October 21, Thursday, 2021 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline

1.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized booster shots of coronavirus vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The FDA also said on Wednesday that the booster shot can be of a different vaccine from the original inoculation.
2.Japanese pianists have been awarded the second and fourth prizes in the 18th Chopin international piano competition, one of the world’s most prestigious classical music contests. The competition is held every five years in the Polish capital, Warsaw. The auditions of the 12 finalists ended on Wednesday. The jury announced on Thursday that the first prize had been awarded to Canada’s Bruce Liu. Japan’s Sorita Kyohei and Aleander Gadjiev from Italy took the second prize. Japan’s Kobayashi Aimi and Jakub Kuszlik from Poland came in fourth.
3.North Korea’s foreign ministry has accused the United States of “abnormal reactions” to Pyongyang’s recent test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile. In a comment issued through the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, a ministry spokesperson described Tuesday’s SLBM test as the country’s exercise of its right to self-defense as a sovereign state, and claimed it was not directed at any particular country or power.