By Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The congressional panel probing a deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S.

Club Brugge vs Manchester City LIVE! It’s a relatively early trip to Belgium on Tuesday evening for Premier League champions Manchester City to take on a Club Brugge side who are currently unbeaten in the Champions League. Considering the difference in resources available to both sides, City are surely huge favourites but their Belgian opposition are certainly emerging as dark horses in Group A. Joint-top of the Jupiler Pro League after 11 games, they held Paris Saint-Germain’s famed front three largely at bay in a 1-1 draw back in September. They have since beaten RB Leipzig too, meaning they lead Pep Guardiola’s side by a point and could extend that to four with what would be an unlikely victory at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Even at this early stage, the pressure is on last year’s beaten finalists. With kick-off at 17:45 pm BST, follow all the action with Standard Sport’s live coverage! Read More Man City XI vs Club Brugge: Confirmed lineup, team news and injury latest for Champions League game PSG vs RB Leipzig: Prediction, kick off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results

For more than 55 years, Medicare has followed a simple policy with covered benefits the same, no matter if you’re rich, poor, or in-between

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West has won legal approval to officially shorten his name to Ye. The 44-year-old

A new and modified version of the Oxford vaccine is being developed to target the Delta coronavirus variant, The Independent understands, in the wake of rising infections in the UK and the highest daily death toll since March. Early work has been started by members of Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s team at the University of Oxford – the same scientists behind the AstraZeneca jab first rolled out in January. A source said the new vaccine was being designed with the aim of “having something on the shelf ready to scale up – if it’s needed”. This comes as scientists warned that a new offshoot of the Delta variant will “eventually dominate” in the UK if it is confirmed to be more transmissible than its predecessor, with authorities now racing to better understand the newly mutated virus. Downing Street has said it is keeping “a very close eye” on the AY.4.2 sub-variant, which is steadily spreading throughout England and accounted for nearly 10 per cent of new infections at the start of October. Experts have speculated that it could be 10 to 15 per cent more transmissible than the original Delta variant. The Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), which tracks new variants, said AY.4.2 “is likely to become dominant” in Britain if it is found to be more infectious. However, it said there is no evidence to support this yet, with tests under way to determine its “biological properties”. Aris Katzourakis, a professor of evolution and genomics at Oxford University, said if the 10 to 15 per cent figure “holds up to scrutiny”, then AY.4.2 “will eventually dominate”. Despite fears of its increased transmissibility, scientists do not believe the new Delta sub-variant is responsible for the recent spike in cases that have been reported across the UK. Some 43,738 tested positive for Covid on Tuesday – down from almost 50,000 the day before – while a further 223 deaths were recorded, the highest figure since 9 March. “As AY.4.2 is still at fairly low frequency, a 10 per cent increase [in] its transmissibility could have caused only a small number of additional cases,” said Professor Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London. “As such it hasn’t been driving the recent increase in case numbers in the UK.” Experts have meanwhile argued “there is a case” for Delta-specific vaccines for current and future vaccination programmes, with the variant now accounting for the vast majority of global infections. Professor Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at Edinburgh University, said the biggest advantage would be to help bring widespread transmission in the UK “to an end”. She said the UK’s autumn booster programme, which will ultimately see 30 million Britons offered a third vaccine dose, “would likely have much greater impact if we were using a Delta-specific vaccine”. Given the continuing effectiveness of the original vaccine in protecting against hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, scientists at Oxford are taking a precautionary approach to developing a Delta jab. The Oxford source said it was “very early days” in the development of the new vaccine, but insisted it wouldn’t be hard to make the necessary modifications given the “plug and play” nature of the technology behind the jab. However, the source said that even “subtle changes” introduced to the manufacturing process as a result of switching to a modified vaccine could cause significant delays and hinder the global rollout of life-saving doses, at a time when millions of people remain unvaccinated. Professor Riley said the protection afforded by the current vaccines against severe disease and death seems to be broadly similar for all variants. “Those of us who have been vaccinated already are no more likely to end up in hospital with the Delta variant than with the original Wuhan or Alpha strains,” she said. However, Prof Riley said that immunity against infection – “and thus the subsequent likelihood of transmitting the virus to someone else” – is affected by the different variants, with the Oxford jab not quite as effective in preventing vaccinated people from catching Delta and “feeling a bit unwell”. “There is therefore a case for rolling out Delta-specific vaccines,” Prof Riley said. “They are likely to be significantly better at suppressing infections in the community and may well bring widespread transmission in the UK to an end. “This, in turn, will reduce the number of unprotected (unvaccinated or unresponsive) people being infected and ending up in hospital.” Pfizer has already announced its plans to develop a Covid booster shot that will target Delta, while Moderna has said it would be able to easily update its vaccine to take into consideration new variants. A timeframe for the new Oxford vaccine has not been released. Professor Robin, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said “it certainly makes sense to introduce Delta-specific vaccines” and admitted he was “surprised” there hadn’t been a desire to roll out modified jabs as part of the UK’s booster campaign. Prof Riley said periodic updated boosters might be required in the months or years to come if Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, continues to “throw up new highly infectious variants”. Prior to their work on Delta, scientists at Oxford developed a vaccine specific to the Beta variant, which has since dropped out of circulation in many countries of the world. A University of Oxford spokesperson said: “Oxford has a broad programme of research on vaccines for coronaviruses and is monitoring emerging variants closely. “We are working with our partners AstraZeneca on testing a Beta variant vaccine in human volunteers at the moment, and on the developing systems for evaluation and licensure of new variant vaccine, should it be needed.”

(Bloomberg) -- Discovery Inc. is cutting back on high-profile projects with A-list stars as part of a strategy shift away

MANILA, Philippines — All cemeteries in the country will be closed from October 29 to November 2, 2021, to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission during “Undas,” (All Souls' Day) Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Wednesday.In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte aired on Wednesday early morning, Año said the government’s pandemic task force has passed a resolution that issued guidelines for the celebration of this year’s “Undas” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.He said the public may visit cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbaria before October 29 or after November 2.Visitors must be limited to 10 persons per group, and the venue must only

A judge in South Carolina has denied bond for attorney Alex Murdaugh on the second set of charges he has faced since finding his wife and son dead in June

(Reuters) - Shareholders in Morrisons, Britain's fourth-largest supermarket group, on Tuesday approved a 7 billion pound ($9.7 billion) agreed takeover

Facebook has agreed to pay up to $14 million to settle a US government lawsuit accusing the tech giant of

Social media posts claim that Colin Powell's death from complications caused by Covid-19 means vaccines against the disease are ineffective.

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday took another jab against Sen. Richard Gordon, threatening to call on the Ombudsman if Sen. Richard Gordon will not return the P86 million he allegedly pocketed when he was still chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).This came during Duterte’s new tirade against the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in a taped briefing.“Lahat naman talaga dapat magbayad ng buwis at kung kailangan magbayad, singilan para magbayad ‘yung mga may atraso sa gobyerno,” said Duterte.(Everyone really has to pay taxes and charge those who have arrears to the government.)“Kagaya ni (like) Sen. Gordon, y

Rebel AAP MLA Khaira said his resignation had been accepted, adding that he had put in his papers on June 3 before joining the Congress.

The meeting that went on till late evening was held at the Noida authority’s main administrative building in Sector 6

Punjab agriculture minister ‘Kaka’ Randeep Singh Nabha said that religious politics create a “feeling of mistrust and insecurity” among the people of the country.

Yadadri is considered to be Telangana chief minister's dream of building a temple that matches the opulence of Tirumala in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh

Cases of Covid-19 in the UK are currently among the highest in Europe and are higher than they were this time last year, when parts of England were under local lockdowns. The vaccine has meant that although case numbers are elevated, there are fewer cases of people with serious illness having to be treated in hospital. However, the more that the virus is able to spread, the more chance there is of it finding a way to break through vaccine defences. Figures show that the number of people testing positive for coronavirus currently stands at more than 40,000 per day. Hospital admission numbers are still below levels seen last autumn, although they are rising gradually. According to Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) from Imperial College London, there are “a number of reasons” why the UK currently has higher infection levels than many other European countries. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the professor suggested that the UK has “lower functional immunity in our population than most other western European countries” for a number of reasons. According to Professor Ferguson these reasons include the vaccine rollout starting earlier in the UK than elsewhere and the fact that “we relied more on the AstraZeneca vaccine”. There are other suggestions that less mask wearing, more relaxed rules around mixing and a slowing vaccine rollout could also be behind the surge in figures. But why exactly are cases of Covid rising in the UK? Waning immunity? The UK was one of the fastest countries in the world to rollout the Covid-19 vaccine, meaning that immunity of some of those who were first vaccinated may be lower now. A study of Covid test results of vaccinated people who logged their symptoms in an app, suggested that after about five or six months, the protection against catching the virus wanes significantly. In Israel, which was one of the fastest countries in the world to vaccinate its population, a spike in case numbers was seen as immunity began to wane, according to scientists. Cases did however level off once enough older people had been given a booster dose. Boosters are now also being given to older people in the UK, with 3.7 million doses administered in England by 17 October. Reliance on AstraZeneca? When the UK started its vaccine rollout, it relied more on the AstraZeneca vaccine than the Pfizer jab. AstraZeneca is slightly less effective against the Delta variant of the virus which could be in part to blame for the increased case numbers. According to Professor Ferguson, this could be partly behind the rise in Covid cases. He said: “We relied more on the AstraZeneca vaccine and, while that protects very well against very severe outcomes of Covid, it protects slightly less well than Pfizer against infection and transmission, particularly in the face of the Delta variant.” Less mask-wearing? A study carried out by Imperial College London indicated that UK residents were significantly more likely than people in Germany, France, Spain and Italy to say that they no longer wear a face mask or covering. A number of studies have shown that face masks can help stop the virus from being passed between people. However it is not possible to say whether or not the lack of interest in wearing facemasks in the UK is directly responsible for the surge in case numbers. Indeed, people in Sweden and the Netherlands were more likely than those in the UK to say that they never wore a mask, according to a survey, and these countries have fewer confirmed Covid cases than the UK. More relaxed rules and increased mixing? The UK was one of the fastest western European countries to relax restrictions meaning that those living in England, Wales and Scotland have been able to go out to nightclubs and attend mass gatherings since the summer. This was several months before many other countries. Data from the Imperial College survey also suggests people in the UK are somewhat more likely than their European neighbours to use public transport. Those living in the UK are also less likely to avoid going out. A further survey of contacts and mixing in the UK indicated that there had been relatively little change in mixing in recent weeks. Although more and more people are going to work in person, numbers of people in the office remain quite low, with only around half of employees going into their workplace if it is open. Slowing vaccine rollout? The UK’s vaccination rollout has stalled in recent months and its rate of fully-vaccinated people is no longer in the top 10 countries with a population of at least 1 million. Indeed, in the first two weeks of October, the numbers of UK residents aged 12 and over who had received at least one dose of the vaccine hardly changed. These figures are slightly skewed by the low uptake of doses in children. As it stands, only 15 per cent of 12 to 15 year olds in England have received one shot of the jab. What about the new Delta descendant? A new descendant of the Delta variant, called AY.4.2, has been discovered in the UK and already accounts for nearly 10 per cent of cases in the country. Scientists have suggested that it appears to be 10 to 15 per cent more transmissible than the original Delta coronavirus, but it cannot be entirely blamed for the rise in UK Covid cases.

Forget about The Grinch: It looks like supply chain disruptions may steal Christmas this year. But will these problems be resolved by early 2022?

The House committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol attack is expected to formally kick off holding Steve Bannon, one of former President Donald Trump's closest allies, in contempt of Congress on Tuesday night with a crucial meeting to set up a House vote.

A judicial official says the judge leading Lebanon’s probe into last year’s massive port explosion has renewed his summonses of two former ministers for questioning

Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets and scored 42 with the bat as Bangladesh hammered hosts Oman by

(Bloomberg) -- Jamie Dimon had a pair of surprises when he dialed into a conference call with a group of

In view of the decline in Covid-19 cases, the Maharashtra government has extended the timings of restaurants and eateries till 12am, while shops have been allowed to function till 11pm from Tuesday onwards. In addition, all preparations are being made for colleges, which are slated to open from Wednesday

Navi Mumbai has become the first city in the MMR region to have all its citizens over 18 years of age vaccinated with the first dose of Covid vaccine. The city is racing towards full vaccination against Covid with NMMC reporting that more than half the population has also taken the second dose

Three persons, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed after a water tanker collided against their scooter at Bhatpada in Virar (East), on Tuesday early morning. The unidentified tanker driver is absconding.