This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson's push to reopen schools in June, to get kids back in classrooms and free up their parents to jump-start Britain's moribund economy, is running into surprisingly steep resistance.Parents here are all jitters. Teachers fret it’s too soon. And the scientific advisers, charged with predicting what’s safe, are offering a muddle of conflicting models.Johnson reaffirmed his plan that primary schools in England should open in a week at a news conference Sunday evening. It’s not going...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson's push to reopen schools in June, to get kids back in classrooms and free up their parents to jump-start Britain's moribund economy, is running into surprisingly steep resistance.Parents here are all jitters. Teachers fret it’s too soon. And the scientific advisers, charged with predicting what’s safe, are offering a muddle of conflicting models.Johnson reaffirmed his plan that primary schools in England should open in a week at a news conference Sunday evening. It’s not going...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — The British government scrambled Monday to dampen the impact of travel entry bans from more than 40 countries prompted by fear of a new coronavirus mutation believed to have originated in England.Health officials said they do not believe the mutation is more deadly or vaccine resistant, but evidence that it spreads much more easily has alarmed governments in Europe and around the world.Scientists advising the British government estimated that the new variant was 50 percent more transmissible.As country after...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — The British government scrambled Monday to dampen the impact of travel entry bans from more than 40 countries prompted by fear of a new coronavirus mutation believed to have originated in England.Health officials said they do not believe the mutation is more deadly or vaccine resistant, but evidence that it spreads much more easily has alarmed governments in Europe and around the world.Scientists advising the British government estimated that the new variant was 50 percent more transmissible.As country after...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — After seemingly endless negotiations, Britain and the European Union on Thursday announced that they had struck a post-Brexit trade and security deal, which will reshape relations between the two allies and antagonists for years to come, and may begin to mute the bickering that has consumed the sides in rancorous, often nationalistic debate.The details of the world’s largest free-trade pact were still emerging Thursday, but the deal will allow hundreds of billions of dollars in goods to continue to flow — without...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — After seemingly endless negotiations, Britain and the European Union on Thursday announced that they had struck a post-Brexit trade and security deal, which will reshape relations between the two allies and antagonists for years to come, and may begin to mute the bickering that has consumed the sides in rancorous, often nationalistic debate.The details of the world’s largest free-trade pact were still emerging Thursday, but the deal will allow hundreds of billions of dollars in goods to continue to flow — without...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — As vaccines are rolling out, the coronavirus is on the move as well, not merely spreading but also , and possibly becoming more transmissible. There is no evidence that these changes are making the virus deadlier, but new research has provided evidence that the virus is not a static target of vaccines and will need to be watched closely to see how it responds to therapeutic interventions and the human immune system.The issue of mutations sparked headlines across the United Kingdom after a top government official,...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — As vaccines are rolling out, the coronavirus is on the move as well, not merely spreading but also , and possibly becoming more transmissible. There is no evidence that these changes are making the virus deadlier, but new research has provided evidence that the virus is not a static target of vaccines and will need to be watched closely to see how it responds to therapeutic interventions and the human immune system.The issue of mutations sparked headlines across the United Kingdom after a top government official,...WW…

This article was published more than 5 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday ordered the immediate expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats believed to be involved in espionage, in the first reprisals against Moscow for a chemical attack on a former double agent.May, speaking to Parliament, said the response would include a halt to high-level meetings between British and Russian officials and the cancellation of a planned visit to Britain by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.She also said the royal family and government ministers would boycott...…This article was published more than 5 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday ordered the immediate expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats believed to be involved in espionage, in the first reprisals against Moscow for a chemical attack on a former double agent.May, speaking to Parliament, said the response would include a halt to high-level meetings between British and Russian officials and the cancellation of a planned visit to Britain by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.She also said the royal family and government ministers would boycott...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIt is now surely one of the most-read medical reports among caregivers in intensive care units around the world who are bracing for the novel coronavirus. , published in the British medical journal the Lancet last month by a team of doctors working at the center of the outbreak, is the first study to characterize the clinical course, treatment and mortality of a group of critically ill patients infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.The report is highly valuable, say clinicians in the United States and Europe, because it...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIt is now surely one of the most-read medical reports among caregivers in intensive care units around the world who are bracing for the novel coronavirus. , published in the British medical journal the Lancet last month by a team of doctors working at the center of the outbreak, is the first study to characterize the clinical course, treatment and mortality of a group of critically ill patients infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.The report is highly valuable, say clinicians in the United States and Europe, because it...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareThe long-running saga behind the coronavirus vaccine developed by the drugmaker made another dramatic turn Tuesday as independent monitors took the extraordinary step of questioning the company’s portrayal of its data — a move that cast into doubt the fate of the vaccine in the United States.In a memo sent to company and government officials, obtained by The Washington Post, experts who have been overseeing the vaccine trial expressed concern and disappointment that the drugmaker had presented “outdated and potentially...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareThe long-running saga behind the coronavirus vaccine developed by the drugmaker made another dramatic turn Tuesday as independent monitors took the extraordinary step of questioning the company’s portrayal of its data — a move that cast into doubt the fate of the vaccine in the United States.In a memo sent to company and government officials, obtained by The Washington Post, experts who have been overseeing the vaccine trial expressed concern and disappointment that the drugmaker had presented “outdated and potentially...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Oxford University and AstraZeneca reported Monday that their coronavirus "vaccine for the world" was safe and 79 percent effective overall, according to data from a long-awaited clinical trial in the United States, Chile and Peru. The two-shot regimen was completely effective at preventing severe cases of illness.The results, announced in a , set the stage for U.S. regulators to decide whether to authorize the easily transported $4 shot after the company submits an application in coming weeks. The two-shot...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Oxford University and AstraZeneca reported Monday that their coronavirus "vaccine for the world" was safe and 79 percent effective overall, according to data from a long-awaited clinical trial in the United States, Chile and Peru. The two-shot regimen was completely effective at preventing severe cases of illness.The results, announced in a , set the stage for U.S. regulators to decide whether to authorize the easily transported $4 shot after the company submits an application in coming weeks. The two-shot...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Scotland's Parliament on Wednesday voted against a proposal to urge an investigation into the finances of former president Donald Trump's Scottish golf courses — saying such questions should be left to police, without political pressure.Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland, and he has invested more than $289 million into them without ever turning a profit. Some Scottish lawmakers want their government to seek an "unexplained wealth order" — a tool used to fight money laundering — to investigate where Trump got...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — Scotland's Parliament on Wednesday voted against a proposal to urge an investigation into the finances of former president Donald Trump's Scottish golf courses — saying such questions should be left to police, without political pressure.Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland, and he has invested more than $289 million into them without ever turning a profit. Some Scottish lawmakers want their government to seek an "unexplained wealth order" — a tool used to fight money laundering — to investigate where Trump got...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — After Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government had truly done "everything we could" to save the 100,000 lives taken by the coronavirus so far in Britain, a broad swath of scientists, public health experts, opposition politicians and ordinary citizens heaped scorn on the prideful assertion.Johnson rightly boasted in Parliament on Wednesday that Britain is a world leader at rolling out vaccines — and is the envy of Europe and the United States, having given a first vaccine dose to more than 10 percent of...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLONDON — After Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government had truly done "everything we could" to save the 100,000 lives taken by the coronavirus so far in Britain, a broad swath of scientists, public health experts, opposition politicians and ordinary citizens heaped scorn on the prideful assertion.Johnson rightly boasted in Parliament on Wednesday that Britain is a world leader at rolling out vaccines — and is the envy of Europe and the United States, having given a first vaccine dose to more than 10 percent of...WW…