Wednesday’s briefing – The New York Times

The latest AstraZeneca falter

In a two-page letter, federal health officials and an independent panel of medical experts AstraZeneca accused of collecting data On the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The company said that based on its US experience, the vaccine appears to be 79 percent effective in preventing Covid-19. But the panel said its effectiveness may have ranged from 69 per cent to 74 per cent, and it reprimanded AstraZeneca for describing the excessive rosy of the trial data.

AstraZeneca defended the data it released on Monday and said the interim results appeared “consistent” with the most recent data gathered during the experiment. The company said it would reissue the full results within 48 hours.

The results receive a wrench in The efforts of elected leaders elsewhere To rebuild confidence in the shot. Faith in the vaccine had already waned across Europe after recent reports that a very small number of recipients had contracted it. She had unusual blood clots.

Shortage of supplies: Today, the European Union will issue general emergency legislation allowing it to do so Limiting exports of Covid-19 vaccines Manufactured in mass for the next six weeks. The new rules will make it harder for companies like AstraZeneca, which produces Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union, to export them, and is likely to disrupt supplies to Britain.

Here Latest updates And the Pandemic Maps.

A state of uncertainty after the fourth Israeli elections in two years

He suggested an opinion poll with early results from the Israeli elections There is no clear result on Tuesday nightWhich leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his potential right-wing allies only 60 seats, less than the 61 needed to form a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

A third poll gave the anti-Netanyahu bloc the advantage of 61 seats, which could block Mr. Netanyahu’s path to victory and bring the elections very close to being held. The uncertainty is likely to lead to weeks, if not months, of negotiations, and possibly another election.

Mr Netanyahu has cracked down on his record in handling the coronavirus pandemic, including launching a vaccine that the world is envious of. Seeking reelection even during his trial on corruption charges was not fatal to his chances.

Future government: Many expected Netanyahu’s broader bloc to form a coalition with Naftali Bennett, a right-wing rival, leaving Israel one of the most conservative governments in its history, which was created from ultra-Orthodox parties and ultra-nationalists, a group that fights against gay rights and another whose leader supports the expulsion of Arab citizens In Israel, which is considered not loyal to the state.

Months of protest for farmers in India

Farmers from Punjab and elsewhere outside New Delhi have been camping in protest for four months. The crux of the dispute is the subsidy system that the government, economists, and even many farmers agree on is broken.

The system was introduced in the 1960s to stave off famine by encouraging farmers to grow wheat and rice. It included the minimum prices set by the government, to help farmers sell what they grew for profit.

But although the system is undoubtedly outdated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rush to reformulate it – his political party pushed new laws through Parliament in a matter of days – could devastate vast parts of the country where agriculture remains a way of life. Our reporters looked at what went wrong and are now evaluating the protests.

Context: Roughly 60 percent of India’s population of 1.3 billion earn their livelihoods from agriculture, even though this sector accounts for only about 11 percent of economic output. For many, getting another job is not an option.

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Virus News

In 2017, a strange intruder came roaming our solar system. Was he guilty? A cosmic iceberg? Space debris?

Astronomers this month offered their stiffest explanation yet: Oumuamua, as it is known, was A chip from a distant planet From another solar system. Long ago, a collision with an asteroid cut it off and made it travel through space.

Arts and ideas

Welcome to BookTok

The effect of TikTok It sells thousands of books. Some enthusiastic readers – mostly women in their teens and 20s – post videos of themselves reading or recommending novels. Every once in a while, they sobb at camera after a particularly devastating ending.

“This 45-second video has become very emotional and people are instantly reaching out to it,” Barnes & Noble’s book director told The Times. “We haven’t seen these kinds of crazy sales – I mean tens of thousands of copies per month – using other social media formats.”

One example: “Achilles’ Song” by Madeleine Miller. Sales increased after that TikTok videos are popular Last year, the book now sells nearly nine times as many copies per week as it was in 2012, when it won the prestigious novelist award. The book is currently the third in the New York Times List of paper fiction bestsellers.

Realizing the potential, some publishers have started paying – or sending free books – to users who have large numbers of followers. Fees range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per post. For now, though, the majority of these videos remain unsupported, and they occur normally.

Play, watch, eat, listen

what are you cooking

Crunchy Tofu Coated In Panko & Sesame Seeds With Coconut & Lemon Dressing This is a vegetarian dish.

what do you want to watch

If you like Frasier’s farce and fraternal struggles, you may like British comedies “behind,” Which crams more jokes and details in one episode than some shows manage in one season.

What do you hear

Lana Del Rey’s flagship sixth album, “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” finds the singer “backing down and looking for more isolationist insight,” our critic Writes.