New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side-effect leading to inflammation of the heart muscle. It followed a review by an independent panel monitoring the safety of the vaccines. "This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine," the ministry said in a statement, without giving the woman's age.

• 
  NZ reports first death linked to Pfizer vaccine

  Reuters Videos
• 
  New Zealand's Auckland stays in lockdown, officials report Pfizer-linked death

  Reuters

Dad grabs dying 24-year-old son’s gun after shootout with off-duty NYPD and opens fire

As a man lay dying on a Bronx street from a shootout with police, his father snatched the gun from his fallen son — and used it to continue the gun battle with cops, authorities said. Two off-duty cops spotted the son, Mike Rosado, 24, shooting at a man on Valentine Ave. near 180th St. in Tremont just after 4 a.m. Sunday, police said. The father and son had been in an argument with a group of people on the corner when it turned physical and the son pulled out the gun and fired at an adversary, cops said.

A new set of fangs, another nightmare encounter for ‘terrified’ Lake Norman woman

A Lake Norman woman still recuperating from a snake attack in May said she was “traumatized” all over again by another unexpected encounter with a staring, slithering serpent. This snake rose from the grass near her Mooresville home, stared at her and followed as she fled with her two dogs, Heatherly Noble told The Charlotte Observer. “I was scared to death,” Noble said of Tuesday's episode.

Lake Tahoe threatened by massive fire, more ordered to flee

Fire officials ordered more evacuations around the Tahoe Basin Sunday evening as crews dealt with a two-week old blaze they said was “more aggressive than anticipated," and continued to edge toward the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe. Today's been a rough day and there's no bones about it," said Jeff Marsoleis, forest supervisor for El Dorado National Forest. A few days ago, he thought crews could halt the Caldor Fire's eastern progress, but “today it let loose."

• 
  Massive California fire threatens Lake Tahoe area

  Associated Press Videos
• 
  Crews battle to protect Lake Tahoe region from wildfire

  Associated Press

Rand Paul says scientists won't study horse-deworming drug ivermectin's use as a potential COVID cure because of their 'hatred for Trump'

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said researchers won't study ivermectin because of their "hatred for Trump." Paul said he was "in the middle" on whether ivermectin should be used and wanted more research done. The FDA and CDC are asking people to avoid the drug, which is used to deworm horses and cows.

The owner of this iconic building ordered all tenants to leave. Some aren’t going

Maria Ray had a plan. Ray, who works as a business consultant for hospitality companies, is one of the roughly 200 residents of the Hamilton on the Bay apartment tower, located at 555 NE 34 St. in Edgewater, who received a notice on May 16 requiring them to move out by July 16 so the building's new owners, the Denver-based real estate investment and management firm Aimco/AIR, could complete renovations and repairs. The situation at the Hamilton has resulted in a standoff that could serve as a bellwether for future cases in which a building's owner attempts to terminate the leases of all of its tenants in one swoop.

Duterte's top aide declines Philippine presidential nomination

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's long-time aide has rejected the endorsement of the ruling party to run as its candidate in the 2022 elections, a development that some analysts said may open the way for Duterte's daughter to stand. Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, in a letter to the PDP-Laban party, said he wanted to devote his attention to helping fight the pandemic, asking his allies to support candidates who will continue Duterte's policies and programmes. "As much as I wish to respond to the clamor of many of our party mates, I most respectfully decline the said endorsement," he wrote in the letter, which was made public on Monday.

Matthew Mindler Dies: Former Child Star Who Went Missing Found Dead At 19

Former child star Matthew Mindler, who went missing from his rural Millersville University campus in Pennsylvania earlier this week, has been confirmed dead. The university confirmed his death with an announcement to the student body. It is with a grieving heart that I let you know of the death of 19-year-old Matthew Mindler from Hellertown, Pennsylvania, a first-year student at Millersville University.

• 
  Former child star Matthew Mindler dies at 19

  TODAY
• 
  Former Child Star Matthew Mindler Found Dead at 19 After Being Reported Missing

  E! News

Missouri boy dies of a drug overdose during a sleepover, three adults arrested

A 13-year-old boy died of a drug overdose during a sleepover at a friend's house in eastern Missouri over the weekend, and three adults at the house were arrested, police there said. Police were called to a home in Washington around 9 a.m. Sunday and found the boy dead in his 12-year-old friend's bedroom, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The 12-year-old told investigators he and his friend had been experimenting with drugs they found in the house, police Sgt. Steve Sitzes said.

67-year-old Al Roker braves lashing waves for Hurricane Ida forecast and tells doubters 'screw you'

NBC weatherman Al Roker gave viewers a fright Sunday morning when he delivered the Hurricane Ida forecast while getting lashed by waves from the approaching storm. The 67-year-old Today co-host, wearing a heavy jacket and struggling to stand amid the tempest in Lake Pontchartrain, appeared in a segment on Meet the Press at a time when the hurricane was already boasting maximum sustained winds of 150 mph as a Category 4 storm. "Al Roker, get out of that unsafe weather there," anchor Chuck Todd remarked after the forecast was given.

• 
  Wind, storm surge from Hurricane Ida lash Louisiana

  Associated Press Videos
• 
  Al Roker Says 'Screw You' to Critics Calling Him Too Old to Cover Hurricane Ida

  People

An 88-year-old professor in Georgia resigned in the middle of class because a student refused to wear a mask over her nose: 'That's it. I'm retired.'

A professor in Georgia resigned last week after a student refused to wear a mask in class. Irwin Bernstein, who taught psychology, resigned minutes into his seminar. The University of Georgia does not require that face masks be worn inside campus facilities.

Wedding certificate and cell phone: How a U.S. veteran's wife fled Afghanistan

Whipped by the Taliban and shoved from behind by other desperate Afghans, marriage certificate in hand, Sharifa Afzali thrust her cell phone at the U.S. soldier barring the Kabul airport gate. On the other end was her husband, a U.S. Army veteran in Oklahoma. "And by the grace of God, he let my wife and my interpreter through," Wright recounted to Reuters.

A pair of 'significant' findings from an otherwise inconclusive U.S. intelligence report on coronavirus origins

A review by the United States' intelligence community did not reach a firm conclusion on the origin of the coronavirus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still may prove quite helpful moving forward. While the report, ordered by President Biden earlier this year, determined only that both natural spillover from an infected animal and a lab leak were plausible theories as to how the pathogen jumped to humans, an unclassified summary of the report released Friday did show that there was broad agreement among the intelligence community on multiple areas, including that the virus was "not developed as a biological weapon" and that Chinese officials "did not have foreknowledge" of the virus ahead of the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, back in the fall of 2019.

The Taliban reportedly have control of US biometric devices – a lesson in life-and-death consequences of data privacy

In the wake of the Taliban's takeover of Kabul and the ouster of the Afghan national government, alarming reports indicate that the insurgents could potentially access biometric data collected by the U.S. to track Afghans, including people who worked for U.S. and coalition forces. Many Afghans fear that the identity documents and databases storing personally identifiable data could be transformed into death warrants in the hands of the Taliban. This potential data breach underscores that data protection in zones of conflict, especially biometric data and databases that connect online activity to physical locations, can be a matter of life and death.

United jets with engines involved in Denver incident may not fly until next year - WSJ

The United Airlines flight was heading to Honolulu when it suffered an engine failure. The Boeing 777-200 plane landed safely at Denver International Airport soon after takeoff. United had hoped to resume flying the wide-body jets this summer, the report added, but returning them to service has taken longer-than-expected as federal regulators consider potential new requirements for some Boeing 777 jets powered by Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines.

‘Accidental’ death ruling for Boston woman after hike with cop up Phoenix mountain

A Boston woman who died last month while hiking with an off-duty police officer she barely knew succumbed to “environmental heat exposure,” according to the coroner's office, which ruled her death accidental. Angela Tramonte, 31, flew out to Phoenix in late July to meet Dario Dizdar, a Phoenix police officer who she knew through social media, according to friends. Dizdar told officials that Tramonte became overheated after forgetting to bring water, but asked Dizdar to “continue to the top to take pictures so that she could share them on her social media,” according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Mother of Marine slain in Kabul says Biden voters 'killed my son'

The mother of one of the slain Marines in Kabul last week said that people who voted for Joe Biden are responsible for her son's death. Kathy McCollum, mother of 20-year-old U.S. Marine Rylee, who was killed in the suicide bombings in Kabul along with 12 other service members, said on SiriusXM radio that “dementia-ridden” Biden is to blame for her son's death along with all who supported him. Twenty years and six-months-old, getting ready to go home from freaking Jordan to be home with his wife to watch the birth of his son, and that feckless, dementia-ridden piece of crap just sent my son to die,” McCollum said in the radio interview with host Andrew Wilkow on “The Wilkow Majority” show.

• 
  Wyoming Marine Rylee McCollum, 20, an expectant father, killed in Afghanistan airport attack

  USA TODAY
• 
  20-year-old Marine killed in Kabul blast was newlywed expecting to become a father in weeks

  The Telegraph

Russian cosmonauts find new cracks in ISS module

Russian cosmonauts have discovered new cracks in a segment of the International Space Station that could widen, a senior space official said on Monday, the latest in a series of setbacks. "Superficial fissures have been found in some places on the Zarya module," Vladimir Solovyov, chief engineer of rocket and space corporation Energia, told RIA news agency. The space official has said previously that much of the International Space Station's equipment is starting to age and has warned there could be an "avalanche" of broken equipment after 2025.

Farrah Abraham Plans to Sue ‘Haters’ at Harvard for ‘Educational Abuse’

Here's some consolation for those who were not accepted to Harvard — “Teen Mom” alum Farrah Abraham says it sucks there. Abraham detailed the grievances in her Yelp review (which was discovered by fans) regarding a professor in her creative writing Master's program, Patricia Bellanca, and Dean Robert Neugeboren. “Basically an elder teacher in a position of power with a male dean blocked me out of a class and also said lies about my work,” Abraham said.

Israel urges Netanyahu return gifts; he denies keeping them

Israel's prime minister's office has urged former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to return dozens of expensive gifts he received while serving in the nation's top job. The request, confirmed Monday by the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, came as Netanyahu reportedly vacationed on a private island in Hawaii almost wholly owned by billionaire Larry Ellison. The Oracle founder is a friend of Netanyahu's and also a witness for the prosecution in the former leader's corruption trial.

Mississippi's governor says people in the state are less scared of COVID-19 because they 'believe in eternal life'

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said people in the state are "less scared" of COVID-19. Health services are struggling under a wave of new infections in the state. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, in remarks Saturday, said that people in the state were "less scared" of COVID-19 because they believe in "eternal life," as new infections reach record levels and hospitalizations spike.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul so quickly fearing execution by the Taliban that aides who returned from a lunch break wondered where he'd gone

A chaotic picture has emerged of the Afghan government's last days as the Taliban seizing power. President Ashraf Ghani fled when aides were on a lunch break, believing militants had entered the presidential palace. The collapse of the Afghan government sparked chaos, as hundreds of thousands attempted to flee Kabul.

• 
  As the Taliban Tightens Its Grip, Fears of Retribution Grow

  The New York Times
• 
  Woman journalist who made history after interviewing Taliban spokesperson flees Afghanistan

  The Independent

Indian rupee hits 2-1/2-month high as risk assets rally

The Indian rupee rose to its strongest in two-and-a-half months on Monday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman's comments sparked bets of a slower reduction in monetary stimulus. The dollar loitered around multi-week lows in the wake of Fed Chair Jerome Powell laying out a slower-than-expected path to rate hikes, as traders' focus shifted to U.S. jobs figures due on Friday for clues on a tapering timeline.