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Pfizer asks FDA to authorize booster shots for all adults

On Tuesday, Pfizer announced it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to authorize booster doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, ages 18 and older. The request comes a month and a half after the FDA authorized boosters for seniors and other higher-risk adults.

The request is similar to one made by Pfizer in August, when it asked federal regulators to amend its full license to allow a booster dose for individuals 16 and older. However many raised concerns that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that vaccine-induced immunity was waning in younger populations, particularly against severe disease. However, the company now says that new data from a large clinical trial of more than 10,000 fully vaccinated people found that a booster dose was over 95% effective against COVID-19 compared to individuals who were fully vaccinated but had not received a booster dose. A press release issued by Pfizer said that during the study period, “there were 5 cases of COVID-19 in the booster group, and 109 cases in the non-boosted group.” The company also says the efficacy of the booster dose was consistent across different ages and racial and ethnic groups.

Up until recently there was not enough known about the risk of a rare potential side effect, myocarditis or pericarditis — inflammation of different parts of the heart — after a third dose, particularly among young men. Safety data has shown that men under the age of 30 are at higher risk of the condition, specifically after the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The FDA has also allowed people to mix-and-match any of the three authorized or approved vaccines in the U.S. as a booster shot..

So far, nearly 25 million booster doses have been administered nationwide, representing more than 12% of individuals who are fully vaccinated. Nearly a third of individuals who are 65 or older and are fully vaccinated have received a booster.

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Oklahoma Supreme Court overturns ruling against Johnson & Johnson regarding opioid crisis

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a ruling which ordered drugmaker Johnson & Johnson to pay $465 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis. The court ruled 5-1 that District Judge Thad Balkman ruled improperly when he rendered the judgment against J&J in August 2019.

Judge Balkman said at the time that J&J and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, created a public nuisance by compromising the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans by marketing opioids. However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the company’s actions didn’t violate the public nuisance law, stating: “The court has allowed public nuisance claims to address discrete, localized problems, not policy problems. J&J had no control of its products through the multiple levels of distribution, including after it sold the opioids to distributors and wholesalers, which were then disbursed to pharmacies, hospitals and physicians’ offices, and then prescribed by doctors to patients.”

Johnson & Johnson has faced thousands of lawsuits for its role in the opioid crisis, which the U.S. government blames for nearly 70,000 deaths in 2020. The company agreed to pay up to $5 billion over the next nine years as part of a wide-ranging settlement with 14 states involving up to 4,000 opioid-related claims.

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January 6 committee issues subpoenas to six top Trump campaign leaders and associates

On Monday, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol issued six subpoenas to top-level members of the 2020 Trump reelection campaign, as well as individuals who promoted disproven conspiracies about the election and reportedly worked to find ways to overturn the results.

The committee demanded records and depositions from campaign manager William Stepien, senior adviser Jason Miller and executive assistant Angela McCallum. The committee also sent subpoenas to former President Trump’s attorney John Eastman, who reportedly advised Mr. Trump incorrectly that his vice president had the ability to reject electors from states and could overturn Joe Biden’s victory. The panel is also seeking information by subpoena from Michael Flynn, Mr. Trump’s one-time national security advisor who is believed to have attended an Oval Office meeting where attendees discussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency and invoking some national security emergency powers to keep Mr. Trump in the White House, according to multiple reports. The committee also sent a subpoena to Bernard Kerik, an associate of Rudolph Giuliani, who reportedly funded command centers for the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi created the House select committee earlier this year to investigate the January 6 attack, when thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol as Congress counted the electoral votes.  The riot led to the deaths of five people and the arrests of hundreds more. Mr. Trump, who encouraged his supporters to “walk over” to the Capitol during the Stop the Steal rally, was impeached by the House one week later for inciting the riot but was later acquitted by the Senate.

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Remington Firearms announce relocation of HQ from New York to Georgia

On Monday, gun manufacturer Remington Firearms – the nation’s oldest arms maker, whose lines of shotguns and hunting rifles date back to 1816 – announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters from New York to Georgia, with plans to build a $100 million manufacturing center in the state. The arms maker said it will build an advanced manufacturing operation and establish a “world-class research and development center” in LaGrange, Ga., located about 70 miles southwest of the state capital. The company, officially known as RemArms LLC, is currently located in Ilion, N.Y.

RemArms CEO Ken D’Arcy said in a statement:  “We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry.”  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp praised the move, saying in a press release: “I am a proud owner of some of Remington’s first-class product, and now, I am excited to welcome them to their new home in the Peach State. As yet another big manufacturing win for our state, I look forward to seeing the oldest firearms manufacturer in America thrive in Georgia’s pro-business environment.” Kemp said the move will result in 856 new jobs created over a five-year period in Troup County, Ga.

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Iraqi prime minister survives assassination attempt with armed drones

Officials confirmed on Sunday that Iraq’s prime minister was unharmed in an attack by an explosive-laden drone on his residence in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone. Iraqi state media described the attack as an assassination attempt on the prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi.  Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the attack involved three drones, two of which were shot down by Iraqi security forces, while the third managed to hit the residence.  al-Kadhimi said in a televised video message that the residence “came under a cowardly attack, but thanks to God, me and all those who work with me are safe.” Al Kadhimi also called for calm and restraint in the wake of the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iraqi officials in Baghdad indicated that pro-Iranian Shiite militias may be responsible; they’ve already conducted similar attacks on Baghdad’s Green Zone, the U.S. Embassy and the airport in Erbil. The assassination attempt came less than two days after heavily armed pro-Iranian militias threatened to hold the prime minister accountable for casualties resulting from a confrontation between Iraqi security forces and pro-militia demonstrators protesting recent election results, in which pro-Iranian militias suffered major losses in Parliament.

The attack represented the first serious assassination attempt of an Iraqi prime minister in the years since the American invasion of 2003.

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Investigation continues into tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival as victims are identified

The names of some of the victims who died at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas have been revealed by authorities. At least eight people were killed and hundreds were treated for injuries after a sold-out crowd of nearly 50,000 people surged during rapper Travis Scott’s performance at the music festival Friday night, with the medical examiner asking for the public’s help identifying the eighth and final victim. City officials gave the ages of the victims as 14, 16, two 21-year-olds, two 23-year-olds, and one 27-year-old, in addition to the unknown individual.

Officials declared a “mass casualty event” outside NRG Park during the Astroworld Festival after the crowd surged toward the stage just after 9 p.m., overwhelming security forces. Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña told CNN the causes of death are pending and as of press time over a dozen people remain hospitalized, five under the age of 18.

The victims identified are: Brianna Rodriguez, a 16-year-old junior at Houston’s Heights High School; Illinois native Franco Patino, 21, a student at the University of Dayton in Ohio; Jacob Jurinek, a student at Southern Illinois University; Rodolfo Angel Peña, 23, a Texas native described as an aspiring model and psychology student, 14-year-old John Hilgert who attended Memorial High School in Houston, TX, and 27-year-old Danish Baig.

Houston authorities appealed to the public for help in identifying one of the eight victims, releasing a picture of the young man with dark hair and a goatee. As of press time, the 8th victim was identified by his father as Axel Acosta, a 21 student at Western Washington University.

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LGBTQ+ and civil rights group sues Tennessee over transgender sports ban

LGBTQ+ civil rights groups in Tennessee filed a lawsuit Thursday against the state’s controversial transgender sports ban. Filed by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee on behalf of transgender 14-year-old Luc Esquivel, the suit argues that banning transgender students from their desired sports teams is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The suit also argues that preventing transgender children from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity encourages bullying in schools, denies transgender children the benefits of participating in sports and ultimately acts as “a solution in search of a problem” that does not exist.  The suit read: “For some transgender students, being required to play on a team that does not match their gender identity would have the additional consequence of revealing private medical information, as not all students who are transgender are known to be transgender by their peers.”  Esquivel said in a press release Thursday: “I was really looking forward to trying out for the boys’ golf team and, if I made it, training and competing with and learning from other boys and improving my game. Then, to have the legislature pass a law that singled out me and kids like me to keep us from being part of a team, that crushed me, it hurt very much. I just want to play, like any other kid.”

The ban, which was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, was touted as a way to preserve fairness in women’s sports. But the bill requires schools to make both female and male transgender athletes play on teams that match their gender assigned at birth, something opponents say is discriminatory and unfairly targets transgender or gender non-conforming athletes.

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Navy fires leaders of USS Connecticut after underwater mountain collision

The U.S. military announced Thursday that the Navy fired leaders of the USS Connecticut for “loss of confidence” after the submarine struck an underwater mountain in the South China Sea. The commanding officer of the fast-attack submarine, Cmdr. Cameron Aljilani, second-in-command, Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Cashin, and the chief of the boat Master Chief Sonar Technician Cory Rodgers were fired following the incident, the Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet announced.

Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the 7th Fleet, reviewed the investigation on Thursday and made the decision to relieve the leadership. A statement by the 7th Fleet read: “Thomas determined sound judgment, prudent decision-making and adherence to required procedures in navigation planning, watch team execution and risk management could have prevented the incident.”

Eleven sailors were injured in the incident on Oct. 2, when the USS Connecticut collided with the seamount, an underwater mountain. No further details were released Thursday regarding exactly who the command failed to prevent the crash.

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Senate Republicans block voting rights bill once again

Senate Republicans again blocked a voting rights bill Wednesday that would strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The chamber voted 50-49 in favor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, 10 votes shy of the 60 needed to advance the bill. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer voted against it so he’d have the option of bringing the legislation back up in the future. Republicans also blocked an earlier version of the bill — the Freedom to Vote Act — in October.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named after the congressman and civil rights activist from Alabama, was passed by the House in August. The bill seeks to strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has been weakened by a pair of Supreme Court rulings. If signed into law the bill would restore the Justice Department’s ability to block certain jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination from altering their voting rules, after the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled the method used to implement the provision was outdated.

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Jury seated in murder trial of Ahmaud Arbery

A jury was seated on Wednesday in the murder trial of three Georgia men accused in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020.  A pool of about 1,000 potential jurors over the course of nearly three weeks was whittled down by the Glynn County Superior Court; of the 12 jurors and four alternates, one was a person of color; five were men and 11 women.

Prosecutors accused defense attorneys of racial bias and asked Judge Timothy Walmsley to reinstate eight Black potential jurors that the defense had struck from the final jury. Arbery was black and the three men accused of killing him were white. Greg McMichael, his son, Travis McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan each face charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment for the shooting death of Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020.

Video footage from Bryan’s vehicle showed Arbery, 25, being boxed in by two pickup trucks driven by the defendants as he was jogging through a Brunswick neighborhood less than 2 miles from his home. Travis McMichael then appears to get out of his vehicle and shoot Arbery three times with a shotgun. The elder McMichael told police they pursued Arbery after suspecting he’d committed a series of break-ins in the neighborhood, though there hadn’t been a string of break-ins reported in the area in weeks. All three men pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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