NPR
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that children 12 to 15 years old are now eligible to receive a key COVID-19 vaccine as the agency expanded its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, said the expansion "brings us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy."
"Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations," Woodcock said.
Until now, the Pfizer vaccine had been authorized only for people age 16 and older. Pfizer asked the FDA to broaden its emergency use authorization for the vaccine after announcing in late March that clinical trials found "100% efficacy and robust antibody responses" in study participants who were 12 to 15.
The FDA first granted Pfizer's request for an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in December. It got federal approval to include children as young as 12 in its vaccine trial in October.Skewed and out of whack’: Right-wing extremism flourishes in North Texas suburbs
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The Guardian
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians escalated dramatically on Monday as militant groups in Gaza fired rockets into Israel and Israel responded with strikes on the Palestinian coastal territory following a police raid on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem that left hundreds injured.
The rocket attacks were launched just minutes after the passing of a Hamas-issued ultimatum for Israel to withdraw security forces from both the Jerusalem compound that is home to the al-Aqsa mosque and the Old City’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
The two locations have been the scene of increasingly violent confrontations in recent days between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in recent days that have drawn mounting international concern.
The Guardian
A US coast guard ship fired about 30 warning shots as a group of 13 Iranian fast boats sped toward US navy vessels in the strait of Hormuz, in what the Pentagon called “unsafe and unprofessional” maneuvers by the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGCN).
The incident marked the second time within the last month that US military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.
John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, said the warning shots were fired after the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 yards (450ft) of six US military vessels, including the USS Monterey, that were escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia.
The Guardian
On a recent evening, Andrés pulled on his gas mask and helmet and headed for the barricades at the entrance to his rundown neighbourhood in Cali, a city which has become the center of Colombia’s anti-government protests.
But as he approached the roadblock of rocks, rubble and barbed wire, he saw a motorcycle speeding towards him. In an attempt to turn the vehicle back, another demonstrator shone a laser pen in the driver’s eyes.
Others screamed “the way is closed”, but still the bike wove past burning piles of rubbish towards the protesters.
Then, the masked pillion rider drew a handgun and opened fire.
Why People Are Fleeing Honduras For The U.S.: 'All That's Left Here Is Misery'
C/NET
When schools shut down in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Freeman School District in Rockford, Washington, like districts across the country, scrambled to put in place a remote learning plan. The good news was that it had already begun rolling out a program to get every student in its 900-person district a device to connect to the internet. This meant the school district had gear for each student to access learning tools remotely.
The bigger problem was that pockets of students throughout the mostly rural school district, 15 miles south of Spokane, lacked access to broadband service or even cellular LTE service.
The trick for Freeman School District was figuring out where those dead spots were and how to get students connected, said superintendent Randy Russell. For students who could get cellular service but who lacked internet service at home, the district provided mobile hotspots. But for those for whom access was simply not available at their homes, students could access the school's Wi-Fi network from the school's parking lot or the parking lots of the library or local Starbucks. For students who couldn't get access to any kind of service, the school provided paper packets.
C/NET
After a few years hanging out with and even chest-bumping potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu, NASA's Osiris-Rex is saying goodbye Monday and returning to Earth.
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer was the agency's first spacecraft to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey its surface and swipe a sample to bring back home for scientists to study.
It now begins the final phase of a long journey that started with its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 8, 2016. With the firing of its thrusters for seven minutes Monday afternoon, Osiris-Rex moves away from its orbit around Bennu to set a new course for Earth. More precisely, it aims to return the 2.1 ounce (60 gram) sample it collected from Bennu for an airdrop at the Utah Test and Training Range on Sept. 24, 2023.
BBC
A cyber-criminal gang that took a major US fuel pipeline offline over the weekend has acknowledged the incident in a public statement.
"Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society," DarkSide wrote on its website.
The US issued emergency legislation on Sunday after Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack.
The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day - 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.
The operator took itself offline on Friday after the cyber-attack. Work to restore service is continuing.
BBC
Whitewashed stories about the British upper classes are being retold. Fedora Abu explores the Bridgerton effect, and talks to Lawrence Scott, author of Dangerous Freedom.
For centuries, the Royal Family, Britain's wealthiest, most exclusive institution, has been synonymous with whiteness. And yet, for a brief moment, there she was: Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex, a biracial black woman, on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Her picture-perfect wedding to Prince Harry in 2018 was an extraordinary amalgamation of black culture and centuries-old royal traditions, as an African-American preacher and a gospel choir graced St George's Chapel in Windsor. Watching on that sunny May afternoon, who would've known things would unravel the way they have three years on?
Although heralded as a history-maker, the Duchess of Sussex is not actually the first woman of colour to have been part of the British upper classes. Dangerous Freedom, the latest novel by Trinidadian author Lawrence Scott, tells the story of the real historical figure Elizabeth Dido Belle, the mixed-race daughter of enslaved woman Maria Belle and Captain Sir John Lindsay. Born in 1761, she was taken in by her great-uncle, Lord Chief Justice William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield, and raised amid the lavish setting of Kenwood House in Hampstead, London, alongside her cousin Elizabeth. It was a rare arrangement, most likely unique, and today she is considered to be Britain's first black aristocrat.
Al Jazeera
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – When Rosa Dos Anjos was admitted to a COVID-19 intensive care unit in the Amazonian capital of Manaus for 15 days in January, she thought her fortunes could not possibly get any worse.
The 50 year old had already lost her father to the virus during a deadly first wave of the pandemic last year – and Dos Anjos was fighting for her life as oxygen supplies ran out and the healthcare system collapsed all around her.
While she narrowly survived, her family’s struggle is far from over, as her 41-year-old brother also contracted the disease and saw his oxygen saturation levels plunge to 80 percent in April, the deadliest month in Brazil since the pandemic began.
“Before I was concerned for myself. Now it’s my brother,” Dos Anjos told Al Jazeera.
The Dos Anjos family has lived through two brutal waves of the coronavirus pandemic, which have claimed more than 400,000 lives across the country – the second highest death rate in the world after the United States.
Al Jazeera
Jailed Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia has been freed from prison after a court ordered his release on bail – a significant step in a European Union-backed plan to help end a prolonged political crisis.
Speaking to supporters and journalists gathered outside the court in the capital, Tbilisi, Melia said on Monday he would consult his party about his next political steps, after domestic media reported that the court had ordered his release from pre-trial detention.
Georgia, a south Caucasian republic with ambitions to join NATO and other Western organisations, has faced political turmoil since a parliamentary election last November, which the ruling Georgian Dream party won but the opposition called unfair.
Police stormed the offices of Melia’s United National Movement (UNM) opposition party in February to arrest him over accusations that he fomented violence during anti-government protests in 2019, charges he says are politically motivated.
DW News
Germany now exempts people who have received both of their COVID jabs and those who have recovered from the illness from some restrictions. Many Berliners have been enjoying the sun, but few know about the exemptions.
Martina Czwielung and her mother Renata Czwielung, 84, gathered in Berlin's Mauerpark with friends on Sunday for a picnic to celebrate a particularly sunny Mother's Day. Martina is quick to explain that their group of four is from two households and isn't violating COVID restrictions. But she needn't have worried: Under the new measures put in place across Germany on Sunday, Martina's mother, the only vaccinated person in the group, is no longer counted in restrictions limiting the size of gatherings.
She had her second COVID shot more than 14 days ago, which means she can go to the hairdresser without having to take a test first. "She hasn't been to the hairdresser in months. It is difficult for her to sign up for a test appointment online so I hope she will be able to go now," Martina said.
DW News
The court in the Paris suburb of Evry said it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case involving the wartime actions of the US government, the ruling said.
The case was brought forward by Tran To Nga, a French woman of Vietnamese origin. The defendants included US agrochemical firm Monsanto, now owned by German giant Bayer.
Military veterans from the US, Australia and Korea previously won compensation for the after-effects of Agent Orange. But a verdict in favor of a Vietnamese victim would have set a precedent.
What does the ruling mean?
The court's ruling meant that it believed that the companies, which the plaintiff had sued, were not responsible for the production of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, said DW correspondent Marina Strauss.
Reuters
Gay and transgender people will be protected against sex discrimination in healthcare, the U.S. health secretary said on Monday, as President Joe Biden’s administration reversed a policy put in place under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the action restores protections under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, against sexual discrimination in healthcare. It was the latest in a series of steps the Democratic president has taken to bolster LGBT rights.
"It simply says what everyone already should know: You should not discriminate against people," Becerra told CNN. "That includes those based on sexual orientation or gender identity and when it comes to healthcare - we want to make sure that's the case."
Reuters
The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives has set a Wednesday date for the chamber's 212 Republican members to vote on removing Donald Trump critic Liz Cheney from her leadership post.
The vote, announced by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy in a letter to colleagues on Monday, is likely to result in the ouster of Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump in January and has repeatedly criticized the former president's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
"Having heard from so many of you in recent days, it's clear that we need to make a change. As such, you should anticipate a vote on recalling the Conference Chair this Wednesday," McCarthy said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters.
NPR
A U.S. Capitol Police watchdog told a congressional committee on Monday that the agency was not equipped to handle the flow of intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the complex, and he focused his testimony on a suggestion that the force create a dedicated counterintelligence unit.
Inspector General Michael Bolton, as part of a series of investigative reports and related House Administration Committee hearings, has drilled down on Capitol Police deficiencies revealed by the riot that he says must be addressed to transform the department from its reactionary stance to a protective agency.
That includes a new counterintelligence unit, improving training and staffing for its existing threat assessment section and sharing relevant findings throughout the force.
NPR
Joining the exodus of Hondurans fleeing their benighted homeland, Luis Alberto Enrique and his family search for the unmarked footpath into Guatemala to begin their dangerous, 1,500-mile journey to the Texas border.
As they walk through the border town of Corinto on a humid morning last month, his two young daughters tote pink Disney backpacks and their favorite stuffed animals. Enrique says he heard the United States is no longer turning migrants back.
"I heard on the news there is chaos on the U.S.-Mexico border, but I understand they're not deporting families," Enrique said. "We're putting ourselves in the hands of U.S. law. Here, life is very hard."
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded a drought emergency declaration to a large swath of the nation's most populated state amid “acute water supply shortages" in northern and central parts of California.
The declaration now covers 41 of 58 counties, covering 30% of California's nearly 40 million people. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of the state and the American West is in extensive drought just a few years after California emerged from a punishing multiyear dry spell.
Officials fear an extraordinarily dry spring presages a wildfire season like last year, when flames burned a record 6,562 square miles (16,996 square kilometers).
The expansion comes as Newsom prepares to propose more spending on both short- and long-term responses to dry conditions. He was set to release details during a visit to Merced County, in the agricultural Central Valley south of Sacramento.
The Democratic governor last month had declared an emergency in just two counties north of San Francisco — Mendocino and Sonoma.
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