VOA News for Thursday, February 25th, 2021
Thanks to https://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to be director of the CIA, William Burns, told a Senate committee on Wednesday that he saw competition with China and countering its "adversarial, predatory" leadership as key to U.S. national security.
Testifying to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burns called China "a formidable, authoritarian adversary," that is strengthening its ability to steal intellectual property, repress its people, expand its reach and build influence within the United States.
"As President Biden has underscored, out-competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead. That will require a long-term, clear-eyed, bipartisan strategy, underpinned by domestic renewal and solid intelligence.”
Burns said that Russian aggression is also a constant concern, especially Moscow's involvement in U.S. elections and the recent SolarWinds hack that penetrated government agencies and that U.S. officials have blamed on Russian hackers.
A big real-world test has confirmed Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is very effective at preventing serious illness or death. AP's Sagar Meghani reports.
The Pfizer vaccine showed benefits in smaller, limited testing.
Now results published in the New England Journal of Medicine after a mass vaccination campaign give reassurance that the benefits persist when the vaccines used in a general population. In this case- more than a half million people in Israel of varying ages and health conditions- it was 62 percent effective and preventing severe disease after a single shot and 92 percent after two doses.
It's estimated effectiveness or preventing death was 72 percent two to three weeks after the first shot.
Sagar Meghani, Washington.
This is VOA news.
If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, it is still not expected to significantly boost vaccine supplies right away. AP's Ben Thomas reports.
"--we were surprised to learn that Johnson & Johnson was behind on their manufacturing.”
That's White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. To be clear, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine has not yet received FDA's green light though that is expected in the matter of days.
But even so, White House Virus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients notes the company is expected to "deliver the full 100 million doses which is required by contract by the end of June.”
And he says the Biden administration is helping J&J with equipment and raw materials to boost production.
"I think they're in a better place now.”
And if emergency use is approved, "we will waste no time getting this life-saving vaccination into the arms of Americans.”
Ben Thomas, Washington.
A German court sentenced a former member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security services to prison on Wednesday for abetting the torture of civilians. Reuters Soraya Ali reports.
The higher regional court sentenced Eyad A. to four and a half years in prison, saying he had arrested at least 30 anti-government protesters at the start of the conflict in 2011 and sent them to an intelligence facility where he knew detainees were tortured.
The Assad government denies it tortures prisoners. But the verdict gives hope to the 800,000 Syrians in Germany who say they were tortured in government facilities.
The same court will continue hearings in another case of a former intelligence officer charged with 58 murders in a Damascus prison where prosecutors say at least 4,000 opposition activists were tortured in 2011 and 2012.
That's Reuters Soraya Ali.
Golfer Tiger Woods faces a difficult recovery after crashing his SUV on Tuesday. AP's Ed Donahue has more.
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says they will look into whether speed was a factor. But there were no indications of drugs or alcohol.
"This is why it is an accident.”
Wood shattered bones in his lower legs. Some of the fractures went through the skin.
Dr. Michael Gardner at Stanford Medical says unfortunately, "it's very, very unlikely that he returns to be a professional golfer.”
Fellow golfer Rory McIlroy says Tiger Woods golf shouldn't be on a map right now. He is alive.
"He's a human being at the end of the day and he's already been through so much.”
Tiger Woods was rehabbing from back surgery before the crash.
I'm Ed Donahue.
An up day on Wall Street, with all three major indices closing higher.
Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.