(SAN ANTONIO) — The San Antonio Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding 3-year-old Lina Sadar Khil who authorities say may be in “grave, immediate danger.”
Lina was last seen on Monday between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. at a playground in San Antonio, according to police. She was with her mother who left her alone for an unknown amount of time, police said. When Lina’s mother returned, the young girl was gone, according to police.
A department spokesperson told ABC News there is no indication that Lina is with a family member.
Lina is white, about 4 feet tall and weighs 55 pounds. She has straight, shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes.
Police said she was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes.
This case is still active and being investigated, according to police.
Authorities are asking anyone who has information on the case to call SAPD Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.
(NEW YORK) — Medical researchers say there is renewed promise in reducing COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths by increasing the use of convalescent plasma treatments early on in a coronavirus infection.
And some medical experts are pushing the federal government to allow more patients to receive the treatment, as lab-based monoclonal treatments such as Regeneron have seen lessened effectiveness against the omicron variant.
Researchers at John Hopkins University on Tuesday released the results of a 16-month nationwide study on convalescent plasma use on COVID-19 patients and found it had a 54% relative risk reduction in COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
Dr. Arturo Casadevall, one of the study’s co-authors and chair of the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News that the results are promising, especially if the plasma is used early on in the infection period.
“The results show a 54% efficacy in reducing hospitalization if you give it up to day nine. It is clear and highly significant,” he said. “If you look to less than five days, the efficacy is much, much higher.”
Researchers observed 1,181 adults who contracted COVID-19, half of whom were given polyclonal high-titer convalescent plasma that contained a concentrated mixture of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The other half were given placebo control plasma with no COVID-19 antibodies,
None of the patients who received the convalescent plasma died, and only 17 were hospitalized within 28 days of their infection, the study said, whereas three patients who received the placebo died, and 37 were hospitalized within 28 days of their infection, according to researchers.
After the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for monoclonal treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, the use of plasma treatments for hospitalized coronavirus patients decreased.
Unlike plasma treatments, monoclonal treatments are not derived from the blood of COVID-19 survivors but instead are a cocktail of lab-created antibodies. Those monoclonal treatments were shown to be very effective at preventing worsening symptoms and deaths in infected patients.
However, Casadevall, warned that plasma treatment options need to be more strongly considered as the omicron variant has made monoclonal antibody treatments less effective.
George Yancopoulos, the president and chief scientific officer at Regeneron, told ABC News his company does have a collection of antibodies that are effective against the omicron variant, but it will take at least a few months before it is authorized and shipped.
“People that are high risk who come down with COVID who receive plasma in lieu of monoclonals hopefully stay out of the hospital,” Casadevall said. “And so plasma holds the line until Regeneron comes out with a new set of monoclonals.”
The John Hopkins study comes two weeks after the World Health Organization advised against the use of treatments that use COVID-19 survivors’ plasma. The WHO said it used data from 16 trials involving more than 16,000 patients around the world and determined that the treatment did not “improve survival nor reduce the need for mechanical ventilation.”
Casadevall told ABC News that the WHO did not use the data from the John Hopkins research in its decision.
“We hope that they reverse their recommendation against convalescent plasma in light of the Hopkins study results, since this therapy is inexpensive and available in resource-poor countries where plasma can provide a major tool to reduce hospitalizations and mortality,” he told ABC News.
Andrea B. Troxel, a professor of population health and the director of the division of biostatistics at NYU School of Medicine who has also written studies on convalescent plasma treatments for COVID-19 patients, told ABC News that previous studies on the effectiveness of plasma treatment have been mixed, but she found the results of the John Hopkins University study to be very encouraging.
Troxel said the issue with plasma treatments is determining the right time for their use during the infection period, and the data in the new study gives doctors a better idea of its effectiveness.
“This is the sweet spot for plasma, early enough in the infection the plasma can do what it needs to do. For other studies, it maybe was a little late,” she told ABC News.
Casadevall said the Food and Drug Administration should extend its emergency use authorization for plasma treatments to the outpatient space to ensure the treatment is given at the right time.
Troxel echoed this call and said plasma treatments should be more widely used for infected patients
“There is a strong benefit for these patients in receiving plasma,” she said. “It is safe and there is no reason not to trust this evidence.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 809,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 61.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 22, 3:46 am
Portugal bans outdoor drinking, large gatherings for New Year’s Eve
Portugal said it would limit outdoor gatherings to 10 people and prohibit outdoor drinking on New Year’s Eve.
The country, which has 52 confirmed omicron cases, will also require most people to work from home starting on Saturday, the president’s office told ABC News on Tuesday.
The new restrictions, which are set to expire Jan. 10, will require people to present negative COVID-19 tests as they enter sporting events, theaters, weddings and other large gatherings.
Bars, discos, and schools will close on Saturday, the president’s office said.
The country reported an uptick in COVID-19 cases between Dec. 16 and Dec. 19, but numbers were slightly down on Tuesday, with 2,752 newly diagnosed cases and 18 deaths, according to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 dashboard. Portugal’s adult population is 87% fully vaccinated.
-ABC News’ Aicha El-Hammar Castano
Dec 21, 7:53 pm
California to require all health care workers to get booster
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Tuesday evening that he will require that all health care workers in the state to get their booster shot.
“With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared,” he tweeted.
More details about the order will be shared on Wednesday, according to Newsom.
Dec 21, 7:05 pm
Chicago to institute vaccine mandate for indoor events
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a vaccine mandate for most indoor events as the city grasps with a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Starting Jan. 3, anyone over the age of 5 will have to show proof that they are fully vaccinated to “to dine indoors, visit gyms, or enjoy entertainment venues where food or drink are being served,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
Patrons 16 and older will also need to “provide identification that matches their vaccination record,” according to the statement.
Chicago is averaging more than 1,700 new COVID-19 cases a day — a 79% increase from one week ago, the mayor’s office said.
Dec 21, 4:36 pm
New Hampshire hospital seeing record-high number of patients
Elliot Hospital in New Hampshire is now seeing three to four times as many patients as it had at the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Laura McPhee told ABC News.
She said their ICU is full with COVID-19 patients and staff is running thin.
“We’re tired. It’s been extremely hard on everybody,” McPhee said, stressing that “most of the patients that we’re seeing are unvaccinated.”
“Most days I’ve been angry and frustrated. … Because this is preventable. It doesn’t have to happen,” she said. “I’ve not ever seen a patient here in the ICU who has been fully vaccinated with a booster.”
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain will be co-hosting a special Christmas concert called “Wonder of Wonders” tonight with his wife, pastor Paula White-Cain, at her City of Destiny church in Apopka, Florida.
The event, which begins at 7 p.m. ET, is free and open to the public, and also will be livestreamed at CityofDestiny.us.
The concert will feature guest appearances by Brianna Alomar, a young singer-songwriter who has collaborated with Jonathan in recent years; Cain’s brother, drummer Tommy Cain; and guitarist Kevin Eknes, who plays in Jonathan’s solo touring band. There also will be a full choir and a string quartet.
Cain tells ABC Audio that he’s planning to have the show filmed, and possibly put it out on video.
According to a press release, Cain will take people “on an adventure through the Nativity” during the concert, which will feature performances of his 2019 Christmas radio hit “Wonder of Wonders,” and other songs from his recent faith-based solo releases, including material from his new EP, Oh Lord Lead Us.
Jonathan also will perform a tune called “Behold” that he wrote specially for this concert.
Cain tells ABC Audio that his family Christmas celebration will be “abbreviated” this year, because of how busy he’s been this month, with Journey having played a series of shows in Las Vegas leading into his preparation for the holiday concert.
“I’m coming right out of Vegas into church, and then straight into Christmas,” he explains. “So it’s gonna be crazy.”
Michelle Young’s journey as The Bachelorette concluded on Tuesday night with an engagement to Nayte Olukoya, a 27-year-old sales executive from Austin, Texas.
However, Nayte faced a rocky road on the way to asking for Michelle’s hand. His meeting with Michelle’s parents did not go well, with both warning their daughter that Nayte didn’t appear to be ready to get down on one knee. During a final date, though, Nayte finally opened up to Michelle and told her what was in his heart, giving her the clarity she needed.
Michelle had also confessed that she was in love with Brandon Jones, who wore his feelings about her on his sleeve. That led to one of the most heartbreaking eliminations in franchise history, as Michelle had to say goodbye to Brandon.
“I’m so broken,” the 27-year-old Portland, Oregon native said as he waited to be chauffeured off the premises, adding that he “saw a future with her.”
Later, on After the Final Rose, Michelle and Nayte made their fist public appearance as a couple.
Michelle’s parents revealed that after spending a little more time with Nayte, their trepidations about him had disappeared and they welcomed him into their family with open arms.
The new couple also revealed that they were ready to tie the knot “in a matter of months.”
They also got a generous wedding gift from the show — a down payment on their first house.
The Bachelor season 26, featuring Clayton Echard, premieres Monday, January 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first-ever long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention.
Until this week, the only FDA-licensed and approved medications for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, most commonly known as PrEP, were daily oral pills containing the HIV treatment drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, which slow the progression of an HIV infection in the body.
PrEP is taken daily so that it builds up in your system, to the point that if there is an HIV infection, it prevents the virus from replicating and spreading throughout the body.
When taken as prescribed, PrEP services reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%, according to new data from the CDC. Now, individuals who feel at-risk of HIV infection have the option of taking the daily pill, or the new shot every two months, after two initiation injections administered one month apart.
“This injection, given every two months, will be critical to addressing the HIV epidemic in the U.S., including helping high-risk individuals and certain groups where adherence to daily medication has been a major challenge or not a realistic option,” the FDA said in a statement.
According to Dr. Darien Sutton, Emergency Medicine Physician, in an interview with “Good Morning America,” “This is a game-changer in the world of HIV prevention.”
“Patients often have difficulty complying with any oral medication, so a bi-monthly injection can truly change the landscape in terms of HIV prevention. Having a bi-monthly treatment also serves as an opportunity to interact with a patient, share risk reduction sexual health education and complete necessary screenings.”
“Patients on PrEP can often feel stigmatized with taking daily medication,” he told “GMA.” “Some have shared with me that they fear simple actions, like picking up their medications from the pharmacy due to fear of stigmatization. This stigma unfortunately doesn’t stop at the pharmacy, as many also fear being seen carrying their preventative medications in public.”
Sutton added, “The study was also inclusive, including transgender women, which allows better applicability with diverse patient populations.”
CDC data shows that an estimated 34,800 people in the United States acquired HIV in 2019, the most recent year for which data are available.
Men who have sex with men, transgender women who have sex with men, and Black cisgender women are among those disproportionately affected by HIV in the U.S.
Heterosexual people made up 23% of all HIV diagnoses in the U.S. and six dependent areas in 2019. Specifically, heterosexual men accounted for 7% of new HIV diagnoses and heterosexual women accounted for 16%.
The FDA approval comes on the heels of a CDC recommendation this month that there be an expansion of HIV prevention medication to close the gap on PrEP implementation.
In a release, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIHAID) also made a nod to the FDA approval, saying in part, “These medications are highly effective at preventing HIV when taken daily as prescribed, however, taking a pill daily while feeling healthy can be challenging.” Adding, “Long-acting injectable cabotegravir PrEP is a less frequent, more discreet HIV prevention option that may be more desirable for some people.”
Former Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi is releasing an autobiography.
The book, titled Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, will be released June 2022, and finds Corabi telling the story of his life “from the mean streets of Philadelphia to the Sunset Strip,” including tales from his days in Crüe, as well as his other musical endeavors.
A publisher’s escription for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades reads, “Whether it’s detailing his parents difficult divorce, his family’s dark history of abuse, his run-in with a serial killer, or simply the best way to arrive at a wedding — which maybe is by helicopter and maybe it isn’t — [Corabi] pulls no punches and outlines the good and bad of it all in this raucous autobiography.”
Corabi joined Mötley Crüe in 1992 after the band parted ways with founding vocalist Vince Neil. He sang on Mötley’s 1994 self-titled album before being fired himself in 1996, after which Neil rejoined.
(DENVER) — Truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced on Dec. 13 to 110 years in prison for a 2019 fiery crash just outside Denver that killed four people and injured several others – a sentence that the judge in the case said he wouldn’t have chosen if he had the discretion.
A spokesman for the Colorado First Judicial District Attorney’s Office told ABC News on Tuesday afternoon that the DA’s office “filed a motion to start the reconsideration process” of the sentence on Friday afternoon, and Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King has requested that the court set a new hearing “as soon as practicable.”
“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances,” the motion says.
Mederos, who was 23 years old at the time of the crash, was charged with 42 counts and was found guilty on 27 – the most serious of which was first degree assault.
Prosecutors sought the minimum penalties for each of the charges — the highest of which is 10 years, but the number of the charges and a law that says that some have to be served consecutively resulted in the lengthy sentence.
Progressive prosecutors aim to change the criminal justice system from the inside
“The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution says punishments can’t be cruel and unusual, and as far as Mr. Mederos is concerned, this is a cruel and unusual punishment,” Mederos’ attorney, James Colgan, told ABC News Tuesday.
A Change.org petition advocating for a commutation for Mederos, indicating that the crash was “not intentional,” was signed by more than 4.5 million people as of Tuesday afternoon, becoming one of fastest growing petitions on the website.
Mederos was driving a semitrailer loaded with lumber along a highway in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 25, 2019.
Those killed in the crash on Interstate 70 were Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Stanley Politano, 69.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Mederos could have taken a runaway truck ramp after losing control of his brakes, instead of driving into traffic.
Colgan said that his client “may have made some negligent mistakes,” but the punishment is “completely disproportionate to what happened.”
“What he did does not deserve a life sentence,” he said.
Why the judge didn’t have a choice
Ian Farrell, a professor of law at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, said that this case has sparked outrage because Mederos “got the same sentence as someone who intentionally killed 100 people would have gotten in Colorado.”
“In every state in the country, which doesn’t have the death penalty, the maximum possible sentence is a life sentence,” Farrell said.
A Jefferson County jury found Mederos guilty of six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, four counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of careless driving causing death, two counts of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving.
“I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,” the district court judge, A. Bruce Jones, said during the sentencing. ABC News has reached out to Jones but a request for comment was not responded to.
Mederos was sentenced to 10 years each for six counts of first degree assault, as well as five years each for 10 counts of attempted first degree assault, resulting in the 110-year sentence.
“When the judge said he didn’t have discretion, he was accurate,” Colgan said.
Jones was bound by “sentence enhancers” that are outlined in Colorado law, Farrell said, pointing to mandatory minimum penalties for certain crimes and certain classifications that enhance penalties for violent crimes.
Under Colorado law, first degree assault and attempted first degree assault are classified as “crimes of violence,” Farrell said, which mandates that an individual convicted of more than two “crimes of violence” serve the sentences consecutively, not concurrently.
“One of the things that the sentence enhances and mandatory minimums do is it takes power away from the judge, and gives it to the prosecutor,” Farrell said.
Since vehicular homicide, a class four felony, and the remaining lesser charges are not classified as “crimes of violence,” Colgan said that the judge “had discretion to run [them] concurrently, which he did.”
Prosecutors face backlash
Asked about the backlash over the number of charges and the length of the sentence, District Attorney King told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that prosecutors “initiated plea negotiations but Mr. Aguilera-Mederos declined to consider anything other than a traffic ticket.”
“The actions and decisions of Mr. Mederos resulted in the loss of four lives, devastating injuries to the survivors and – as we heard them state during the sentencing hearing – grave impacts to their families and loved ones,” King said.
Colgan argued Mederos was “overcharged” in an attempt to “coerce” him into pleading guilty.
Domingo Garcia, President of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told ABC News he believes that “racial bias played a big part” in Mederos’ case, pointing to the fact that he is a Cuban immigrant who used a translator during the trial.
Farrell said that it’s “impossible to know” if racial bias played a part, but “Black and brown people are overcharged [and] over sentenced in every different area of the law.”
PHOTO: District Attorney Alexis King speaks during a news conference in Golden, Colo., Nov. 8, 2021.
David Zalubowski/AP, FILE
David Zalubowski/AP, FILE
District Attorney Alexis King speaks during a news conference in Golden, Colo., Nov. 8, 2021.
King’s office did not comment directly on the allegations of racial bias when asked by ABC News, but said in a statement that “the sentence – which our office requested the minimum for – is within the purview of the court and reflects the judgment of the legislature.”
“Just as the law mandates this outcome, it also provides future opportunity to revisit the sentence, and we will again pursue an appropriate outcome if that opportunity arises, after consulting with the victims and survivors and receiving their input,” King said.
Derek Chauvin wants to go to federal prison, even though it means he’ll do more time
Seeking a commutation
On the witness stand, Mederos expressed remorse for those who were killed and injured in the crash and said that the accident was unintentional and he is “not a criminal.”
“I want to say sorry. Sorry for the loss, for the people injured. I know they have trauma, I know, I feel that,” he said while crying.
“But please, don’t be angry with me … I was working hard for a better future for my family. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life,” Mederos, who emigrated from Cuba to the U.S. at the age of 19, said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said during a press conference on Tuesday that he received a clemency application from Mederos’ attorney.
Clemency could mean commutation or a pardon but Colgan told ABC News Tuesday morning he is “actively seeking a commutation” and not a pardon at this time.
Conor Cahill, the press secretary for Polis, told ABC News on Sunday before the application was received that Polis “would expedite consideration.”
A spokesman for LULAC, one of the largest Latino civil rights organizations in the U.S, told ABC News on Tuesday that the organization is set to meet with Polis on Wednesday morning to advocate for Mederos.
Asked if he plans to appeal the case, Colgan said that “everything’s on the table.”
Courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
U2, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison and Carole King are among the music artists that have made the shortlist to be nominated for a Best Original Song award for the 2022 Oscars.
Among the finalists in the Best Original Song category are U2’s Sing 2 track “Your Song Saved My Life”; “Right Where I Belong,” from the Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, which the Beach Boys legend co-wrote with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James; Morrison’s “Down to Joy,” from the film Belfast; and “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” which King co-wrote with Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Hartman for the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. Hudson, of course, is the star of the latter film.
Meanwhile, a few music-related movies also were chosen for the shortlist of the Best Documentary Feature prize, including the Todd Haynes-directed The Velvet Underground, about the influential Lou Reed-led rock band, and the Questlove-directed Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), about the star-studded 1969 music festival in Harlem, New York, that came to be known as “Black Woodstock.”
The 2022 Oscar nominees will be announced February 8. The ceremony takes place March 27 on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan admits he’s avoided love stories in the past. However, now he’s starring in a romantic film, A Journal for Jordan, which opens Christmas Day.
In Journal for Jordan, Michael B. stars as First Sergeant Charles King, serving in Irag, who’;s in a relationship with writer Dana Canedy, portrayed by Chanté Adams. She’spregnant with their son, and King keeps a journal of advice for the baby.
“I journal a lot,” Jordan tells BLACKPRINT. “So understanding the thought process behind leaving words and lessons in a journal for somebody to read later, I just love the idea of that. I connect with that personally.”
In other news, Michelle Obama has joined with several celebrity mothers to promote COVID-19 vaccinations.
Alicia Keys’ mom Terria Joseph, Zendaya’s mother Claire Stoermer, John David Washington’s mom, PaulettaWashington, and more star in a new PSA with the former first lady, titled “Get Vaccinated — Mom Said So.”
“You don’t need to be a mom to be a superhero,” Obama says. “You can keep yourself and those around you safe by getting your COVID vaccine or booster today.”
Finally, Ludacris has been hiding his identity and donating in person to the homeless to disprove his father’s belief that they would use the money to buy liquor.
“I’ve been masked up/disguised experimenting in these streets, and giving the homeless food gift cards instead so that they have more of an incentive to buy food,” Luda commented on Instagram. In a video, the 44-year-old entertainer gave a man in a motorized chair a $50 gift card to go to the food store a few feet away. Ludacris wished him “Merry Christmas,” and told him, “Go on in.”
