https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/vaccine-developer-astrazeneca-buys-us-drug-company-for-39-billion-dollars-39855759.html

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has said it is buying a US drug company in a deal worth 39 billion US dollars (£29 billion).

Cambridge-based AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine with the University of Oxford, said on Saturday the acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals had been given the green-light by directors, but still needs shareholder and regulatory approval.

The UK has secured 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been found to protect against symptomatic disease in 70% of cases – with efficacy of up to 90% for those given a half then a full dose.

https://www.rt.com/usa/509501-lincoln-project-founder-ocasio-cortez/

Steve Schmidt, founder of the neoconservative Lincoln Project and a former George W. Bush assistant, was ridiculed after proposing an alliance with progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a somewhat creepy message.

In a lengthy open letter proposition – spread over eight Twitter posts on Saturday – Schmidt attempted to woo the congresswoman into his arms.

“I would like to officially reach out to @AOC on behalf of the @ProjectLincoln in defense of democracy,” Schmidt wrote, noting that despite the fact that they “disagree on many issues,” it “is ok in our view.”

The Lincoln Project founder reassured Ocasio-Cortez that him and his organization’s staffers “don’t look down on waitresses” and “always tip at 50% or more” – a reference to the congresswoman’s previous employment in bars, before urging that the two forces “need to work together.”

“We are one election away from losing this country to Autocrats,” he concluded. “We stand with you against that. We hope you will stand with us also.”

Though Ocasio-Cortez did not respond, dozens of journalists, commenters and activists tore into Schmidt’s open letter, calling it“creepy,”“thirsty,” and “condescending.”

Former Bernie Sanders surrogate Brianna Westbrook commented that Schmidt sounds “desperate to remain relevant as more and more people realize the Lincoln Project was one giant scam,” while conservative commenter Ryan Girdusky wrote, “I always thought the Lincoln Project grift would stop after Trump was no longer President… but reading the responses, it's clear Democrats will fall for a bullshit artist pretty easily.”