Covid vaccines in the firmament? Medicine opens Nobel season

The pioneers of the brand new messenger RNA vaccines against Covid-19 or a duo of hitherto forgotten nonagenarians? The Nobel Prize in Medicine opens the 2021 season of the famous awards on Monday with a wide range of possibilities. For the 120th anniversary of the awards, breakthroughs against breast cancer, experts in cell adhesion, new avenues for rheumatology treatments, champions of epigenetics or antibiotic resistance could also collect the laurels, according to experts surveyed by AFP. Two names are as necessary as they are debated for speculation around the prize "physiology or medicine": the Hungarian Katalin Kariko and the American Drew Weissman, pioneers of messenger RNA vaccines and professors at the American University of Pennsylvania. Their discoveries, published in 2005, paved the way for vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna laboratories, already injected into more than a billion people worldwide to protect them from Covid-19. And the technology is also the subject of promising developments against other diseases and viruses. Too early this year or unavoidable given their "benefit for humanity", a slogan set by the creator of the prizes, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896)?

The offshore billions of dozens of executives exposed by a group of journalists

Several leaders, including the Czech Prime Minister, the King of Jordan or the Presidents of Kenya and Ecuador, have concealed assets in offshore companies, including for tax evasion purposes, according to an investigation released Sunday by the International Consortium of Journalists of investigation (ICIJ). The "Pandora Papers" investigation, in which about 600 journalists collaborated, is based on some 11.9 million documents, which come from 14 financial services companies, and has uncovered more than 29,000 offshore companies. In total, links have been established by the ICIJ between offshore assets and 336 leading executives and politicians, who have created nearly 1,000 companies, more than two-thirds of them in the British Virgin Islands. According to these documents, King Abdullah II of Jordan has created at least thirty offshore companies, that is to say in countries or territories with advantageous taxation. Through these entities, it has purchased 14 luxury properties in the United States and the United Kingdom, for more than $106 million. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has invested $22 million in shell companies that were used to finance the purchase of Château Bigaud, a large property in Mougins, in southern France. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has housed funds in two trusts headquartered in the United States, in South Dakota. Among the personalities on display are also colombian singer Shakira, German model Claudia Schiffer and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Also appearing are the names of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who bought a property in London through a company abroad, and former French minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

IN BRIEF

The European champion, the Italian Sonny Colbrelli, won Paris-Roubaix, Sunday, in his first participation, in this exceptionally muddy 118th edition, in the rain and marked by many falls.

Ligue 1: Lille recorded its third consecutive success in the league by beating Marseille (2-0) and came close to the podium on Sunday during the 9th day.

Final of series for Paris: beaten at Rennes 2-0, Lionel Messi and his teammates conceded their first defeat of the season in Ligue 1 while Marseille, orphan of Bernard Tapie, slipped to 5th place after its defeat at Lille 2-0.

The 4-year-old German horse Torquator Tasso ridden by René Piechulek created a surprise by winning after wrestling the 100th Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, becoming the new world champion of the gallop over 2,400 meters.