Vaccine Supply and Demand Update 1

Vaccine Supply and Demand Update 1

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  • Police chief says militia groups ‘want to blow up’ Capitol building at Biden State of the Union

    US Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman argued to maintain increased law enforcement presence at the Capitol ahead of Joe Biden’s first address to Congress, following warnings from militia groups that she says want to “blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” in connection with the president’s upcoming State of the Union. “So based on that information, we think that it’s prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward,” she said.

  • 18 times celebrities wore actual wedding dresses on the red carpet

    Sometimes stars wear dresses and gowns designed with brides in mind on the red carpet. Sometimes they repurpose the dress they wore to their wedding.

  • Roger Federer, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal scheduled to play Miami Open

    The Miami Open announced Thursday its acceptance list for the upcoming 2021 tournament, and the biggest news is that 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer is among the players listed.

  • Tattoo artists share the 10 designs everyone will ask for this year, and 4 that'll be less popular

    From stick-and-poke body art to cartoon-style ink, tattoo artists shared which designs they think will be trendy this year and which ones won't.

  • 16 little-known facts about the Weasley family that 'Harry Potter' fans may not know

    The Weasleys are the largest family in the series, so even the biggest fans may not have heard all these fun facts and hidden secrets about them.

  • EU court urged to rule against Hungary's asylum policy

    The advocate general for European Union's highest court on Thursday urged the court to rule that Hungary violated the bloc's laws on asylum when it passed legislation narrowing the possibilities for asylum-seekers to receive international protection. The non-binding opinion from the European Court of Justice's Advocate General, Athanasios Rantos, states that the 2018 amendments to Hungary's asylum laws — which prohibited asylum-seekers who passed through safe countries en route to Hungary from receiving international protection — violated EU law.

  • Biden nominates postal board slate that could oust Louis DeJoy after DeJoy vows to stay put

    President Biden on Wednesday nominated three people for the U.S. Postal Service board of directors. The nominations would fill vacant seats on the board and allow Biden to indirectly assert control over an independent agency beset by service delays and rumored cuts by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor appointed last year under former President Donald Trump. Biden nominated Ron Stroman, the recently retired deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, a vote-by-mail advocate who heads the National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union. If confirmed to the nine-member board, "the new slate would create a Democratic advantage and potentially the votes to oust DeJoy, whose summer overhaul led to precipitous service declines that snarled up untold numbers of Americans' bills, prescriptions, and paychecks," The Washington Post reports. At a House Oversight Committee hearing earlier Wednesday, DeJoy said he plans to be postmaster general for "a long time," telling Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), "Get used to me." "DeJoy spent most of the hearing dodging questions about his forthcoming strategic plan for the Postal Service, which includes higher prices and slower delivery," the Post reports, citing two people familiar with the plan. DeJoy said the 10-year plan should be ready in March and conceded it might include lower delivery standards for first-class mail and fewer airplanes to transport mail, a move that would slow service across the country. Even if the newly configured board — the six current members are older men, five of them white — doesn't fire DeJoy, he's unlikely to get the same level of support for his cost-cutting measures. "The board has the right to hire and to fire postmaster generals, so DeJoy's certainly going to have to function in a way that he keeps the support of the board," Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, told The Associated Press. "He's going to be dealing with some changing dynamics on the board." More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpThe GOP's apathy for governing is being exposed5 cartoons about Andrew Cuomo's nursing home scandal

  • Phone Records Prove House Sergeant-at-Arms DID Ignore Pleas for Backup: Capitol Police Chief

    Erin Schaff/ReutersThe acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police just came with the receipts.Testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee about the catastrophic breakdown that allowed thousands of MAGA rioters to breach the Capitol, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed that her predecessor called the House sergeant-at-arms, Paul Irving, at 12:58 p.m. to request the National Guard as rioters breaching the building and forced lawmakers into hiding.Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned after the riot, called Irving again seven minutes later, according to phone records pulled by Pittman—and then called him at least three more times until 1:45 p.m.“When there’s a breakdown you look for those commanders with boots on the ground to provide that instruction,” Pittman said. “That did not happen, primarily because those operational commanders at the time were so overwhelmed, they started to participate and assist the officers… versus providing that guidance and direction.”First Capitol Riot Hearing Only Raised More Questions About Jan. 6The receipts–which support the narrative that a series of unanswered calls, withheld information, and conflicting orders led to complete malfunction—directly contradicted Irving’s testimony.On Tuesday, Sund testified that he asked for National Guard backup just after 1 p.m. But Irving insisted that was wrong. He said he did not remember the conversation with Sund and claimed he didn’t get an official request until “shortly before 1:30 p.m.” Troops were not approved to help overwhelmed officers at the Capitol until 2:10 p.m.“Mr. Irving stated that he was concerned about the ‘optics’ of having the National Guard present and didn’t feel that the intelligence supported it,” Sund said Tuesday. Irving, who resigned in the wake of the riot, said that was “categorically false.”On Tuesday, Irving said that if Sund, Senate sergeant-at-arms Michael Stenger, or any other leaders concluded ahead of Jan. 6 that unarmed National Guardsmen were needed, he “would not have hesitated” to ensure the reinforcement was ready.Pittman’s testimony—and her insistence that Capitol Police did everything possible to contain the insurrection—was just the latest twist in a series of finger-pointing between the top law enforcers in charge of securing the Capitol. During hearings before lawmakers this week, officials have blamed one another for the widespread failures.One failure, Pittman conceded on Thursday, was that nobody in law enforcement knew the mob would be so violent.She told lawmakers that they were prepared for militia groups, white supremacists, and other extremists to be present, but the small organization was not prepared for thousands of “everyday” Americans “who took on a mob mentality.” (Acting D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee revealed on Tuesday that the FBI intel consisted merely of an email sent on Jan. 5.)Officials believe over 10,000 demonstrators were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that 800 breached the building. About 1,200 police officers responded, Pittman said.She also made the stunning admission that since Jan. 6, Capitol Police have maintained heightened security because they learned that militia groups have chatted about plans to “blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” in connection with the State of the Union, which has no scheduled date yet. “We know that the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol weren’t only interested in attacking members of Congress and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as [to] who was in charge of that legislative process,” Pittman said. On Tuesday, Irving insisted that Capitol Police were privy to intelligence provided by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security that “did not support” the likelihood of a coordinated assault at the Capitol.An NYPD Cop’s Road From Terror ‘Victim’ to Capitol Rioter“The department was not ignorant of intelligence indicating an attack of the size and scale we encountered on the sixth. There was no such intelligence,” Pittman said Thursday. “Although we knew the likelihood for violence by extremists, no credible threat indicated that tens of thousands would attack the U.S. Capitol. Nor did the intelligence received from the FBI or any other law enforcement partner indicate such a threat.”Pittman added that because officers at the Capitol were not prepared for a violent mob, lockdown procedure was not properly executed. She added that some officers were also not sure when to use lethal force, and that radio communications between law enforcers were not robust.Five individuals died during the violent riots. Four were pro-Trump protesters, including Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a police officer after attempting to break into the Speaker’s Lobby. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died after allegedly clashing with rioters. In the days after the siege, at least two officers died by suicide.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • An ex-girlfriend tipped off the FBI about an alleged US Capitol rioter after he called her a 'moron'

    Richard Michetti was arraigned Tuesday in Philadelphia over his alleged participation in the January 6 insurrection.

  • Qatar to pour $60 million into new Israel-Gaza gas pipeline

    Qatar pledged $60 million on Thursday to help construct a natural gas pipeline running from Israel into the Gaza Strip, the Qatari government said, a project that aims to ease the energy crisis that long has afflicted the impoverished Palestinian enclave. Natural gas now flowing through a pipeline in Israel from the eastern Mediterranean will be transported via a new extension into Gaza, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on its website.

  • In boost for COVID-19 battle, Pfizer vaccine found 94% effective in real world

    The first big real-world study of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be independently reviewed shows the shot is highly effective at preventing COVID-19, in a potentially landmark moment for countries desperate to end lockdowns and reopen economies. Up until now, most data on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines has come under controlled conditions in clinical trials, leaving an element of uncertainty over how results would translate into the real world with its unpredictable variables. The research in Israel - two months into one of the world's fastest rollouts, providing a rich source of data - showed two doses of the Pfizer shot cut symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 94% across all age groups, and severe illnesses by nearly as much.

  • Promising new data for Johnson and Johnson vaccine

    There is promising new data today on Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine. If approved, it would add a third option to the vaccine rollout in the United States.

  • India finds boat adrift with Rohingya refugees; 8 dead

    India's coast guard has found a boat adrift in the Andaman Sea carrying scores of Rohingya refugees, including eight who had died, officials said Thursday. The boat left Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh on Feb. 11 with 90 people, including 23 children, on board and its engine failed on Feb. 15, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said. Two Indian coast guard ships were sent to help the refugees, and the Indian government is in discussions with Bangladesh to ensure their safe return, Srivastava said.

  • Biden news - live: Trump Jr deposed over inaugural funds as White House defends migrant camp after AOC attack

    Follow all the latest news from the White House

  • Czech Republic faces 'hellish days', needs tighter COVID measures, PM says

    The Czech Republic must tighten measures to combat the pandemic and prevent a "catastrophe" in hospitals in the coming weeks as the country faces one of the world's highest COVID-19 infection and death rates, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Wednesday. The number of hospital patients with COVD-19 who are in serious condition has risen to a record 1,389, leaving few spare beds in the country of 10.7 million. Some hospitals have had to transfer out patients while the health minister has warned hospitals risk being overwhelmed in the coming weeks.

  • Pickleball becomes a new sports craze during the pandemic

    A newfangled racquet sport is taking the nation by storm during the pandemic, with cities building municipal courts and homeowners associations drafting regulatory ground rules.Why it matters: At a time when safe, outdoor recreation options are a premium, pickleball — which has become a craze among seniors in particular — is going increasingly mainstream, as are related noise complaints.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.A cross between tennis, badminton and Ping-Pong, pickleball is played with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes on what looks like a miniature tennis court.USA Pickleball, the sport's national governing body, says it has 40,000 members who play in all 50 states.There's a growing roster of tournaments and corporate sponsors. (Here's a primer from Axios' Jeff Tracy on how to play.)"If you ever slung any sort of a racquet before, you can become competent in an hour," Stu Upson, CEO of USA Pickleball, tells Axios. Plus: "It's so social, it's almost a lifestyle for so many folks."Driving the news: While the Sunbelt states are the biggest pickleball hotbeds, demand for public courts is exploding everywhere. According to my colleagues at Axios Charlotte, "every park update and new 55+ community has a pickleball team/designated space."In San Luis Obispo, California — where there's typically a 20-minute wait for a court — the city is spending $120,00o to build its first permanent pickleball courts, per the SLO Tribune.New England's first dedicated indoor pickleball complex is about to open in Hanover, Mass. (just south of Boston) with six tournament-sized courts."It's crazy where all of a sudden, people are putting up courts in their driveways," Upson said.Where he lives — Darien, Connecticut — "our local country club took out one of the tennis courts and replaced it with four pickleball courts."The other side: The thwack of a wiffleball against a paddle is resonant, and condo and homeowner associations are being flooded with pickleball-related noise complaints. “I can’t live with this constant ‘pong, pong, pong’ every morning," one resident of a South Florida retirement community laments.The problem "has resulted in various lawsuits and settlement agreements costing associations tens of thousands of dollars and has severely harmed many associations’ financial wellbeing," writes HOA lawyer Steven J. Tinnelly.USA Pickleball has a task force on the noise issue, Upson says: "We're doing some research on sound barriers, and looking at equipment" that's less loud.Flashback: The sport was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island (near Seattle) by three dads — including Joel Pritchard, who became a U.S. congressman — "whose kids were bored with their usual summertime activities." By one account, Pritchard's wife coined the name because the sport reminded her of "the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.”By another: "The game was officially named after the Pritchards’ dog Pickles who would chase the ball and run off with it."More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • The surprising real-life age differences between 14 famous movie pairs

    Some on-screen love interest age gaps are surprising, and other times, actors are almost the same age as their on-screen children.

  • Annika is back on LPGA Tour, just not for very long

    Annika Sorenstam smiled and began shaking her head before she heard the rest of the question, already aware what others might think about one of the LPGA Tour's most dominant players returning to competition after 12 years. “I figured I just need some tournament rounds,” she said.

  • Philippines' Duterte says still undecided on future of U.S. troop deal

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he has not made a decision yet on the future of the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, leaving the fate of the pact hanging in the balance. Duterte has said the United States should pay more if it wants to maintain the VFA, which he unilaterally cancelled last year in an angry response to an ally being denied a U.S. visa. "I have not yet decided on what to do, to abrogate or renew," Duterte said in a late-night televised address on Wednesday.

  • India and Pakistan agree to stop cross-border firing

    The militaries of India and Pakistan issued a rare joint statement Thursday (February 25), saying that they had agreed to observe a ceasefire along the disputed border in Kashmir.The nuclear-armed neighbors signed a ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control in the Kashmir region in 2003, but the truce has frayed in recent years, and there have been mounting casualties among villagers living close to the de facto border.The joint statement said: "Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021."The return to a truce was settled by the two armies director-generals of military operations.There has been a significant increase in ceasefire violations since 2014, leading to nearly 300 civilian fatalities, according to a source in Pakistan's military.Since the start of the year, India had counted 591 violations by Pakistan.Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between the neighbors, which claim the region in full but rule only parts.But tensions were renewed after New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir state in August 2019 and split it into two federally administered territories.Politicians in Indian Kashmir said they welcomed the commitment to return to a ceasefire, one of the few signs of cooperation in recent years between the neighbors who have fought three full-scale wars since gaining independence in 1947.