“Countries are shutting their borders and restricting travel following the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant. Rising reports of the Omicron variant have led Japan and Israel to ban all foreign nationals from entering, and at least 44 countries, including the US, have imposed travel restrictions from several African nations. The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa, and a growing number of countries, including Canada, are reporting cases. While there’s obviously widespread concern -- even stock markets are bracing for a virus-related hit -- the bottom line is there’s not a lot we know for certain right now. Dr. Anthony Fauci has told President Biden it could take about two more weeks to have definitive information about the Omicron variant’s transmissibility, severity and other characteristics.” Read more at CNN
“The US and its allies restart Iran nuclear talks today to discuss a mutual return to the deal by the US and Iran. But the meeting of countries involved in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is not starting on an optimistic note. Iran on Friday announced yet more advances in its uranium enrichment, which reduces the amount of time it would need to develop a nuclear weapon. The recently elected hard-line government in Tehran is also sending a new set of negotiators who have emphasized the need for complete US sanctions relief. The US, however, says it's not prepared to offer any incentives to talk. The US special envoy for Iran says there are two options for Iran going forward: continued nuclear escalation or a return to diplomacy under the deal.” Read more at CNN
“It could be a big week in the investigation into the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House select committee investigating the attack, says a decision could come this week over whether to refer former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for criminal contempt charges for defying a subpoena this month. Also now on the subpoena clock are other allies of former President Trump, including Republican operative Roger Stone, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and key figures from the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement. Judges from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals will also soon hear Trump's latest effort to stop the National Archives from turning over to the House documents from around January 6.” Read more at CNN
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Both sides are telling the Supreme Court there’s no middle ground in Wednesday’s showdown over abortion. The justices can either reaffirm the constitutional right to an abortion or wipe it away altogether.
Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that declared a nationwide right to abortion, is facing its most serious challenge in 30 years in front of a court with a 6-3 conservative majority that has been remade by three appointees of President Donald Trump….
A ruling that overturned Roe and the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey would lead to outright bans or severe restrictions on abortion in 26 states, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.
The case being argued Wednesday comes from Mississippi, where a 2018 law would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, well before viability. The Supreme Court has never allowed states to ban abortion before the point at roughly 24 weeks when a fetus can survive outside the womb.
The justices are separately weighing disputes over Texas’ much earlier abortion ban, at roughly six weeks, though those cases turn on the unique structure of the law and how it can be challenged in court, not the abortion right. Still, abortion rights advocates were troubled by the court’s 5-4 vote in September to allow the Texas law, which relies on citizen lawsuits to enforce it, to take effect in the first place.” Read more at AP News
“Mark Esper sued the Pentagon, accusing it of improperly blocking parts of his memoir about his tenure as defense secretary under Donald Trump.” Read more at New York Times
“Matthew McConaughey said that for now, he wouldn’t run for governor of Texas.” Read more at New York Times
“Opening arguments will begin Monday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with helping her long-time companion, financier Jeffrey Epstein, recruit, groom and exploit girls as young as 14 years old for sexual abuse. The alleged incidents ran from 1994 to 2004, in locations including an Upper East Side residence in New York; an estate in Palm Beach, Florida; a ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and a residence in London. The question for the jury will be whether Maxwell procured underage girls for Epstein knowing he would abuse them. Maxwell has denied all charges.” Read more at USA Today
“In January 2019, Jussie Smollett, a Black and openly gay actor, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime. Nearly three years later, Smollett is about to stand trial on charges that he staged the whole thing. Smollett was charged with staging the attack to further his career and secure a higher salary. And, police said, he hired two brothers from Nigeria to pretend to attack him for $3,500. Key witnesses will be the brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who say Smollett wrote them a check to stage the attack. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, and Smollett has pleaded not guilty.” Read more at USA Today
“Republican officials are using unemployment benefits to build loyalty with unvaccinated Americans and undermine President Biden's mandates.
Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee have changed rules to allow benefits for workers who are fired or quit over vaccine requirements, Axios' Andrew Solender, Alayna Treene and Stef Kight report.
Why it matters: Extending benefits to the unvaccinated is the latest in a series of GOP efforts to court people who won't get a COVID shot.
Republicans see a prime opportunity to rally their base ahead of next year's midterms.
What's happening: Two states with Republican governors — Montana and Tennessee — have banned mandates, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Seven GOP-controlled states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Texas, Utah and West Virginia — have passed laws requiring opt-outs and/or exemptions for the Biden administration's vaccine mandate.” Read more at Axios
“Simmering tensions between Taiwan and China just got hotter after Taiwan's air force scrambled yesterday to warn away 27 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defense zone. Taiwan has complained for more than a year of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, and last month, China's military sent a record number of warplanes into the air around the country. These latest Chinese military activities are considered ‘gray zone’ warfare by Taiwan, designed to wear out Taiwan's forces by making them repeatedly scramble and also to test their responses. China claims Taiwan as its own, despite never having controlled it. Last month, some Taiwanese leaders warned that China could attempt an invasion of the island in the next few years.” Read more at CNN
“G-7 health ministers convene today for an emergency meeting on the Omicron coronavirus variant as new cases emerge in more than a dozen countries. Although its origins are unknown as yet, the variant was first discovered last week by South African scientists researching cases in Botswana.
How dangerous is it? With something so new, it’s hard to tell. South Africa’s COVID-19 infection rate has shown a steep increase from the low hundreds in early November to a seven-day average of over 4,000 cases today. Deaths, usually a lagging indicator, have yet to show a marked increase.
Angelique Coetzee, a South African physician who first raised the alarm over the new variant, has reported ‘very mild’ symptoms among her patients now found to have been infected with Omicron. Those symptoms range from extreme fatigue to body aches, and were treated at home.
There are still reasons to be wary, however, since Coetzee’s patients tended to be young and it’s not yet known how the variant will affect older populations.
Why Omicron? The World Health Organization, which switched to Greek letters to categorize new variants to avoid stigmatizing the countries in which they were discovered, chose Omicron to avoid a tricky linguistic and political conundrum: As the 13th named WHO variant—and the fifth variant of concern—it should strictly be Nu. Next up is Xi. Skipping both leads to Omicron.
How well can it evade vaccines? While scientists are still working on a definitive answer, the number of mutations in the variant’s spike protein suggest current vaccines may be less effective. New treatment pills for COVID-19 symptoms should still remain potent, however, as they target the enzyme that allows the virus to reproduce.
More lockdowns? Right now, countries have mostly focused on curtailing travel from southern Africa, with Israel imposing a two-week ban on all foreign travelers. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken out against those moves, calling them counterproductive and not informed by science.
South Africa’s foreign ministry has called the travel bans ‘akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker.’
African Union official Ayoade Alakija reserved stern words for rich countries, accusing them of enforcing a vaccine divide. ‘What is going on right now is inevitable, it’s a result of the world’s failure to vaccinate in an equitable, urgent and speedy manner,’ Alakija told the BBC. ‘It is as a result of hoarding by high-income countries of the world, and quite frankly it is unacceptable.’
While African countries still account for only 10 percent of vaccine recipients, South Africa currently has deferred new deliveries to get through its backlog of supplies, with vaccine hesitancy keeping its overall vaccination rate low, at roughly a quarter of its population.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Sweden’s next prime minister. Lawmakers in Sweden are set to hold a new vote—the second in less than a week—on whether to appoint Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister. Andersson briefly became Sweden’s first woman to hold the post last Thursday, before resigning within hours after failing to secure support for her budget proposal from her coalition partner, the Green Party.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Honduras’s election. Xiomara Castro hopes to become Honduras’s first female president today as vote counting continues following Sunday’s presidential election. Preliminary results with 45 percent of polling stations reporting show Castro ahead of Nasry Asfura, the candidate of the ruling National Party. She has 53 percent of the votes counted while Asfura has only 33 percent. If victorious, Castro is expected to reorient the country’s foreign policy toward China, ending its status as one of the few countries which maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Canada’s maple syrup cartel is planning to dip into its strategic reserves to boost supplies of the sugary condiment after a spike in sales, likely due to pandemic-induced home cooking. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, a trade group responsible for 73 percent of global production, plans to release roughly 50 million pounds of syrup from its stockpile to cope with consumer demand, which rose 21 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The University of Oklahoma will resume its search for a new head football coach Monday after Lincoln Riley left to take the same position at USC. ‘Leaving OU was probably the most difficult decision of my life,’ Riley said in a statement released by Oklahoma on Sunday. ‘OU is one of the best college football programs in the country, and it has been forever. That's not going to change.’ As the head coach at Oklahoma, Riley had a 55-10 record and led the Sooners to four Big 12 titles and three appearances in the College Football Playoff. USC is hiring Riley amidst a 4-7 season and after it fired former coach Clay Helton two games into the campaign.” Read more at USA Today
“Virgil Abloh, the barrier-breaking Black designer whose ascent to the heights of the traditional luxury industry changed what was possible in fashion, died on Sunday in Chicago after a two-year battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare cancer. He was 41.
His death was confirmed by his family.
The artistic director of Louis Vuitton men’s wear as well as the founder of his own brand, Off-White, Mr. Abloh was a prolific collaborator with outside brands from Nike to Evian, and a popular fashion theorist whose expansive and occasionally controversial approach to design inspired comparisons with everyone from Andy Warhol to Jeff Koons.
Mr. Abloh transformed not just what consumers wanted to wear, bridging hypebeast culture and the luxury world, but what brands wanted in a designer — and the meaning of ‘fashion’ itself.
For him clothes were not garments but fungible totems of identity that sat at the nexus of art, music, politics and philosophy. He was a master of using irony, reference and the self-aware wink (plus the digital world) to re-contextualize the familiar and give it an aura of cultural currency.” Read more at New York Times
“The F.B.I. agents spent nearly two years tailing the professor, following him to work, to the grocery store, and even keeping his college-age son under surveillance. They told the university where he held a tenured position that he was a Chinese operative, prompting the school to cooperate with their investigation and later fire him.
But the F.B.I. was unable to find evidence of espionage, according to an agent’s testimony in court.
Federal prosecutors pressed charges anyway, accusing Anming Hu of concealing his ties with a university in Beijing and defrauding the government in connection with research funds he had received from NASA. The trial ended in a hung jury. One juror called the case ‘ridiculous.’ In September, a judge took the rare step of acquitting the Chinese-born scientist on all counts.
‘It was the darkest time of my life,’ Dr. Hu said in his first in-depth interview since being acquitted.
Universities in the United States once welcomed the best and brightest scientific talents from around the world. But government officials have become increasingly suspicious that scientists like Dr. Hu are exploiting the openness of American institutions to steal sensitive taxpayer-funded research at the behest of the Chinese government. It’s had a chilling effect across campuses that scientists and university administrators say has slowed research and contributed to a flow of talent out of the United States that may benefit Beijing.” Read more at New York Times
“NEW YORK (AP) — With an expanded definition to reflect the times, Merriam-Webster has declared an omnipresent truth as its 2021 word of the year: vaccine.
‘This was a word that was extremely high in our data every single day in 2021,’ Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement.
‘It really represents two different stories. One is the science story, which is this remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed. But there’s also the debates regarding policy, politics and political affiliation. It’s one word that carries these two huge stories,’ he said.
The selection follows ‘vax’ as word of the year from the folks who publish the Oxford English Dictionary. And it comes after Merriam-Webster chose ‘pandemic’ as tops in lookups last year on its online site.” Read more at AP News