Moderna booster raises level of antibodies to thwart omicron
A booster shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine significantly raises the level of antibodies that can thwart the omicron variant, the company announced Monday. The news arrives as omicron rapidly advances across the world, and most coronavirus vaccines seem unable to stave off infection from the highly contagious variant. Moderna’s results show that the currently authorized booster dose of 50 micrograms — half the dose given for primary immunization — increased the level of antibodies by roughly 37-fold, the company said. A full dose of 100 micrograms was even more powerful, raising antibody levels about 83-fold compared with pre-boost levels, Moderna said.
Biden tries to salvage domestic policy bill after rift with Manchin
President Joe Biden and his top aides tried Monday to salvage hopes of passing their domestic agenda, acknowledging that their only path forward is to repair a broken relationship with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia after a personal and policy breach over the weekend that left the legislation all but dead in the Senate. Even as Manchin, a centrist Democrat, publicly expanded on his frustration with the administration and said White House officials had driven him to his “wit’s end,” administration officials tried to lower the temperature. They hope that despite a weekend of angry recriminations, they can eventually lure Manchin back to the negotiating table.
Trump sues New York prosecutor in attempt to stop inquiry into his business
Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday against the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, seeking to halt her long-running civil inquiry into his business practices and to bar her from participating in a separate criminal investigation. The suit, filed in federal court in Albany, New York, by Trump and his family real estate business, argued that James’ involvement in both inquiries was entirely politically motivated, a tack that Trump has deployed in the past when faced with scrutiny by law enforcement and others. In a statement, James, a Democrat, said the lawsuit would not deter the inquiry.
EPA announces tightest-ever auto pollution rules
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced strengthened limits on pollution from automobile tailpipes in a bid to reduce a major source of the carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet. The more stringent rule would require passenger vehicles to get an average of 55 mpg by 2026, from just under 38 mpg today. That would prevent the release of 3.1 billion tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide through 2050, according to the EPA. It would save about 360 billion gallons of gasoline from being burned, leading to a 15% annual reduction in the nation’s gasoline consumption by 2050.
US, Britain Help Ukraine prepare for cyberassault
The United States and Britain have quietly dispatched cyberwarfare experts to Ukraine in hopes of better preparing the country to confront what they think may be the next move by President Vladimir Putin of Russia: Not an invasion with the 175,000 troops he is massing on the border, but cyberattacks that take down the electric grid, the banking system, and other critical components of Ukraine’s economy and government. Russia’s goal, according to U.S. intelligence assessments, would be to make Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, look defenseless — and perhaps provide an excuse for an invasion.
Mexico plans to help Americans get abortions
Abortion restrictions have been multiplying across the United States for years, including just over Mexico’s border in Texas. But in much of Latin America, where access to abortion has long been severely limited, highly organized feminist groups have distributed abortion-inducing drugs for years, making it harder for governments to enforce bans on the procedure. Activists are now planning to help shuttle Texans and other Americans seeking abortions into Mexico, and to build networks to ferry the abortion pills north of the border or send them by mail — something they’ve already started doing and now plan to expand.
Jan. 6 panel seeks interview, records from Rep. Scott Perry
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and documents from Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania on Monday, marking the first time the committee publicly sought to sit down with a sitting member of Congress. The latest request launches a new phase for the lawmakers on the committee, who have so far resisted reaching out to one of their own as they investigate the insurrection by President Donald Trump’s supporters and his efforts to overturn the election. Perry and other congressional Republicans met with Trump ahead of the attack and strategized about how they could block the results at the Jan. 6 electoral count.
Church agency: Captive missionaries made daring escape
Captive missionaries in Haiti found freedom last week by making a daring overnight escape, eluding their kidnappers and walking for miles over difficult, moonlit terrain with an infant and other children in tow, according to the agency they work for, officials said Monday. The group of 12 navigated by stars to reach safety after a two-month kidnapping ordeal, officials with the Christian Aid Ministries, the Ohio-based agency that the captive missionaries work for, said Monday at a press conference. The detailed accounting of their journey to safety comes after news Thursday that the missionaries were free.
By wire sources
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