A Belgian court ruled Friday that coronavirus vaccine-maker AstraZeneca had committed a “serious breach” of its contract with the European Union amid a major legal battle over delivery obligations that has tarnished the company’s image.
The court ordered AstraZeneca to deliver a total of 80.2 million doses to the EU from the time the contract was agreed up until Sept. 27. The ruling said the company did not appear to have made a “best reasonable effort” to meet the delivery schedule because it had not used its U.K. production sites.
But the Anglo-Swedish company claimed victory, saying this was far fewer than the 120 million doses that the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, was seeking in total by the end of June. It also welcomed the court’s acknowledgment that it was under unprecedented pressure.
Study: Texas bases lead Army posts in risk of sexual assault
Female soldiers at Army bases in Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Kentucky face a greater risk of sexual assault and harassment than those at other posts, accounting for more than one- third of all active-duty Army women sexually assaulted in 2018, according to a new Rand Corp. study.
The study, released Friday, looked at Army incidents and found that female soldiers at Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, both in Texas, faced the highest risk, particularly those in combat commands or jobs such as field artillery and engineering. And units with more frequent deployments to war also saw higher risk.
Votes in presidential poll tipped in hard-liner’s favor
Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election dominated by a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after authorities disqualified nearly all of his strongest competition, leading to what appeared to be a low turnout fueled by apathy and calls for a boycott.
Opinion polling by state-linked organizations along with analysts indicated that judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi — who is already under U.S. sanctions — was the front-runner in a field of four candidates. Former Central Bank chief, Abdolnasser Hemmati, is running as the race’s moderate candidate but hasn’t inspired the same support as outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, who is term-limited from seeking the office again.
By late afternoon, turnout appeared far lower than in Iran’s last presidential election in 2017. State television offered tight shots of polling places, several of which seemed to have only a handful of voters in the election’s early hours.
Those passing by several polling places in Tehran said they similarly saw few voters. In addition to the disqualifications, voter apathy has also been fed by the devastated state of the economy and subdued campaigning amid a monthslong surge in coronavirus cases. In images on state TV, poll workers wore gloves and masks, and some wiped down ballot boxes with disinfectants.
If elected, Raisi would be the first serving Iranian president sanctioned by the U.S. government even before entering office over his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, as well as his time as the head of Iran’s internationally criticized judiciary — one of the world’s top executioners.
It also would put hard-liners firmly in control across the Iranian government as negotiations in Vienna continue to try to save a tattered deal meant to limit Iran’s nuclear program when Tehran is enriching uranium at its highest levels ever, though still remains short of weapons-grade levels.
Tensions remain high with the U.S. and Israel, which is believed to have carried out a series of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear sites as well as assassinating the scientist who created its military atomic program decades earlier.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time for the vote, which has seen widespread public apathy.
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