The controversy has brought renewed attention to biosafety, biosecurity, ?€?gain-of-function?€? and other ?€?dual-use?€? research, along with consideration of the level of oversight that such labs should be operating under. Although this debate has become polarised and politicised, we should not lose sight of the importance of these issues, even if it turns out this lab had nothing to do with the emergence of the novel coronavirus. Concerns about whether labs are conducting their research safely, securely and responsibly are not new, or of relevance solely to labs in China - as revealed by a comprehensive study on global BSL-4 labs that we recently completed.
If you missed Michael Gove?€?s various appearances on UK media this morning, here are the key points he made while defending the UK government?€?s decision to delay reopening the economy in England from 21 June to 19 July.
Call to extend 30 June deadline over fears Britons will lose access to healthcare and pensions
Campaigners have warned that tens of thousands of British nationals living in France and three other countries risk losing local healthcare, employment and other rights if they do not apply to remain resident in the next 14 days.
British in Europe, a group set up to protect the post-Brexit rights of about 1.2 million UK nationals living on the continent, have called on France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Malta to extend their 30 June deadline as the Netherlands has done, to 30 October.
Beijing?€?s European mission issues a forceful response to Nato communique, saying it shows a ?€?cold war mentality?€?
China?€?s mission to the EU has accused Nato of slander and of ?€?hyping up the so-called ?€?China threat?€??€? after leaders of the western alliance warned that the country presents ?€?systemic challenges?€? to the international order and security.
On Monday, at a summit in Brussels, leaders from the transatlantic security alliance, with Joe Biden in attendance for the first time, took a forceful stance towards Beijing.
Analysts say event will be ?€?boring?€? as both sides attempt a reboot following catastrophic meeting between Trump and Putin in 2017
On the 24-hour Russian state news channel, Thursday began as any other might: with a segment about the ageing president of the United States battling back cicadas and then giving a ?€?confused?€? speech about his upcoming summit in Geneva with Vladimir Putin.
?€?I?€?ll let [Putin] know what I want him to know,?€??€? said Biden after a cutaway shot of him swatting his neck before boarding Air Force One this week.
Apology came after the extremist Republican congresswoman visited Washington?€?s US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the extremist Republican congresswoman, has apologized for her comments comparing the required wearing of safety masks in the US House to the horrors of the Holocaust.
?€?I?€?m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust,?€? Taylor Greene told reporters outside the Capitol on Monday, saying she had visited Washington?€?s US Holocaust Memorial Museum earlier in the day. ?€?There?€?s no comparison and there never ever will be.?€?
New Zealand prime minister says she agreed to interviews on basis that it was about a group of female leaders and ?€?not specific to me?€?
Jacinda Ardern has distanced herself from a recently released biography documenting her leadership style, less than a week after joining widespread criticism of a film that focuses on her role leading New Zealand during the Christchurch terror attacks.
The new book - Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy - was written by activist and journalist Supriya Vani, and writer Carl A. Harte, based on ?€?Vani?€?s exclusive interviews with Ardern?€?, according to its seller, Simon & Schuster.
Meeting of leaders at G7 reportedly cancelled over Seoul?€?s decision to stage exercises around Dokdo islands, which are also claimed by Tokyo
South Korea has begun annual military drills near a pair of remote islands that are also claimed by Japan, as the long-running territorial dispute threatened to sour preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
The exercises near the Dokdo islands - referred to as Takeshima in Japan - began days after a meeting between the countries?€? leaders on the sidelines of the Cornwall G7 summit was reportedly cancelled due to Japanese objections to the exercises.
Corruption report says third of EU residents used personal connections to access care during Covid crisis
Almost a third of residents in the EU relied on personal connections to access healthcare during the Covid crisis, and around one in five in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Lithuania paid a bribe for such services, a report on corruption has found.
Across the EU?€?s 27 member states, nearly two-thirds (62%) of the 40,000 respondents in a survey conducted by Transparency International said corruption in their government was a major problem and three-quarters (76%) said it had been stagnating or getting worse.
Production of chemical could help make recycling more attractive and tackle global plastic pollution
Plastic bottles have been converted into vanilla flavouring using genetically engineered bacteria, the first time a valuable chemical has been brewed from waste plastic.
Upcycling plastic bottles into more lucrative materials could make the recycling process far more attractive and effective. Currently plastics lose about 95% of their value as a material after a single use. Encouraging better collection and use of such waste is key to tackling the global plastic pollution problem.
Ancient Roman building with ?€?magnificent frescoed walls?€? appears to have been survived a fire
An ancient Roman building has been found during excavations at a former cinema in the northern Italian city of Verona in what has been described as a ?€?miniature Pompeii?€?.
The discovery was made during excavations in the basement of Astra cinema, which is undergoing renovation after lying abandoned for more than 20 years.
Vaccine thefts reported and hospitals unable to admit patients as cases leap 2,800% in a month
Uganda has all but run out of Covid-19 vaccines and oxygen as the country grapples with another wave of the pandemic.
Both private and public medical facilities in the capital, Kampala and in towns across the country - including regional hubs in Entebbe, Jinja, Soroti, Gulu and Masaka - have reported running out or having acute shortages of AstraZeneca vaccines and oxygen. Hospitals report they are no longer able to admit patients to intensive care.
Boris Johnson has once again been persuaded that he must do the inevitable and cancel ?€?Freedom Day?€? - a decision that will deeply rankle with him.
The prime minister is said to have complained to aides over the weekend about briefings to newspapers at the end of last week that a four-week delay was the likely outcome, saying he had technically not made the decision yet. But one thing matters more to Johnson than being able to join crowds in a packed pub on 21 June: not having to close them again a few weeks later.
A Covid vaccine that is a critical part of the effort to vaccinate the developing world, as well as the UK, has an efficacy of 90% overall, its manufacturers have said after trials in the US and Mexico.
The UK has ordered 60m doses of Novavax, which has manufacturing agreements in Britain. Novavax has signed an agreement to provide 1.1bn doses to Covax, the UN-led initiative to get vaccines to poorer countries. The Serum Institute of India is contracted to make 100m doses, but has been making vaccines only for India in recent months in response to the Covid crisis there.
Fully vaccinated Germans have been urged not to storm the country?€?s pharmacies in the rush to obtain a Covid digital vaccination pass made available in thousands of stores on Monday.
The ?€?Digitale Impfpass?€? or digital vaccination pass, is the official document to be used as part of the the European Union vaccine certificate scheme to facilitate travel across the bloc, which the European parliament agreed last month.
They used to look like quagmires, ice rinks or dustbowls, depending on the time of year. But as big money entered football, pristine pitches became crucial to the sport?€?s image - and groundskeepers became stars
It was a big moment for English football talent when Real Madrid poached Paul Burgess from Arsenal in 2009. After starting his career at Blackpool FC, Burgess had arrived at the north London club in 1999, rising to prominence at the age of just 21. He excelled on the European stage during Arsenal?€?s Champions League campaigns in the early 2000s, and shone at Euro 2004 in Portugal. Four years later, he put in another commanding performance at the European Championships. Not long after that, Real Madrid, the most prestigious club in world football, made their sensational transfer swoop.
If you don?€?t remember any of this, it?€?s not because Burgess was a flop at Madrid. It?€?s because he was Arsenal?€?s head groundsman. Burgess?€?s transfer was the beginning of a Europe-wide spending spree on British turf talent. Real?€?s rivals Atlético snapped up Dan Gonzalez, who had impressed with his work for AFC Bournemouth. Tony Stones, who got his start looking after bowling greens in Barnsley before eventually becoming head groundsman at Wembley, was signed to oversee the French national stadium, the Stade de France. Fifa, meanwhile, signed Alan Ferguson, a Scot who had won seven Groundsman of the Year awards during 12 seasons at Ipswich Town, as their first in-house senior pitch manager.
This year?€?s winners include a Japanese coal fighter, a Vietnamese protector of pangolins and a Peruvian forest defender
For more than 20 years, Kimiko Hirata has fought a long and often lonely battle against coal in Japan, but for the first time the climate activist believes the dirtiest fossil fuel is on the run, not just in her country but across the world.
Like several other winners of this year?€?s Goldman environmental prize, the frontline campaigner sees a shift in the political winds that has created a rare - and perhaps final - opportunity to reduce emissions and rebuild the planet?€?s natural life support systems.
After a year of loungewear and dressing from the waist up, these tailored but informal trousers have won over everyone from Kendall Jenner to the Duchess of Cambridge
Scrolling through the Instagram page of model and Kardashian scion Kendall Jenner, one photo, posted on 28 April, stands out. In this one, she?€?s not on a Vogue cover or the deck of a yacht, but crossing a New York street. And instead of a bikini or cycling shorts and a crop top, she?€?s wearing a pair of tailored beige trousers, cinched with a black leather belt, pleated and full in the hip, loose of leg, teamed with a white T and an oversized shirt. It?€?s one part Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, one part Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, one part Kennedy weekending at Martha?€?s Vineyard.
Two weeks later, Danielle Haim wore an identical pair of pale, full, elegantly tailored trousers on the red carpet at the Brits, just a few days after model and entrepreneur Rosie Huntington-Whiteley posed on her Instagram in the same. (Fashion sleuths point to the Igor Pant by The Row, for sale at a cool £860, as being the originator of this trend.) In the last week of May, Jennifer Lawrence was photographed in New York wearing creamy front-pleat trousers with a cropped white T-shirt on the same day that the Duchess of Cambridge, more usually a dress-wearer, wore a slightly darker pair to attend the opening of a new hospital in Kirkwall, Scotland. International travel might be virtually grounded, but there is no stopping the global spread of this look.
Like fans after a gig, people are broadcasting being vaccinated with branded merchandise, while vintage ?€?pharma-merch?€? is going for high prices on eBay
This summer?€?s trend is not a dish or a dress, but a clean bill of health posted on social media. There?€?s even a word for it: a ?€?vaxinista?€? - a combination of ?€?fashionista?€? and ?€?vaccine?€? - is someone who has not only had both jabs, but wants to broadcast it via vaccine selfies, cards and even merchandise.
This interest in pharmaceutical merch has now reached a strange new frontier: used pharma memorabilia. On eBay, old mementoes branded with Pfizer and AstraZeneca logos are selling for tens and hundreds of pounds. AstraZeneca paperweights and ballpoint pens are going for £150 and £50 respectively. Bids for a Pfizer lab coat begin at £106, a ?€?pre-loved?€? Pfizer denim shirt at £100 and a Disneyland Pfizer conference T-shirt at £144. Meanwhile, newspapers from the day the vaccine was announced are selling for more than £40.
From drill?€?s high watermark to Tuareg rock, Colombian pop and London jazz, here are our music editors?€? picks of the best LPs from the first half of the year
If patches, hypnosis and self-help books don?€?t work, maybe it?€?s time to think laterally. Readers reveal the unlikely methods that encouraged them to kick the habit
I smoked 10 to 20 a day, but finally quit 11 years ago. I found getting a glass of water when the cravings hit worked really well. By the time I went to the kitchen, poured it and drank it, the peak of the craving had usually passed. It also helped me to realise that you can ride out a craving. The first three weeks were the hardest. Michael, artist and educator, Scotland
Volunteers respond to politically polarised film footage from Israel and the Palestinian territories in this critical look at interpretation
Even though he tries to maintain a cool, scientific demeanour, Israeli director Ra?€?anan Alexandrowicz finally lets slip a twinge of despair at the end of this interesting geopolitical Rorschach test. Alexandrowicz sits studiously behind a monitor as he invites a succession of volunteers to enter an adjacent booth. There, they have a choice of 40 clips to watch, snippets of life in Israel, while he asks them to share their thoughts on what they see. Half of the clips are from rightwing Israeli sources; the other half are from B?€?Tselem, an Israeli human-rights organisation that aims to document abuses of power in Palestinian territories.
Alexandrowicz quickly zeroes in on the pensive Maia, a Jewish American who supports Israel, but brings an insistent scepticism to everything she watches. He is the director of pro-Palestine documentaries such as The Inner Tour (2001) and The Law in These Parts (2011) - and believes her to be his ideal audience: a possible convert.
Four experts from DR Congo?€?s Goma Volcano Observatory took the trail up Mount Nyiragongo last week to get a closer look at the volcano which last month spewed rivers of lava and forced the evacuation of a city
Sharon Lavigne, a retired special ed teacher, led a successful campaign to block construction of a toxic plant in Louisiana
A retired special education teacher from Louisiana who led a successful grassroots campaign to stop construction of a toxic plastics plant in America?€?s Cancer Alley has won the 2021 Goldman prize for environmental defenders.
Sharon Lavigne, 68, organised marches, petitions, town hall meetings and media campaigns after elected officials gave the green light to the construction of another polluting factory in St James parish - a majority-Black community already blighted by heavy industry and exorbitant cancer rates.
Given the G7?€?s underwhelming pledge, WHO approval for two Chinese jabs is a welcome boost
?€?Vaccine diplomacy?€? has evolved into a dirty phrase, not least in relation to China and the notion that its government could be exchanging ineffective jabs for geopolitical capital. At the weekendthe G7 pledged just 1bn of the 11bn vaccines needed to immunise low- and middle-income countries, suggesting that the west cannot vaccinate the world alone. But, over the past month, international scientific and public health authorities have confirmed an exciting finding: that, despite the doubts of some critics, vaccines made by Chinese companies actually work. While they may remain ideological adversaries, China and the west now have no choice but to collaborate on vaccinating the world.
On 2 June, the World Health Organization finally approved Sinovac for emergency use. Just days earlier, China?€?s largest state-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer, Sinopharm, had released peer-reviewed phase III clinical trial data proving its vaccine?€?s efficacy to western sceptics - and had it published in the the Journal of the American Medical Association, no less. Phase III?€?s ?€?golden seal?€? means that each vaccine is effective enough to be widely distributed. But critical gaps in safety data for patients over the age of 60 remain for both Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs. While significant, these data holes notably did not deter a major approval from the world?€?s highest public health authority. With only 6% of the globe fully vaccinated, the need for doses clearlyoutweighs the risks the vaccines may pose.
Here are some details about the Australia-UK free trade deal from a UK perspective.
Lisa O?€?Carroll is the Guardian?€?s Brexit correspondent.
NEW: UK announced new tariff free trade deal agreement with Australia. After row over farming, "British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards". - "first major trade deal negotiated from scratch" 1/
It will be "eliminating tariffs on all UK goods" It "means iconic British products like cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics will be cheaper to sell into Oz" 2/
Also looks like exemption on Brits doing farm work to get extension on two year work holiday visas. "Brits under the age of 35 will be able to travel and work in Australia more freely, opening exciting opportunities for young people". Oz farmers employ 10,000 Brits youngsters 3/
Johnson says: ?€?This is global Britain at its best - looking outwards and striking deals that deepen our alliances and help ensure every part of the country builds back better from the pandemic.?€?
No 10 says deal will mean cheaper Oz wine, as will "eliminate tariffs on Jacob?€?s Creek and Hardys wines, swimwear and confectionery, boosting choice for British consumers and saving households up to £34 million a year"
Some Victorians might be waiting beyond this Sunday to have their power reconnected after last week?€?s wild weather, reports AAP.
About 17,000 homes remained without power on Tuesday, the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, told federal parliament.
Our distribution businesses are working as hard as they can to get those properties back on as soon as they can.
Even though most of them should be on by the weekend, there?€?s every chance some won?€?t be because they might be at the actual end of the line and it will take more time.
Instead of cutting the aid budget - including 95% from the plan to stamp out the disease - Britain should take a global lead
Despite the Covid pandemic, there have been just two recorded cases of wild polio in 2021 - in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two remaining hiding places for the disease. But eradication is not guaranteed. Polio is virulent and spreads quickly. Even one case poses a threat to unvaccinated children everywhere, which is why a new strategy launched last week by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) outlines a plan to utilise this small window of opportunity for the world to end polio for good.
A 99.9% fall in polio cases globally in recent decades is thanks in large part to the GPEI and its supporters. The British government?€?s recent announcement that it will slash its contributions to the GPEI by more than 95% has been a body blow. The funding cut amounts to almost a quarter of the annual World Health Organization polio eradication budget.
The ?€?blood man?€? of conflict-racked Kashmir has donated 174 pints of blood since 1980 but feels ?€?crushed?€? by his poverty
Shabir Hussain Khan was taking an afternoon nap when he heard a commotion outside his house. A friend had been injured in a football match and had lost a lot of blood. Khan, who did not have any transport, rushed to the hospital by foot to donate some. It was 4 July 1980. Yesterday the man known locally as the ?€?blood man of Kashmir?€? donated his 174th pint of his blood to strangers at the public hospital close to his Srinagar home.
?€?Blood is not something you can buy in the market,?€? says Khan, who has an O-negative blood group. ?€?In those days blood donation was not common, nor were blood banks. The way blood is available readily now, it was not like that before. Also there was no connectivity at that time. We only had radios and two or three landline phones in the entire locality.?€?
Facebook messages from the Italian student killed in Cairo in 2016 show his concerns about studying in the country
The Facebook messages written by the Cambridge student Giulio Regeni in the weeks leading up to his murder give the lie to any notion he was a spy or political agitator.
Even before he left England, Regeni was concerned about the risks he might face doing his thesis on trade unions in Egypt, a sensitive subject in the country.
Round-the-clock tracking condemned as ?€?Trojan horse?€? giving government vast surveillance powers that violate human rights
More than 40 human rights organisations have condemned the Home Office?€?s introduction of 24-hour GPS monitoring of people on immigration bail in an expansion of surveillance powers that has involved no consultation process.
The new policy marks a shift from using radio frequency monitors (which alert authorities if the wearer leaves an assigned area) to round-the-clock GPS trackers (which can track a person?€?s every move), while also giving the Home Office new powers to collect, store and access this data indefinitely via a private contractor.
Withdrawal from long-term partnership catastrophic, says Brac, affecting women and girls?€? education and those in extreme poverty
The UK government?€?s funding cuts to the world?€?s largest international non-governmental organisation are a ?€?gut punch?€? after a successful 10-year £450m partnership, according to a director.
Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac Bangladesh, said the cuts will leave hundreds of thousands of girls without an education, millions of women and girls without access to family planning and hundreds of thousands of people in extreme poverty without support.
The roadmap out of lockdown - England?€?s strategy to return to a life more normal - was heavy on dates from the start. The first three steps, in March, April and May, passed so smoothly that a crucial point was easily forgotten: reopening rested on data, not dates, at least that was what scientific advisers hoped. Well, now the data has spoken.
England is not in lockdown today. Children are back at school. Cafes, restaurants and pubs are open. People can mix indoors, albeit in small numbers. Thousands can watch football matches. As the country moved from one step to another, more contact between people was expected to fuel cases, hospitalisations and even deaths. To keep them to a minimum, we have the vaccination programme.
Analysis: Political divergences within Nato?€?s 30 members - from the US to North Macedonia - may well threaten ambitions for its strategy on China
When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) was established on 4 April 1949, its mission was to counterbalance armies from the Soviet Union that were stationed in central and eastern Europe after the conclusion of the second world war.
After Emmanuel Macron, the current leader of one of its founding members, France, called it ?€?brain-dead?€? in 2019, some analysts said the alliance will have to look for a new unifying mission to keep itself relevant in the new age of great power competition between the US and China.
Some summit spouses must have trust issues - why else would they turn up?
It could be said that anyone who voluntarily attends their partner?€?s office party is either a masochist or has trust issues. So, why, then, do the spouses of world leaders feel obliged to turn up to global summits?
Ordinarily, it appears that their only duty is to make small talk with their fellow spare parts while their other halves chew over the big issues of the day. At the G7 meeting in Cornwall this weekend, the Wags and Habs were also required to admire Boris Johnson?€?s latest child when he was rolled out before their beachfront BBQ.
Delivering his closing press conference in the Carbis Bay hotel on Sunday, pale golden sand and azure sea visible behind him, Boris Johnson sought to play down the unseemly diplomatic spat that had marred his moment on the world stage.
?€?Actually, what happened at this summit was that there was a colossal amount of work on subjects that had absolutely nothing to do with Brexit,?€? he insisted.
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene apologised for comparing Covid-19 mask requirements and vaccinations to the Nazi Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews. ?€?I have made a mistake and it's really bothered me for a couple of weeks now, and so I definitely want to own it,' Taylor Greene said. Her apology on Monday came amid calls from some Democrats to censure her for the Holocaust remarks. Her comments had also been denounced by Republican congressional leaders
Joe Biden said meeting with Vladimir Putin would be ?€?critical?€? and that he would offer to cooperate on areas of common interest if the Kremlin so choses. Biden warned that if Russia chose not to cooperate in areas like cybersecurity ?€?then we will respond?€?. The US president also characterised Putin as ?€?bright?€?, ?€?tough?€? and ?€?a worthy adversary?€?. When questioned by reporters, Biden said the potential death of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, now jailed in Russia, would be a tragedy and would hurt Russian relations with the rest of the world and with the United States. The two men are meeting in Geneva on 16 June for the first time as presidents
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year hold on power has ended as parliament voted on a new government of improbable allies. The schism was evident at a raucous session of the legislature ahead of the vote. Netanyahu loyalists, shouting ?€?shame?€? and ?€?liar?€?, frequently interrupted the man set to replace him, nationalist Naftali Bennett, as he spelled out the new coalition's policies. During his last speech as prime minister, a combative Netanyahu vowed to return: ?€?We will be back, soon?€? he said multiple times
The US president Joe Biden said: 'America is back at the table' as the G7 summit came to a close. Speaking in Newquay, southwestern England, after the three-day summit, Biden said democracies faced a threat from autocratic governments.
He said the US was in a 'contest with autocrats' and that he wanted a democratic alternative to China?€?s belt and road initiative
Boris Johnson sought to play down reports of a rift with the EU over Northern Ireland at the end of the G7 summit, although he insisted it was the job of the government to protect the UK's territorial integrity. Speaking at an end-of-summit press conference, the prime minister was careful not to escalate a row that had intensified following a report that France?€?s Emmanuel Macron had suggested that Northern Ireland was not wholly part of the UK
The Brazilian president led thousands of supporters through the streets of São Paulo on Saturday, and was fined for failing to wear a face mask in violation of local Covid-19 measures. The state government press office said a fine equivalent to about $110 (£78) had been imposed. Bolsonaro?€?s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Joe Biden has convinced allies that the US is back, as the two leaders met at the G7 summit on Saturday. Biden, asked by a reporter if America was back, turned to Macron and gestured with his sunglasses towards the French president that he should answer that question. 'Yes, definitely,' Macron said. 'It's great to have a US president who's part of the club and very willing to cooperate'
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
