Archives for September 2021

PARIS (AP) — French drugmaker Sanofi said Tuesday it was shelving plans for a COVID-19 vaccine based on messenger RNA despite positive results from early stage testing.

The Paris-based company said it will continue to develop another vaccine candidate that is already undergoing late stage human trials. That vaccine, developed jointly with Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline, is based on the characteristic spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Messenger RNA vaccines use a different technology that uses genetic information from the virus to trigger an immune response. This technology is already being used in the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

“From a public health perspective, mRNA COVID vaccines are widely available today, and starting a placebo-controlled study in countries where vaccines are available would be extremely challenging, so it does not make sense for us to further advance our mRNA Covid vaccine into Phase 3,” Sanofi said in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Sanofi recently expanded trials of its recombinant protein vaccine to test its effectiveness as a booster dose to extend immunity for people inoculated with a variety of other vaccines. Results from that study are expected later this year.

While Sanofi has decided not to pursue a COVID-19 vaccine base on messenger RNA technology, the company said early testing showed “promising results.” As a result, Sanofi said it plans to use the technology to develop a new flu vaccine, with clinical studies expected to start next year.

“Today, we have a promising mRNA platform, which we’re taking to the next level in development, including moving to modified mRNA, and against other diseases, including flu,” Jean-Francois Toussaint, global head of research and development at Sanofi’s vaccine unit, said in a statement.

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Days before Germany’s federal elections, Facebook took what it called an unprecedented step: the removal of a series of accounts that worked together to spread COVID-19 misinformation and encourage violent responses to COVID restrictions.

The crackdown, announced Sept. 16, was the first use of Facebook’s new “coordinated social harm” policy aimed at stopping not state-sponsored disinformation campaigns but otherwise typical users who have mounted an increasingly sophisticated effort to sidestep rules on hate speech or misinformation.

In the case of the German network, the nearly 150 accounts, pages and groups were linked to the so-called Querdenken movement, a loose coalition that has protested lockdown measures in Germany and includes vaccine and mask opponents, conspiracy theorists and some far-right extremists.

Facebook touted the move as an innovative response to potentially harmful content; far-right commenters condemned it as censorship. But a review of the content that was removed — as well as the many more Querdenken posts that are still available — reveals Facebook’s action to be modest at best. At worst, critics say, it could have been a ploy to counter complaints that it doesn’t do enough to stop harmful content.

“This action appears rather to be motivated by Facebook’s desire to demonstrate action to policymakers in the days before an election, not a comprehensive effort to serve the public,” concluded researchers at Reset, a U.K.-based nonprofit that has criticized social media’s role in democratic discourse.

Facebook regularly updates journalists about accounts it removes under policies banning “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” a term it created in 2018 to describe groups or people who work together to mislead others. Since then, it has removed thousands of accounts, mostly what it said were bad actors attempting to interfere in elections and politics in countries around the world.

But there were constraints, since not all harmful behavior on Facebook is “inauthentic”; there are plenty of perfectly authentic groups using social media to incite violence, spread misinformation and hate. So the company was limited by its policy on what it could take down.

But even with the new rule, a problem remains with the takedowns: they don’t make it clear what harmful material remains up on Facebook, making it difficult to determine just what the social network is accomplishing.

Case in point: the Querdenken network. Reset had already been monitoring the accounts removed by Facebook and issued a report that concluded only a small portion of content relating to Querdenken was taken down while many similar posts were allowed to stay up.

The dangers of COVID-19 extremism were underscored days after Facebook’s announcement when a young German gas station worker was fatally shot by a man who had refused to wear a mask. The suspect followed several far-right users on Twitter and had expressed negative views about immigrants and the government.

Dozens of far-right extremists use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter to promote their brands, new research shows. By carefully toeing the line of propriety, key architects of Germany’s far-right harness the power of mainstream social media to promote festivals, fashion brands, music labels and mixed martial arts tournaments that can generate millions in sales and connect like-minded thinkers from around the world. But simply cutting off such groups could have unintended, damaging consequences.

All told, there are at least 54 Facebook profiles belonging to 39 entities that the German government and civil society groups have flagged as extremist, according to research shared with The Associated Press by the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit policy and advocacy group formed to combat extremism. The groups have nearly 268,000 subscribers and friends on Facebook alone.

Facebook initially declined to provide examples of the Querdenken content it removed, but ultimately released four posts to the Associated Press that weren’t dissimilar to content still available on Facebook. They included a post falsely stating that vaccines create new viral variants and another that wished death on police that broke up violent protests against COVID restrictions.

Reset’s analysis of comments removed by Facebook found that many were actually written by people trying to rebut Querdenken arguments, and did not include misinformation.

Facebook defended its action, saying the account removals were never meant to be a blanket ban of Querdenken, but instead a carefully measured response to users who were working together to violate its rules and spread harmful content.

Facebook plans to refine and expand its use of the new policy going forward, according to David Agranovich, Facebook’s director of global threat disruption.

“This is a start,” he told The AP on Monday. “This is us extending our network disruptions model to address new and emerging threats.”

The approach seeks to strike a balance, Agranovich said, between permitting diverse views and preventing harmful content to spread.

The new policy could represent a significant change in the platform’s ability to confront harmful speech, according to Cliff Lampe, a professor of information at the University of Michigan who studies social media.

“In the past they’ve tried to squash cockroaches, but there are always more,” he said. “You can spend all day stomping your feet and you won’t get anywhere. Going after networks is a smart try.”

While the removal of the Querdenken network may have been justified, it should raise questions about Facebook’s role in democratic debates, said Simon Hegelich, a political scientist at the Technical University of Munich.

Hegelich said Facebook appears to be using Germany as a “test case” for the new policy.

“Facebook is really intervening in German politics,” Hegelich said. “The COVID situation is one of the biggest issues in the election. They’re probably right that there’s a lot of misinformation on these sites, but nevertheless it’s a highly political issue, and Facebook is intervening in it.”

Members of the Querdenken movement reacted angrily to Facebook’s decision, but many also expressed a lack of surprise.

“The big delete continues,” one supporter posted in a still-active Querdenken Facebook group, “See you on the street.”

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Klepper reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this report from Oakland, California.

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Writers, artists, poets, a virologist, activists and filmmakers are among the luminaries named as this year’s MacArthur fellows. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on Tuesday announced 25 people will each receive $625,000 over five years to use as they please. The Chicago-based foundation has awarded the “genius grants” every year since 1981 to help further the pursuits of people with outstanding talent.

The 2021 fellows are:

Hanif Abdurraqib, 38, Columbus, Ohio, music critic, essayist, and poet forging a distinctive style of cultural and artistic criticism through the lens of popular music and autobiography.

Daniel Alarcón, 44, New York, writer and radio producer chronicling the social and cultural ties that connect Spanish-speaking communities across the Americas.

Marcella Alsan, 44, Cambridge, Massachusetts, physician-economist investigating the role that legacies of discrimination and resulting mistrust play in perpetuating racial disparities in health.

Trevor Bedford, 39, Seattle, computational virologist developing tools for real-time tracking of virus evolution and the spread of infectious diseases.

Reginald Dwayne Betts, 40, New Haven, Connecticut, poet and lawyer promoting the humanity and rights of individuals who are or have been incarcerated.

Jordan Casteel, 32, New York, painter capturing everyday encounters with people of color in portraits that invite reciprocal recognition of our shared humanity.

Don Mee Choi, 59, Seattle, poet and translator bearing witness to the effects of military violence and U.S. imperialism on the civilians of the Korean Peninsula.

Ibrahim Cissé, 38, Pasadena, California, 38, cellular biophysicist developing microscopy tools to investigate the subcellular processes underlying genetic regulation and misfunction.

Nicole Fleetwood, 48, New York, art historian and curator elucidating the cultural and aesthetic significance of visual art created by incarcerated people.

Cristina Ibarra, 49, Pasadena, California, documentary filmmaker crafting nuanced narratives about borderland communities, often from the perspective of Chicana and Latina youth.

Ibram X. Kendi, 39, Boston, American historian and cultural critic advancing conversations around anti-Black racism and possibilities for repair in a variety of initiatives and platforms.

Daniel Lind-Ramos, 68, Loiza, Puerto Rico, sculptor and painter transforming everyday objects into assemblages that speak to the global connections inherent in Afro-Caribbean and diaspora legacies.

Monica Muñoz Martinez, 37, Austin, Texas, public historian bringing to light long-obscured cases of racial violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and their reverberations in the present.

Desmond Meade, 54, Orlando, Florida, civil rights activist working to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens and remove barriers to their full participation in civic life.

Joshua Miele, 52, Berkeley, California, adaptive technology designer developing devices to enable blind and visually impaired people to access everyday technologies and digital information.

Michelle Monje, 45, Palo Alto, California, neurologist and neuro-oncologist advancing understanding of pediatric brain cancers and the effects of cancer treatments with an eye toward improved therapies for patients.

Safiya Noble, 51, Los Angeles, digital media scholar highlighting the ways digital technologies and internet architectures magnify racism, sexism, and harmful stereotypes.

J. Taylor Perron, 44, Cambridge, Massachusetts, geomorphologist deconstructing the physical processes that create landforms on Earth and other planetary bodies.

Alex Rivera, 48, Pasadena, California, filmmaker and media artist exploring issues around migration to the United States and exploitative labor practices with an activist orientation.

Lisa Schulte Moore, 50, Ames, Iowa, landscape ecologist implementing locally relevant approaches to improve soil and water quality and strengthen the resilience of row crop agriculture.

Jesse Shapiro, 41, Providence, Rhode Island, applied microeconomist devising new frameworks of analysis to advance understanding of media bias, ideological polarization, and the efficacy of public policy interventions.

Jacqueline Stewart, 51, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures/University of Chicago, Los Angeles, cinema studies scholar and curator ensuring that contributions of overlooked Black filmmakers and communities of spectators have a place in the public imagination.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, 49, Princeton, New Jersey, historian analyzing the political and economic forces underlying racial inequality and the role of social movements in transforming society.

Victor J. Torres, 44, New York, microbiologist investigating how bacterial pathogens overcome the immune system and identifying potential therapies.

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, 70, Tallahassee, Florida, choreographer and dance entrepreneur using the power of dance and artistic expression to elevate the voices of Black women and promote civic engagement.

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FINANCIAL MARKETS

Stocks fall broadly

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are broadly lower, putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest drop since May. The benchmark index fell 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.3%.

The center of Wall Street’s action was again in the bond market, where a swift rise in Treasury yields is forcing investors to reassess whether prices have run too high for stocks, particularly the most popular ones. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 1.53%, its highest level since late June. That’s up from 1.32% a week ago.

Energy stocks bucked the downward trend and rose.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

US consumer confidence slides for third consecutive month

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined for the third straight month in September amid ongoing worries about the rapidly-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus.

The Conference Board reports that its consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 109.3 in September, down from 115.2 in August. September’s reading is lowest level for the index since it sank to 95.2 in February.

The board said consumers’ view of both the present situation and future expectations continued to degrade as intentions for spending on big items likes homes, autos and major appliances all retreated again. Concerns about inflation are also dampening consumer sentiment.

HOME PRICES

Record July jump in US home prices, sidelining more buyers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices soared in July from a year earlier by a record amount as buyers desperate for homes bid up prices amid a limited supply of available properties. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index surged 19.9% in July compared with a year ago, the largest gain on records dating back to 2000.

POWELL-YELLEN-CONGRESS

Yellen warns delay in raising debt limit will slow economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is sounding an urgent call for Congress to raise the U.S. government’s borrowing limit, a day after Senate Republicans blocked consideration of a bill that would have done so.

Yellen was testifying to a Senate committee at a hearing to update Congress on the impact of the vast financial support programs the government enacted after the viral pandemic paralyzed the economy 18 months ago. If the debt limit isn’t raised, Yellen warned, “the full faith and credit of the United States would be impaired, and our country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession.”

PFIZER-VACCINE-CHILDREN

Pfizer gives vaccine data from kids 5-11 to FDA

NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer has submitted research to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children as it moves closer to seeking approval for expanded use of the shots.

The drugmaker and its partner, Germany’s BioNTech, say they expect to request emergency use authorization of their vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 “in the coming weeks.” The companies also plan to submit data to the European Medicines Agency and other regulators. The two-shot Pfizer vaccine is currently available for those 12 and older. Pfizer tested a lower dose of the shots in children.

An estimated 100 million people in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE MANDATES

Employer vaccine mandates convert some workers, but not all

NEW YORK (AP) — Businesses that have announced vaccine mandates say some workers who had been on the fence have since gotten inoculated against COVID-19. But many holdouts remain — a likely sign of what is to come once a federal mandate goes into effect.

Even before President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 announcement that companies with more than 100 workers would have to require vaccinations, dozens of companies, including Amtrak, Microsoft, United Airlines and Disney, issued ultimatums to most workers. And smaller companies in New York, San Francisco and New Orleans have been required to implement mandates for customers and workers.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINES-SANOFI

Sanofi drops plans for messenger RNA vaccine against virus

PARIS (AP) — French drugmaker Sanofi says it is shelving plans for a COVID-19 vaccine based on messenger RNA despite positive results from early stage testing.

The Paris-based company said it will continue to develop another vaccine candidate that is already undergoing late stage human trials. That vaccine, being developed with Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline, uses a different technology. Sanofi is expanding efforts to test that vaccine as a COVID-19 booster.

Messenger RNA vaccines are already made by Pfizer and Moderna. Sanofi decided it wasn’t worth pursuing that technology for COVID-19 vaccines, given how widely available they are.

OPEC-OIL OUTLOOK

OPEC long-term outlook with crude at 3-year highs: rosy

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — While acknowledging the inevitable advance of alternative energy sources and technology, OPEC says oil will be the leading energy source for decades to come with crude prices reaching three-year highs.

In its annual World Oil Outlook, OPEC acknowledged that more electric vehicles on the road and the push for alternative and renewable energy will indeed usher in an era of declining demand for oil in rich countries. But OPEC believes the energy needs of expanding economies in other parts of world means that oil will be the world’s No. 1 source of energy through 2045.

EUROPE-ECONOMY

European Central Bank won’t overreact to fleeting inflation

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde says Europe’s monetary authority isn’t about to “overreact” to temporary inflation by tightening policy.

Lagarde says currently higher inflation of 3% in the eurozone is temporary, caused by bottlenecks and one-time factors. She said the bank still needs to nurture the ongoing recovery in the 19 countries that use the euro currency with stimulus including zero and negative interest rate benchmarks and bond purchases that drive down borrowing costs for companies.

That sets the ECB apart from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has indicated it is looking at scaling back its crisis bond purchases.

FORD-ELECTRIC VEHICLE-JOBS

Green energy takes hold in unlikely places with Ford project

GLENDALE, Ky. (AP) — When Ford revealed plans to ramp up its commitment to the electric vehicle sector, the automaker chose two states where Republican leaders have vilified the push for green energy and defended fossil fuels.

The project is expected to create nearly 11,000 jobs and pump billions in investments into Tennessee and Kentucky. In doing so, it creates an ironic disconnect between the automaker’s bet on battery-powered vehicles and the rhetoric from many Republican leaders who have railed against a shift toward green energy and away from fossil fuels. Those leaders embraced the automaker’s announcement Monday.

JAPAN-TOYOTA-WOVEN PLANET

Toyota banks on mobility technology for future growth

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Toyota is revving up acquisitions in mobility technology, adding Renovo Motors, a Silicon Valley software developer, to its Woven Planet team, which is working on automated driving.

Earlier, Toyota bought CARMERA Inc., a U.S. venture that specializes in sophisticated road mapping updates. It has not disclosed the value of either deal.

Renovo develops automotive operating systems. Toyota sees that as essential for developing programmed vehicles so it can transition to “a mobility company” that includes more than just cars. Renovo means “new life” in Latin.

Woven Planet is Toyota’s wholly owned subsidiary.

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Activision Blizzard, the video game maker facing growing legal problems stemming from allegations of a toxic workplace culture, has settled with U.S. workplace discrimination regulators.

The company, one of the world’s most high-profile gaming companies, reached a deal with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle claims, according to court documents filed Monday. The agency had filed suit earlier in the day in federal court in California, the culmination of a nearly three-year investigation.

The agency said Activision failed to take effective action after employees complained about sexual harassment, discriminated against employees who were pregnant and retaliated against employees who spoke out, including firing them.

Activision said it would create an $18 million fund to compensate people who were harassed or discriminated against. Money left over would go to charities for women in the video game industry or other gender equity measures. It will also “upgrade” its policies and training on harassment and discrimination and hire an independent consultant to oversee its compliance with the EEOC’s conditions. The agreement is subject to court approval and will be in effect for three years.

Santa Monica, California-based Activision, the maker of Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Overwatch and World of Warcraft, has seen its stock been battered in the past few months as employees complained about its labor practices and government officials took action.

California’s civil rights agency sued the company in July. Employees spoke up about harassment and discrimination, signing petitions criticizing the company for its defensive reaction to the suit and staging a walkout. A shareholder has filed suit, saying Activision misled investors about the severity of its labor problems and associated legal risks. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Activision’s disclosures to investors.

The California company has said it is cooperating with various regulators and working to resolve workplace complaints. It has recently “refreshed” its human resources department and hired a new “Chief People Officer” from Disney.

“There is no place anywhere at our company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind, and I am grateful to the employees who bravely shared their experiences,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a company statement Monday. He said he was dedicated to making the company an “inclusive, respected, and respectful” workplace.

The stock has dropped about 20% since the end of June. Shares rose 2% to $76.67 in Tuesday afternoon trading.

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