
AstraZeneca says updated COVID vaccine report still shows it's highly effective
CBSN
AstraZeneca insisted late Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is strongly effective even after including additional illnesses in its disputed U.S. study, the latest in an extraordinary public rift with American officials.
In a late-night press release, the British drug maker said it had recalculated data from that advanced trial and concluded the vaccine is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% it had claimed earlier in the week. Just a day earlier, an independent panel that oversees the study had accused AstraZeneca of cherry-picking data to tout the protection offered by its vaccine. The panel, in a harsh letter to the company and to U.S. health leaders, said the company had left out some COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study, a move that could erode trust in the science.
Johannesburg — President Trump doubled down Friday on his offer to grant U.S. citizenship to White Afrikaner farmers in South Africa, accusing their government of treating them "terribly." Mr. Trump said the U.S. would offer them "safety" and that they would be given a "rapid pathway to citizenship."

Toronto — Canada's Liberal Party has chosen veteran central bank leader Mark Carney as its new leader, meaning he will quickly replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the country's top office. The transition, and Trudeau's political downfall, comes amid the chaotic trade war with Canada's closest ally launched by President Trump.

The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria's conflict began 14 years ago.

International Women's Day protests demand equal rights and an end to discrimination, sexual violence
Women across the world will call for equal pay, reproductive rights, education, justice and decision-making jobs during demonstrations marking International Women's Day on Saturday.