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One-shot vaccine proves effective

This Sept. 2020 photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows the investigational Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. Johnson & Johnson's long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine appears to protect against symptomatic illness with just one shot – not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses. Johnson & Johnson said Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the first single-shot vaccine appears 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19. It was more protective against severe symptoms, 85%. (Cheryl Gerber/Johnson & Johnson via AP)

The first one-shot COVID-19 vaccine provides good protection against the illness, Johnson & Johnson reported in a key study released Friday, offering the world a potentially important new tool as it races to stay ahead of the rapidly mutating virus. The pharmaceutical giant’s preliminary findings suggest the single-dose option may not be as strong as Pfizer’s or Moderna’s two-dose formula, and was markedly weaker against a worrisome mutated version of the virus in South Africa. But amid a rocky start to vaccinations worldwide, that may be an acceptable trade-off to get more people inoculated faster with an easier-to-handle shot that, unlike rival vaccines that must be kept frozen, can last months in the refrigerator. “Frankly, simple is beautiful,” said Dr. Matt Hepburn, the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine response leader. J&J plans to seek emergency use authorization in the U.S. within a week. It expects to supply 100 million doses to the U.S. by June — and a billion doses globally by year’s end — but declined to say how much could be ready if the Food and Drug Administration gives the green light. Also Friday, regulators cleared a third option, AstraZeneca’s vaccine, for use throughout the European Union. J&J studied its one-dose option in 44,000 people in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa. Interim results found the shot 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, and much more protective — 85% — against the most serious symptoms. There were no serious side effects. “Gambling on one dose was certainly worthwhile,” Dr. Mathai Mammen, global research chief for J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical unit, said. The vaccine worked better in the U.S. — 72% effective against moderate to severe COVID-19 — compared with 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa, where a mutant virus is spreading.

Probation for Russia probe fix

WASHINGTON — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation on Friday for altering an email the Justice Department relied on in its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation. Kevin Clinesmith apologized for doctoring the email about Carter Page’s relationship with the CIA, saying he was “truly ashamed” of an action that he said had “forever changed the course of his life.” “I pledge to Your Honor that I will never allow myself to show such poor judgment again,” Clinesmith told U.S. District Judge James Boasberg at a sentencing hearing held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of several months, but the judge said he did not think such a punishment was necessary in part because of Clinesmith’s evident remorse and because of the way he had already been “threatened, vilified and abused on a nationwide scale.”

Virus quarantine flaw exposed

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The woman who took a flight back to New Zealand was supposed to avoid all physical contact with others for 14 days as she went into mandatory quarantine. The man working at the quarantine hotel was supposed to be the last line of defense. But the two started passing notes to each other, including one written on the back of a face mask. Then she ordered a bottle of wine, which he delivered to her room. When he didn’t return 20 minutes later, a security manager sent to investigate found the pair together in what authorities are describing as an inappropriate encounter, one in which physical distancing wasn’t maintained. The incident earlier this month, which came to light Friday, has highlighted a very human weak point in New Zealand’s coronavirus elimination procedures, in a country which has stamped out community spread of the virus. It is similar to lapses in Australia that may have contributed to a major outbreak last year in Melbourne. “We’re dealing with human beings,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. “We ask everybody to adhere to the standards that we put in place. I cannot control the actions of every individual.” Brigadier Jim Bliss, the head of managed isolation and quarantine, said the worker was immediately sent home and told to self-isolate. He was later fired. The returning traveler, meanwhile, was given a formal written warning by the police. Authorities breathed a sigh of relief after both returned negative coronavirus tests. Bliss said the actions of the staffer at the Grand Millennium Auckland hotel weren’t reflective of the 4,000 people working at quarantine hotels who each day “selflessly put themselves between us and this virus.” He said an investigation is underway to consider whether additional security measures are needed.

Rod Stewart reaches plea deal

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rock icon Rod Stewart and his son have reached a plea deal to settle misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an altercation with a security guard at a posh Florida hotel. Prosecutors and defense attorneys announced Friday that Stewart and his son, Sean Stewart, would not be going to trial for the altercation at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach on New Year’s Day 2020, the South Florida SunSentinel r eported. Terms were not released. Security guard Jessie Dixon told police then that the now 76-year-old Stewart and his family were at the check-in table for a private party that they weren’t authorized to attend. Dixon said the group became loud and began causing a scene. Dixon told investigators he put his hand on the younger Stewart’s chest and told him to back up and make space, the report said. That’s when Sean Stewart, the rock star’s 40-year-old son, got “nose to nose” with Dixon. Sean Stewart then shoved Dixon backwards. Rod Stewart punched Dixon in his “left rib cage area” with a closed fist, a police report said.

UW chief erases thin blue line

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison’s police chief has banned officers from using “Thin Blue Line” imagery while on duty. The move by Chief Kristen Roman follows criticism on social media of a “Thin Blue Line” flag displayed at the police department’s office. The flag, which resembles a U.S. flag but has a blue stripe, is considered a sign of police solidarity, but has also been criticized as a symbol of white supremacy. Roman said the flag has been “co-opted” by extremists with “hateful ideologies” and that her department needs to distance itself from the imagery to build trust with the community, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. “We must consider the cost of clinging to a symbol that is undeniably and inextricably linked to actions and beliefs antithetical to UWPD’s values,” she said in a Jan. 15 email. Roman said the ban on public displays of “Thin Blue Line” imagery includes flags, pins, bracelets, notebooks, coffee mugs and other items. Tattoos are the exception.

Shell must compensate farmers

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In a victory for environmentalists and Nigerians whose land was polluted by oil leaks, a Dutch appeals court ordered energy giant Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary Friday to compensate farmers in two villages for damage to their land caused by leaks in 2004 and 2005. Friends of the Earth Netherlands director Donald Pols hailed the ruling as a victory for small communities hurt by huge companies. “Up until this morning, Dutch multinationals could act with impunity in developing countries … and this has changed now,” Pols said. “From this moment onwards, Dutch multinationals will be held accountable for their activities and their actions in developing countries. And that’s an enormous victory for the rights of law globally.” The amount of compensation paid to three farmers in the villages will be established at a later date. The Hague Court of Appeal held Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary liable for two leaks that spewed oil over an area of a total of about 60 football pitches (soccer fields) in two villages, saying that it could not be established “beyond a reasonable doubt” that saboteurs were to blame. Under Nigerian law, which was applied in the Dutch civil case, the company is not liable if the leaks were the result of sabotage.

Kris Kristofferson has retired

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson has announced his retirement after five decades and named a manager for his estate. A press release issued Wednesday said that the 84-year-old actor and singer actually retired last year and his son, John, stepped in to oversee his father’s business, including special projects and his record label KK Records. His estate will be managed by Morris Higham Management, which also manages clients including Kenny Chesney, Barbara and Louise Mandrell and the Roger Miller estate. Kristofferson, an Oxford scholar from Texas, brought introspective and poetic lyrics to country music with songs like “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Me and Bobby McGee” and was a member of the supergroup The Highwaymen. He has starred in 70 films and earned a Golden Globe for his performance in “A Star is Born.”

Plans to retrieve Titanic radio off

NORFOLK, Va. — The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has indefinitely delayed plans to retrieve and exhibit the vessel’s radio equipment because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a court filing made by the firm Friday. RMS Titanic Inc. cited the “increasing difficulty associated with international travel and logistics, and the associated health risks to the expedition team.” The Atlanta-based company also said that it’s gone nearly a year without its primary source of revenue after virus restrictions closed exhibits of its vast collection of Titanic artifacts.

Directed flight traffic with radio

BERLIN — A man has been arrested in Berlin on allegations he made radio contact with air traffic, including police helicopters, and gave fake flight orders while impersonating an aviation official, German police said Friday. The 32-year-old, whose identity wasn’t released in line with German privacy laws, was arrested Thursday night in the capital’s eastern Koepenick district, police said. Police were able to swoop in on his apartment after he made contact with a police helicopter that was dispatched to the neighborhood in the hope of flushing him out. During a search of his home, police found two radios that transmitted on the frequencies needed to make contact with aircraft. “For everyone who has been asking about our police helicopter operations in Koepenick, an unusual arrest,” Berlin police tweeted, with a link to more details. The man is alleged to have made contact with pilots of passenger and transport aircraft, as well as state and federal police helicopters, over the past six months, giving “potentially dangerous” instructions and becoming increasingly professional with his communications. No accidents or other incidents are known to have been caused by his actions.

Market bends under the pressure

Another bout of selling gripped the U.S. stock market Friday, as anxiety mounts over whether the frenzy behind a swift, meteoric rise in GameStop and a handful of other stocks will damage Wall Street overall. The S&P 500 dropped 1.9%, giving the benchmark index its biggest weekly loss since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq each fell 2%. GameStop shot up nearly 70%, clawing back much of its steep loss from the day before, after Robinhood said it will allow customers to start buying some of the stock again. GameStop has been on a stupefying 1,600% run over the last three weeks and has become the battleground where swarms of smaller investors see themselves making an epic stand against the 1%. The assault is directed squarely at hedge funds and other Wall Street titans that had bet the struggling video game retailer’s stock would fall. Those firms are taking sharp losses, and other investors say that’s pushing them to sell other stocks they own to raise cash. That, in turn, helps pull down parts of the market completely unrelated to the revolt underway by the cadre of smaller and novice investors. The maniacal moves for GameStop and a few other formerly beaten-down stocks has drowned out many of the other issues weighing on markets, including the virus, vaccine rollouts and potential aid for the economy.

Fourth jail warden in 18 months

NEW YORK — The warden brought in to clean up the federal jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself has abruptly stepped down after a yearlong tenure marred by the rampant spread of the coronavirus, inmates’ complaints about squalid conditions, a smuggled gun and an inmate’s death. Marti Licon-Vitale, 54, quit the Metropolitan Correctional Center this week. Her abrupt departure came about a week after staff at the jail left an inmate — whose lawyer says he has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old child — in a holding cell for 24 hours while awaiting a competency evaluation, a violation of prison system regulations. And in the last few weeks, a correctional officer at the facility had also reported sexual misconduct by a superior, which officials at the jail delayed reporting to senior Bureau of Prisons officials.

Woman charged in ex-con’s plot

NEW YORK — A New York woman was charged Friday with conspiring with an ex-convict to extort and force into labor or prostitution some women he met while living in his daughter’s on-campus housing at Sarah Lawrence College a decade ago. Isabella Pollok, 29, of Staten Island was freed on $100,000 bail, with electronic monitoring and a warning to have no contact with victims after an indictment charging her with racketeering, extortion and sex trafficking conspiracies was unsealed in Manhattan federal court. She was charged with conspiring with Lawrence Ray, 61, who has has been held without bail since pleading not guilty to multiple charges after his arrest last February. Both could face life in prison if they are convicted. Ray, assisted by Pollok and others, subjected victims to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse to extract false confessions before extorting them to perform unpaid manual labor, or, in one case, cause a woman to engage in prostitution to generate revenue, the indictment said. The indictment said Ray pocketed nearly all of the millions of dollars generated by the woman’s acts of prostitution after he and Pollok pressured her through force, threats of force, fraud and coercion.

Bombs planted night before riot

WASHINGTON — Two pipe bombs left at the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees, discovered just before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, were actually placed the night before, federal officials said Friday. The FBI said the investigation had revealed new information, including that the explosive devices were placed outside the two buildings between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 5, the night before the riot. The devices were not located by law enforcement until the next day. It is not clear whether that means the pipe bombs were unrelated to the next day’s riot or were part of the riot planning. Both buildings are within a few blocks of the Capitol. The two explosive devices were very similar, and both were about a foot long with end caps and wiring that appeared to be attached to a timer. Investigators are still examining the devices and their components to determine the specific compounds inside the pipe bombs, but they both appeared to contain an unknown powder and some metal, the officials said.

Biden visits wounded soldiers

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made his first major foray outside the White House on Friday with a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to meet with wounded soldiers. Biden met with both active duty and retired service members receiving treatment at the facility, before touring the vaccine distribution center there. “These kids are amazing, and thank God there’s not as many people to visit,” he said, calling those at the hospital “real heroes.” Biden has a long and personal history with the hospital, which treats thousands of military service members, veterans and their families. His son Beau, who served as a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, died at Walter Reed in 2015 of brain cancer. Biden said Friday that the hospital took care of Beau “in his final days with great grace and dignity.” Even before Beau’s treatment at the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, were frequent visitors during his time as vice president, making multiple Christmas Day stops to meet with soldiers there. Jill Biden focused in part on promoting awareness of issues affecting military families during that time, and on Friday, she participated in a virtual event with military-connected students.

Alaska plans screening changes

JUNEAU, Alaska — An Alaska agency plans to update its electronic screening system after issuing personalized license plates reading “FUHRER” and “3REICH” and later recalling them because of complaints. A review by the state Department of Administration found that the same person owned both plates at different times. The “FUHRER” plate was issued over a decade ago and the department’s Division of Motor Vehicles had little information on how requests for personalized plates were processed back then, according to the report by department Deputy Commissioner Paula Vrana. It says the division recalled the plate in October after a complaint. Application for the“3REICH” plate was made in October, but the term was not flagged because it wasn’t on a list of more than 11,000 “vulgar, violent, criminal and demeaning terms” used by an electronic system to screen plate requests, the report says. Flagged requests receive closer scrutiny, but when “included among several hundred other unflagged” items, “3REICH” was inadvertently overlooked for additional review by an employee going through applications, the report says. The plate was issued in November and recalled Jan. 21 after a “report of concern” was received.

Freezer fails, vaccine rushed out

SEATTLE — Seattle hospitals rushed out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of people in the middle of the night after a freezer they were being stored in failed. It’s not clear what caused the freezer failure Thursday night, but the UW Medical Center’s Northwest and Montlake campuses and Swedish Medical Center received more than 1,300 doses that needed to be used before they expired at 5:30 a.m. Friday, The Seattle Times reported. Word of the unexpected doses spread on social media, and a line of hopeful vaccine recipients snaked out the clinic door and through a parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. A hundred people lined up at Swedish Medical Center’s clinic at Seattle University. The hospital tweeted at 11:59 p.m. that it had 588 doses to give out, and by 12:30 a.m., all the appointment slots had been taken. At the UW Medical Center-Northwest, assistant administrator Jenny Brackett walked along the crowd calling out and asking if anyone was over 65. Many of those who showed up were too young and healthy to qualify under Washington state’s current prioritization categories for vaccine distribution. Brackett said the hospital was doing its best to vaccinate those eligible, but that the main objective was to get it into arms and avoid waste. Anyone who received a first shot Thursday night will also receive the second shot in the two-dose regimen, regardless of age, said Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association. One woman plucked from the crowd at UW Medical Center-Northwest, Tyson Greer, 77, said she had been waking up at 1 a.m. or 3 a.m. for more than a week to search online for coveted vaccination appointments. She finally received a shot at 1 a.m. Friday.

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