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October 19, 2021 at 10:58 pm
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to allow Americans to get a different booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine than the one initially taken, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The FDA in September authorized a booster dose of Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech’s two-shot COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 65 and older and some high-risk Americans.
The regulator’s advisory panel has also backed the use of Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.
The government would not recommend one shot over another, and it might note that using the same vaccine as a booster when possible is preferable, the NYT report said, citing people familiar with the agency’s plans.
The FDA declined to comment on the matter.
U.S. health officials h...
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October 19, 2021 at 10:58 pm
A 96-year-old former Nazi concentration camp secretary who absconded before her trial appeared in court in Germany on Tuesday to face charges of aiding and abetting murder.
The first woman to be prosecuted for Nazi-era crimes in decades, Irmgard Furchner is charged with complicity in the killing of more than 11,000 people at Stutthof camp in Poland.
Between June 1943 and April 1945, the accused worked in the office of camp commander Paul Werner Hoppe. Prosecutors say she took dictation of the SS officer’s orders and handled his correspondence.
Roughly 65,000 people died at the Stutthof camp near Gdansk, among them “Jewish prisoners, Polish partisans and Soviet Russian prisoners of war,” according to the indictment read out by public prosecutor Maxi Wantzen.
A teenager...
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October 19, 2021 at 10:55 pm
Former President Donald Trump said he was surprised that supporters breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 and added that he would have stopped them had he been present, a new book says.
People protesting the 2020 presidential election results attacked the Capitol following a Trump rally in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day.
“I was not surprised when they went down to the Capitol to cheer, but I was surprised that they went [into] the Capitol,” Trump says in “In Trump’s Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP,” Business Insider reported.
The then-president said he wanted to join supporters marching to the Capitol but was prevented from doing so by the Secret Service.
“I wanted to go down with the crowd,” Trump said in the book. &l...
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October 19, 2021 at 10:55 pm
Former President Trump lambasted the media on Tuesday for what he said was too-favorable coverage of former Secretary of State Colin Powell after his death on Monday.
“Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump called Powell “a classic RINO,” an acronym for “Republican in name only.”
“He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!” Trump added.
The former president’s criticisms were unsurprising.
Trump throughout his time in office criticized Powell and other architects of the Iraq War, including former ...
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October 19, 2021 at 10:53 pm
A request from former White House strategist Steve Bannon to delay a vote Tuesday to refer him for prosecution has been denied by the House select committee probing the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The request was made after former President Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the panel to try to prevent Congress from obtaining some of his White House documents.
In a federal lawsuit, Trump said the committee’s August request was “almost limitless in scope,” and sought many records that were not even connected to the siege.
Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, made the request for the delay in a letter to Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. A copy of the letter was posted on Twitter by Axios’ Andrew Solender.
...
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October 19, 2021 at 10:52 pm
Zapping the brain with infrared light could boost dementia patients’ memory and muscle control, a study claims.
Durham University scientists found using a specially equipped helmet to beam invisible waves of light into healthy brains improved people’s memories and thought processing.
They said it could pave the way for a dementia therapy – the condition is incurable and affects around 850,000 people in the UK.
The £7,250 helmet works by forcing brain cells to boost their energy levels – which fall in people with dementia – and encouraging blood flow so the brain gets more oxygen.
Durham’s Dr Paul Chazot said: “We’ve shown what appear to be real improvements in memory and other neurological processes for healthy people.
“While...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:50 pm
Infected person is an 11-year-old boy who tested positive on his return from Moldova
Health officials on Tuesday evening reported the first identified case of the highly contagious delta "AY.4.2" subvariant in Israel.
The variant has recently been detected in several European countries.
The infected person is an 11-year-old boy who tested positive on his return from Moldova.
Officials are investigating whether the new strain is more virulent than the delta variant, although they have not yet expressed serious concerns about it.
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October 19, 2021 at 3:35 pm
Racism is now officially a public health crisis in New York City.
Monday, the city’s Board of Health passed a resolution recognizing the impact of racism on people’s health during the pandemic, which magnified inequities in communities of color.
“We must confront racism as a public health crisis. This pandemic magnified ineq...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:32 pm
Maryland Treasurer Nancy Kopp announced Monday she will step down by the end of the year.
Kopp, a Democrat, has been treasurer since 2002. She has been re-elected by the General Assembly to five four-year terms.
The treasurer holds one of three seats on the state’s powerful Board of Public Works, which oversees a large portion of state procurement contracts. The other two board members are the governor and comptroller.
As treasurer, Kopp has served as the state’s chief representative dealing with bond rating agencies and banking firms, responsible for receiving, depositing, investing, and distributing state funds.
The treasurer also leads several key state boards and financial planning committees, including the Maryland State Retirement and Pension Systems.
State law req...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:31 pm
Southwest Airlines has scrapped a plan to put unvaccinated employees who have applied for but haven’t received a religious or medical exemption on unpaid leave starting by a federal deadline in December.
Southwest Airlines and American Airlines are among the carriers that are federal contractors and subject to a Biden administration requirement that their employees are vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 unless they are exempt for medical or religious reasons. Rules for federal contractors are stricter than those expected for large companies, which will allow for regular Covid testing as an alterative to a vaccination.
Executives at both carriers in recent days have tried to reassure employees about job security under the mandate, urging them to appl...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:26 pm
A Georgia school board has passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism in the wake of multiple incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti in school restrooms, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The “Anti-Semitism and Racism Resolution” adopted by the Cobb County School Board in Marietta, Georgia said: “The Board wishes to reaffirm its continued commitment to take proactive steps to address anti-Semitism, racism and all other forms of hate in Cobb County School District,”
It passed at the board’s October meeting with four members voting in favor and two voting against.
The resolution was put forward after restrooms at Pope High School and Lassiter High School were defaced with anti-Semitic phrases and swastikas durin...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:25 pm
The FBI swarmed the Washington DC residence of a Russian oligarch who is a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, a measure the agency called a “law enforcement activity,” the New York Post reported.
Dozens of agents were seen searching the billionaire’s mansion on Tuesday, which was blocked off with tape.
Some of the agents reportedly carried off boxes and other objects from the house.
NBC News reported that an FBI spokesperson would not state why the raid had been ordered. The FBI is also not commenting on whether Deripaska is under investigation.
Deripaska is an aluminum billionaire who is a close associate of Putin. He was placed under American sanctions by the Trump administration due to his ties to the Russian president as allegations swirle...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:24 pm
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive for a COVID-19 breakthrough case on Tuesday, a department spokesperson said in a statement reported by CNN.
Mayorkas was tested for the virus as part of routine pre-travel protocols, according to the statement from spokesperson Marsha Espinosa. He was preparing to travel to Colombia with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to CNN.
Mayorkas is experiencing mild congestion and will continue to work from home.
“Secretary Mayorkas tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus after taking a test as part of routine pre-travel protocols. Secretary Mayorkas is experiencing only mild congestion; he is fully vaccinated and will isolate and work at home per CDC protocols and medical a...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:17 pm
The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is 93% effective in preventing hospitalization in adolescents between the ages of 12-18, according to a study published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The study found a slight difference between the effectiveness in older and younger adolescents, with a 94% effectiveness among children between the ages of 16-18 and a 91% effectiveness for children between the ages of 12-15.
The study authors wrote that the findings " reinforce the importance of vaccination to protect U.S. youths against severe COVID-19."
"These data suggest that increasing vaccination coverage among this group could reduce the incidence of severe COVID-19 in the United States. Further, as in-person school attendance increases, multicomponent preventive measur...
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October 19, 2021 at 3:11 pm
Dozens of policemen and Border Police officers worked this evening (Tuesday) in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate to disperse a violent riot involving hundreds of Arabs.
22 suspects have been arrested so far on suspicion of involvement in breaches of public order, violence and throwing stones at buses and police forces operating at the scene.
A 38-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were lightly injured by stones thrown by Arabs at a bus on the Opel Road in Jerusalem. Magen Davidf Adom (MDA_ medics and paramedics provided medical care and referred the wounded to hospitals.
A Border Police undercover force operating in the Herod's Gate area made a targeted arrest of a suspect after stones at a bus. During the arrest, stones and bottles were thrown at the forc...
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October 19, 2021 at 1:36 pm
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized the UN Security Council for its disproportionate focus on criticizing Israel during the UN Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East Tuesday.
"Before I address what we’ve just heard, I want to briefly comment on the content of these monthly meetings. The monthly agenda calls for a briefing on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.” This Council spends a great deal of time on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is both understandable and consistent with the agenda. But far too often, the substance of these discussions is centered almost entirely around criticism of Israel and counterattacks. I sincerely hope that going forward, Council members w...
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October 19, 2021 at 1:26 pm
An Egged passenger bus was attacked by stone-throwing Arabs by the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem Tuesday,
Documentation from the scene shows the moments when stones were thrown at the bus and the windows shattered following the impact.
The frightened passengers lay on the floor so as not to be hit by any more stones thrown at them. There were no casualties during the incident.
Police said that during the riots that broke out in the area, rioters threw stones at police forces - and at passing buses: "A police force acted to disperse the rioters using riot dispersal methods. Police and Border Police have so far arrested 11 suspects on suspicion of involvement in public rioting incidents and throwing stones at buses and acted to repel the rioters and maintain public order."
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October 19, 2021 at 1:22 pm
In July, several US lawmakers called on the IOC to either postpone or relocate the Olympics
Activists are calling for a boycott of China’s upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, citing Beijing’s treatment of minorities.
Representatives from the World Uyghur Congress, a group advocating for Uighur rights, and several Tibetan agencies delivered a press conference from Athens, Greece on Tuesday to protest the upcoming games.
“The Olympic Torch is supposed to represent peace and hope, but for our people who are living under the brutal Chinese Communist Party this represents global complicity in China's extreme repression,” Uighur activist Zumretay Arkin explained, according to Reuters.
“We are in Athens to tell the international community that the Olympic ...
