GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday approved a Covid vaccine made by US pharma giant Novavax for emergency use, after the European Union medicines regulator gave it the green light.
The European Medicines Agency had assessed and approved Nuvaxovid on Monday.
It is made from a more conventional technology than others already approved, which has led officials in Brussels to express hope that this will help persuade those hesitant about vaccination to come forward.
The jab uses a traditional technology involving proteins found on coronavirus spike proteins that trigger an immune response.
It is a tried and tested approach, used for decades to vaccinate people against diseases including hepatitis B and whooping cough.
A so-called emergency use listing (EUL) by the WHO paves the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve and import a vaccine for distribution.
It also opens the door for them to enter the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme, set up to provide equitable access to doses around the world and particularly in poorer countries.
The two-shot Nuvaxovid jab is the 10th Covid vaccine issued an EUL by the UN health agency.
WHO said Nuvaxovid was around 90-percent effective at reducing symptomatic cases of Covid-19 in two major clinical studies, one in Britain and the other in the United States and Mexico, involving more than 45,000 people.
In a separate document, WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization recommended the new vaccine for use in people over the age of 18, with an interval of three to four weeks between the two doses.
“The vaccine should not be administered with an interval of less than three weeks,” it warned.
It can be kept at refrigerated temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, giving it a logistical advantage in difficult-to-access regions over the mRNA vaccines, which must be stored at ultra-low temperatures.
Among the Covid vaccines already handed a WHO EUL is the Covovax shot, a version of Novavax’s vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India under license from the US-based company.
It was authorized on December 17.
Also figuring on the list are the mRNA vaccines produced by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, Johnson&Johnson, AstraZeneca (which is counted twice for the versions made in Europe and in India), the Indian-made Covaxin and Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac.
The WHO also recently resumed evaluating the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19, after several months in limbo, as it waited for additional data.
Rogerio Gaspar, head of WHO’s regulation and prequalification department, said Monday that the UN health agency would begin assessing the quality of the data received next month and aimed to carry out inspections on-site in February.
He told reporters he could provide “no date on approval because the approval will depends really ... on the quality of the information.”
Neither US nor EU medicines watchdogs have so far granted authorization for Sputnik V, which has been used in Russia and some other countries since late 2020.
WHO approves Novavax as 10th authorized Covid jab
https://arab.news/z6q96
WHO approves Novavax as 10th authorized Covid jab
- The European Medicines Agency had assessed and approved Nuvaxovid on Monday
- The jab uses a traditional technology involving proteins found on coronavirus spike proteins that trigger an immune response
After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets
To keep pace with increased threats from mainland China, Taiwan has been upgrading both its manned and unmanned aerial assets, including purchasing 66 of the latest generation F-16V fighters and upgrading existing aircraft to modern specifications.
China claims the island as its own territory and has never dropped its threat to invade since the sides split amid civil war in 1949.
The air force invited journalists on Friday to witness one last flyby by the F-5, which first entered service with Taiwan in 1965 and most of which have now been converted to trainers, reconnaissance planes or decoys.
The planes began moving into a backing role 30 years ago when Taiwan began acquiring more modern American F-16s, French Mirage 2000s and domestically developed Ching Kuos.
The F-5 is one of the world’s most widely produced jets, with Taiwan the largest operator at one point with 336, producing some 100 domestically. Dozens of countries still use them, including the US, which uses them as pretend opponents in training exercises.
The planes gained favor for their high speed and maneuverability, alongside their low cost and ease of maintenance. For Taiwan, they guarded the skies above the Taiwan Strait against mainland China’s Soviet and domestically built fighters.
Taiwan’s F-5s were based along the eastern coast, separated from China by both the 160 kilometer (100 mile)-wide Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s formidable Central Mountain Range.
Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
- The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies
- Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: A summit of BRICS nations will convene in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and Monday, with members hoping to weigh in on global crises while tiptoeing around US President Donald Trump’s policies.
The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies including China, India, Russia and South Africa, which represent nearly half of the world’s population and 40 percent of its GDP.
Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have to navigate the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will miss the summit for the first time.
Beijing will instead be represented by its Prime Minister Li Qiang.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is facing a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, will not travel to Brazil, but is set to participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, fresh from a 12-day conflict with Israel and a skirmish with the United States, will also be absent, as will his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, a Brazilian government source said.
Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit, as well as the grim anticipation of tariffs threatened by Trump due next week.
“We’re anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration,” Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University said.
China, for example, “is trying to adopt a restrained position on the Middle East,” Fernandez said, pointing out that Beijing was also in tricky tariff negotiations with Washington.
“This doesn’t seem to be the right time to provoke further friction” between the world’s two leading economies, the researcher said.
BRICS members did not issue a strong statement on the Iran-Israel conflict and subsequent US military strikes due to their “diverging” interests, according to Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Brazil nevertheless hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues.
“BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East,” Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said.
However, talks on finding an alternative to the dollar for trade between BRICS members are likely dead in the water.
For Fernandez, it is almost “forbidden” to mention the idea within the group since Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar’s international dominance.
Brazil, which in 2030 will host the COP30 UN climate conference, also hopes to find unity on the fight against climate change.
Artificial intelligence and global governance reform will also be on the menu.
“The escalation of the Middle East conflict reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need to reform global governance and strengthen multilateralism,” said foreign minister Vieira.
Since 2023, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have joined the BRICS, formed in 2009 as a counter-balance to leading Western economies.
But, as Fernandez points out, this expansion “makes it all the more difficult to build a strong consensus.”
A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament
- The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A pair of bills cracking down on asylum-seekers wishing to settle in the Netherlands has passed in the Dutch parliament after wrangling and soul-searching by some lawmakers who feared the law would criminalize offering compassionate help to undocumented migrants.
The legislation cuts temporary asylum residency from five to three years, indefinitely suspends the issuance of new asylum residency permits and reins in family reunions for people who have been granted asylum. It passed in the lower house late Thursday evening but could still be rejected in the upper house.
The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence.
Taking tough measures to rein in migration was a policy cornerstone for the four-party coalition led by the Party for Freedom of anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. The coalition collapsed last month after just 11 months in office, and migration is expected to be a key issue ahead of the snap election Oct. 29.
Wilders pulled the plug on the coalition saying it was taking too long to enact moves to rein in migration. His coalition partners rejected the criticism, saying they all backed the crackdown. His party currently holds a narrow lead in opinion polls over a center-left two-party bloc that recently agreed to a formal merger.
The opposition Christian Democrats withdrew their support for the legislation put to the vote Thursday over a late amendment that would criminalize people living in the Netherlands without a valid visa or asylum ruling — and would also criminalize people and organizations that help such undocumented migrants. The amendment was introduced by a member of Wilders’ party and passed narrowly because a small number of opposition lawmakers were not present for the vote.
The vote took place in the final session of parliament before lawmakers broke for the summer. The upper house will consider the legislation after it returns from the recess. If Christian Democrats in the upper chamber reject it, the legislation will be returned to the lower house.
Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began
- Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said
- Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles
KYIV: Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial attack since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, injuring 23 people and inflicting damage across multiple districts of the capital.
Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, while Russia used 11 missiles in the attack.
Throughout the night, Associated Press journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.
Kyiv was the primary target of the attack. At least 23 people were injured, with 14 hospitalized, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
The attack came hours after President Donald Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and made his first public comments on his administration’s decision to pause some shipments of weapons to Ukraine.
That decision affects munitions, including Patriot missiles, the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and shorter-range Stinger missiles. They are needed to counter incoming missiles and drones, and to bring down Russian aircraft.
It’s been less than a week since Russia’s previous largest aerial assault of the war. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia fired 537 drones, decoys and 60 missiles in that attack.
Emergency services reported damage in at least five of the capital’s 10 districts. In Solomianskyi district, a five-story residential building was partially destroyed and the roof of a seven-story building caught fire. Fires also broke out at a warehouse, a garage complex and an auto repair facility.
In Sviatoshynskyi district, a strike hit a 14-story residential building, sparking a fire. Several vehicles also caught fire nearby. Blazes were also reported at non-residential facilities.
In Shevchenkivskyi district, an eight-story building came under attack, with the first floor sustaining damage. Falling debris was recorded in Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said drone strikes damaged rail infrastructure in Kyiv.
Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks
- As of Friday morning, 30 people were still missing after 29 were plucked from the water to safety
- At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry’s lifeboat
Gilimanuk, Indonesia: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered.
The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometer (3.2-mile) crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said.
As of Friday morning, 30 people were still missing after 29 were plucked from the water to safety.
Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy.
Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife.
“I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast,” Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP late Thursday.
“I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived,” said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears.
“I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away.”
Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, national search and rescue agency operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters.
“The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also likewise for Gilimanuk,” he said.
But as of Friday afternoon, no further victims had been found.
“From the communication that we received, it’s still zero (victims found) from the search,” Yudi, a captain of one of the deployed rescue vessels, told broadcaster Metro TV.
The ferry passage from Java’s Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port on Bali — one of the busiest crossings in the country — takes around one hour and is often used by people traveling between the islands with a car.
Local rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya vessel sank 25 minutes into its journey.
At least 306 rescuers were deployed Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said.
The search was temporarily halted overnight and resumed around 8:00 am (0000 GMT) Friday in Bali.
Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers.
At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry’s lifeboat.
Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 meters (8 feet) and strong winds.
The ferry’s manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members but it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from that document.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.
In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.
In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island.
