Six In The Morning Tuesday 13 April 2021

 

CDC and FDA recommend US pause use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine over blood clot concerns

By Elizabeth Cohen and Jacqueline Howard, CNN

Updated 1409 GMT (2209 HKT) April 13, 2021

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration are recommending that the United States pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine over six reported US cases of a "rare and severe" type of blood clot.

The six reported cases were among more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States.

All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination, according to a joint statement on Tuesday from Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Ousted Myanmar ambassador says his relatives fear reprisals

Exclusive: Kyaw Zwar Minn says he feels unsafe at his London residence and family members are in hiding

Archie Bland

Tue 13 Apr 2021 16.22 BST

Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has said that friends and relatives at home have been forced into hiding after the country’s military regime removed him from office for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In his first major interview after he was unceremoniously locked out of the embassy by his deputy last week, Kyaw Zwar Minn said he no longer felt safe at his north London residence and had contacted the police after members of his former staff delivered a letter ordering him to move out by Thursday.

“The Foreign Office said that if they invaded our residence the British police could not do anything,” he said. He added that he was still waiting for British officials to set out what support they would give him to stay in London.

Johnson & Johnson delays vaccine rollout in Europe

Johnson & Johnson says it is delaying the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe amid a U.S. probe into rare blood clots

Via AP news wire

Johnson & Johnson says it is delaying the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe amid a U.S. probe into rare blood clots.

The company announced the decision Tuesday after regulators in the United States said they were recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose shot to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.

“We have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities,” the company said. “We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe.”

Germany: Far-right suspects accused of plotting attacks on Muslims

Federal prosecutors have said the so-called Group S sought to "rock and ultimately overturn the state and social order" of Germany.

Twelve Germans went on trial on Tuesday, suspected of plotting deadly attacks on Muslims, asylum-seekers and political enemies with the aim of fueling civil unrest and overthrowing the government.

Federal prosecutors in the southwestern city of Stuttgart accused eight suspected members of the so-called Group S of founding a "terrorist organization" in September 2019.

The far-right group is led by suspects identified only as Werner S. and Tony E, according to prosecutors. Their full names weren't released for German privacy law reasons.

Egypt 'seizes' Suez megaship, demands nearly $1 bln compensation

The megaship which blocked Egypt's Suez Canal and crippled world trade for nearly a week has been "seized" on court orders until the vessel's owners pay $900 million, canal authorities said Tuesday.

The 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given got diagonally stuck in the narrow but crucial global trade artery in a sandstorm on March 23, triggering a mammoth six-day-long effort by Egyptian personnel and international salvage specialists to dislodge it.

Maritime data company Lloyd's List said the blockage by the vessel, longer than four football fields, held up an estimated $9.6 billion-worth of cargo between Asia and Europe each day it was stuck.

Tired of Muslim ‘terrorists’, charity tackles cinema stereotypes

UK Muslim Film aims to champion authentic representation, a move it hopes will help reduce Islamophobia.

 From Bodyguard, the British television thriller series, to the US CIA drama Homeland, the portrayal of Muslim characters on-screen has often been perceived as problematic at best.

Men are cast as fringe, culturally backwards figures linked with misogyny, violence and anger. Women are depicted as oppressed victims with little to no agency.

Tired of the stereotypes, a new charity aims to change the script on representation in the entertainment industry and end the common use of anti-Muslim tropes.