Source: Asharq Al-Awsat
The official website of the Kataeb Party leader
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
The alleged senior Hezbollah operative abducted by Israeli special forces last week in Batroun may have been operating as a double agent, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Thursday 21 April 2022 12:08:18
Moderna Says Dual Variant Booster with Beta More Effective vs. Omicron than Current Shot
Moderna Inc on Tuesday said a COVID-19 booster designed to target the Beta variant as well as the original coronavirus generated a better immune response against a number of virus variants including Omicron.
Moderna said the results were a good sign for the company's plans for future shots targeting two COVID-19 variants.
Dr. Jacqueline Miller, a top Moderna scientist, said the company had no immediate plans to file for authorization of the bivalent vaccine including the Beta variant. It will submit the data to the US Food and Drug Administration in order to lay the groundwork for a future bivalent vaccine candidate that includes the Omicron variant as a target.
The company said the bivalent vaccine with Beta generated higher neutralizing antibody titers against the Omicron variant at one and six months after the shot was given than the booster of its original vaccine currently in use.
The company said it was especially encouraging that the bivalent vaccine induced higher antibody responses against variants that were not specifically included in the vaccine.
The 50-microgram bivalent booster, which the company calls mRNA 1273.211, was tested in 300 people.
Moderna has started testing a different bivalent shot that combines an Omicron-specific vaccine with its original. Initial data from that vaccine is expected later in the second quarter, Moderna said.
It is also testing a monovalent booster targeted at Omicron alone.
"In order to be ready for the fall, we've had to start manufacture at risk," Miller said. "Our belief is that the bivalent, based on the data that we have already observed ... offers the best hope for longer and more durable protection."