North America

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine protective, safe in young children

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine generated a strong immune response and was generally well-tolerated in children aged six to 11 years, and the company plans to submit the data to regulators soon.

Moderna said its two-dose vaccine generated virus-neutralizing antibodies in children and safety was comparable to what was previously seen in clinical trials of adolescents and adults.

U.S. to outline Nov. 8 international travel reopening, vaccination rules

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to unveil on Monday its detailed rules requiring nearly all foreign air visitors to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Nov. 8, sources told Reuters.

The White House first disclosed on Sept. 20 it would remove restrictions in early November for fully vaccinated air travelers from 33 countries.

U.S. House speaker says Democrats close to reach deal on Biden's social spending plan

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that Democrats are close to reach a deal on President Joe Biden's social spending plan.

"In terms of where we are, I have said already we have 90 percent of the bill agreed to and written. We just have some of the last decisions to be made," Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union."

When asked if Democrats will have a deal by the time Biden leaves for Europe at the end of the week, Pelosi said that "I think we're pretty much there now."

"It's just the language of it," she said.

Yellen expects U.S. inflation to fall to acceptable levels in second half of next year

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that she expected U.S. inflation rates to fall to acceptable levels in the second half of next year.

"Monthly rates of inflation have already fallen substantially from the very high rates that we saw in the spring and early summer. On a 12-month basis, the inflation rate will remain high into next year because of what's already happened," Yellen said on the CNN's "State of the Union."

USA: Drought-stricken California doused by major storm

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A powerful storm barreled toward Southern California after flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires across the northern part of the state.

Drenching showers and strong winds accompanied the weekend’s arrival of an atmospheric river — a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office warned of “potentially historic rain.”

Crew member: Baldwin careful with guns before fatal shooting: USA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A camera operator told authorities that Alec Baldwin had been careful with weapons on the set of the film “Rust” before the actor shot and killed a cinematographer with a gun he’d been told was safe to use, court records released Sunday show.

Cameraman Reid Russell told a detective that Baldwin was rehearsing a scene Thursday in which he was set to draw his gun while sitting in a church pew and point it at the camera. Russell said he was unsure whether the weapon was checked before it was handed to Baldwin.

Covid-19: US administers nearly 413 million doses of vaccines

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has administered 412,856,169 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 503,521,625 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Those figures are up from the 411,963,025 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Friday out of 501,613,665 doses delivered.

The agency said 220,145,796 people had received at least one dose, while 190,402,262 people are fully vaccinated as of 6:00am ET on Saturday.

Fire blazes on cargo ship containers off British Columbia

Oct 24 (Reuters) - A fire broke out on Saturday on containers on a cargo ship carrying mining chemicals off British Columbia, and the Canadian Coast Guard said it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to assess the situation, including environmental hazards.

Sixteen crew members have been evacuated from the MV Zim Kingston, while five remained onboard to fight the fire, the Canadian Coast Guard said in a statement on Saturday.

"No injuries were reported," Danaos Shipping Co, the company that manages the container ship, said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday.

Hurricane Rick edges closer to Mexican coast north of Acapulco

MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Hurricane Rick edged slowly closer to Mexico's Pacific coast on Sunday, expected to unleash heavy rains north of the beach resort of Acapulco late in the evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Rick was packing maximum sustained winds near 85 miles (140 km) per hour with strong gusts as it moved northward at about 3 miles (6 km) per hour.

The storm was located 130 miles (210 km) south of the beach city of Zihuatanejo in Guerrero state.

Over 2,000 migrants march out of southern city in Mexico

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Over 2,000 migrants, mainly Central Americans, began walking out of a city in southern Mexico on Saturday where they have essentially been trapped.

The migrants walked along a highway leading west and north toward the U.S. border, and pushed past a line of state police who were trying to stop them.

There were minor scuffles, but the migrants continued on their way. Police, immigration agents and National Guard have broken up smaller attempts at similar breakouts earlier this year.

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