Around 50 Jewish families built trailer-sized homes of concrete blocks and metal-sheet roofs on the hilltop outpost in Evyatar starting in May, sparking daily protests by local Palestinians who claim the land.

U.K. Plans to Introduce Covid-19 Booster Shots in September

LONDON-The U.K. government said it is preparing to deliver booster Covid-19 vaccine shots from September, in case extra protection is needed to deal with waning immunity from initial doses and to bolster protection against new variants of the coronavirus.

The U.K. is among the first governments to set out provisional plans for booster shots, following advice from specialists who are concerned that possible further Covid-19 outbreaks over the winter could coincide with a wave of influenza and put pressure on the country's health system.

Turkey Offers Covid-19 Booster Shot After Early Use of Chinese Vaccine

ISTANBUL-After an early drive to inoculate millions with a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine, Turkey started offering Thursday a booster shot to some people amid concerns over the spread of the highly transmissible Delta strain.

Turkey's health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said it would offer a third vaccine dose to healthcare workers and people over the age of 50. That third dose isn't dependent on which vaccine was used for the previous two. Turkey is currently using both the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and another made by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Covid-19 Vaccine Passport System Gets First Test in Europe

The European Union started rolling out a first-of-a-kind digital health certificate that permits people who have been vaccinated to travel freely within the bloc without the need to quarantine or test negative for Covid-19 upon arrival at their destination.

About 200 million certificates have been generated among a population of about 450 million. The documents contain data on whether a passenger has received a vaccination, or has had a recent negative Covid-19 test, or proof of antibodies. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has told governments they must grant quarantine-free entry to EU travelers carrying the documents.

Activist Investor Elliott Pushes Shake-Up at GlaxoSmithKline

Activist investor Elliott Management Corp. has intensified pressure on GlaxoSmithKline PLC, calling on the pharmaceutical giant to replace members of its board and launch a process to decide whether Chief Executive Emma Walmsley should continue to lead the group.

The hedge fund, known for waging forceful campaigns for change at companies in which it invests, on Thursday said Glaxo had a poor record of execution, that its share price had underperformed for years and that its management lacked credibility.

EQT and Goldman Near Deal to Buy Parexel

EQT AB and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s investment arm are in advanced talks to buy contract-research organization Parexel International Corp. for nearly $9 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest healthcare deal for the private-equity firm.

Parexel runs clinical trials and provides other services for drugmakers and is owned by Pamplona Capital Management. A sale to EQT and Goldman could be completed this week, assuming talks don't fall apart, the people said. The business, which is based in Massachusetts and North Carolina, had drawn interest from both private-equity and strategic bidders, they said.

J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Promising Preliminary Signs of Protecting Against Delta Variant

Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine showed promising signs in a small laboratory study of protecting against the Delta variant spreading across the U.S. and other countries, the company said.

In laboratory testing, the vaccine triggered a strong immune response in blood samples taken from eight vaccinated people, J&J said Thursday.

Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com

Expected Major Events for Friday

06:00/ROM: May PPI

07:00/SPN: Jun Unemployment

07:30/EU: Jun EuroCOIN indicator of euro area economic activity

09:00/EU: May PPI

10:00/IRL: Jun Irish Live Register latest monthly figures

14:00/DEN: Jun Foreign Exchange & Liquidity

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-02-21 0015ET