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Astrazeneca’s China Partner Expects to Be Able to Make 400M COVID-19 Vaccine Doses a Year

This file illustration photo taken on Nov.17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. (File/AFP)
This file illustration photo taken on Nov.17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. (File/AFP)
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Astrazeneca’s China Partner Expects to Be Able to Make 400M COVID-19 Vaccine Doses a Year

This file illustration photo taken on Nov.17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. (File/AFP)
This file illustration photo taken on Nov.17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. (File/AFP)

China’s Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products said on Tuesday it had completed a facility designed to be able to produce 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine per year, doubling a capacity target promised in 2020.

“Kangtai is actively pushing forward procedures for the vaccine’s clinical trial and registration in China, and has completed a manufacturing plant and started trial production,” the Shenzhen-based firm said in a press release.

The firm obtained rights to supply the AZD1222 vaccine, developed by the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker and Oxford University, in mainland China last year in return for having capacity to produce at least 200 million doses by the end of 2021, Reuters reported.

The vaccine might be approved for use in China by mid-2021 after gathering safety data from Phase I and II trials in China and efficacy data from late-stage trials overseas, Leon Wang, head of AstraZeneca’s China operation, said in November.

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World

ECB's Lagarde Keeps Door Open to Early Exit

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a press conference after a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Berlin on September 10, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a press conference after a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Berlin on September 10, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
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ECB's Lagarde Keeps Door Open to Early Exit

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a press conference after a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Berlin on September 10, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a press conference after a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Berlin on September 10, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday kept the door open to leaving her post early, replying "we'll see" when asked if she would remain in the position until her term ends ‌in October 2027.

"I ‌leave in ‌2027," ⁠Lagarde told Irish ⁠national broadcaster RTE in response to a question on rumors of her early resignation that have persisted for most ⁠of this year.

When asked ‌if ‌that meant October 2027, ‌Lagarde replied: "We'll see."

"What I ‌can tell you at this point is that whatever the time, it will be ‌handled in the most professional way as ⁠it should ⁠be," she added.

Sources told Reuters this week that France would back Dutchman Klaas Knot to succeed Lagarde as part of a bargain in which a French candidate would be picked for chief economist.

World

Police Move Ceuta Migrants Off Beaches in Spanish Enclave

The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
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Police Move Ceuta Migrants Off Beaches in Spanish Enclave

The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan

Police on Friday began moving hundreds of migrants from the beaches of Ceuta to the Spanish enclave's port area.

During the transfer, the police struggled to contain crowds of people jostling to secure a spot at the new tented site after weeks of living on the beaches, AFP said.

Tens of thousands of migrants flooded across the border from Morocco in July and though most returned, several thousand remained.

World

Iran Says Struck Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Says Struck Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they struck an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA, as a British maritime agency also reported an attack.

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic strait as Washington continues pressing its counterblockade of Iranian ports during the Middle East war, said AFP.

The Iranian republic wants to charge ships for passage, attacking vessels it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route.

"The Togo-flagged oil tanker 'Trend' had been targeted and detained after a fire broke out on board" late on Thursday, the statement said, calling it an attempted "illegal passage".

Early on Friday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a ship was hit by an "unknown projectile", causing a fire that was extinguished.

The monitoring agency had also reported a "security incident" in Hormuz late on Thursday, without giving details.

It was unclear if the IRGC and UKMTO reports referred to the same incident.