President Biden outside the White House yesterday, flanked by Democratic and Republican lawmakers.Doug Mills/The New York Times
“President Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law. ‘America’s moving again,’ he said.” Read more at New York Times
“President Joe Biden will be in Woodstock, New Hampshire, Tuesday to deliver remarks on how the newly signed bipartisan infrastructure law ‘repairs and rebuilds the nation's roads and bridges,’ according to his official schedule. Biden will visit a bridge that carries state Route 175 over the Pemigewasset River. Built in 1939, the bridge has been on the state's ‘red list’ since 2014 because of its poor condition. Biden's trip comes a day after he signed into law a sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, completing the most significant legislative victory of his presidency and the largest investment in U.S. infrastructure in decades.” Read more at USA Today
“DURBAN, South Africa — Pfizer announced a deal on Tuesday to allow its promising Covid-19 treatment to be made and sold inexpensively in 95 poorer nations that are home to more than half of the world’s population.
The agreement follows a similar arrangement negotiated by Merck last month, and together the deals have the potential to vastly expand global production of two simple antiviral pills that could alter the course of the pandemic by preventing severe illness from the coronavirus.” Read more at New York Times
Steve Bannon waves to reporters yesterday as he leaves federal court in Washington.
“Steve Bannon, one-time adviser to former President Trump, turned himself in to the FBI and appeared in federal court yesterday. Bannon was indicted last week following his refusal to answer subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot. He will not be detained before his trial on contempt of Congress charges. Bannon was defiant during yesterday’s events, telling reporters outside an FBI field office, ‘We’re taking down the Biden regime.’ Bannon’s antics could be the precursor of a long legal fight that could bog down the House committee's investigation. Today, the committee is expected to consider what to do about similar defiance from Trump's former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.” Read more at CNN
“Deliberations will begin Tuesday morning in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, a day after the jury heard closing arguments. Judge Bruce Schroeder on Monday dismissed a misdemeanor count Rittenhouse faced over whether he was a minor in possession of a firearm illegally . Schroeder instructed the jury Monday about the elements of the various offenses charged, and options to find Rittenhouse guilty of some lesser versions of the crimes originally charged. Since Rittenhouse has raised self-defense, the critical question jurors will decide is whether his decision to use deadly force was reasonable. The case began Nov. 1 and featured eight days of testimony from about 30 witnesses and more than a dozen videos from the night of Aug. 25, 2020, when then-17-year-old Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded a third during a violent protest.” Read more at USA Today
“The judge overseeing the murder trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery rejected defense lawyers’ requests for a mistrial Monday and denounced as ‘reprehensible’ one attorney’s comments objecting to Black pastors in the courtroom.
Lawyers for all three defendants in the case sought a mistrial after the judge briefly removed the jury when Arbery’s mother began to weep in the gallery. They argued that her emotional response could unfairly sway the jurors, and some took issue with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Black civil rights icon, joining Arbery’s family in court.
Judge Timothy Walmsley reiterated that he would not bar respectful members of the public from the gallery and voiced his strongest criticism yet of defense attorney Kevin Gough’s statements. ‘We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here,’ Gough said last week, calling the presence of the Rev. Al Sharpton ‘intimidating’ to the jury in a case seen by many as a test of the justice system’s fairness to Black Americans.” Read more at Washington Post
“‘Respectful and straightforward.’ A ‘healthy debate.’ That’s how officials described the virtual summit between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The countries have clashed recently over trade policies, military might and human rights issues, and the meeting yesterday was intended to ensure, as Biden said, that competition between the two ‘does not veer into conflict.’ Biden reportedly raised concerns about human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in China, reaffirmed the need for transparency in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and asked about ways the US could cooperate with China on climate issues. Through it all, the US and China remain economically codependent. In fact, before the summit, two dozen businesses called on Biden to ease tariffs on China, saying it would reduce record inflation at home.” Read more at CNN
“EU talks tough on Belarus. EU foreign ministers have agreed to impose further sanctions on Belarus as thousands of refugees and migrants, mostly from the Middle East, camp on the countries border with Poland. EU leaders accuse the Lukashenko government of facilitating the passage of migrants as a kind of ‘hybrid attack’ on the bloc.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell suggested the sanctions would be expanded to include ‘people, airlines, travel agencies and everyone involved in this illegal push of migrants against our borders.’ Borrell said the specifics would be announced in the coming days. It’s not clear whether the sanctions will impede the efforts of the Iraqi government, who will begin repatriation flights for citizens stuck on the Poland-Belarus border starting this Thursday.
In a sign that a resolution may be coming soon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a phone call with Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko on Monday to discuss the issue. It’s the first time a Western leader has spoken with Lukashenko publicly since the Belarusian leader was accused of rigging the country’s Aug. 2020 presidential election.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“WASHINGTON — President Biden announced on Monday that his administration was moving to block new federal oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, one of the nation’s oldest and most culturally significant Native American sites.
The move, announced at a tribal nations summit meeting at the White House, dovetails two of Mr. Biden’s top policy priorities: working to limit climate change and addressing injustices against Native Americans.
It also generated significant pushback from Republicans and from New Mexico’s oil and gas industry.
As Mr. Biden pushes his ambitious climate agenda, he has sought to highlight both the role of Native Americans in protecting the nation’s landscape, and the disproportionate impact of climate change on tribal populations.” Read more at New York Times
“HOUSTON — Beto O’Rourke entered the race for Texas governor Monday, challenging an ultraconservative and well-financed two-term Republican incumbent in a long-shot bid to win an office Democrats last occupied in 1995.
The arrival of O’Rourke immediately set the stage for a pitched political showdown in November 2022 over the future of Texas at a time when the state — with its expanding cities and diversifying population — has appeared increasingly up for grabs.
O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has been a darling of Texas Democrats and party activists since his run against Senator Ted Cruz in 2018. Although he lost the Senate race by nearly 3 percentage points, the fact that he came close to unseating the incumbent Republican senator transformed O’Rourke into a national figure and convinced many Democrats that the state was on the cusp of turning blue.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), 81, the longest-serving current senator, said he won't seek re-election to the seat he has held for eight terms. First elected to the Senate in 1974, Leahy is the last of the so-called Watergate babies elected after President Nixon’s resignation.” Read more at AP News
“WASHINGTON — A state court in Connecticut granted a sweeping victory to the families of eight people killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., who had sued far-right broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars media outlet for defamation.
The judge ruled Monday that because Jones had refused to turn over documents ordered by the courts, including financial records, he was liable by default. The decision, combined with previous rulings in Texas in late September, means Jones has lost all the defamation lawsuits filed against him by the families of 10 victims.” Read more at Boston Globe
“HOUSTON (AP) — Calls for an independent investigation into what led to 10 deaths at the Astroworld music festival went unheeded Monday, as Houston-area officials instead chose to direct a county administrator to conduct a review with other governmental entities.
County Judge Lina Hidalgo — the top elected official in Harris County, which includes Houston — had proposed a third-party probe of the planning and execution of the festival founded and headlined by rap superstar Travis Scott.
The Harris County administrator instead will work with other city and county entities to review security, fire and other safety plans at the county-owned NRG Park, where the festival was held.” Read more at AP News
“An 18-year-old college student was charged with arson on Monday in an attack on a synagogue in Austin, Texas, on Halloween night that caused extensive damage to the building, the authorities said.
Stickers with Nazi propaganda and swastikas on them were recovered from the student, Franklin Barrett Sechriest, according to an F.B.I. special agent, who said in a criminal complaint that Mr. Sechriest wrote about the arson in a journal that included racial slurs.
The target of the attack, Congregation Beth Israel, a reform synagogue serving about 710 households, estimated that the damage exceeded $150,000.” Read more at New York Times
“LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ruled that Kobe Bryant’s widow must turn over her therapy records to Los Angeles County in her lawsuit claiming she suffered emotional distress after first responders took and shared graphic photos from the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed the basketball star, his teenage daughter and seven others.
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Charles Eick granted a request by county lawyers to review Vanessa Bryant’s records, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. But the judge limited the documents to the years since 2017, not 2010 as the lawyers had sought.” Read more at AP News
“The US intelligence community is struggling with an intelligence blind spot as it continues to monitor irregular Russian military movements near the border with Ukraine. US officials have said publicly that they don't yet know what Russia's intentions are, and there is concern the country is looking to repeat in some way the 2014 invasion of its western neighbor. The US has long struggled to penetrate the Kremlin or get strong intelligence around Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle. Regarding the country's current movements, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US remains committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence. NATO's secretary-general warned Moscow against ‘potential aggressive actions’ regarding the proliferation of Russian troops, which has deepened concerns over the potential for a wider geopolitical crisis.” Read more at CNN
“The Biden administration is expected to begin the process of expanding COVID booster authorization to all adults as early as this week, a source familiar with internal planning tells Axios' Caitlin Owens.
Why it matters: America's booster campaign got off to an underwhelming start, potentially leaving millions of vulnerable people at risk as the holidays approach.
Key stat: Only 36% of Americans 65+ have received a booster shot, according to the CDC.
State of play: The Biden administration's original plan over the summer was to recommend that most adults get a booster shot eight months after their initial round. But the FDA and CDC ultimately recommended that more limited groups of people receive another shot six months later.
Some cities and states — including New York City + California, Colorado, New Mexico, West Virginia and Arkansas — have gotten ahead of the FDA and made boosters available to all adults.” Read more at Axios
“The Biden administration is withdrawing a Trump-era policy that limited the FDA's review process of certain lab tests, including some Covid-19 tests. Under the policy, the agency did not require premarket reviews of laboratory-developed tests, even in situations in which they had poor performance. The rollback of this policy is intended to increase public access to more reliable tests, which experts say are still a cornerstone of pandemic protection. Meanwhile, India has opened its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists on commercial flights for the first time in nearly two years. Depending on their country of origin, travelers may have to submit to Covid-19 tests upon arrival. India has been one of the hardest-hit nations in the pandemic and endured a devastating second wave this spring.” Read more at CNN
“Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul using dozens of captured American-made armored vehicles and Russian helicopters in a show of strength as the group continues to build a standing army after gaining control of Afghanistan. Most of the weapons and equipment Taliban forces now use were supplied by the US to the Western-backed government in Kabul with the intention of bolstering the fight against the insurgents. Some $28 billion worth of defense articles and services were transferred from the US to the Afghan government from 2002 to 2017. US troops destroyed some vehicles and other equipment as they departed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this year, but a significant amount of equipment was abandoned and left vulnerable to Taliban use.” Read more at CNN
“The Philippine presidential race. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will run for the country’s Senate in May 2022 elections, his top aide said on Monday, ending speculation that he would mount a bid for the vice presidency. The decision, if honored, effectively paves the way for two political dynasties to take control of the Philippines after Sara Duterte-Carpio, Duterte’s daughter and a popular mayor, joined forces with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the sone of the late dictator. In a surprise turn, considering Duterte-Carpio’s lead in polls, Marcos will lead the ticket, with Duterte-Carpio as the vice-presidential candidate.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Violence in Ecuador. The head of Ecuador’s prison system and its armed forces chief have both resigned following another prison gang fight over the weekend which killed 68 inmates. 119 prisoners had been killed in the same jail in September. The fresh violence puts pressure on President Guillermo Lasso as he has already instituted a 60-day state of emergency to tackle lawlessness within the prison system.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Four months after protests erupted in Cuba, the Communist government faced a fresh challenge Monday as activists called people into the streets to press for more freedoms and the release of political prisoners.
Yet authorities made clear they would not tolerate the kind of mass demonstrations that rocked the island last summer. They denied a permit for Monday’s ‘Civic March for Change,’ calling it a US-backed operation to destroy the Cuban system. Before the march, swarms of police in plain clothes encircled the homes of activists and independent journalists, preventing them from leaving.” Read more at Boston Globe
“CAIRO — First came the lightning that strobe-lit the Nile skies a pale purply gray. What happened next checked all the boxes for a fierce storm: heavy rain, thunder and flash flooding that sent people scurrying for dry land and crumbled mud-brick houses around Aswan, the largest city in southern Egypt.
Then came the scorpions.
There were hundreds, if not thousands: yellowish four-inchers with as many as six pairs of eyes and a tail full of venom so toxic that the species is known, unscientifically, as the deathstalker.
Swept from their desert burrows by the rains, they came skittering into mountainside villages and burst into homes through cracks in the walls, stinging at least 503 people on Friday night alone, according to local officials.” Read more at New York Times
“The sixth Green Bay Packers stock sale, the first opportunity since 2011 to buy shares in the team, will begin at 8 a.m. CT on Tuesday. The Packers said Monday they will sell 300,000 shares at $300 each plus handling fee. The sale will continue to Feb. 25, 2022, but could be extended. The Packers said they would use the money for improvements at Lambeau Field. The projects, including completed and planned concourse upgrades, and new video scoreboards, total about $250 million. The NFL requires money raised by a stock sale to be used only for stadium projects that are beneficial to fans. The Packers are the only team to which the rule applies because they are the only publicly owned team.” Read more at USA Today
“130 — The approximate length in years that Royal Dutch Shell has operated under that name, which it now plans to shorten to ‘Shell’ while moving its headquarters to London, part of an effort to make the oil giant easier to value as it shifts toward lower-carbon energy.
$155,000 — The median starting salary for 2021 M.B.A. graduates of both the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Pay for new graduates of U.S. business schools is soaring after flatlining early in the pandemic.
$2.59 trillion — The projected funding shortfall in U.S. infrastructure investments needed over this decade, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, as extreme weather driven by climate change overwhelms systems designed to withstand old meteorological patterns.” Read more at Wall Street Journal