FDA advisers recommend updating COVID booster shots for fall
Advisers to the U.S. government are recommending that COVID-19 booster shots used this fall be modified to better match more recent variants of the coronavirus. A final decision from the Food and Drug Administration is expected within days, and it will have to set the exact recipe for the change. Pfizer and Moderna tested shots updated against the omicron mutant that surged last winter. But those shots are already somewhat outdated, with relatives of omicron now the main threat. Advisers said they have no crystal ball for what might spread this fall.
US officials announce more steps against monkeypox outbreak
U.S. health officials are expanding the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. They also say they are providing more monkeypox vaccine, working to expand testing, and taking other steps to try to get ahead of the outbreak. As of Tuesday, the U.S. had identified 306 cases in 27 states and the District of Columbia. More than 4,700 cases have been found in more than 40 other countries outside the areas of Africa where the virus is endemic.
Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison as Epstein case nears its end
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite who conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit underage girls, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday by a judge who said she played a pivotal role in facilitating a horrific scheme that spanned continents and years. Maxwell, 60, the daughter of British media magnate Robert Maxwell, was convicted on Dec. 29 of sex trafficking and other counts after a monthlong trial, at which the government presented testimony and other evidence depicting Maxwell as a sophisticated predator who groomed vulnerable young women and girls as young as 14 years old, for abuse by Epstein.
Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO
Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders’ summit in Madrid amid Europe’s worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. After urgent talks, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told the AP that the membership should be completed “the sooner the better.”
China halves quarantine for international arrivals
China is halving the time that people arriving from overseas must stay in a COVID-19 quarantine facility, reducing it from two weeks to one, the country’s National Health Commission said Tuesday. The step was welcomed by some investors but greeted cautiously by others. Since early 2020, China has enforced some of the strictest entry rules in the world, requiring that nearly everyone coming from overseas go into government-run quarantine — often in a designated hotel. The Shanghai stock market jumped after the new rules were announced.
G-7 promises billions to address global hunger
The United States and its Group of 7 allies Tuesday pledged to spend $4.5 billion this year to help ensure food security around the globe, seeking to counter shortages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The G-7 leaders said in a statement that the money would be used to ease what they called a “multidimensional crisis” that has left as many as 323 million people at high risk of food shortages, a record. The United States and its Western allies are scrambling to find new ways to tighten pressure on Russia and shore up the global economy.
Scotland’s leader calls for independence vote
Scotland’s first minister on Tuesday announced plans for a referendum next year on Scottish independence, reopening the battle over her country’s future and challenging Britain’s top judges to prevent her from holding it. The announcement by Nicola Sturgeon, sets the stage for a high-stakes legal and political battle over the fate of Scotland, and presents another problem for Britain’s embattled prime minister, Boris Johnson. It remained far from clear that Scots — who voted against independence in a 2014 referendum — would get the chance to decide again any time soon.
2 firms stand to profit from a rush to get morning-after pills
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, many women have been stocking up on emergency contraception pills, in hopes of exerting more control over their bodies, or because they’re worried that the products could be restricted. Drugstores have found themselves in short supply, and some are limiting purchases. The uptick in demand could add up to huge profits for the two private equity firms behind the best-known morning-after pill, Plan B, formerly a prescription drug by Barr. Teva, which acquired Barr, sold Plan B to Kelso and Juggernaut in 2017 for $675 million. Now their paydays could be big.
NASA’s CAPSTONE mission launches to the moon
A small NASA-financed spacecraft launched from New Zealand on Tuesday, kicking off the space agency’s plans to send astronauts back to the moon in a few years. The spacecraft, called CAPSTONE, will study a specific orbit where NASA plans to build a small space station for astronauts to stop at before and after going to the moon’s surface. At 9:55 p.m. local time, a 59-foot-tall rocket carrying CAPSTONE lifted off from a launchpad along the eastern coast of New Zealand. Although the mission is gathering information for NASA, it is owned and operated by a private company, Advanced Space, based in Westminster, Colorado.