“The Federal Reserve has kept its key short-term lending rate near zero since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a deep recession in March 2020. But with inflation surging to a 39-year high, those days of nearly free money likely are nearing an end. At a two-day meeting that begins Tuesday, officials are expected to rapidly reduce the amount of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities the Fed has been buying, which would clear the way for interest rate increases as early as March, economists say. Fed rate hikes typically mean Americans will pay a little more for everything from mortgages and car loans to credit card bills and student loans, curbing consumer demand – which in turn should mean more modest price increases.” Read more at USA Today“
“Kentucky’s governor provided an updated death toll from the weekend’s tornadoes. Gov. Andy Beshear said 64 people were confirmed dead but cautioned that the number would likely rise to above 70, maybe 80. At least six of the dead were under the age of 18, he said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“In an electric moment for the 1/6 investigation, Rep. Liz Cheney last evening read aloud texts that Don Jr. sent then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the siege:
‘He's got to condemn this sh** Asap,’ President Trump's son texted.
‘We need an Oval address,’ Don Jr. texted later. ‘He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.’
Why it matters: It's clear that, whatever they say now, Trump allies knew in the moment that 1/6 was a calamity for Trump and the country.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), vice chair of the House's 1/6 committee, at last evening's hearing. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The texts were among nearly 9,000 documents Meadows turned over to the committee before he stopped cooperating.
Cheney said Fox News' Laura Ingraham texted Meadows during the insurrection: ‘Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home ... this is hurting all of us ... he is destroying his legacy.’
Sean Hannity texted, according to the committee: ‘Can he make a statement? ... Ask people to leave the Capitol.’
Fox News
Cheney read the texts just before the committee voted 9-0 to recommend Meadows, a former House member, be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena.
The full House is expected to vote today to refer the charges to the Justice Department.
Shortly after the vote, Meadows told Hannity on Fox News: ‘This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again.’” Read more at Axios
“The House Rules Committee will meet Tuesday to set rules for floor debate on the contempt citation for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. On Monday, the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted unanimously to recommend the House cite Meadows for contempt for defying a subpoena and urged the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges. Meadows wrote in an email that the National Guard would ‘protect pro Trump people,’ according to the committee. Meadows provided some documents to the committee before refusing to testify under subpoena. His lawyer, George Terwilliger, urged the panel not to pursue contempt charges because Meadows was under orders from former President Donald Trump, who sought to keep his communications confidential under executive privilege.” Read more at USA Today
“The Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading quickly in several countries. It's killed at least one person in the UK and put 10 into the hospital -- most of them vaccinated, according to authorities. China says it detected its second case of Omicron, and it's expected to become the dominant coronavirus variant in Denmark this week. It's not clear how severe the new variant is, although most cases that have been diagnosed so far have been mild. That could be reassuring, but if Omicron spreads more easily than Delta and previous variants, evades the protection offered by vaccines and by previous infection, and ends up infecting more people, that could mean more people end up in the hospital and more die.” Read more at CNN
“PARIS — A recent cartoon in the French daily Le Monde featured a bedraggled man arriving at a doctor’s office for a Covid-19 vaccine. ‘I am here for the fifth shot because of the third wave, ‘he says. ‘Or vice versa.’
His bewilderment as France suffers its fifth wave of the pandemic, with cases of the Delta variant rising sharply along with Omicron anxiety, captured a mood of exhaustion and simmering anger across the world two years after the deadly virus began to spread in China.
Uncertainty bedevils plans. Panic spreads in an instant even if, as with the Omicron variant, the extent of the threat is not yet known. Vaccines look like deliverance until they seem a little less than that. National responses diverge with no discernible logic. Anxiety and depression spread. So do loneliness and screen fatigue. The feeling grows that the Covid era will go on for years, like plagues of old.
Even in China, with no reported Covid deaths since January, some confess weariness with the measures that have kept them safe when so many others perished.
‘I’m so tired of all these routines,’ Chen Jun, 29, a tech company worker in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said the other day. He was forced to take three Covid-19 tests in June following an outbreak in the city, and then had to quarantine for 14 days. Thumbtacks he used to pin on a world map to trace his travels have stopped multiplying. ‘I’m starting to think we’ll never see an end to the pandemic.’
This sense of endlessness, accompanied by growing psychological distress leading to depression, was a recurrent theme in two dozen interviews conducted in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. After two years of zigzagging policy and roller coaster emotions, terrible loss and tantalizing false dawns, closing borders and intermittently shuttered schools, people’s resilience has dwindled.
That is sure to pose new challenges for leaders trying to protect their people and their economies. Will the weary obey new restrictions, or risk seeing family and friends after months of forced separation? The question of just how draconian leaders can be when people’s mental health has become so fragile appears to be a core dilemma as the pandemic enters its third year.” Read more at New York Times
“(CNN)Pfizer's updated results for its experimental treatment for Covid-19 showed it cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% if given to high-risk adults within a few days of their first symptoms, the company announced in a news release Tuesday.
Pfizer hopes it can eventually offer the pills, under the name Paxlovid, for people to take at home before they get sick enough to go to the hospital. Paxlovid combines a new antiviral drug named nirmatrelvir and an older one called ritonavir.
After a month of follow-up, the study found five hospitalizations and no deaths among 697 people who received the drug within the first three days of symptoms. Among 682 who received placebo, 44 were hospitalized, including 9 who died. All of the adults in this study were unvaccinated.” Read more at CNN
“In a 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court denied an emergency request to block a New York vaccine mandate for health care workers. The mandate does not provide a religious exemption. The court made a similar decision for a Maine mandate earlier this year.” Read more at NPR
“The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday that these are the first airmen to be administratively discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.
She said all of them were in their first term of enlistment, so they were younger, lower-ranking personnel. And while the Air Force does not disclose what type of discharge a service member gets, legislation working its way through Congress limits the military to giving troops in vaccine refusal cases an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions.
The Pentagon earlier this year required the vaccine for all members of the military, including active duty, National Guard and the Reserves. Each of the services set its own deadlines and procedures for the mandate, and the Air Force set the earliest deadline. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the vaccine is critical to maintaining the health of the force and its ability to respond to an national security crisis.” Read more at AP News
“In New York City, children ages 5-11 will be required to have proof of vaccination for most indoor activities starting Tuesday. And beginning Dec. 27, city residents ages 12 and older participating in public indoor activities will be required to show proof they have been fully vaccinated. The city is also mandating all private sector employees be vaccinated by year's end. ‘Omicron is here, it's all over the country,’ Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. The city's precautions come a day after a mask mandate in all indoor public places took effect in the state of New York, unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement for entry. Since Thanksgiving, COVID-19 cases have surged statewide by more than 43%.” Read more at USA Today
“USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee will pay $380 million to the victims of former team doctor Larry Nassar. The settlement also includes reforms at the organizations to prevent future abuse, including having at least one abuse survivor on its board of directors and creating a restorative justice process.” Read more at NPR
“The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals last night ruled against the Biden administration's bid to end the Trump-era ‘remain in Mexico’ policy, which requires non-Mexican migrants to stay in Mexico until their US immigration court dates. The administration relaunched the policy last week after a district court order required its revival. The Supreme Court had previously denied the administration's request that the program remain on hold while the case was appealed. Since the program was reinstated, 86 migrants have been returned to Mexico, according to the International Organization for Migration.” Read more at CNN
“US Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Monday $1.2 billion in private investments since May for Central American countries as part of her ongoing efforts to reduce undocumented immigration from South and Central American countries.” [Vox] Read more at Reuters / Nandita Bose
“The announcement includes new investments in the region from major companies, including $190 million from Pepsi to update its manufacturing plants and $150 million from global food corporation Cargill to improve farmer livelihoods. The money will go to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.” [Vox] Read more at Washington Post / John Wagner
“President Biden tapped Harris to reduce the surging numbers of migrants at the US-Mexico border by addressing the ‘root causes,’ which include climate change, lack of economic opportunity, and violence.” [Vox] Read more at LA Times / Noah Bierman
“Tesla CEO Elon Musk is Time magazine’s person of the year.” Read more at Time / Molly Ball , Jeffrey Kluger, and Alejandro De La Garza
“Senator Joe Manchin doesn’t sound like he’s on board with passing Biden’s climate and social spending bill before Christmas.” Read more at New York Times
“The Pentagon won’t punish the U.S. military personnel involved in an August drone strike that killed 10 civilians in Afghanistan.” Read more at New York Times
“The parents of the Oxford school shooting suspect, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter each. A day earlier, their son Ethan Crumbley, 15, appeared in court for a probable cause conference. During that appearance, a judge denied his lawyers' request to transfer him out of an adult jail — where his parents are also being held — and into a juvenile facility. Ethan Crumbley has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and terrorism causing death stemming from the shooting on Nov. 30 that left four students dead and seven others injured at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit. All three Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty.” Read more at USA Today
“Max Linn, a former U.S. Senate candidate from Maine who shook up a high-profile race with his antics during debates, has died. He was 62.
Linn died on Saturday, according to his lawyer. He died of an apparent heart attack, the Bangor Daily News reported.
He was a retired financial planner who ran as a conservative independent during the 2020 Senate election that ultimately sent Republican Sen. Susan Collins back to Washington.
Linn didn’t garner many votes, but he made an impression during debates, such as when he cut up protective masks in protest of COVID-19 rules. He also told a moderator ‘request denied’ when he was asked to stay on topic.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Herschel Walker, the former football star now running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, tells Axios Atlanta's Emma Hurt that he's ‘accountable’ for past violent behavior toward his ex-wife, and said people shouldn’t feel ‘ashamed’ about confronting mental health issues.
Why it matters: Some Republican leaders fear Walker's past could become a liability for the party. Just before Walker announced his candidacy this summer, reports surfaced of his ex-wife obtaining a protective order against him in 2005 after threats of violence.
The longtime ally of former President Trump wrote a book in 2008 about his life with dissociative identity disorder, laying bare past violent thoughts about harming himself and others, as well as infidelity.
In his first major interview on the subject as a candidate, Walker said he's ‘better now than 99% of the people in America. ... Just like I broke my leg; I put the cast on. It healed.’
Walker said in the Zoom interview that, if elected, he'll push to expand mental-health resources in health care, law enforcement and the military.
‘Don't be ashamed to address your issues,’ he said. ‘For a man, it's very tough. For an African American man, it's even harder.’” Read more at Axios
“SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Tuesday marked its deadliest day of the pandemic as an unrelenting, delta-driven spread stretched thin hospitals and left people dying while waiting for beds.
Health experts warn that the country’s medical system is quickly approaching its limits and that fatalities could worsen if the government continues to be slow and hesitant in tightening social distancing.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 94 virus patients died in the past 24 hours while a record 906 were in serious or critical condition.
The 5,567 new infections were the highest yet for a Tuesday — daily tallies are usually smaller at the start of the week because of fewer tests on weekends – indicating the virus has continued to gain speed after the government moderately tightened social distancing last week.
Park Hyang, a senior Health Ministry official, said medical resources are quickly running out in densely populated capital Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, where around 86% of intensive care units designated for COVID-19 treatment were already occupied. More than 1,480 patients were still waiting to be admitted to hospitals or treatment shelters. At least 17 patients died last week at home or at facilities while waiting for beds.” Read more at AP News
“The internationally-backed plan for Libya’s presidential election is in danger of falling apart after electoral officials announced a delay in publishing the final candidate list amid legal disputes, making a planned vote on Dec. 24 increasingly unlikely.
The near-collapse of Libya’s political transition was foreshadowed on Nov. 23, when Jan Kubis, the United Nations special envoy for Libya, abruptly resigned his post less than a year into the job. His position was itself only filled after nine months of negotiations between U.N. Security Council powers following the resignation of Kubis’s predecessor, Ghassan Salamé, in March 2020.
Legal challenges over eligibility still hang over several candidates with militia leader Khalifa Haftar and Saif al-Islam Qaddafi—the son of former dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi—both accused of war crimes.
Ramadan Abu Jnah, Libya’s interim head of government, on Sunday sought to allay fears over a postponement. ‘The government has spared no effort to support the electoral commission. We have the chance to make December 24 a historic day,’ Abu Jnah said.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Malta goes green. Malta is set to become the first country in Europe to legalize marijuana for general consumption today as its parliament considers a government-backed measure. Malta has beaten Luxembourg, Germany, and the Netherlands—all considering similar moves in the new year—to the milestone. The bill’s likely passage means Malta is set to join Mexico as the second country to legalize the drug in 2021. Malta’s vote also comes after a U.N. body removed cannabis from its list of most dangerous drugs this time last year.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“For the Golden Globes, the show must go on … even when there’s no show.
After a year where NBC announced it would not air the next ceremony because of ethical lapses by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the scandal-ridden group behind the film and television awards, the H.F.P.A. went ahead and announced a full list of nominees anyway on Monday morning. On the drama side, T’he Power of the Dog,’ ‘King Richard’ and ‘Belfast’ dominated, while in the comedy-musical categories, significant attention was showered on ‘West Side Story,’ ‘Licorice Pizza’ and ‘Don’t Look Up.’” Read more at New York Times
“Kim Kardashian says she has passed the ‘baby bar’ exam in California. The reality-TV star passed after her fourth try, bringing her one step closer to being a practicing attorney in the state. Kardashian first said she was studying to be a lawyer in 2019, citing her prison-reform advocacy as an inspiration to learn more about the legal system.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Peloton's parody ad is getting lots of online attention, helping offset a brief crisis tied to last week's debut of ‘And Just Like That...,’ HBO's ‘Sex in the City ‘sequel, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.
Why it matters: The ad's quick turnaround helped give Peloton's stock a small boost yesterday, following a weekend of bad headlines.
Spoiler alert: Shares of Peloton fell after HBO aired the first episode of its highly anticipated ‘Sex in the City’ sequel.
In a widely shared moment, actor Chris Noth's character — ‘Mr. Big’ — dies suddenly from a heart attack shortly after completing his 1,000th Peloton ride.
Peloton told BuzzFeed News: ‘Due to confidentiality reasons, HBO did not disclose the larger context surrounding the scene to Peloton in advance.’
Peloton released a statement from a preventive cardiologist and adviser to the company, saying: ‘Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle — including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks.’
Peloton posted its own ad Sunday — ‘And just like that...he's alive’ — depicting an alive Noth with Peloton instructor Jess King, who had been featured in the HBO scene.
‘To new beginnings,’ Noth tells King. ‘I feel great. Should we take another ride? Life's too short not to.’
NewsWhip data provided to Axios shows that of the top 25 articles shared on social media about the incident, about half focused on the fallout from the HBO scene. The other half were about the ad.” Read more at Axios
“As an entire hockey arena of spectators watched, the competitors jostled at center ice, not for the puck but for dollar bills — 5,000 of them to be exact.
Ten teachers were selected for a Dash for Cash giveaway at a junior hockey league game on Saturday night in Sioux Falls, S.D., enticed by the opportunity to make extra money for classroom improvements.
At the signal, the educators got down on their knees and frantically scooped up as much currency as they could. They stuffed the bills into their shirts as the crowd murmured.
The giveaway — organized by the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League, in conjunction with CU Mortgage Direct, a local lending company — was swiftly and widely criticized as being demeaning to teachers.” Read more at New York Times
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