“The World Health Organization on Wednesday named 26 scientists to a new advisory body devoted to understanding the origins of the coronavirus and other future outbreaks, marking a significant change in approach by the world’s top global health body to one of the most politically sensitive issues of the pandemic.
The group includes scientists from the United States and China, as well as 24 other nations, and will be formalized after a brief period of public consultation. It is set to consider not only the big, unresolved question of the novel coronavirus — how did it first infect humans? — but it will also establish a framework for the future.
High-profile efforts to get to the bottom of the virus’s origins have been stymied by reluctance from Beijing and mired in fraught international politics, especially between China and the United States….
Avoiding that noise and politics will be difficult. Some experts in the United States and elsewhere suggest that the virus that causes covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or another research institute studying coronaviruses in the Chinese city where covid-19 was first recorded. There is no conclusive evidence for this theory.
Beijing has rejected the idea, arguing that it is unsupported by a scientific consensus, and going a step further to claim without evidence that the novel coronavirus could have originated outside of China’s borders — even in the United States. Chinese officials have said they consider investigation of the virus’s origins on China’s soil complete.
The new group, dubbed the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), will not have the authority to force China to open its borders.
‘If you believe that SAGO will answer the question, what was the origin of SARS-CoV-2, then you are sadly mistaken because there is little to no chance of them gaining access to information or on-the-ground investigation as far as China is concerned,’ said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health law at Georgetown University.
The renewed impetus to investigate the pandemic’s origins comes more than six months after the conclusion of a joint WHO-China mission on the subject. That study, in which a group of international scientists visited sites at the virus’s known epicenter in Wuhan, was entangled in controversy over its inconclusive findings.” Read more at Washington Post
“The FDA said Johnson & Johnson’s booster shot bolsters immune defense. The regulators cautioned, however, that data was limited and they had to rely on J&J’s own analysis for some of the study findings, rather than conducting their own. J&J makes a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Many Black Americans have changed their minds and received a vaccine. They explain why.” Read more at New York Times
“A top Biden official publicly threatened Moderna with more aggressive government action if it doesn't voluntarily provide enough vaccines to the global initiative COVAX at not-for-profit prices, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports.
Why it matters: While low-income countries are desperate for more doses, Moderna has been supplying almost exclusively to wealthy nations.
‘Do not underestimate the resolve of the United States government in addressing these issues,’ David Kessler, chief science officer of the administration's COVID-19 response, said at an intense panel event.
‘I think these companies understand our authorities and understand we would not be afraid to use them,’ he added.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel recently wrote: ‘We are committed to doubling our manufacturing and expanding supply even further until our vaccine is no longer needed in low-income countries.’” Read more at Axios
“Some who were once vaccine-hesitant seem to be changing their minds. One clinic in a heavily Latino part of South Texas is working to overcome barrierssuch as transportation, language and a dearth of trusted information sources by ensuring that patients get facts about the shot and keep their appointments. So far, 35 states have fully vaccinated more than half their residents, while five more have fully vaccinated more than two-thirds. Meanwhile, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down with controversial podcast host Joe Rogan to try to communicate just how important vaccines are. These efforts come amid some good news: Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations are expected to decline over the next four weeks.” Read more at CNN
“The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is planning to ramp up its efforts to force Trump administration officials to cooperate with its inquiry, and on Wednesday it issued a subpoena for a former Justice Department official panel members view as key to the examination of the former president’s efforts to overturn election results.
The committee said it is seeking records and testimony from Jeffrey Clark, a Trump-era Justice Department official who sought to deploy department resources to support President Donald Trump’s false claims of massive voting fraud in the 2020 election.
‘The Select Committee needs to understand all the details about efforts inside the previous administration to delay the certification of the 2020 election and amplify misinformation about the election results,’ committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement. ‘We need to understand Mr. Clark’s role in these efforts at the Justice Department and learn who was involved across the administration. The Select Committee expects Mr. Clark to cooperate fully with our investigation.’
A lawyer for Clark declined to comment.
The committee on Wednesday also took eight hours of closed-door testimony from former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen regarding the final days of the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private testimony, as it also focuses on witnesses willing to voluntarily meet with the panel.
What happens to the Trump advisers who don’t comply with subpoenas?
The latest activity comes as tensions over compliance with the investigation are increasing and as the committee’s plans to hold depositions this week are already facing head winds. The focus of those depositions are Stephen K. Bannon and three other Trump administration officials — former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and Kash Patel, who was serving as chief of staff to then-acting Defense secretary Christopher Miller on Jan. 6.” Read more at Washington Post
“The US Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, focusing sharply on whether he was under the sway of his domineering, violent older brother, Tamerlan, when the pair exploded bombs near the finish line in 2013.
The justices’ questions centered around whether jurors in the 2015 trial who recommended the younger Tsarnaev be sentenced to death would have instead voted to spare his life if they were told of his brother’s alleged involvement in an unrelated triple murder in Waltham.
The trial judge had ruled that the defense could not introduce evidence related to the Waltham slayings. That decision was one reason cited by a federal appeals court when it overturned Tsarnaev’s death sentence last year, ruling he did not receive a fair trial.” Read more at Boston Globe
“ATLANTA — A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit that alleged fraud in Georgia’s most populous county during the 2020 election. The suit sought a review of some 147,000 absentee ballots in search of illegitimate votes, but no evidence emerged to justify such a broad search, the judge said.
The lawsuit was originally filed in December and said there was evidence of fraudulent ballots and improper ballot counting in Fulton County. It was filed by nine Georgia voters and spearheaded by Garland Favorito, a longtime critic of Georgia’s election systems.
Henry County Superior Court Chief Judge Brian Amero’s order dismissing the case says the Georgia voters who brought the lawsuit ‘failed to allege a particularized injury’ and therefore lacked the standing to claim that their state constitutional rights to equal protection and due process had been violated.” Read more at Boston Globe
“A Colorado judge on Wednesday prohibited a local official who has embraced conspiracy theories from overseeing November’s election, finding she breached and neglected her duties and was ‘untruthful ‘when she brought in someone who was not a county employee to copy the hard drives of Dominion Voting Systems machines.
The effort by Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters (R) to ferret out supposedly hidden evidence of fraud amounted to an escalation in the attacks on the nation’s voting systems, according to experts, one in which officials who were responsible for election security allegedly took actions that undermined that security in the name of protecting it.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) filed a lawsuit in August seeking to formally strip Peters of her election duties after passwords for Mesa County’s voting machines were posted online and copies of the hard drives were presented at a symposium hosted by MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, who denies that President Biden won the 2020 election.” Read more at Washington Post
“A federal judge found the warden of the D.C. jail and director of the D.C. Department of Corrections in contempt of court Wednesday and called on the Justice Department to investigate whether the jail is violating the civil rights of dozens of detained Jan. 6 defendants.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth of Washington acted after finding that jail officials failed to turn over information needed to approve surgery recommended four months ago for a Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendant’s broken wrist.
The defendant, Christopher Worrell, is an accused Florida Proud Boys member charged with four felonies, including rioting and spraying pepper gel at police at a critical point leading to the initial Capitol breach.
The failure of D.C. officials to turn over medical records is ‘more than just inept and bureaucratic jostling of papers,’ Lamberth said in a hearing, raising the possibility of deliberate mistreatment.” Read more at Washington Post
“Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket launched its second human flight. The voyage—part of an effort to firm up the fledgling space-tourism market—included the 90-year-old actor William Shatner and several others.
Watch: William Shatner launches into space aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Photo: Blue Origin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Above: Bezos greets Shatner and other crew members of Blue Origin's New Shepard after the crew capsule landed back in Texas.
“The world’s governments aren’t moving fast enough to combat climate change. The International Energy Agency warned that global progress on Paris Agreement pledges remains too slow. It estimated that governments’ existing targets cover less than a fifth of the emissions the world must cut by 2030 to hit net-zero by 2050.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Inflation is hitting levels not seen in 13 years — annual pace: up 5.4% — as tangled supply lines continue creating global havoc, AP reports.
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in September from August.
The annual increase in the consumer price index matched readings in June and July as the highest since 2008.
Prices were higher for houses, rent, food, gas, electricity, furniture, new cars, TVs and restaurant meals.
Children's shoes are up 11.9% — a record-high gain in data that stretches back to the 1950s. Most shoes are imported, and are likely caught in supply bottlenecks.
The cost of hotel rooms, car rentals, and airline tickets fell, as the Delta spike limited travel plans.
Clothing prices also dropped.
Between the lines: Higher prices are outstripping pay gains workers can command from many businesses.
Average hourly wages rose 4.6% in September from a year earlier — a healthy increase, but not enough to keep up with inflation.” Read more at Axios
“The Port of Los Angeles will start operating around the clock. The White House said the expanded hours would help ease cargo bottlenecks that have led to goods shortages and higher consumer costs.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Salt overload: The FDA asked makers of ‘processed, packaged, and prepared foods’ to reduce the amount of sodium in their products.” Read more at Axios
“About 10,000 members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike against the farm and construction equipment maker John Deere this morning. Union and management negotiators had been trying to reach a deal after rank-and-file members rejected a proposed six-year contract with the company. This strike against John Deere is the nation's largest private-sector strike since the UAW's six-week strike against General Motors two years ago. It continues a recent trend of workers flexing more muscle as the dynamics of the labor market tip more toward them and away from employers.” Read more at CNN
“A transgender Netflix employee who was suspended after she criticized a new Dave Chappelle stand-up special said late Tuesday that she was being reinstated.
‘At the very least, I feel vindicated,’ the employee, Terra Field, wrote on Twitter.
In all, Netflix reportedly suspended three employees after they attended a virtual business meeting of top company executives without being invited. Netflix said in an earlier statement that Ms. Field had not been suspended because of the tweets critical of Mr. Chappelle’s show.
Mr. Chappelle’s comedy special, ‘The Closer,’ made its debut on Netflix on Oct. 5, and was quickly criticized by several organizations, including GLAAD, for ‘ridiculing trans people.’
Ms. Field, a software engineer at Netflix, tweeted last week that the special ‘attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness.’” Read more at New York Times
“A Los Angeles city councilman and a former University of Southern California dean have been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from an alleged scheme to trade county contracts for graduate-school admission for the politician’s son.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, previously a Los Angeles county supervisor, is accused of conspiring with Marilyn Louise Flynn, former dean of USC’s School of Social Work, to award the school contracts for county services believed to be worth millions of dollars.
In return, Ms. Flynn allegedly arranged in late 2017 and early 2018 for the school to admit Mr. Ridley-Thomas’s son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, to the social work school’s master’s program on full scholarship and offered him a paid position as a professor.
Ms. Flynn allegedly later agreed to use the school to funnel campaign funds from Mr. Ridley-Thomas to benefit a nonprofit that his son headed. Mr. Ridley-Thomas’s donation was the subject of a Los Angeles Times investigation in 2018.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Almost six years to the day since the release of her previous blockbuster album, Adele will make her long-awaited return to the music industry with a new album on Nov. 19, she announced Wednesday on social media.
Titled “30,” in line with her previous LPs “19,” “21” and “25” — for the ages Adele was while writing them — the singer, now 33, said in a statement that the album came out of “the most turbulent period of my life.”
In 2019, Adele filed for divorce from her husband of two years, the charity executive Simon Konecki. The couple have a young son.
‘I’ve learned a lot of blistering home truths about myself along the way,’ Adele wrote in her announcement.” Read more at New York Times
“Apple is studying ways to make AirPods into a health device. The plans—which might involve hearing aids, an in-ear thermometer and body-posture warnings—show the tech giant remains focused on adding health and wellness features to devices beyond the Apple Watch.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“5.9% — Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment next year, the largest increase in four decades. The boost translates to an additional $92 for retirees’ average monthly benefit in 2022, bringing the amount to $1,657, the Social Security Administration estimates.
90 — Roughly the number of countries where “Squid Game” is Netflix’s most-watched show. The story revolves around heavily indebted adults playing hyperviolent versions of children’s games—to the death—on a secluded island for the gambling pleasure of high-rolling “VIPs,” with the lone survivor winning a cash prize of about $40 million.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“OSLO — A man armed with a bow and arrows went on a rampage in a Norwegian town outside Oslo on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding two others in the deadliest attack in Norway in a decade, the authorities said.
The police said they had taken a suspect into custody after the attack in Kongsberg, a town of 26,000 people about 50 miles southwest of Oslo. But the killings left a country where murder is rare, and the police usually unarmed, on edge, as Norwegians waited to learn what had happened — and why.” Read more at New York Times
“ROME — An extreme-right party’s violent exploitation of anger over Italy’s coronavirus restrictions is forcing authorities to wrestle with the country’s fascist legacy and fueling fears there could be a replay of last week’s mobs trying to force their way to Parliament.
Starting Friday, anyone entering workplaces in Italy must have received at least one vaccine dose, recovered from COVID-19 recently, or tested negative within two days, using the country’s ‘green pass’ to prove their status. Italians already use the pass to enter restaurants, theaters, gyms, and other indoor entertainment, or to take long-distance buses, trains, or domestic flights.
But 10,000 opponents of that government decree turned out in Rome’s vast Piazza del Popolo last Saturday in a protest that degenerated into alarming violence.” Read more at Boston Globe
“TAIPEI — Harvard University will move a popular Chinese-language program to Taipei from Beijing amid a broad chill in academic and cultural exchanges between the United States and China.
The program’s director, Jennifer L. Liu, told The Harvard Crimson that the move had been driven by a perceived lack of friendliness on the part of the Chinese host institution, the Beijing Language and Culture University. Harry J. Pierre, a Harvard spokesman, said, ‘The planned move of this program from Beijing to Taiwan has been considered for some time and reflects a wide array of operational factors.’
‘The program’s new location presents a different opportunity for our instructors and learners to broaden their educational experiences,’ Pierre, associate director of communications of Harvard’s division of continuing education, said in an e-mailed statement.” Read more at Boston Globe
“No way would Israel agree to have the United States reopen its consulate dedicated to Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem, said Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Saar. His comment comes ahead of a meeting between the two countries’ top diplomats in Washington, D.C., this week, where such a discussion is likely to be on the agenda.
When pressed during a public conference on Tuesday whether Israel would allow for the consulate’s reopening if the Biden administration pushes for it, Saar repeatedly registered his opposition, a response that drew applause from the audience.
‘I spoke with [Prime Minister Naftali Bennett] a couple of times on the issue. We are on the same page and we don’t see differently,’ Saar added. ‘Someone said it’s an electoral commitment. But for us, it’s a generation’s commitment. We will not compromise on this.’” Read more at Boston Globe
“Lives Lived: Myriam Sarachik escaped the Nazis, fought sexism in the world of physics and conducted groundbreaking research on magnetism. She died at 88.” Read more at New York Times
“Albert J. Raboteau, whose work on the history of Christianity among enslaved Black people transformed the study of both Black culture and American religion, helping to cement African-American studies as a rigorous academic discipline, died on Sept. 18 at his home in Princeton, N.J. He was 78.
His daughter, Emily Raboteau, said the cause was Lewy body dementia.
Dr. Raboteau, who spent 30 years teaching at Princeton, was among the first historians to demonstrate that enslaved Black people did not simply adopt the Christian faith of their white oppressors. Beginning with his first book, ‘Slave Religion’ (1978), he documented how they blended elements of African religious traditions with a sui generis theology that saw in the story of Christ a reflection of their own suffering.” Read more at New York Times