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Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers) with a dunk vs the Boston Celtics, 02/26/2021

Latest Stories

  • Missouri town decides to keep ‘Savages’ mascot, ditch logo

    Leaders of a nearly all-white northwest Missouri school district have narrowly voted to keep the high school's “Savages” nickname but will phase out the use of Native American imagery. The Savannah R-3 Board of Education's 4-3 vote on Tuesday night came after months of dueling petitions and heated debates over the mascot and amid a national movement calling for racial justice, the Maryville Daily Forum reports. “Thank you, Lord,” outgoing Board President Stancy Bond said after the meeting.

  • Many say now is the time to fight racial bias in foster care

    Cheri Williams looks back with regret at the start of her career as a child welfare caseworker in 1998. Systemic racism is a major reason why. “I removed probably about 100 kids from their homes in the 15 months I was an investigator … a lot of them were children of colour,” said Williams, who's now a vice-president of one of the largest adoption and foster care agencies in the United States. “Decades later, I realized how much harm I personally have caused," she said. “We’ve learned so much more of the value of supporting families, about implicit bias.” Bias and racism are widespread in the child welfare system. Black children are taken into foster care at a disproportionately high rate and languish longer before being adopted, reunited with their parents or aging out of the system. Williams oversees domestic programs for Bethany Christian Services, which released a report Wednesday detailing racial disparities in its programs for the first time and joining in broader calls to combat them. As Black families reel from the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation confronts racial injustice, Bethany’s leaders and others connected to the child welfare system believe the moment has come for fundamental changes, notably through better support for at-risk families so fewer children are removed from their homes on the grounds of neglect. “It’s a perfect opportunity to say let’s stop the madness of unnecessarily removing kids,” said Ira Lustbader, chief program officer and litigation director at the national advocacy group Children’s Rights. “This is an urgent racial justice issue.” Bethany's report is the first large-scale study of its foster care work based on a racial breakdown of the children. The study reviewed hundreds of cases from programs in four cities — Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan — comparing trends during the pandemic with those from 2019. Among the findings: Black children accounted for 32% of the children in Bethany’s programs, compared with 13% of the overall U.S. child population. And compared with white, multiracial and Hispanic children, Black children had the lowest rate of reunification with their biological parents — 19%. Bethany offered several recommendations, notably that governments at all levels should expand support for at-risk families before a child is removed and intensify efforts to reunify children if they are removed. Bethany also urged a reevaluation of a 1994 federal law that prohibits child welfare organizations from considering race as a basis for rejecting people who want to adopt or be foster parents. A major purpose of the law was to enable more white families to adopt Black children from foster care, but Williams said this ostensibly colorblind philosophy “can cause a lot of harm to children of colour.” “It’s been a source of great pain if there wasn't space in their families to have conversations about race,” she said, urging changes in the law so that social workers can assess the ability of parents to undertake a transracial adoption. Among Black adults who adopt Black children from foster care, there’s often a keen awareness of the system's racial inequities. Leslie Eason, 42, an attorney in Atlanta, has adopted a teenager from a group home and is close to completing the adoption of one of his friends. Both are 17. “I don’t want to criticize people who are trying to do good, but I think these group homes are terrible places,” Eason said. “It ends up being a place of last resort, with no resources to help these youths become the people they need to become.” Another Atlanta woman, Bridgette Griffin, has adopted a 3-year-old Black girl from foster care and been a foster parent to many other children, including teenage girls and babies. Griffin had two stints in foster care as a child, totalling about 12 years, before she left the system at 19 and worked for several years in a strip club. Things changed after she started volunteering at a group home and enjoyed working with the girls. Though she thrives on being a foster mom, she sees traces of racism ingrained in the child welfare system. “You see the difference in the courts — two kids coming in for the same type of neglect,” she said. “The judge looks at them differently, the social workers deal with them differently. There’s more sympathy for the white parents, unfortunately. ... It’s not fair.” Bethany was founded in Michigan in 1944, initially operating an orphanage in Grand Rapids before expanding into adoption and foster care. It now provides services in more than 30 states and nearly a dozen countries. It is the nation’s largest evangelical Christian child welfare agency, and over the decades, was viewed warily by some children’s rights advocates for policies they perceived as too heavily focused on adoption instead of family preservation. Bethany has evolved in recent years, ending its international adoption programs and announcing that it would begin serving LGBTQ parents nationwide. “Bethany historically has been an exclusive organization,” Williams said. “We’ve been on a journey to being a much more inclusive one … realizing the value of keeping families together and broadening the coalition of people we're engaging.” Vivek Sankaran, a University of Michigan law professor who advocates for the rights of children and parents in child welfare cases, said Bethany’s report “gives me hope that we are finally recognizing the harms we have inflicted on families.” “We need unlikely voices like Bethany to spark this conversation,” he added. Sankaran says the pandemic has exposed the structural inequities Black people face in housing, employment and criminal justice, which “are the dynamics that drive families into the foster care system.” He noted that the areas of his hometown of Ann Arbor hardest hit by COVID-19 were Black neighbourhoods that also accounted for most of the city’s child welfare cases. “Child welfare agencies cannot address this on their own,” he said. “They need to link up with other agencies and come up with a more holistic plan.” Angelo McClain, CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, said there’s been a surge of concern within his organization about racial issues, prompting a series of virtual town halls for members about racism, white privilege and police reform. “People are trying to leverage this moment to bring about change,” McClain said. David Crary, The Associated Press

  • As bank earnings roll in, a mixed picture for loans

    JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest U.S. bank and often heralded as a bellwether for the economy, on Wednesday reported an eye-popping increase in its profit for the first quarter. Absent from the results, however, was firm evidence that consumers and Main Street businesses are itching for more credit, after a year of pandemic-induced hibernation, to fuel further growth in the economy. Indeed, the bank credit picture as the first quarter ended was decidedly mixed, according to U.S. Federal Reserve data, with some indications that consumer credit demand is coming back to life but demand for bread-and-butter business loans remains lacking.

  • Private Division and Roll7 Announce OlliOlli World

    Private Division and Roll7 today announced that OlliOlli World will launch this winter digitally for the PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4 system, the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, PC, and Nintendo Switch™ system.

  • From OlliOlli to OXENFREE, Nintendo Details a Robust Selection of Indie Games Coming to Nintendo Switch

    During the latest Indie World video presentation, Nintendo detailed 21 games from independent developers that are coming to Nintendo Switch.

  • Facebook Faces Formal Irish Privacy Probe Into Data Leak

    (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. faces a formal probe by its main privacy regulator in the European Union following the leak of the personal data of more than half a billion users of the social media service.Ireland’s Data Protection Commission on Wednesday opened an inquiry following media reports earlier this month showing “that a collated dataset” of Facebook users’ personal data “had been made available on the internet,” the authority said in a statement.Personal information on 533 million Facebook users reemerged on a hacker website in early April. The information included phone numbers and email addresses of users, the Irish regulator said in a statement earlier this month. Facebook has said the data is old and was already reported on in 2019.Facebook said it’s “cooperating fully” with the Irish authority and that the probe “relates to features that make it easier for people to find and connect with friends on our services.” It said the features “are common to many apps and we look forward to explaining them and the protections we have put in place.”EU HubsThe EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect in May 2018, paving the way for national authorities in the 27-nation bloc to levy fines on companies of as much as 4% of annual sales. Facebook is among a number of big U.S. tech giants that have set up an EU hub in Ireland.According to the Irish agency’s last annual report, the regulator has 27 open privacy probes targeting companies such as Apple Inc. and Google, nine of which focus on Facebook.The probe will determine “whether Facebook Ireland has complied with its obligations, as data controller, in connection with the processing of personal data of its users by means of the Facebook Search, Facebook Messenger Contact Importer and Instagram Contact Importer features of its service,” the regulator said in its statement said.(Updates with Facebook comment in fourth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Minnesota cop will be charged in shooting of Black motorist

    BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A Minnesota prosecutor said Wednesday that he will charge a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, igniting days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. Kim Potter will be charged with second-degree manslaughter, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The announcement came a day after Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, where she had served for 26 years. Police Chief Tim Gannon also resigned Tuesday. Gannon had released Potter’s body camera video the day after the Sunday shooting. It showed her approaching Wright as he stood outside of his car as another officer was arresting him for an outstanding warrant. Police said he was pulled over for having expired registration tags. As Wright struggles with police, Potter is hearing shouting “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” before firing a single shot from her handgun. Gannon has said he believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her gun when she was going for her Taser. However, protesters and Wright’s family members say there’s no excuse for the shooting and it shows how the justice system is tilted against Blacks, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended up dead. The charging decision was announced as the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin progresses. George Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Prosecutors expect to decide Wednesday whether to charge a white former police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb, sparking nights of protests and raising tensions amid the nearby murder trial of the ex-officer charged with killing George Floyd. Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter and Police Chief Tim Gannon resigned Tuesday, two days after Potter shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Gannon has said he believed Potter mistakenly grabbed her pistol when she was trying to pull out her Taser. But protesters and Wright’s family members say the shooting shows how the justice system is tilted against Black people, noting Wright was stopped for an expired car registration and ended up dead. Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott said the city had been moving toward firing Potter, a 26-year veteran, when she resigned. Elliott said he hoped her resignation would “bring some calm to the community,” but that he would keep working toward “full accountability under the law.” Washington County Attorney Pete Orput told WCCO-AM that he had received information on the case from state investigators and hoped to have a charging decision on Wednesday. Orput did not respond to a message from The Associated Press. While the shooting happened in Hennepin County, prosecutors referred the case to nearby Washington County — a practice county attorneys in the Minneapolis area adopted last year in handling police deadly force cases. “We have to make sure that justice is served, justice is done. Daunte Wright deserves that. His family deserves that,” Elliott said. But police and protesters faced off again after nightfall Tuesday, with hundreds of protesters gathering again at Brooklyn Center’s heavily guarded police headquarters, now ringed by concrete barriers and a tall metal fence, and where police in riot gear and National Guard soldiers stood watch. About 90 minutes before a 10 p.m. curfew, state police announced over a loudspeaker that the gathering had been declared unlawful and ordered the crowds to disperse. That quickly set off confrontations, with protesters launching fireworks toward the station and throwing objects at police, who launched flashbangs and gas grenades, and then marched in a line to force back the crowd. “You are hereby ordered to disperse,” authorities announced, warning that anyone not leaving would be arrested. The state police said the dispersal order came before the curfew because protesters were trying to take down the fencing and throwing rocks at police. The number of protesters dropped rapidly over the next hour, until only a few remained. Police also ordered all media to leave the scene. Brooklyn Center, a suburb just north of Minneapolis, has seen its racial demographics shift dramatically in recent years. In 2000, more than 70% of the city was white. Today, a majority of residents are Black, Asian or Hispanic. Elliott said he didn't have at hand information on the police force's racial diversity but that “we have very few people of colour in our department.” Potter, 48, was an instructor with the Brooklyn Center police, according to the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. She was training two other officers Sunday when they stopped Wright, the association’s leader, BIll Peters, told the Star Tribune. The stop was for expired license plates, but police then tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June. Body camera footage released Monday shows Wright struggling with police when Potter shouts, “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” She draws her weapon after the man breaks free from police and gets back into the car. After firing a single shot from her handgun, the car speeds away, and Potter says, “Holy (expletive)! I shot him.” Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the medical examiner. Protests began within hours. In her one-paragraph letter of resignation, Potter said, “I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately." Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he rejects the explanation that Potter mistook her gun for her Taser. “I lost my son. He’s never coming back. I can’t accept that. A mistake? That doesn’t even sound right. This officer has been on the force for 26 years. I can’t accept that,” he said. Ben Crump, the Wright family's attorney, spoke outside the Minneapolis courthouse where fired police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial in Floyd’s death. Crump compared Wright’s death to that of Floyd, who was pinned down by police when they tried to arrest him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 at a neighbourhood market last May. Daunte Wright “was not a threat to them,” Crump said. “Was it the best decision? No. But young people don’t always make the best decisions. As his mother said, he was scared.” ___ Bauer contributed from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press writers Mohamed Ibrahim in Minneapolis; Tim Sullivan in Brooklyn Center; and Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, contributed to this report. ___ Find AP’s full coverage of the death of Daunte Wright at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-daunte-wright Scott Bauer And Mike Householder, The Associated Press

  • Global Urban Air Mobility Market (2020 to 2035) - Focus on Range, Application, Ecosystem, Operation, End-User, Platform Architecture, and Country - ResearchAndMarkets.com

    The "Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Range, Application, Ecosystem, Operation, End-User, Platform Architecture, and Country - Analysis and Forecast, 2023-2035" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

  • ITV News to cover Philip’s funeral with special programme

    The show will be presented by Tom Bradby and Julie Etchingham from Windsor.

  • Vaccine delivery delays stop Hamilton from expanding rollout

    Public health still doesn’t know when it can open its planned COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Rosedale Arena while Hamilton awaits further supply. The city’s medical officer of health told council last month that Hamilton’s fourth mass clinic, originally set to open in early April, couldn’t proceed until the city had more doses. “There are no updates at this time,” public health said in an email Monday. Hamilton has about 28,786 doses in stock, spokesperson James Berry said in an email on Tuesday. On Monday, Hamilton administered 3,219 doses through its various clinics, according to city data. In Monday’s briefing, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson indicated Hamilton only has enough vaccine to maintain capacity, noting the city received about 16,000 doses last week and administered about as many. “We do keep a small reserve ... just in case a vaccine shipment is delayed,” she said, noting the cushion is about a day’s worth of vaccine or less. “We don’t want to end up in a situation where we’re having to cancel appointments.” In Ontario, Pfizer vaccine deliveries are stable, while Moderna has had delays, according to a technical briefing with government officials early Tuesday. The government does not allow officials in the briefing to be named or directly quoted. The delays mean plans are still up in the air for when Hamilton can open its new clinic. Meanwhile, the city is allocating doses to target groups, including in hot spot neighbourhoods, homebound residents and those with eligible health conditions, Richardson said Monday. She noted the city is looking at how to vaccinate others eligible in Phase 2. The province previously designated the L8W and L9C postal codes as “hot spots” where residents 50 years and older are eligible for their vaccines. The city asked the province to add three more — L8N, L8L and L9K — that a more recent analysis identified as hot spots. However, public health said Monday that the province “will not be adding the additional postal codes to their online booking tool.” Residents who are at least 50 years old in the latter three postal codes can still phone Hamilton’s COVID-19 hotline to book an appointment, public health said. Maria Iqbal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

  • Rams gathering information after report accusing Aaron Donald of assault

    The Rams are looking into a report Aaron Donald allegedly assaulted a man.

  • Belgium to allow al fresco drinking and dining from May 8 to boost hospitality sector

    Belgium will allow bars and restaurants to reopen for the first time in six months on May 8, although only for outdoor consumption, after a four-week lockdown that has cut coronavirus infections but barely reduced pressure in hospitals. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the government was adopting a "prudent" approach.

  • Find latest market data of China's fine chemicals from Echemi's Market Price＆Insight

    China's chemical industry-wide data platform-Market Price & Insight：https://www.echemi.com/weekly-price.html, which Echemi has been meticulous prepared, has finally been launched recently. Echemi's Market Price＆Insight Find latest market data of China's fine chemicals from Echemi's Market Price＆Insight Qingdao, China, April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- China's chemical industry-wide data platform-Market Price & Insight：https://www.echemi.com/weekly-price.html, which Echemi has been meticulous prepared, has finally been launched recently. Different from the previous Weekly Price sector, the latest data platform not only broadens the product classification, but also provides more detailed and timely dynamic analysis for each subdivided product. It is a solid step taken by Echemi on the road of combining traditional chemical industry with digitalization. Echemi's new online chemical data service covers 200+ products in 28 categories. Committed to real-time monitoring of Factory data, insight into market changes, and assisting chemical companies in intelligent and efficient decision-making. The easiest and fastest way to help you use massive data to make efficient decisions and grasp more dynamic trends in China's chemical industry. Nowadays, all walks of life have discovered the great value of instant information. Most successful and smooth transactions are inseparable from the matching of previous information, and the chemical industry is the same. Echemi Market Price & Insight provides prices, supply&demand side, stock, equipment etc. data including acrylic acid and ester, acetic acid and downstream, phenol ketone and downstream, ethylene oxide and downstream, polyurethane, coating raw materials, API, etc. In addition to daily real-time updates, it also includes weekly and monthly comprehensive analysis reports for users. Echemi believes that this platform will provide users with rich and diverse forms of information, and take this to realize the benign decision-making of the enterprise and promote high-quality orders. The previous version of the Weekly Price section only for the prices and price fluctuations of certain popular chemical products. However, the feedback from multiple parties showed the failure to meet the diverse information needs of some users. Therefore, since the early stage of the new data section update, Echemi team analyzed and customized the demands of various users, striving to combine the actual conditions of the Chinese chemical industry on the basis of the original data service, thus the upgraded Market Price & Insight came into being. The new data has realized the comprehensiveness of products, the diversification of information, and the timeliness of updates. As early as January 2021, Echemi optimized the supplier system and opened a new chapter for the Echemi platform in new year. Coming to the second quarter, Echemi platform has continued to launch more professional value-added data services, aiming to improve the user experience of both platform suppliers and buyers. Providing practical and effective business assistance for as many users as possible! Source: Echemi Group Phone: +86-0532-80905922 / 89072278 Email: info@echemi.com Address: 12F, HuaYin Mansion No. 5, Donghai West Road, Shinan District, Qingdao, China Attachment Echemi's Market Price＆Insight

  • WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing

    Press Secretary Jen Psaki conducts a briefing at the White House.

  • Why Novavax Stock Is Jumping Again Today

    What happened Shares of Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) were jumping 5.8% at 11:46 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. This marked the second consecutive day of solid gains for the biotech for the same reason: anticipation that problems related to Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) COVID-19 vaccine could bode well for Novavax's prospects.

  • New COVID-19 deaths in Haldimand-Norfolk, Six Nations

    A resident of Haldimand-Norfolk and a Six Nations band member died of COVID-19 earlier this week. Ohsweken Public Health reported the territory’s 10th COVID-19 death on Tuesday, and confirmed the next morning the patient died on Monday. One COVID-19 patient had been in hospital earlier in the week, but as of Tuesday public health listed no hospitalized patients in its daily report. In a media release, band councillors extended their condolences to the loved ones of the deceased. “Six Nations Elected Council sends their thoughts, prayers, and good medicine to those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, and to all those who have been impacted by this horrible virus,” councillors said. There remain four active cases on Six Nations, with 121 people in self-isolation. The reserve has reported 447 total cases throughout the pandemic, with 434 recoveries and 10 deaths. Positive COVID-19 cases have been climbing for weeks in Haldimand-Norfolk, driven in large part by the rapid spread of the coronavirus variant first reported in the U.K. But the worst outcome was avoided until Tuesday, when the health unit reported the region’s 40th death caused by COVID-19. The deceased was living in the community but the health unit provided no further details, citing privacy concerns. “I’d like to extend my sincerest condolences to the individual’s family and friends at this difficult time,” said medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai. “COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to our community, especially with the presence of variants of concern. We must continue to be vigilant in preventing its spread by following all public health measures, including staying home when possible and avoiding non-essential travel.” As of Wednesday morning, there were 191 active cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand-Norfolk, with the health unit reporting that same number of new cases over the past seven days. Since the start of the pandemic 1,880 residents have tested positive, with 1,644 recovering and 40 confirmed to have died of COVID-19, while the deaths of five COVID-positive patients were deemed unrelated to the disease. J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

  • Global Ytterbium Sulfate (CAS 10034-98-7) Market Report 2021: Market Trends and Developments, Major Players, Main Downstream Sectors - ResearchAndMarkets.com

    The "Ytterbium sulfate (CAS 10034-98-7) Global Market Research Report 2021" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

  • Biden administration will spend $3bn to combat vaccine hesitancy following J&J pause

    This investment comes after the FDA recommended states pause in administering Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine

  • Texas power grid calls off appeal to conserve electricity

    AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ power grid manager called off its appeal to conserve electricity hours after putting customers on notice about higher-than-expected demand. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced late Tuesday night that residents and businesses could go back to regular power use after the grid averted an emergency. There were no notable power outages. Hours earlier ERCOT said it was alerting customers as a precaution, despite typical spring temperatures. The grid manager previously came under fire after it was accused of mismanaging its resources ahead of the historic freeze in February that knocked out power to 4 million customers and killed more than 100 people. ERCOT's watch was a step below emergency action. It blamed “a combination of high generation outages typical in April and higher-than-forecasted demand from a stalled cold front over Texas,” in a statement Tuesday by Woody Rickerson, vice-president of grid planning and operations. Most temperatures at the time ERCOT issued the alert were in the upper 70s and 80s — seasonable for the time of year, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas. By Wednesday morning, temperatures ranged from the 40s in the Panhandle to the 80s in the Rio Grande Valley, along the border with Mexico. Rickerson said about 32,000 megawatts of generating capacity — 25% of what the system could produce — had been taken offline. Those outages were for maintenance ahead of summer operations, when temperatures typically soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The power disruptions during the deadly February freeze led to the ouster of ERCOT's chief executive and the resignations of all three members of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates ERCOT. The Associated Press

  • EU backs Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, will not renew AstraZeneca, J&J contracts

    The European Union has announced plans for a massive contract extension for Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine, saying the bloc had chosen to stick with companies that had shown their value during the pandemic. The EU will not renew vaccine contracts with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson after their expiry, according to reports. “We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She also announced that America's Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech would provide the EU with an extra 50 million doses in the 2nd quarter of this year, making up for faltering deliveries of AstraZeneca.Von der Leyen said Pfizer-BioNTech “has proven to be a reliable partner. It has delivered on its commitments, and it is responsive to our needs. This is to the immediate benefit of EU citizens.”In a stinging rebuke to AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, the EU Commission will not renew its Covid vaccine contracts with the Anglo-Swedish and US pharma giants, Italian daily La Stampa reported, citing a source from the Italian health ministry.“The European Commission, in agreement with the leaders of many (EU) countries, has decided that the contracts with the companies that produce (viral vector) vaccines that are valid for the current year will not be renewed at their expiry,” the newspaper reported, adding that Brussels would rather focus on RNA (mRNA) technology used by Pfizer and Moderna.A spokesman for the EU Commission said the block was keeping all options open to be prepared for the next stages of the pandemic. "We cannot, however, comment on contractual issues," he added.Exacerbating the problems for AstraZeneca, Denmark decided Wednesday not to resume use of the jab, after putting it on hold last month following reports of rare blood clots in some recipients. The bulk of the shots given in the Scandinavian country so far have been the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.AstraZeneca was supposed to be the workhorse of the EU's vaccine drive this year – a cheap and easy-to-transport shot to break the pandemic's back. Yet, the EU said that out of 120 million doses promised for the 1st quarter, only 30 million were delivered, and, of the 180 million expected, now there are only 70 million set for delivery in the 2nd quarter. The J&J jab, which uses the same base technology as AstraZeneca, hit a snag this week when US regulators recommended a “pause” in administering the single-dose vaccine. Deliveries in the EU have been suspended. 'Very serious side effects'Commenting on the AstraZeneca and J&J concerns, Member of European Parliament Peter Liese said: "The side effects are very serious and I support the decision of many member states not to vaccinate AstraZeneca to younger people for the time being."I hope that the side effects of Johnson & Johnson will be clarified quickly by the American FDA and that targeted recommendations can then be made for whom this vaccine can and cannot be used."In France, Pfizer currently supplies most of the vaccines. According to the website Covidtracker.fr, which monitors the latest developments regarding the pandemic, 11 million French (of a total 67 million) have received their first vaccine, while 3.8 million have had their second jab.Over two-thirds of the 20 million doses obtained by French health services were supplied by Pfizer/BioNTech, less than a third by AstraZeneca and a small part by Moderna.(with AP, Reuters)