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French health minister blasts ‘lousy’ disinformation campaign after influencers
were offered money to say Pfizer Covid jab is dangerous
25 May, 2021 09:55
A firefighter fills a syringe with a dose of the "Comirnaty" Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination center
in Reze near Nantes as part of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination campaign in France,
(FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
The French minister of health has labeled a campaign, which offered influencers €2,000 to suggest the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is dangerous, as “lousy.” The ministry says it’s “following the events closely.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he and his ministry were still unsure about the origins of the campaign which sought to damage Pfizer’s reputation. “I do not know if it comes from France or from abroad,” he noted.
“It’s lousy, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible and it doesn’t work,” he stated, adding that he was confident the French people are unlikely to be “diverted” by some “negative communication.” He claimed that the majority of French people want the vaccine as soon as possible.
Veran’s comments come after several influencers said on Monday that they had been contacted by a mysterious agency called ‘Fazze’ which describes itself as an ‘influencer marketing platform’.
The agency reportedly offered French influencers €2,000 to claim the Pfizer vaccine is dangerous. Influencer Jeremie, known as ‘Docteur JFK’ on TikTok, told FranceInfo: “I was supposed to say the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had caused three times more deaths than AstraZeneca.” He added that the person contacting him wanted to remain anonymous and that he turned down the offer.
Gee, I wonder who could possibly have benefitted from influencers saying such things? Hmmm?
Leo Grasset, a YouTuber known as ‘DirtyBiology’, said he had also been contacted on May 24. He tweeted: “This is strange. I got offered a partnership that consists of destroying the Pfizer vaccine in a video. Huge budget, and a client that wants to stay anonymous.”
The French Ministry of Health has said it is keeping a close eye on developments and denounced the disinformation campaign.
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‘Completely inappropriate’: Top scientists denounce Big Pharma for implying annual Covid booster shots are crucial
13 May, 2021 14:19
More than a dozen influential infectious disease and vaccine experts say the first round of jabs may offer enough protection against Covid-19, refuting Big Pharma’s claims that regular shots will “likely” be needed.
In a report on Thursday, Reuters quotes top infectious disease and vaccine-development experts as saying that the first round of inoculation with vaccines against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants may be adequate to offer enduring protection.
The scientists also expressed concern that it’s the pharmaceutical executives rather than health specialists who are shaping public expectations around booster shots.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in April that people would “likely” need a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated, adding that yearly vaccinations would possibly be necessary.
Is it possible that there is an expiration of efficacy built-in to the vaccines? I detest big pharma so much that nothing would surprise me.
The CEO of American vaccine manufacturer Moderna, Stephane Bancel, also said this week that a booster shot might be needed as early as this autumn.
“There is zero, and I mean zero, evidence to suggest that that is the case,” Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters. Frieden now leads the global public health initiative Resolve to Save Lives. He went on to say that it was “completely inappropriate” to state that people would need an annual booster, “because we have no idea what the likelihood of that is.”
The World Health Organization has expressed a similar view. Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, told the outlet that there was no data yet available “that would inform a decision about whether or not booster doses are needed.” She added that the WHO was forming a panel of experts to assess vaccine efficacy data and to recommend changes to vaccination programs if necessary.
Pfizer responded to the criticism, saying it expected that the boosters would be necessary “while the virus was still circulating widely” – a situation that could change once the pandemic is brought under control.
The group of experts has also expressed concern that wealthy nations rushing to get booster shots as early as this year would push poorer nations farther back along the queue, as they are already struggling to buy doses for their first round of jabs.
The UN reported in April that low-income countries had received just 0.2% of all Covid-19 shots given to date.
Global spending on Covid-19 vaccines and booster shots could total $157 billion through 2025, says the US health-data firm IQVIA Holdings. Moderna, for example, has set a goal to produce three billion doses of vaccine by next year.
Ultimately, decisions on whether booster shots will be necessary “will best be made by public health experts, rather than CEOs of a company who may benefit financially,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases doctor at the University of California, San Francisco.
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Google fined $120 million by Italy’s antitrust authority for abusing market position to block rival’s smartphone app
13 May, 2021 10:11
© Reuters / Clodagh Kilcoyne
Italy’s competition authority has fined Google €100 million ($120 million) for abusing its market position to block the Enel X app from the Play Store.
The Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato’s (AGCM) ruling centers around the claim that Google has abused its market position, controlling the Android operating system and Play Store, to prevent a rival app, Enel X, from being made available to users.
“By refusing Enel X Italia interoperability with Android Auto, Google has unfairly limited the possibilities for end users to avail themselves of the Enel X Italia app when driving and recharging an electric vehicle,” the antitrust regulator stated.
As part of its judgement, the regulator decreed that Google must make the Enel X app, which is for individuals with electric vehicles, available on Android Auto, as not doing so would “permanently jeopardize Enel X Italia’s chances of building a solid user base,” thereby violating competition rules.
Google’s actions violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU), according to the AGCM, which bars companies from engaging in abusive behavior by holding a dominant position in a specific market.
The action by the AGCM is the latest punishment handed to the tech company for breaching rules laid out by antitrust regulators, with Google having been hit by €8.25 billion ($10 billion) in fines by the EU in the past three years.
EU investigators have been critical of Alphabet and its subsidiary for engaging in activity that they claim blocks or limits rivals on online shopping, advertising or Android smartphone platforms.
In response to the ruling, a Google spokesperson said: “We disagree with [the] authority’s decision and we will review our options.” The representative rejected the claim that it had abused its market position to block the app, arguing its “goal is to allow even more developers to make their apps available over time” but apps must comply with “strict guidelines” and safety standards before being approved.
Trudeau Is Cleared by Ethics Watchdog in WE Charity Scandal
FM Morneau did violate Canada’s conflict-of-interest act
Bloomberg News
Natalie Obiko Pearson
Publishing date: May 13, 2021
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was cleared by Canada’s ethics watchdog for his role in awarding a no-bid government contract to a high-profile charity with ties to his family.
In a report released Thursday, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion concluded that Trudeau didn’t give preferential treatment to WE Charity when it was selected last summer to be the sole administrator of a program to distribute C$544 million ($448 million) in pandemic aid to students. Trudeau’s finance minister at the time, however, was found to be in conflict.
The contract sparked a political uproar when it came to light that Trudeau’s wife, mother and brother had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past to appear at events for WE, which is led by two Canadian brothers, Craig and Marc Kielburger.
“I determined there was no friendship between Mr. Trudeau and the Kielburgers, nor was Mr. Trudeau involved in any discussions with them leading to the decision,” Dion said. The watchdog, who began his examination last July, added that while the family connection “created the appearance of a conflict of interest,” it didn’t formally cross a line.
The report blunts a major attack on the prime minister’s character as he weighs the timing of an election, expected this year, in which he could win back his parliamentary majority. Trudeau has at times faced criticism for his judgment, and this was his third conflict-of-interest probe since taking power.
“This confirms what I have been saying from the beginning,” Trudeau said in a statement after the report’s release. The prime minister has nonetheless apologized for failing to recuse himself from the decision.
Why didn't he recuse himself? Why did he apologize if he did nothing wrong?
The WE organization was lauded over its 25-year history by Fortune 500 companies, politicians, and celebrities from Prince Harry to Oprah Winfrey, allowing the Kielburger brothers to cultivate ties with influential backers. Among those was former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who played a more direct role in the awarding of the government’s pandemic aid program.
In a separate report, the ethics watchdog concluded that Morneau did violate Canada’s conflict-of-interest act.
“Mr. Morneau afforded WE preferential treatment by permitting members of his ministerial staff to disproportionately assist a constituent,” Dion said. “This unfettered access to the Office of the Minister of Finance was based, in my view, on the relationship between Mr. Morneau and Mr. Craig Kielburger,” who were friends, he said.
Morneau's daughter worked for WE Foundation.
Morneau abruptly resigned last August, amid a broader rift with Trudeau, after belatedly discovering that his family hadn’t paid for trips to luxury voluntourism camps where the WE organization hosts donors. He reimbursed the charity, and was cleared earlier by the watchdog for that slip.
This reminds me of the clean-up of corruption happening in Russia. I can't help but think that these acts of cleaning up corruption are restricted to people who have crossed a line, or made an enemy of more powerful oligarchs.
What is the difference between Morneau accepting luxury trips from WE, and Trudeau doing the same from the Aga Khan?
Over the months, what began as a conflict-of-interest scandal has widened to closer scrutiny of the WE organization itself and the Kielburger brothers. Questions arose about a complex corporate structure that mixed philanthropy with for-profit activities, how funds were allocated, and whether the organization was as transparent with donors as it should have been.
Charlie Angus — an opposition New Democratic Party member of a parliamentary ethics committee that has been probing those issues separately — expressed support for the decision to clear Trudeau but said the watchdog’s findings on Morneau underscore ongoing concerns.
“The Ethics Commissioner has shone a light on how the Kielburger organization was able to have such unfettered access, right into the highest corridors of power,” he said. “They were not registered to lobby but they used the friendships that they carefully cultivated within the Liberal government to get access that no other group could have dreamed of getting.”
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Former Chadian diplomats to U.S. & Canada indicted
for bribery, money laundering
By Darryl Coote
May 25 (UPI) -- A federal grand Jury has charged two former Chadian diplomats to the United States and Canada with accepting a $2 million bribe from a Canadian start-up energy company and attempting to launder the payment.
The Justice Department announced Monday that the indictment returned by the Washington, D.C., grand jury was unsealed Thursday, accusing Mahamoud Adam Bechir, the former ambassador to both Canada and the United States, and Youssouf Hamid Takane, the former deputy chief of mission to the two countries, of accepting the bribe from the company while serving in their positions between August 2009 and July 2014.
According to the indictment, the Chadian pair demanded the bribe from the unnamed Canadian company in exchange for influencing their government to assist it in obtaining oil rights.
Naeem Tyab, a Canadian citizen and founding shareholder of the involved company, was also charged in the indictment with arranging for the bribe to be paid to Bechir's wife, Nouracham Bechir Niam, who is also a co-defendant, through a "sham" contract for consulting services that were never rendered, the Justice Department said.
"The bribery and corruption of foreign officials causes grave harm to both the global economy and the interests of the United States," said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia. "My office and the Justice Department are committed to prosecuting these violations and efforts to launder the proceeds of these crimes."
All four people face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering while Bechir, Takane and Niam face charges of money laundering, which comes with a maximum potential sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
Naim and Tyab face charges of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which comes with a potential five years in prison.
Tyab was arrested in New York on Feb. 9, 2019, and pleaded guilty in late April that same year to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and forfeited some $27 million.
The other three defendants are at large, the Justice Department said.
