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China develops novel rabies vaccine

(Xinhua)09:50, June 30, 2020

WUHAN, June 29 (Xinhua) — A novel rabies vaccine for humans shows promise in preclinical testing, according to a new study published in the journal EBioMedicine.

This live, attenuated vaccine candidate was developed and tested by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wuhan-based Huazhong Agricultural University.

The research team constructed a novel chimeric virus, VEEV-RABV-G, through replacing the entire structural proteins of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) with the rabies virus glycoprotein (RABV-G), as the single structural protein.

According to the scientists, the VEEV has been widely used as a vaccine vector, or a carrier, for many infectious diseases. Different from previous constructs, VEEV-RABV-G in this study can self-propagate to high titers in cell culture, without help from any other structural proteins, said lead researcher Zhang Bo.

The vaccine candidate was proved to be safe and effective in a mouse model. It could prompt an immune response at a relatively low dose, while causing much weaker inflammation, and fewer side effects, compared with commonly used rabies vaccines, according to the study.

China has stepped up efforts in rabies prevention in recent years. The country has established goals to complete a nationwide dog vaccination registration program, and to achieve at least 90 percent vaccination coverage for the registered dogs by 2020, according to a national action plan issued by agriculture authorities in 2017.

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5G, BeiDou integrate to become key infrastructure expert

(Xinhua)09:57, June 30, 2020

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) — An integration of 5G and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is expected to become the most important infrastructure in the era of intelligence, said an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Liu Jingnan, also a professor at Wuhan University, expressed his confidence in the vast number of opportunities and innovative technologies emerging from the integration of 5G and BDS, said a report in the Science and Technology Daily.

The timing accuracy of the BDS system ranges from 20 to 30 nanoseconds, which can reach one nanosecond or even less through ground-based and space-based enhancements. The real-time positioning accuracy can reach one centimeter, Liu said.

As an infrastructure in the era of intelligence, 5G has the advantages of more bandwidth, larger capacity and large-scale connectivity, providing basic support to industries such as virtual reality, intelligent manufacturing and autonomous driving.

However, problems like the millisecond delay and virtual network location of 5G also restrict the remote control of driverless vehicles, Liu said, adding that the BDS system is the solution.

The system provides navigation signals of multiple frequencies. It also for the first time integrates navigation and communication capabilities, and can provide navigation services, short message communication, satellite-based augmentation, as well as precise positioning.

The integration of 5G and BDS is expected to serve fields including the self-driving industry. Besides, it projects the future development of the system by integrating with new technologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence, which will help promote change in production and lifestyle, as well as the innovation of business models.

In the mid-1990s, Liu led his team to participate in BDS research. From the BDS-1 to BDS-3, the team has conquered many key technologies of the system, said the report.

On June 23, China launched the last BDS satellite, the 55th in the BeiDou family, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation constellation.

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Rumor Buster Can mosquitoes, flies transmit COVID-19?

(Xinhua)11:09, June 30, 2020

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) — As the COVID-19 pandemic still ravages the world with the approaching of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, there is great concern that vectors like mosquitoes and flies could carry the coronavirus and transmit it to humans. Yet medical experts said that there is no evidence of such viral transmission.

The fear is not without cause as mosquitoes and flies could transmit a slew of contagious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. But mosquitoes and flies do not have the biological basis to transmit the coronavirus, according to Wang Liping, a researcher from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

There has been no evidence worldwide showing that COVID-19 contagion was caused by mosquitoes and flies, she said at a news conference on Saturday, urging people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and keep food from flies in summer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also clarified that the novel coronavirus cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites. To date there has been no information nor evidence to suggest that the new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes, the WHO said on its website.

The novel coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose, the WHO noted.

As of today, theres no scientific evidence that a mosquito is competent in spreading COVID-19 from any host to any other host, RJ Montgomery, director of Mosquito Management Services in Hillsborough County, Florida, told local media.

The mosquito is the vector of many, many pathogens but from what we know today, we know it [COVID-19] is not a pathogen mosquitoes can transmit from human to human, Montgomery was quoted by WTSP, a CBS-affiliated television station in Florida.

To protect yourself, clean your hands frequently with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water, and avoid close contact with anyone who is coughing and sneezing, according to the WHO.

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Chinese company unveils positive results of COVID-19 vaccines

(Global Times)15:20, June 30, 2020

A staff member displays a sample of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

An institute of biological products in Beijing affiliated with the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) announced on June 28 that it had achieved positive results for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate it developed.

The development came as the global number of confirmed patients exceeded 10 million as of 6:30 pm June 28 (Beijing time).

Three of the four inactivated COVID-19 vaccines developed in China evoked positive immune responses in Phase I and II clinical trials, indicating that China has made great progress in the research and development (RD) of this type of vaccine, experts said.

The Beijing institute, which is under the Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said in a statement sent to the Global Times that all 1,120 volunteers in the first and second phase clinical trials successfully produced high-titer antibodies against COVID-19 after accepting two doses of the vaccine.

The vaccine has proven to be effective and safe, read the statement.

The clinical trials started on April 27 in Shangqiu county, Central Chinas Henan Province and were designed as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled studies, according to the statement.

Another institute under CNBG in Wuhan, Central Chinas Hubei Province, on June 16 announced the results of Phase I and II clinical trials of a vaccine candidate it developed. This provided further vital data for CNBGs research of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines, read the statement.

On June 23, CNBG announced that it had agreed with authorities in the United Arab Emirates to start Phase III clinical trials for inactivated vaccine candidates CNBG developed. The group did not say which vaccines were involved.

Experts said that if human trials go well overseas, the third phase trial will be closed in August, followed by medical observation in September, with data revealed as soon as October. A vaccine could then be approved for marketing after positive results at the end of October.

Sinopharm is expanding manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines. One plant in Beijing and one in Wuhan can together produce at least 200 million doses annually, according to media reports.

The plant in Beijing is the largest manufacturing center for COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, reports said.

However, mass production of inactivated vaccines is still facing the initial challenge of insufficient capacity, warned experts.

Each person needs two doses of the inactivated vaccine to evoke an immune response, and 200 million doses would only meet the immunization needs of 100 million people. This is still far from enough for China and the world at a time when vaccines are urgently needed, Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, told the Global Times on June 28

China is developing COVID-19 vaccines in five categories – inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines and nucleic acid-based vaccines, reports said.

Except for live attenuated influenza vaccines, all four types have entered human clinical trials, showing that the progress of RD for COVID-19 vaccines in China is markedly faster than in the US, analysts noted.

Several other types of vaccines, if developed successfully, are theoretically more productive than inactivated vaccines, said Tao.

The World Health Organization (WHO) expects 2 billion doses of vaccine to be available worldwide by the end of 2021. Inactivated vaccines alone will certainly not be enough, Tao said.

The WHO released plans on June 26 that target delivery of 500 million tests to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by mid-2021, 245 million courses of treatments to LMICs by mid-2021, and 2 billion vaccine doses, of which 1 billion will be purchased for LMICs by the end of 2021.

According to the WHOs website, there are 16 COVID-19 candidate vaccines in clinical trials worldwide, of which seven are being developed by Chinese companies or jointly developed by Chinese and foreign companies.

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China makes ‘notable breakthrough’ in search for vaccine against novel coronavirus US media

By XianJiangnan (Peoples Daily Online)17:41, June 30, 2020

Screenshot of the report by The Wall Street Journal

China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences has received approval to conduct human scientific trials of a novel coronavirus messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine candidate developed using advanced genetics technology, signaling “a notable breakthrough for China’s quickly developing pharmaceutical industry,” wrote The Wall Street Journal on June 27.

Approved on June 19, this is the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to reach the clinical-trial stage in China, the report said, noting that the new vaccine brings the number of China-developed vaccines given the go-ahead for clinical trials to eight.

A study shows that the COVID-19 mRNA technology uses genetic material that tricks the body’s cells into producing proteins resembling those on the surface of the coronavirus, and which induces an immune response that is supposed to protect a person against exposure to the actual virus.

For this project, the academy is collaborating with private companies Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co. and Shenzhen-listed Yunnan Walvax Biotechnology Co., according to the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.

Meanwhile, Moderna Inc. in the U.S. and Germany’s BioNTech started testing their mRNA-based vaccine candidates on volunteers in their respective countries in the spring, it said, adding that no mRNA-based vaccines have been approved for public use by any country to date.

Two other Chinese drugmakers, the report noted, are pushing COVID-19 vaccine candidates that have already undergone initial human trials in China into phase-three tests in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

According to World Health Organization data, as of June 17, a total of 16 COVID-19 vaccine candidates were undergoing human clinical trials around the world.

Scientists expect multiple vaccines to be on the market, though it is not yet known which vaccine will be most effective, said the report.

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Brazil may become leading oil producer National Petroleum Agency

(Xinhua)14:03, July 31, 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul. 30 — Brazil is on its way to become one of the worlds leading oil producers, said Felipe Kury, the director of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) on Tuesday.

Kury made the remarks at a technical seminar here when he commented on the new oil auctions, saying the country is going through an incredible moment and that there is a concrete chance for the country to become a leading producer.

ANP intends to carry out two more auctions this year, said Kury, adding that 72 exploration areas auctioned are a significant demonstration of the resumption of Brazils oil exploration process.

According to Kury, the next auction rounds are scheduled for October and November and will include pre-salt areas. If all blocs included in the two rounds are auctioned, ANP expects revenues to reach 11 billion reals (2.9 billion U.S. dollars).

The auctions held in the past two years and those to be held this year may change Brazils energy matrix by introducing a higher production of natural gas, Kury said.

He also highlighted the importance of a production and development clause in the contracts, which is to generate investments and boost the entire production chain.

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911 migrant children taken away from parents in U.S. within a year

(Xinhua)15:54, July 31, 2019

LOS ANGELES, July 30 — More than 900 children have been separated by the U.S. government from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in one year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Tuesday.

The ACLU said in a court filing in San Diego, California that 911 children were separated from their parents, including babies and toddlers from June 28, 2018 to June 29, 2019.

The forced separation is part of result of the U.S. government zero tolerance policy toward migrants who illegally cross the U.S. southern border.

The policy prompted a domestic and international outcry. Under the political pressure, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June 2018, saying that the U.S. government would stop separating families unless the adults pose a risk to their children.

However, according to the ACLU, few of the more than 900 children taken from their parents since June of last year were at risk, and the organization has condemned the deplorable conditions in which the children are detained.

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U.S. State Department wasted 103 mln USD in camp building project in Afghanistan report

(Xinhua)16:11, July 31, 2019

WASHINGTON, July 30 — A report released Tuesday showed that the U.S. State Department squandered 103.2 million U.S. dollars on a failed camp project in Afghanistan.

According to the report released by the Office of the Inspector General of the State Department, a decision was made in 2014 to move the Kabul Embassy Security Force (KESF) closer to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and Aegis Defense Services was awarded a contract to build a camp for KESF personnels at the cost of about 173.2 million dollars.

After the project was stalled for more than two years, the State Department was forced to terminate the project, with little to show for the 103.2 million dollars already invested.

The report found that the State Department was warned more than a month before awarding the project that it would not likely be finished on time or on budget. However, the State Department moved forward with the project.

This task order was moreover managed by employees who lacked the expertise necessary to properly plan and manage this complex, large-scale construction project, the report said.

Delays began almost immediately and persisted throughout, the report said, in January 2017, the department terminated the project for convenience after very little work had been accomplished, and the design was never completed.

This led to expenditures of 103.2 million dollars without any discernible benefit to the department or the people it intended to protect, the report concluded.

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Two children among victims killed in festival shooting in N. California

(Xinhua)10:13, July 30, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO, July 29 — A six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were among the victims killed in a shooting at an annual garlic festival held in Gilroy city, Northern California, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said Monday.

Smithee told a press conference the deaths also included a male in his 20s and the shooter, who was gunned down within less than a minute after police officers engaged and fatally wounded the suspect who was identified as 19-year-old Santino William Legan.

He said the investigators found the weapon that suspect used was an SKS AK-47 type assault rifle, which was purchased legally in the state of Nevada on July 9.

The police chief updated the number of total injuries to 12 who survived the shooting at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. The injuries were previously put at 15 on Sunday.

He thanked the first respondent police officers for engaging the suspect rapidly to prevent more possible casualties. It could have gone so much worse, so fast, he said.

Craig Fair, deputy special agent in charge of the San Francisco Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said FBI agents were assisting in the probe of the festival shooting that occurred late Sunday to find out what was behind the attack.

Our…principal concern at this point is motivation and ideological leanings, he said.

On Monday, Amy Storey, president of Keuka College in New York, confirmed in a statement that Trevor Irby, a biology major who graduated from the college in 2017, was the third victim of the mass shooting at the garlic festival over the weekend in California.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival, which started in 1979, is now known across the globe as the worlds greatest summer food fair, featuring three full days of garlicky food, live entertainment, and family fun.

Sunday was the last day of the annual three-day festival, which often attracts tens of thousands of garlic lovers.

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Provoking confrontation between China, U.S. endangers world peace

(Xinhua)15:19, July 30, 2019

BEIJING, July 30 — Provoking confrontation between China and the United States endangers world peace and serves no ones benefit.

However, recently more than 100 Americans signed an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging the U.S. government to stay the course on the path of confronting China.

The letter, full of cold war mentality, describes China as a dangerous and expansionist country.

Such descriptions are unfounded and ridiculous.

China has always been a peace-loving country with no intention to dominate the world.

Building a world of great harmony and enabling people to co-exist peacefully are the philosophy cherished by the Chinese people for thousands of years.

Nurtured by such a philosophy, the Chinese people are peace-loving. And China has stuck to the path of peaceful development.

In retrospect, Chinas achievements have been made not by engaging in military expansion or colonial plunder, but through its peoples hard work and efforts to maintain peace.

Instead of following the beaten track of big powers in seeking hegemony, China strives to promote the building of a new type of international relations and a community of shared future for mankind.

According to its idea, countries should respect one another, discuss issues as equals, and resolutely reject a Cold War mentality and power politics.

Countries should take a new approach to developing state-to-state relations with communication, rather than confrontation, and partnerships, rather than alliances.

China will never seek hegemony, expansion or spheres of influence, stated the white paper Chinas National Defense in the New Era released by the State Council Information Office lately.

Instead of bullying and intimidating others as was falsely argued in the letter, China has made great contribution to world peace and security.

As a firm supporter of UN peacekeeping operations, China faithfully fulfills UN peacekeeping mandates and actively contributes to the UN peacekeeping cause.

China is the largest contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping missions among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and the second largest financial contributor to United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget.

The Chinese army has been lauded as a critical factor and key force of peacekeeping operations.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that China has become the most important pillar of multilateralism and an indispensable, trustworthy force for world peace and development.

Chinas development poses no threats to the international community.

On the contrary, while seeking self-development, China has presented development opportunities to the world.

Take the Belt and Road Initiative for example.

Since its birth in 2013, significant progress has been made, including a number of landmark early results. Participating countries have obtained tangible benefits, and their appreciation of and participation in the initiative is growing.

Certain people in the United States should have a better understanding of Chinese culture as well as Chinas domestic and foreign policies before tarnishing China.

With peace and development remaining the theme of the time, it is hoped that these people give up zero-sum thinking, view Chinas development as well as Sino-U.S. relations correctly and encourage win-win cooperation instead of advocating confrontation.