Exploring all angles to events that shape the world

The World Health Organization says it is temporarily halting its clinical trials that use hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID -19 patients over published concerns that the drug may do more harm than good. The move comes after the medical journal The Lancet reported on Friday May 22 that patients getting hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates than other coronavirus patients. The WHO has 3,500 patients from 17 countries enrolled in what it calls the Solidarity Trial. This is an effort overseen by the WHO to find new treatments for COVID -19. READ MORE

The director of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac), Mojisola Adeyeye, has disclosed that clinical trails for virus treatment using chloroquine will continue despite a recent move by the  WHO to suspend a similar trial over safety concerns. She told a local broadcaster that even though Nafdac did not dispute WHO ’s conclusions, the decision to continue with the trial was in order to generate their own data. “I do not know the data that they’re looking at, whether it’s from the Caucasian population or from the African population. If the data they’re looking at and the reason for suspending the trials is from Caucasian population, then it may be justified. “But I don’t think we have data from the African population yet, because our genetic make up is different,” she added. Lagos State had announced last week that trials were to start with the anti-malarial drug. READ MORE

Algerian authorities have vowed they will not give up on the controversial use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment against coronavirus, despite the decision of the World Health Organization ( WHO ) to suspend clinical trials, a member of the Pandemic Monitoring Committee said Tuesday. “We have treated thousands of cases with this drug with great success to date. And we have not noted any adverse reactions,” Dr. Mohamed Bekkat, a member of the Scientific Committee monitoring the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic in Algeria, told AFP . “We have not recorded any deaths related to the use of (hydroxy)chloroquine,” said Dr. Bekkat, also president of the Council of the Algerian Medical Association. READ MORE

The mainstream media in the US has mainly questioned the Trump team's recent call to "trust" POTUS to restore the economy after the pandemic ends, yet few outlets have bothered to dissect what the administration has already done to prevent the economy from collapsing. The coronavirus pandemic has ruined Trump's perceived strong point in this year's presidential election, that POTUS greatly boosted the country's economy over the last four years. READ MORE

Russia is planning to create its own orbital space station and winged, crewed spacecraft, according to Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Speaking to Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rogozin explained how the International Space Station (ISS) is due to operate for another seven-to-ten years, and, as a world leader in the space industry, Russia should be at the forefront of whatever comes next. READ MORE

Police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters who gathered Sunday against a controversial security law proposed by China, in the most intense clashes for months. As the demonstrators and police were facing off in the semi-autonomous financial hub, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi insisted in Beijing that the proposed law must be imposed "without the slightest delay". READ MORE

China is targeting a July launch for its ambitious plans for a Mars mission which will include landing a remote-controlled robot on the surface of the red planet, the company in charge of the project has said. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its space programme in an effort to catch up with its rival the United States and affirm its status as a major world power. READ MORE

China warned on Monday that it will take countermeasures if the United States insists on undermining its interests regarding Hong Kong, following the latest comments from Washington about possible sanctions over new national security legislation for the city.  READ MORE

China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong and the city’s security chief on Monday defended proposed national security laws by describing some acts in mass pro-democracy protests last year as terrorism. Several government departments issued statements in defence of the proposal after the biggest protest in the city since the coronavirus lockdown on Sunday. The security legislation, some details of which were announced last week, aims to tackle secession, subversion and terrorist activities and could see Chinese intelligence agencies set up bases in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, one of the world’s leading financial hubs. READ MORE

Britain’s refusal to seal climate commitments in a new deal with the European Union to govern their relations after Brexit has become a stumbling block in their deadlocked talks and raises the risk of future trade disputes. While Britain has joined the global Paris agreement to fight climate change and has its own ambitious emissions-cutting goals, London has refused to make binding commitments in the area in the new deal it is seeking with the EU from 2021. READ MORE

It’s back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. — aboard a retro-style “Right Stuff” capsule. Make no mistake: This is not your father’s — or grandfather’s — capsule. SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule outshines NASA’s old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way. The Dragon’s clean lines and minimalist interior, with touchscreens instead of a mess of switches and knobs, make even the space shuttles seem yesteryear. READ MORE

The African response to the coronavirus pandemic has received widespread praise. Despite the multitude of resource challenges they face, African countries have come together in remarkable ways, united by a common purpose. The countries of the Global South are more vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19 because of low levels of development, insufficient resources and weak health systems. READ MORE

The March coronavirus stimulus package provided an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits for four months for the now 39 million people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, inspiring Republicans to make bogeymen of the people earning more than before. READ MORE

BERLIN— In a third-floor conference room here overlooking the famous Potsdamer Platz, once bisected by the Berlin Wall, the future of academic publishing is being negotiated. The backdrop is fitting, because if the librarians and academic leaders at the table get their way, another major divide will soon fall: the paywall that surrounds most research papers. Over the past 2 years, more than 150 German libraries, universities, and research institutes have formed a united front trying to force academic publishers into a new way of doing business. Instead of buying subscriptions to specific journals, consortium members want to pay publishers an annual lump sum that covers publication costs of all papers whose first authors are at German institutions. Those papers would be freely available around the world; meanwhile, German institutions would receive access to all the publishers' online content. Consortia of libraries and universities in the Netherlands, Finland, Austr...

A massive peer-review fraud has triggered a tough response from the Chinese government. Officials last week announced that more than 400 researchers listed as authors on some 100 now-retracted papers will face disciplinary action because their misconduct has seriously damaged China’s scientific reputation. Some institutions have barred the scientists linked to the fraud from pursuing their research, at least temporarily. And they have imposed other penalties, including canceling promotions, honors, and grants. Government ministries have also announced new “zero tolerance” policies aimed at stamping out research fraud. "We should eradicate the problem from its roots," said He Defang, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s (MOST’s) regulatory division in Beijing. Although China has previously cracked down on scientific misconduct, a chronic problem. These penalties "are the harshest ever," says Chen Bikun, an information scientist at the Nanjing...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (centre) walks with officials as he attends  a ceremony for Russia's Navy Day in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/Alexey NIKOLSKY) President Vladimir Putin on Sunday oversaw a pomp-filled display of Russia's naval might as the Kremlin paraded its sea power from the Baltic Sea to the shores of Syria. Some 50 warships and submarines were on show along the Neva River and in the Gulf of Finland off the country's second city of Saint Petersburg after Putin ordered the navy to hold its first ever parade on such a grand scale. "Today much is being done to develop and modernise the navy," Putin told servicemen after surveying the military hardware from his presidential cutter. "The navy is not only dealing with its traditional tasks but also responding with merit to new challenges, making a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism and piracy." Read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin © Sergey Guneev / Sputnik More than 750 American diplomats will have to leave Russia as a result of Washington's own policies, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an exclusive interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel. " The American side has made a move which, it is important to note, hasn't been provoked by anything, to worsen Russian-US relations. [It includes] unlawful restrictions, attempts to influence other states of the world, including our allies, who are interested in developing and keeping relations with Russia ," Putin told channel host, Vladimir Solovyov, Sunday. " We've been waiting for quite a long time that maybe something would change for the better, we had hopes that the situation would change. But it looks like, it's not going to change in the near future... I decided that it is time for us to show that we will not leave anything unanswered ," the Russian president added. Earlie...

South Korea announced Saturday that it will soon start talks with the Trump administration about allowing Seoul to build more powerful ballistic missiles to counter the North, but current and former American officials said the move would have little effect on the most urgent problem facing Washington: North Korea ’s apparent ability to strike California and beyond. The South’s newly elected president, Moon Jae-in, called for the relaxation of limits on its missile arsenal hours after the North launched an intercontinental ballistic missile , or ICBM, 2,200 miles into space. Experts quickly calculated that the demonstrated range of that test shot, if flattened out over the Pacific, could easily reach Los Angeles and perhaps as far as Chicago and New York, though its accuracy is in doubt. Read more

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on 13 Venezuelans associated with President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday, days ahead ahead of a controversial vote that may allow him to further consolidate his power. Senior U.S. officials issued another warning: If Maduro goes through with the vote, President Trump would follow up with "strong and swift economic action," though they declined to elaborate. On Sunday, Maduro is set to hold a vote that critics say could further erode democracy in Venezuela. If it goes through, Maduro could replace the current National Assembly with an entirely new institution filled with his supporters. He could then rewrite the constitution to his liking -- his main aim.   Read more

Tucker Carlson sparred a member of an immigration advocacy group over his decision to join 500 others to protest President Trump's anti-gang speech. Daniel Altschuler, of "Make the Road New York," said he was one of 500 people "rejecting the use of a local tragedy to score points in his broader anti-immigrant agenda." Read more