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Germany to build up reserve vaccine capacity to fight future pandemics

BERLIN (REUTERS) – Germany plans to pay vaccine manufacturers an annual reservation fee to build up reserve capacity of 600-700 million doses per year to help it fight future pandemics, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday (June 2). The government plans to launch a call for tenders for so-called pandemic preparedness contracts with a five-year term, he told a news conference. “We in the government have agreed that we want to provide capacity for production of vaccines in and for Germany,” Mr Spahn said, adding that this could be activated very quickly so that vaccine production could start at short notice. Manufacturing setbacks and an over-reliance on European Union approval for supplies slowed Germany’s roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines. It wants to boost domestic production to ensure it is not deprived of shots in future pandemics. In February, it set up a vaccine production task force with the aim of building up domestic production and reducing bottlenecks in the supply chain. Germany will also set up a centre for pandemic vaccines at its vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Mr Spahn said. Germany is home to BioNTech and CureVac, two of the leading developers

Hong Kong’s rising home prices, luxury flat sales push property deals to a two-year high at US$11.3 billion in May

Housing boom may be cooling as weekly mortgage demand drops again

A real estate agent with an ‘Open House’ sign in the front yard of a home for sale.Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHigh prices and low supply are finally taking some of the heat out of the housing market. Even with interest rates falling slightly, mortgage application volume fell 4% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. It fell to the lowest level since February 2020.Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell 3% for the week and were 2% lower than a year ago. This is the second straight week that purchase demand was lower than a year earlier, even though mortgage rates are still lower.Pending home sales, which are counted by signed contracts and are therefore an indicator of future closed sales, dropped a wider-than-expected 4.4% in April, according to the National Association of Realtors.Buyers are clearly starting to hit an affordability wall. This is especially clear from the government loan demand. FHA and VA loans offer low or even no down payment options for borrowers with lower incomes and credit scores.”Tight housing inventory, obstacles to a faster rate of new construction, and rapidly rising home prices continues

New French edition of Hitler's Mein Kampf published

PARIS (AFP) – A new French edition of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was published on Wednesday (June 2) with the text reflecting the “abominably badly written” original, according to its translator. One of the world’s most notorious books, first published in two tomes in 1924 and 1925, it laid out the ideological foundations for National Socialism including its embrace of violence and anti-Semitism. The only current French translation, first published in 1934 and still in print, improves the often repetitive and turgid prose of the original, which is difficult to read even in German, according to French translator Olivier Mannoni. “The rule at the time was to write in good French and to smooth over the asperities of the text,” said Mannoni, who spent five years on the new edition being published by Fayard, a major French publishing house. Speaking at a press conference last month, Mannoni said his work was true to the “abominably badly written” original, half-written by Hitler during his time in jail, with all of its “dubious syntax” and “interminable and repetitive phrasing.” The 1,000-page annotated translation includes around 300 pages of criticism and contextualisation of Hitler’s manifesto, which lays out his plans

Labour veteran Herzog elected Israel's 11th president

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel’s Parliament elected the even-keeled Labour veteran Isaac Herzog as its 11th president on Wednesday (June 2), a vote that came as opposition lawmakers scrambled to forge a coalition to unseat Mr Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr Herzog, 60, beat Mrs Miriam Peretz to replace President Reuven Rivlin, who was elected in 2014 to the largely ceremonial position decided by the Parliament, or Knesset. Wednesday’s presidential vote came as Israeli politicians from across the spectrum held 11th-hour negotiations to cobble together a new administration aimed at ending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 12 straight years in office. The Israeli presidency exerts little power, primarily meeting party leaders after legislative elections and tasking candidates with forming governments. It is the country’s prime minister who wields actual executive authority. But the president does have the ability to grant pardons – a potentially important function as Mr Netanyahu faces trial for alleged fraud, bribery and breach of trust. Mr Herzog, who will assume his position on July 9, succeeded over Mrs Peretz, 67, a former headmistress who lost two children in Israel’s wars and is known as “the mother of sons”. The scion of one of Israel’s most prestigious