AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT
J&J vaccine to remain in limbo while officials seek evidence
Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine will remain in limbo a while longer after U.S. health advisers told the government Wednesday that they need more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot - and if so, how big the potential risk really is.
The reports are exceedingly rare - six cases out of more than 7 million U.S. inoculations with the one-dose vaccine. But the government recommended a pause in J&J vaccinations this week, not long after European regulators declared that such clots are a rare but possible risk with the AstraZeneca vaccine, a shot made in a similar way but not yet approved for use in the U.S.
At an emergency meeting, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrestled with the fact that the U.S. has enough vaccine alternatives to do without the J&J vaccine for a time, but other countries anxiously awaiting the one-and-done shot may not.
One committee member, Dr. Grace Lee, was among those who advocated tabling a vote. She echoed concerns about getting more data to better understand the size of the risk and whether it was greater for any particular group of people.
"I continue to feel like we´re in a race against time and the variants, but we need to (move forward) in the safest possible way," said Lee, of Stanford University.
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Former Minnesota cop charged in shooting of Black motorist
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) - A white former suburban Minneapolis police officer was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police.
The charge against former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter was filed three days after Wright was killed during a traffic stop and as the nearby murder trial progresses for the ex-officer charged with killing George Floyd last May.
The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said that Potter, a 26-year veteran and training officer, intended to use her Taser on Wright but fired her handgun instead. However, protesters and Wright´s family members say there´s no excuse for the shooting and that it shows how the justice system is tilted against Blacks, noting Wright was stopped for expired car registration and ended up dead.
"Certain occupations carry an immense responsibility and none more so than a sworn police officer," Imran Ali, Washington County assistant criminal division chief, said in a statement announcing the charge against Potter. "(Potter´s) action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable."
Ali said he and Washington County Attorney Pete Orput met with Wright´s family and assured them that no resources would be spared in prosecuting the case.
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Defense expert blames George Floyd's death on heart trouble
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - George Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease, a forensic pathologist testified for the defense Wednesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial, contradicting prosecution experts who said Floyd succumbed to a lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned down.
Dr. David Fowler, a former Maryland chief medical examiner who is now with a consulting firm, said the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, and possibly carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust, were contributing factors in the 46-year-old Black man's death last May.
"All of those combined to cause Mr. Floyd´s death," he said on the second day of the defense case.
Fowler also testified that he would classify the manner of death "undetermined," rather than homicide, as the county's chief medical examiner ruled. He said Floyd's death had too many conflicting factors, some of which could be ruled homicide and some that could be considered accidental.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson is trying to prove that the 19-year Minneapolis police veteran did what he was trained to do and that Floyd died because of his illegal drug use and underlying health problems.
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Biden to pull US troops from Afghanistan, end 'forever war'
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will withdraw remaining U.S. troops from the "forever war" in Afghanistan, declaring that the Sept. 11 terror attacks of 20 years ago cannot justify American forces still dying in the nation's longest war.
His plan is to pull out all American forces - numbering 2,500 now - by this Sept. 11, the anniversary of the attacks, which were coordinated from Afghanistan. Soon after Biden made his announcement, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels said the alliance had agreed to withdraw its roughly 7,000 forces from Afghanistan, matching Biden´s decision to begin a final pullout by May 1.
The U.S. cannot continue to pour resources into an intractable war and expect different results, Biden said.
The drawdown would begin rather than conclude by May 1, which has been the deadline for full withdrawal under a peace agreement the Trump administration reached with the Taliban last year.
"It is time to end America´s longest war," Biden said, but he added that the U.S. will "not conduct a hasty rush to the exit."
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Iran's supreme leader: Vienna offers 'not worth looking at'
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday dismissed initial offers at talks in Vienna to save Tehran's tattered nuclear deal as "not worth looking at," attempting to pressure world powers after an attack on the country's main nuclear enrichment site.
The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in the Islamic Republic, came after a day that saw Iran's president similarly ratchet up pressure over the accord. European powers meanwhile warned Tehran its actions were "particularly regrettable" and "dangerous."
The talks already have been thrown into disarray by a weekend attack on Iran's main Natanz nuclear enrichment site suspected to have been carried out by Israel. Tehran retaliated by announcing it would enrich uranium up to 60% - higher than it ever has before but still lower than weapons-grade levels of 90%.
"The offers they provide are usually arrogant and humiliating (and) are not worth looking at," the 81-year-old Khamenei said in an address marking the first day of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Iran.
He also criticized the U.S. and warned time could be running out.
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Daunte Wright: Doting dad, ballplayer, slain by police
Daunte Wright became a father while he was still a teenager, and seemed to relish the role of a doting young dad, his family and friends said.
A family photo shows a beaming Wright holding his son, Daunte Jr., at his first birthday party. Another shows Wright, wearing a COVID-19 face mask and his son wearing a bib with the inscription, "ALWAYS HUNGRY."
Wright, 20, was fatally shot Sunday by a police officer in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. As protesters and civil rights advocates called for justice and police accountability over his death, his family asked people to also remember his life.
"He had a 2-year-old son that´s not going to be able to play basketball with him. He had sisters and brothers that he loved so much," his mother, Katie Wright, said Tuesday on "Good Morning America."
His aunt, Naisha Wright, said he was "a lovable young man."
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Stinging report raises new questions about Capitol security
WASHINGTON (AP) - Shields that shattered upon impact. Weapons too old to use. Missed intelligence in which future insurrectionists warned, "We get our president or we die."
As Congress pushes for a return to normalcy months after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, a damning internal report about the deadly siege is painting a dire picture of the Capitol Police's ability to respond to threats against lawmakers. The full report obtained by The Associated Press before the department's watchdog testifies at a House hearing casts serious doubt on whether the police would be able to respond to another large-scale attack.
The Capitol Police have so far refused to publicly release the report - prepared in March and marked as "law enforcement sensitive" - despite congressional pressure. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who heads the House Administration Committee, said last month that she found the report, along with another she had reviewed, "detailed and disturbing." The inspector general who prepared it, Michael A. Bolton, was scheduled to testify before Lofgren´s committee Thursday.
The Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that the siege was "a pivotal moment" in history that showed the need for "major changes" in how the department operates, but it was "important to note that nearly all of the recommendations require significant resources the department does not have."
Bolton found that the department´s deficiencies were - and remain - widespread: Equipment was old and stored badly; officers didn't complete required training; and there was a lack of direction at the Civil Disturbance Unit, which exists to ensure that legislative functions of Congress are not disrupted by civil unrest or protest activity. That was exactly what happened on Jan. 6 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump violently pushed past police and broke into the Capitol as Congress counted the Electoral College votes that certified Joe Biden's victory.
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Prosecutor: Missing student killed during 1996 rape attempt
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Missing California college student Kristin Smart was killed in 1996 during an attempted rape by a fellow student and the suspect´s father helped hide her body, the San Luis Obispo County district attorney said Wednesday.
Prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge against Paul Flores and an accessory after murder charge against his father, Ruben Flores, for helping him conceal Smart's body, which has never been found, District Attorney Dan Dow said.
The two were arrested Tuesday after years of investigations and searches that recently led to evidence connected to Smart´s killing.
Smart, 19, of Stockton, was last seen May 25, 1996, while returning to her dorm at California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo after an off-campus party. She was inebriated at the time and Flores, a fellow freshman at the school, had offered to walk her home.
Flores killed Smart in his dorm room, Dow said. Investigators, who launched a renewed search Tuesday at his father's property in nearby Arroyo Grande, believe they know where the body was buried but have not yet located it or disclosed the location.
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Humanitarian crisis feared in St. Vincent amid eruptions
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Ongoing volcanic eruptions have displaced about 20% of people in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent as a U.N. official on Wednesday warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.
Between 16,000 to 20,000 people were evacuated under government orders before La Soufriere volcano first erupted on Friday, covering the lush green island with ash that continues to blanket communities in St. Vincent as well as Barbados and other nearby islands.
About 6,000 of those evacuees are considered most vulnerable, said Didier Trebucq, United Nations resident coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
"So we are facing a situation with a great deal of uncertainty, and also a humanitarian crisis that is growing and may continue for weeks and months," he said.
Trebucq said that based on certain information and preliminary estimations, 20,000 people are "estimated at risk of food insecurity, given the loss of the assets in terms of livelihood like fisheries, or agriculture."
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12 missing from capsized ship after 6 rescued off Louisiana
PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) - The Coast Guard searched for 12 people missing off the coast of Louisiana on Wednesday after finding one person dead and pulling six survivors from rough seas when their commercial vessel capsized in hurricane-force winds.
Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson said winds were 80 to 90 mph (130 to 145 km/h) and seas were 7 to 9 feet (2.1 to 2.7 meters) when the Seacor Power lift vessel overturned.
"That´s challenging under any circumstance," Watson said. "We don´t know the degree to which that contributed to what happened, but we do know those are challenging conditions to be out in the maritime environment."
The bulky vessel that has three long legs it can lower to the sea floor to become an offshore platform flipped over Tuesday afternoon miles south of Port Fourchon, a major base for the U.S. oil and gas industry.
One worker was found dead on the surface of the water, Watson said at a news conference Wednesday. Asked about the prospects of the missing crew, he said: "We are hopeful. We can´t do this work if you´re not optimistic, if you´re not hopeful."
