused on the manufacture of the vaccine rather than determining its efficacy.
“I trust the university with that July outcome,” he said. “And then if it’s positive, the race is on to produce as many batches as possible.”
Potential UK coronavirus vaccine producer eyes making a million doses a month
https://arab.news/cgkhm
Potential UK coronavirus vaccine producer eyes making a million doses a month
- Cobra Biologics is one of the firms working to make a potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19
- British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has also joined the Oxford vaccine program
One million Bangladeshis make public pledge to boycott Israel-linked products
- Dhaka protest was the largest Palestine solidarity rally in Bangladesh’s recent history
- Protesters call for reinstating the ‘except Israel’ clause in Bangladeshi passports
DHAKA: More than 1 million Bangladeshis assembled on the streets of Dhaka on Saturday to join the country’s largest Gaza solidarity rally and take a public oath to boycott products and entities linked to Israel.
Waving the flags of Bangladesh and Palestine and chanting “Free Palestine,” “Stop the Israeli aggression,” and “Boycott Israeli products,” residents of the country’s capital flocked to the Suhrawardy Udyan — the main public space — for the “March for Gaza” demonstration.
Organized by the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bangladesh, the event featured politicians, celebrities, artists, poets and popular social media influencers, who joined in a call on world leaders to bring to justice Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others responsible for Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian civilians.
Political leaders present at the event called for international accountability and immediate action to end Israel’s deadly onslaught on Gaza, where over 50,900 people have been killed, 116,000 wounded, and 2 million others face starvation after Israeli forces destroyed most of the region’s infrastructure and buildings, while blocking humanitarian aid from entering.
A joint declaration read during the rally called on the international community to “take effective and collective action to end the genocide,” and especially on Muslim countries to immediately sever all economic, military, and diplomatic relations with Israel and to “impose commercial blockades and sanctions on the Zionist state” and begin active diplomatic efforts to isolate it on the international stage.
“We will boycott every product, company, and force that sustains Israel’s occupation ... We will start from our own homes, leaving an imprint of this pledge in language, history, education, economy, and society,” said the declaration read by Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the Amar Desh daily newspaper, who helped organize the event.
It was the largest Palestine solidarity rally in Bangladesh in recent history.
“More than a million people actually gathered today. According to the police, they have said probably it was 1.1 million,” Rahman told Arab News.
“It was a huge gathering, but it was so peaceful ... This is some sort of example for the entire world. It was peaceful and it was in favor of humanity. Because it’s not only a question of Islam — we were protesting against the inhuman genocide (perpetrated by) the Israeli regime. So, this protest is for the humanity. We have asked the Muslim Ummah to get united to free Palestine.”
The protesters also called on the government to reinstate the “except Israel” clause in Bangladeshi passports, which had barred nationals from traveling to Israel. Even though Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel, the clause was removed in 2021 by the previous administration of Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year.
Participants at the rally said they already follow many aspects of Saturday’s declaration — especially the boycott call.
“I stopped buying Israeli products from the very beginning of this latest round of Israeli aggression, which started about a year and a half ago. I even stopped buying Coca-Cola, though it’s a very popular and well-known drink here. This is my personal way of protesting against Israel — as an individual,” said Arman Sheikh, a businessman in Dhaka.
“This kind of boycott can definitely make a difference. There’s nothing stronger than the power of the masses.”
Nasrin Begum, a teacher, said she has been trying to avoid global brands for their possible links with Israel, instead choosing local alternatives.
“Before purchasing cosmetics, now I always google about their origin. If anything in my search shows a connection to Israel, I avoid those products,” she said.
“It’s not very difficult to find a suitable substitute for Israeli-linked goods. It’s an open market economy. We can get any products from anywhere in the world. It’s all about our mindset and determination. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I continued purchasing Israeli-linked goods after all the atrocities they are committing.”
Asiatic Society employs AI to decipher ancient Indian manuscripts
- Society has 52,000 rare manuscripts, many of which still have not been deciphered
- Project Vidhvanika in collaboration with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
NEW DELHI: The Asiatic Society in Kolkata is using AI transcription and machine learning to decipher ancient manuscripts in its archives and make them accessible to scholars worldwide.
Founded in 1784, during British colonial rule, the Asiatic Society is one of India’s oldest research institutions and is dedicated to the study and preservation of history, culture, and languages.
Many of the society’s more than 52,000 rare manuscripts and historical documents have not previously been deciphered. The society launched its Vidhvanika (“decoding knowledge”) project in December to digitize them and to develop language models for ancient scripts.
“Work needs to be done on the majority of the manuscripts,” Anant Sinha, administrator of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, told Arab News. “We are working with three scientists. Besides that, I have my reprography team involved in the scanning, and then there’s the expert team, which includes specialists in different languages, scripts, and subjects.”
The project is also being supported by the Center for Development of Advanced Computing, India’s premier IT research and development organization.
The society’s manuscript collection spans a wide range of subjects — including Indian history, literature, philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and art — and of languages, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Tamil, Bengali, and other regional languages of India.
Decoding the manuscripts requires an understanding of the scripts, their language, the styles used in historical documents, the historical context, and the subject matter. There are few active, specialized paleographers and manuscript scholars conducting such work and research, not only in India but across the world.
“The motive behind this project is very simple and clear: the language, the script and the subject — generally you require knowledge of these three to understand a manuscript, (and) the people who have (that) knowledge are very few. We are developing machine language (models), so that you can use software or an app to read the manuscripts,” Sinha said.
He estimated the current accuracy of the models at about 40 percent, as the machine learning process continues.
“Our plan is to take it to 90 percent to 95 percent. It will never have 100 percent accuracy,” Sinha said. “It is a machine, it’s not a human. It’s learning what you are teaching it, so you have to give that leeway ... It will be an ongoing process because the machine language (model) keeps improving itself.”
The Vidhvanika project was launched on the 225th anniversary of the birth of James Prinsep, an English scholar and a former secretary of the society who is credited with deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India.
That feat played a crucial role in uncovering the history of the ancient Mauryan Empire that ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE.
Vidhvanika, Sinha believes, may help save other languages that played a role in the region’s history from being forgotten.
“We must make an effort to understand what is in those manuscripts and what our ancestors have left for us,” he said. “Brahmi and Kharosthi are languages of this continent, and we ourselves have forgotten that. If we (are again at risk of losing) some script or some language, then we will require another James Prinsep to decipher it.”
Indian army officer, 3 suspected militants killed in Kashmir fighting
- India says militants were trying to infiltrate from Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir
- India, Pakistan each administer parts of Kashmir but claim territory in entirety
SRINAGAR, India: Three suspected militants and an army officer have been killed in two separate gunbattles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said Saturday.
Army soldiers laid a cordon in a forested area in southern Kishtwar district on Wednesday following a tip that a group of insurgents was operating there, an army statement said.
A search in the area by soldiers led to a firefight with militants, initially leaving one militant dead late Wednesday, the statement said.
It added that despite inclement weather, troops maintained their cordon in the area, triggering more exchanges of gunfire that resulted in the killing of two more militants on Saturday.
The army did not report any casualties on its side.
However, in another incident, the Indian army said its soldiers in southern Akhnoor area intercepted a group of militants close to the heavily militarized Line of Control dividing the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan late Friday.
Fighting ensued during which one army officer was killed, it said.
The statement said militants were trying to infiltrate into the Indian side from Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir.
There was no independent confirmation of either of the incidents.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989.
Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism.”
Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
The territory has simmered in anger since 2019 when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.
Bomb strikes near the Athens offices of the Greek railway company. No injuries reported
- The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece’s worst, in which 57 people were killed
ATHENS: A bomb planted near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company, exploded Friday night in a busy district of central Athens, authorities said. There were no reports of injuries.
The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece’s worst, in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.
Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before Friday’s blast, with the caller warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices and would explode within about 40 minutes.
In a statement, Hellenic Train said the explosion had occurred “very close to its central offices” and said the blast had caused limited damage and no injuries to any employees or passers-by.
It said authorities had acted immediately upon receiving information about the warning call, and that the company was cooperating fully with authorities and ensuring the safety of its staff.
Police cordoned off the site along a major avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants. Officers at the scene said a bag containing an explosive device had been placed near the Hellenic Train building on Syngrou Avenue.
Police forensics experts wearing white coveralls were collecting evidence at the scene.
Criticism over the government’s handling of the Feb. 28, 2023 collision at Tempe in northern Greece has mounted over the last few weeks in the wake of the second anniversary of the disaster, which killed mostly young people who had been returning to university classes after a public holiday.
The crash exposed severe deficiencies in Greece’s railway system, including in safety systems, and has triggered mass protests — led by relatives of the victims — against the country’s conservative government. Critics accused authorities of failing to take political responsibility for the disaster or holding senior officials accountable.
So far, only rail officials have been charged with any crimes. Several protests in recent weeks have turned violent, with demonstrators clashing with police.
Earlier Friday, a heated debate in Parliament on the rail crash led to lawmakers voting to refer a former Cabinet minister to judicial authorities to be investigated over alleged violation of duty over his handling of the immediate aftermath of the accident.
Hellenic Train said it “unreservedly condemns every form of violence and tension which are triggering a climate of toxicity that is undermining all progress.”
Greece has a long history of politically-motivated violence dating back to the 1970s, with domestic extremist groups carrying out small-scale bombings which usually cause damage but rarely lead to injuries.
While the groups most active in the 1980s and 1990s have been dismantled, new small groups have emerged. Last year, a man believed to have been trying to assemble a bomb was killed when the explosive device he was making exploded in a central Athens apartment. A woman inside the apartment was severely injured. The blast had prompted Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis to warn of an emerging new generation of domestic extremists.
What we know about the New York City helicopter crash that killed 6 people
- Pieces of the aircraft could be seen floating in the river Friday as divers resumed searching for clues as to the cause of Thursday’s crash
- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. In addition to the pilot, those killed included a family of five from Spain
NEW YORK: A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart and crashed into the Hudson River near the New Jersey shoreline, killing the pilot and a Spanish family of five who were on board.
Pieces of the aircraft could be seen floating in the river on Friday as divers searched for clues about what caused the Thursday crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. It’s the latest in a series of recent aircraft crashes and close calls that have left some people worried about the safety of flying in the US
Here’s what we know so far:
How did it happen?
Witnesses described seeing the helicopter’s tail and main rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the spinning chopper before it slammed into the water.
The helicopter took off from a downtown heliport at around 3 p.m. and flew north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, parts of the aircraft were seen tumbling into the water.
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact, and recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.
The bodies were also recovered from the river, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
Who were the victims?
The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Mercedes would have turned 9 on Friday, officials said.
Escobar, an executive at Siemens, was in the New York area on business, and his family flew in to meet him for a few days, Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, wrote in a post on X. Photos on the helicopter company’s website show the couple and their children smiling just before taking off.
In a statement posted on the social platform X on Friday night by Joan Camprubí Montal, Montal’s brother, family members said there were “no words to describe” what they are experiencing.
“These are very difficult times, but optimism and joy have always characterized our family. We want to keep the memory of a happy and united family, in the sweetest moment of their lives,” he said. “They have departed together, leaving an indelible mark among all their relatives, friends, and acquaintances.”
The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a US Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023. He had logged about 800 hours of flight time as of March, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters Friday.
In the summer of 2023, Johnson announced on Facebook that he was flying a helicopter to fight fires for a Montana-based firm. In March this year, he changed his profile to an image of him piloting a helicopter with a view of One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in the background.
His father, Louis Johnson, told The New York Times his son had moved to New York this year for “a new chapter in his life.”
What may have caused the crash?
Hemendy said the NTSB would not speculate on the cause of the crash so early in the investigation.
The main and rear rotors of the helicopter, along with its transmission, roof and tail structures had still not been found as of Friday, she said.
“We are very factual, and we will provide that in due course,” she said.
Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, said videos of the crash suggest that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the aircraft. It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.
Michael Roth, who owns the helicopter company, New York Helicopter, told The New York Post that he doesn’t know what went wrong with the aircraft.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he said, noting that he had never seen such a thing happen in his 30 years in the business, but that, “These are machines, and they break.”
What do we know about the helicopter company?
In the last eight years, the New York Helicopter has been through a bankruptcy and faces ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. Phones rang unanswered at the company’s offices Friday.
In 2013, one of the company’s helicopters suddenly lost power in midair, and the pilot maneuvered it to a safe landing on pontoons in the Hudson.
FAA data shows the helicopter that crashed Thursday was built in 2004. According to FAA records, the helicopter had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. The helicopter had logged 12,728 total flight hours at the time, according to the records.
How common are such crashes?
At least 38 people have died in helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five people died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.
Thursday’s crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.
Recently, seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood. The crash in January happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.
On Friday, three people were killed when a small plane crashed in South Florida near a major highway.
