Fauci expects tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses at start of 2021
Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of a coronavirus vaccine in the early part of next year, with production ramping up so that it hits a billion doses by the end of 2021, Anthony Fauci, the top US government official on infectious diseases, said in a Reuters interview on Wednesday.
Fauci said he has not seen any pressure from the White House to announce a vaccine close to the Nov 3 election in the hopes of boosting President Donald Trump's re-election chances.
He added that regulators have promised "they are not going to let political considerations interfere" with the approval of a Covid-19 vaccine and that "safety and efficacy" will be primary considerations.
Fauci's interview with Reuters came on the same day Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the virus is "going away. It will go away like things go away."
US wants to see 'untrusted' Chinese apps removed from US app stores
The United States wants to see"untrusted" Chinese apps removed from American app stores, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, calling the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat "significant threats."
Unveiling what he called an expansion of US efforts to establish a "clean network," Pompeo said Washington would work to block various Chinese apps as well as Chinese telecoms companies from accessing the sensitive information of American citizens and businesses.
His comments come as US President Donald Trump has threatened to ban Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app that has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerns as months-long tensions between Washington and Beijing intensified.
Coronavirus: CDC warns against drinking hand sanitiser amid reports of deaths
A rash of poisonings and four deaths in May and June were tied to drinking hand sanitiser that contained methanol in Arizona and New Mexico, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The incidents happened after President Donald Trump mused on ingesting disinfectants to treat the novel coronavirus.
The agency detailed 15 cases of methanol poisoning in its weekly report, including four patients who remain hospitalised and three who were released with permanent visual impairment.
Lebanese bride happy to be alive after Beirut blast cuts short wedding video
Radiant in a long white gown and veil, 29-year-old Lebanese bride Israa Seblani stands smiling and posing for her wedding video. The scene is shattered by a deafening roar, and a powerful shockwave nearly blows her off her feet.
The dramatic footage captured the moment when a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, killing 135 people and injuring more than 5,000.
A day later, she and her husband Ahmad Subeih, 34, a businessman in Beirut, were struggling to process what happened.
Cycling: Jakobsen in coma after Tour of Poland crash branded 'criminal act'
Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen was in a coma, fighting for his life on Wednesday (Aug 5) after he was thrown into and over a barrier at 80kmh in a sickening conclusion to the opening stage of the Tour of Poland.
Footage showed 23-year-old Jakobsen, of the Deceuninck-Quick Step, racing elbow-to-elbow with fellow Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen of Jumbo-Visma as both men frantically tussled in a tight sprint to the line in Katowice.
However, Jakobsen came off worst, somersaulting over the barriers before colliding with a photographer after Groenewegen had veered suddenly to the right, squeezing his rival into the security wall.
