Merck pill, Amazon remote work

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Merck asks US FDA to approve promising anti-COVID pill

WASHINGTON (AP) – Drug company Merck has asked U.S. regulators to approve its promising antiviral pill for COVID-19, paving the way for a decision within weeks. If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first pill proven to treat COVID-19 and add a new, easy-to-use weapon to the global arsenal against the pandemic. The FDA will review the company’s data on the drug’s safety and effectiveness before making a decision. All COVID-19 drugs now approved by the FDA require an IV or injection.

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Amazon allows employees to work remotely indefinitely

Amazon says it will allow many tech and corporate employees to work remotely indefinitely, commuting to the office when needed. The new policy was announced in a blog post. It’s a change from Amazon’s previous expectation that most employees will have to be in the office at least three days a week after the offices reopen due to the COVID-19 pandemic in January. Most of Amazon’s more than 1 million employees worldwide cannot work remotely because they work in the company’s fulfillment and transportation departments. Approximately 50,000 engineering and office workers in Seattle work at the company’s headquarters. Your absence will hurt nearby businesses.

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Southwest Airlines’ flight cancellations will continue through Monday

DALLAS (AP) – Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of more flights on Monday after a weekend of major service disruptions. By Monday morning, Southwest had canceled around 360 flights and more than 600 more were delayed. The Dallas-based airline blamed air traffic control problems and bad weather for “operational challenges” over the weekend, which resulted in 1,900 flights being canceled on Saturday and Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration took the unusual step of opposing the Southwest Declaration. Southwest Airlines was the only airline to report such a high percentage of canceled and delayed flights over the weekend.

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3 US economists receive Nobel Prize for research on wages and jobs

STOCKHOLM (AP) – An American economist won the Nobel Prize in Economics for groundbreaking research that showed that increasing the minimum wage does not lead to fewer hires, and that immigrants do not lower wages for native-born workers, which is widely believed challenges ideas. Two others in the US shared the award on Monday for creating an opportunity to investigate these types of social issues. The winners are David Card from the University of California, Berkeley; Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Guido Imbens from Stanford University. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the three had “completely redesigned empirical work in economics”.

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Facebook introduces new controls for kids using its platforms

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook will roll out several features after scathing that its platforms harm children, including encouraging teenagers who use its Instagram photo-sharing app to pause and toggle them if it repeats viewing the same content that is not conducive to your well-being. Menlo Park, California-based Facebook also plans to optionally introduce new controls on teenagers’ parents or guardians so that adults can monitor what their teenagers are doing online. It did after Facebook announced late last month that it was pausing work on its Instagram for Kids project. However, critics say they are skeptical that the new features will be effective and that the plans are lacking in detail.

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Israel is getting one step closer to commercial drones with the latest tests

Dozens of drones have flown over Tel Aviv in an experiment that officials believe could pave the way for commercial drone use across Israel. Israel’s National Drone Initiative, a government program, believes the delivery of goods via aerial drones will ease the pressure of heavily congested urban roads. Monday’s demonstration is part of a two-year program aimed at harnessing the skills of Israeli drone companies to build a network where customers can order goods and have them delivered to pick-up locations. The initiative faces many problems, including ensuring that drones can handle flights in turbulent weather conditions and that individual privacy is not violated.

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The Thai Prime Minister plans to lift the required virus quarantines

BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand’s prime minister says the country plans to stop quarantining international visitors from at least 10 low risk countries starting next month if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a televised address Monday that the first group would include comers from the UK, Singapore, Germany, China and the United States. The list would be expanded on December 1st and then expanded on January 1st. All visitors are required to continue to show negative RT-PCR test results prior to embarkation for Thailand and perform another test upon arrival. Thailand’s economy was hit hard by the losses of its huge tourism industry after most of the foreign visitors were banned in April last year.

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Scientists are calling for a quick switch to renewable energies in the Middle East

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – A climate change conference will emphasize to policy makers in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean that the move from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is urgently needed as greenhouse gas emissions help raise regional temperatures faster than many other inhabited parts of the world. A scientist from the Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Center said Monday that while governments “can’t happen overnight”, they will have to make the switch within the next two decades to avert potentially “irreversible effects” such as desertification. An international conference on climate change this week brings together 65 top scientists, diplomats and policy makers from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Greece to present the results of a two-year study.

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Brian Goldner, CEO of toy manufacturer Hasbro, is on medical leave

NEW YORK (AP) – Toy and entertainment company Hasbro Inc. announced that Brian D. Goldner is on leave from his CEO role with immediate effect. The change announced on Sunday follows Goldner’s revelation in August 2020 that he has been undergoing medical treatment for cancer since 2014. Goldner has served as CEO of Hasbro, Inc. since 2008 and has been chairman of the company since May 2015. Hasbro’s independent director Rich Stoddart has been appointed interim CEO. Hasbro is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

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The S&P 500 fell 30.15 points, or 0.7%, to 4,361.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 250.19 points, or 0.7%, to 34,496.06 points. The Nasdaq lost 93.34 points or 0.6% to 14,486.20 points. The Russell 2000 Smaller Business Index lost 12.45 points, or 0.6%, to 2,220.64.

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