“Federal health officials lifted a pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Friday night after an extensive safety review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
The officials said the benefits of the single-shot vaccine far outweigh the risks from a rare and severe type of blood clot.
The decision to lift the pause allows state and local officials to resume immediately giving the vaccine they have available on shelves, CDC officials said. The FDA has updated patient and health-care provider fact sheets for use as early as Saturday, and both agencies will publish additional education and communication materials by early next week.
The agencies had halted the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week because of reports of six cases of blood clots among the millions of people who had received the vaccine in the United States.” Read more at Washington Post
“Indonesia's navy on Saturday said they found debris and items likely to be from a submarine that went missing days ago, meaning it is almost certain to have sunk with its 53 crew members who are unlikely to have survived.
Speaking at a news conference, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono declared that the submarine had sunk, citing items found near its known location. Rescuers, he said, found items from the KRI Nanggala-402, a diesel-electric submarine, including a torpedo straightened and prayer rugs.” Read more at Washington Post
“An extensive effort to recount ballots from the November election moved forward in Phoenix on Friday as a private vendor hired by Republicans in the Arizona Senate began reviewing nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in the state’s largest county.
The recount of the ballots from Maricopa County was sought by Senate Republicans to examine unsubstantiated claims that fraud or errors tainted President Biden’s win.
Election officials and the courts have found no merit to such allegations, and the GOP-led county board of supervisors has objected to the recount.
After state Democrats filed a lawsuit this week to halt the proceedings, an Arizona judge on Friday ordered that the recount be paused for the weekend to consider their allegations that the process violates state laws governing the security of ballots.” Read more at Washington Post
“Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, pleaded not guilty Friday to sex-trafficking charges, appearing in Manhattan federal court for the first time since her arrest last summer on allegations she recruited and groomed young girls for Epstein to abuse.
Maxwell, 59, was shackled at the ankles and wore loosefitting blue jail scrubs, her hair grayer and longer than in her first appearance via video feed last year. She appears to have lost a significant amount of weight as well.
Ghislaine Maxwell charged with sex trafficking in new federal indictment
Maxwell, who has adamantly maintained her innocence, spoke only briefly on Friday. When asked by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan whether she was aware of the sex-trafficking charges filed against her late last month and if she had received a copy of the indictment, Maxwell responded affirmatively.” Read more at Washington Post
“Caitlyn Jenner, the Republican former Olympian and prominent transgender activist, announced on Friday that she would challenge Gov. Gavin Newsom of California in this year’s recall election.
Ms. Jenner, whose candidacy represents one of the most prominent bids for public office by an openly transgender person in the United States, said she had filed initial paperwork to run.
A recall election is all but certain in California, where Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, has come under attack for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans and backers of the recall effort have focused in particular on his leadership of the state’s economy.
Officially, it is still uncertain if and when a recall vote will happen, but organizers have said for months that they have exceeded the 1.5 million signatures needed to trigger such an election. It would most likely be held this fall.” Read at New York Times
“An Iowa woman who tried to kill two children in 2019 by hitting them with her car because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African or Mexican descent has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and hate crime charges, the authorities said.
The woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 43, made the admission to two counts of hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors. She faces life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charges, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.” Read more at New York Times
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