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In an interview with VOA , Michael Carpenter , Managing Director and former Deputy Secretary of Defense at the Penn Biden Center, talks about the oligarchic influences in Georgia.

He said it was logical that American taxpayers' money should be explicitly allocated to countries that are "moving in the right direction". However, Carpenter notes that some judges' decisions look politicized .

"We have seen some disturbing trends, and members of the Congress is seen as - all the others. I would not say that the opposition parties or the business interests of lobbyists activity of related. I think we can see behind the scenes oligarchic effect on the economy. We see some of the judge's decision, which is expected to garedanaa dictated And politicized looks . We also see sometimes overly harsh responses to civil protests," Carpenter said.

He notes that the 15% cut in US aid is a matter of concern, but does not mean that lawmakers are pessimistic about Georgia.

"I think, overall, if the supporters of the group members and other congressmen survey , most of them are still in a democratic society. They have optimism that the elections are free and fair. I hope that the country will go forward in this difficult time to Russia and its aggressive actions Related challenges, such as a coronavirus pandemic or an economic recession, ”Carpenter said.

According to him, the long-standing strategic partnership between the United States and Georgia is based on common values, Georgia has received significant assistance over the years precisely because it has shown hope and is constantly moving forward in the development of democracy.

"We want to see it continue. If that happens, the relationship will continue to flourish. I hope we can deepen the partnership, especially economically, where we still have a long way to go," Carpenter said . said. The current wording will be preserved in the document that has become law.

According to him, monitoring of the country in terms of judicial reform, media freedom and economic transparency will continue.

"We need to see that the issues that civil society or the opposition are concerned about are perceived and there are efforts and reforms to address them," Carpenter said.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34297

6 Congressmen from the US House of Representatives write a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which Bidzina Ivanishvili is referred to as a "Russian oligarch".

The congressmen write to the Secretary of State that the Georgian Dream government, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, is deliberately expelling American businesses from the Georgian private sector and giving way to Russian, Chinese and Iranian companies.

In the letter, the congressmen talk about the deteriorating situation in the direction of democratic and economic reforms and offer the Secretary of State an agreement to take countermeasures to raise the issue of Georgia's accountability.

"We are writing to reiterate our concern about the deterioration of democratic governance and alleged corruption in Georgia," the congressmen wrote to Pompeo.

In the letter, the congressmen noted that Georgia had made a number of important leaps since economic independence in terms of economic transformation, geopolitical security, and market access, but said that progress in these areas had stalled since the Georgian Dream came to power.

"After Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili and his party Georgian Dream came to power in 2012, progress in these areas has stopped. After talking to your colleagues, Sheryl Fernandez and Aaron Rupert, we are convinced that the State Department is doing its utmost to monitor the deteriorating investment climate in the private sector, especially for American companies, as well as the Georgian government's commitment to continuing democratic reforms and NATO.

During the subsequent meetings with the Georgian authorities, especially with Prime Minister Gakharia, please note our concern:

1) The government of the Georgian Dream is run by a Russian oligarch, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is trying to oust American businesses that have made a positive contribution to the Georgian and American economies for decades. All this is done in favor of increasing Russian, Chinese and Iranian investments in the private sector.

2) Ongoing actions against the Black Sea port in Georgia harm vital US national security interests, including:

A) Deliberate expulsion of American companies from investments / ownership of the Black Sea port, aimed at freeing Georgia from the influence of China and Russia.

B) The lack of enforcement of US sanctions against Iran and Russia, especially in relation to port affairs and other investments in the private sector.

3) The fact that the Parliament of Georgia has not yet adopted the necessary electoral reform, which is vital for the forthcoming 2020 elections to be free and fair.

We appreciate your attention to this timely issue and urge you and your team to discuss with us what steps can be taken to strengthen our relationship and raise the issue of Georgia's accountability. "

The letter is signed by Congressmen: Jodi Arrington, Marquin Mullin, Bill Flores, Will Hardy, Brian Babin and Randy Weber.

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https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/AVCT/expanded-partnership-with-daewoong-pharmaceutical/14632432

Tony Blood, [29.07.20 07:02]
Avacta Group plc

("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")



Expansion of Partnership with Daewoong Pharmaceutical to Include COVID-19 Neutralising Affimer Therapy

Collaboration to develop stem cell therapies for COVID-19 and future pandemic diseases

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents is pleased to announce an expansion of its collaboration and license agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (KSX: 069620) and AffyXell Therapeutics, the joint venture established in South Korea by the two companies, to develop stem cell treatments incorporating Avacta's neutralising Affimer therapy for the treatment of seriously ill patients with COVID-19 and to also prepare to rapidly develop similar therapies for future global pandemics.

Respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 can cause serious damage to the lungs as a consequence of over-activation of the patient's immune system, resulting in cytokine release syndrome that can potentially lead to multiple organ failure and death. Stem cell therapies offer a very promising approach to repair the damage to lung tissues in these pulmonary diseases by controlling the immune balance.

AffyXell Therapeutics, the next-generation cell and gene therapy joint venture between Avacta and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, is developing a novel class of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatments that are engineered to also produce Affimer therapies in the patient at the site of action.

The expansion of the agreement between Avacta, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and AffyXell announced today extends the scope of the partnership to include Affimer molecules that target viruses, such as coronaviruses, in order to develop therapies that repair the lung damage caused by COVID-19 whilst also producing neutralising Affimer molecules to prevent the progression of the disease.

AffyXell will engineer mesenchymal stem cells to express SARS-COV-2 neutralising Affimer molecules in order to develop treatments for seriously ill COVID-19 patients, and will also prepare for rapid development of next-generation stem cell therapies for future infectious respiratory disease outbreaks.

Dr. Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta Group commented:

"I am very pleased to have extended our collaboration and license agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceutical to include the SARS-COV-2 neutralising Affimer molecules for the treatment of COVID-19 and to create the potential to respond very rapidly in future to global virus threats.

AffyXell will address the need over the coming years for advanced stem cell therapies to treat lung damage caused by cytokine release syndrome suffered by COVID-19 patients and, at the same time, help prevent disease progression in these patients through the action of a neutralising Affimer therapy.

More broadly, one of the key areas of unmet clinical need that AffyXell can address with its next-generation mesenchymal stem ce

Dogs have 10,000 times stronger and more accurate sense of smell than humans. This ability allows some trained dogs to detect olfactory diseases such as cancer, malaria and viral infections.

According to a new study by German researchers, dogs can also detect coronavirus infection by smell.

The Hanover Institute of Veterinary Medicine, based on a study conducted in collaboration with the military, claims that dogs can distinguish the saliva of an odor-healthy person and those infected with Sars-Cov with 94% accuracy.

Representatives of the institute hope that soon it will be possible to test people for coronavirus infection in public spaces using dogs.

Representatives of the institute trained 8 military dogs for a week for the study. Trained dogs were exposed to the saliva of 1,000 healthy and infected people. As a result, dogs identified infected individuals with 94% accuracy.

According to Maren von Blikvede, one of the heads of the study, the metabolic process in the body of co-infected individuals changes qualitatively, allowing dogs to distinguish the saliva of a healthy person from that of an infected person.

Prior to the publication of the final results of the study, it should be checked to what extent dogs have the ability to distinguish those infected with Covid-19 odor from those infected with other viral infections.

According to the German Centers for Disease Control, despite several cases of Covid-19 infection in dogs, the risk of spreading the virus between humans and dogs is extremely low.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34263

Frontera accuses the Georgian government of threats. The company claims that the Georgian government is hiding the full picture from US officials and the media and assures them that it will allow the company to continue operating, but in fact warns that it will again try to terminate the contract.

According to Frontera , the Georgian embassy in the United States is also involved in the government propaganda of lies . In response to the sharp revelations , the Georgian Dream cites an arbitration decision, which is read differently by the parties.

The opposition sees corrupt interests on the part of the government and criticizes them because the issue of the arbitration dispute is completely vague. According to them , the government's attitude towards Frontera is not just a problem of one company and harms the investment environment of the country.

The Prime Minister said a few days ago that the government would not terminate the contract with Frontera . Earlier, the government was repeatedly criticized by the US Congressmen for harassing an American company.

According to the opposition, this is why the government had to make a concession to the company. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Frontera plans to make the letter public, and expects even more critical statements from American partners in the coming days.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34251

The airline industry wants testing for passengers on international flights to be funded by governments, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Tuesday.

IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac told reporters on a conference call that IATA believes testing “is very helpful” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus through travel, but it is concerned the cost of testing “could be a barrier to air travel if it was to be paid by the passengers.”

“The contribution of the airlines is to have – to organize the testing with the airports, within the airport area to ensure that when the passenger comes to an airplane, he enters into a kind of safe bubble in which everybody will have been tested and tested negative,” de Juniac said.
The testing would be a “kind of insurance that passengers who are flying are not infected, and that would minimize significantly the rate of virus transmission.”

Executives with four major airlines – American, United, British Airways, and Lufthansa – recently asked US and European governments to reopen transatlantic travel without quarantine periods with a testing program. Those four airlines are IATA members.

A coalition of U.S.-based airlines is also pushing the US Transportation Security Administration to begin government-organized temperature checking program.

My view - i think its best for Zaza to just quieten down and wait. Hoping that Georgia gets a new government that might just be more sympathetic.

Frontera - The government has informed us that it will try to cancel the contract with us again
American oil company Frontera accuses the Georgian government of propagating lies and spreading deliberate lies.

According to the company, despite the government's public announcement of a contract extension with Frontera, the Georgian government sent a legal notice to the company the next day stating that the Georgian Dream government would again try to terminate Frontera's contract and "temporarily suspend" those attempts.

"We once again urge the Prime Minister of Georgia and his Government to stop deliberately propagating false, damaging and dishonest campaigns and instead to be honest with the public, US officials and our company, to foster a substantial partnership." It is written in the letter of the company.

According to Frontera, the Georgian government in the United States gave the embassy the impression that "the government generously stopped legal attempts to expropriate the company in the name of friendly relations between Georgia and the United States," and then continued to intimidate the company.

"The Georgian government must understand that such actions against the largest American investor in the Georgian private sector are not normal. It should also be understood that keeping an eye out for this bullying theater will not encourage potential American investors in the private sector. "This play was organized with the support of a defamatory media campaign, which aims to damage our company's reputation and spread false information about our activities," the company said in a letter.

Frontera calls on the Georgian authorities to comply with the arbitral award, to comply with the terms of the agreement between the company and the government, and to facilitate the restoration of the company without intimidation or threats.

The Georgian government told Frontera the extension of the deal on July 23. It was preceded by sharp criticism from the United States, which blamed the decision on maintaining Georgia's investment image and partnership with the United States.
https://formulanews.ge/News/34214

Zaza must be exasperated .....

Frontera accuses the Georgian government of propagating lies. In a critical letter, we read that despite threatening statements after April, last week, the Georgian government suddenly announced in the media that it was extending the contract with the American company.

Frontera says a similar message was issued by the Georgian embassy in the United States this week, citing an attempt to stop illegal expropriation in the name of positive relations in the two countries. Nevertheless, the Georgian government has not announced that it will try to temporarily suspend our contract after the lawful action of the Prime Minister.

The American company calls on the Prime Minister and the government to stop propagating premeditated lies.

We would like to remind you that after the announcement of the harshest criticism and sanctions in Washington, the Georgian government extended the license of the American " Frontera " until 2027. The contract expired on July 27.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34214

RichKen - thanks for the quick reply. This is truly amazing .... a true life changer in every sense.

RichKen - can you just clarify for me....is that £18.70 on top of anything connected with the Coronavirus stuff ?

Covid-19 vaccine likely won't be "widely available" until "several months" into 2021, Fauci says

A Covid-19 likely won't be "widely available" to people in the US until "several months” into next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday.

“I think as we get into 2021, several months in, that you would have [a] vaccine that would be widely available to people in the United States,” Fauci told the Washington Post’s Robert Costa during a Post Live event.
It is a clear acknowledgement that although the federal government hopes at least one experimental vaccine candidate would be proven to safely protect people against coronavirus before the end of this year, it would take months to get through the approval process, manufactured and widely distributed.

"I think the key word there, Bob, is widely available,” Fauci said.

"I think we will likely know whether a vaccine is safe and effective given the number of Phase 3 trials that are starting literally next week,” Fauci added. “And there are some in other countries that are already ongoing — that we should know by the end of December of this year, the beginning of next year."

Fauci noted that some companies have claimed they could have a vaccine available before the end of the year. “There are some companies that claim that might be a month or two sooner. I'm a little skeptical about that, but, you know, anything is possible,” he said.

"It is likely that in the beginning of next year we would have tens of millions of doses available," he added. "The companies who are involved in making these vaccines, many of which the federal government is in deep collaboration with, promised that as we get into 2021, there will be hundreds of millions of doses. And then maybe sometime thereafter billions of doses,” Fauci continued.

Ivy - thanks for finding the letter

It's an example of political cunning which is ignorant and damaging for the country, - stated one of the leaders of European Georgia, MP Giga Bokeria with regards to the government's decision on Frontera.

As Bokeria stated, the Frontera scandal damaged the country's image.

"Everybody should understand that it isn't about the interest of rich companies, but the citizens which belong to the middle and poor class. Spending money here is connected to risks. According to the oligarch's order, the government might interfere and take it from you, the judiciary is non-existent too. This is the damage that is reflected on every family, especially on those who are in need. We all should understand it well.

In addition, it's ignorant that they're retreating now; however, the problem isn't solved by this. Only Bidzina Ivanishvili's regime can cause so much harm and absurd altogether", - stated Bokeria.

For the record, the Georgian government took the decision not to cancel the contract with Frontera Resources and let the company continue its activities on the contractual territory where the oil extraction has been carried out since the Soviet times. The territory makes up 1% of the state oil search area, the remaining 99% was returned by Frontera to the state according to the decision of the Arbitration court.

Today, the American company Frontera called on the Georgian government to stop the disinformation campaign.-most-important-to-thoroughly-enforce-the-legislature

https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108526-giga-bokeria-on-governments-decision-on-frontera-its-an-example-of-political-cunning

Kelly Degnan: Certain OSCE/ODIHR recommendations weren't adopted; however, now it's most important to thoroughly enforce the legislature
Kelly Degnan: Certain OSCE/ODIHR recommendations weren't adopted; however, now it's most important to thoroughly enforce the legislature
The US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, states that certain OSCE/ODIHR recommendations weren't adopted with regards to the electoral system. As the Ambassador noted, now it's the most important to "ensure that every voter can vote freely, without fear in October".

"We're glad and welcome the new reform in the electoral legislature which will create fair and transparent conditions for election. Now it's time for its full enforcement. There were certain OSCE/ODIHR recommendations that weren't adopted; however, now it's most important to thoroughly enforce the legislature in order to ensure that every voter can vote freely, without fear in October", - stated Degnan

https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108522-kelly-degnan-certain-osceodihr-recommendations-werent-adopted-however-now-its-most-important-to-thoroughly-enforce-the-legislature

The U.S. Senate on July 23 approved the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act , which provides for $ 740.5 billion to be allocated from the budget for defense spending next year.

The document discusses the policy of deterrence of Russian aggression and in this context emphasizes the importance of Georgia and Ukraine as countries in the Black Sea region.

" In order to strengthen the Russian aggression containment policy, the Defense Department should ... enhance the attention and resources of the Black Sea region to the changing military balance, as well as expanding the NATO and other multilateral exercise frequency, scope and scale of the Black Sea region, Georgia and Ukraine", - It is said in the document.

This is the document in which the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, James Rish, initiated the changes on June 26 .

The changes concerned the state of democracy in Georgia, the March 8 agreement and the detention of Giorgi Rurua.

The amendment stated that cooperation between the United States and Georgia would continue if the Georgian government implemented the promised reforms.

No changes were made to the final version of the US Defense Act.

The bill on financing foreign operations is still being considered in the Congress , which envisages the suspension of 15% of the financial assistance allocated to Georgia until certain conditions are met.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34036

Happy on the front: no one should be allowed to question the business environment

The investment climate of the country, the business environment of the country, is extremely important and we should not allow anyone to question this environment and the business climate of the country, even by spreading false information," - said the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, company " Frontera " letter, in which the company calls on the Georgian government to stop spreading misinformation.

As Gakharia says, opponents are trying to "use this issue for targeted purposes", but he said relations with partner countries are strong and it will not harm them.

"The investment climate of the country, the business environment of the country is extremely important and we should not allow anyone to question this environment and the business climate of the country, even by spreading false information - this one. "Secondly, we should not allow anyone to use the strategic partnership here for a targeted purpose, and thirdly - there are Georgian employees working in this company, and of course the interest of these people should be taken into account," - said Giorgi Gakharia.

The company "pronteram" disinformation campaign of the government to stop calling . a critical letter to the American company in the Prime Minister and the Government of deliberate lies, insincere and damaging practice to stop and honest partnership called.

Earlier, on July 23, after the announcement of harsh criticism from Washington and the announcement of sanctions, the Georgian government extended the right of the American "Frontera" to operate. The contract expired on July 27.

https://formulanews.ge/News/34033

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-hometests/exclusive-uks-home-testing-dogged-by-delays-undermining-push-to-reduce-virus-transmission-idUKKCN24P0RO

on the plus side .... we now have an extended license