“The nation has surpassed 800,000 coronavirus deaths as 1,200 Americans die from COVID-19 every day. ‘There is no question that we will reach 1 million deaths sooner rather than later,’ physician Robert Glatter told USA TODAY.” Read more at USA Today
“Two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine cut the risk of hospitalization from Omicron by 70%, new data show. The first big study of the drugmaker’s shotagainst the new variant, by South Africa’s largest private health insurer, found that Pfizer’s vaccine provides less protection against Omicron than Delta but still holds up well in reducing severe illness. Scientists welcomed the additional data but cautioned against drawing wide-ranging conclusions from it.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The House voted last night to recommend that the Department of Justice pursue criminal charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for failing to appear for a deposition with the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Two Republicans on the select committee, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, voted with Democrats in favor of the referral. The select committee voted Monday in favor of holding Meadows in contempt of Congress, and it’s now up to the Justice Department to decide if it will pursue criminal charges against ex-President Donald Trump's top aide. Meadows is the second official to face such a referral from the panel. The committee approved a criminal contempt report against Trump ally Steve Bannon in October after he refused to comply with a subpoena deadline.” Read more at CNN
“Congress voted to raise the national debt limit by $2.5 trillion and extend it into 2023 after lawmakers raced to avert a catastrophic default ahead of a critical deadline. The Senate moved yesterday to pass legislation to increase the limit in a vote along party lines. The House voted early this morning to approve the bill, which now must be signed by President Joe Biden. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that the debt limit could be reached today, leaving Congress little time to resolve the issue. A first-ever default would spark economic disaster, and party leaders on both sides of the aisle have made clear it must be prevented.” Read more at CNN
“Researchers in South African added new details yesterday to what's known about the Omicron variant, confirming that vaccines provide less protection against the new strain but also saying they see indications that it causes milder symptoms than previous variants. And there seems to be little doubt that Omicron is highly transmissible. Cornell University in New York reported 903 cases of Covid-19 among students in the week that ended Monday, and a ‘very high percentage’ are Omicron cases in fully vaccinated people. Separately, 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. Pfizer hopes it can eventually offer the pills for people to take at home before they get sick enough to go to the hospital.” Read more at CNN
“Kroger is cutting some Covid-19 benefits for unvaccinated workers. The grocery chain told employees last week that it would no longer provide two weeks of paid emergency leave for unvaccinated employees who contract Covid-19, unless local jurisdictions require otherwise.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Republican governors who attacked Democrats’ pandemic relief bill are spending the $350 billion it sent to states.” Read more at New York Times
““President Joe Biden will visit Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage from a series of deadly tornadoes that ravaged the state late Friday and early Saturday. More than 30 tornadoes ripped across Kentucky and four other states over the weekend, leaving dozens dead, devastating homes and demolishing entire towns. Kentucky was the hardest hit by what Gov. Andy Beshear said was the deadliest tornado in the state's history, with 74 people dead and at least 100 people unaccounted for. On Saturday, Biden offered condolences to the victims of the deadly storm and indicated that he would travel to the heavily damaged areas once he was certain his visit would not impede recovery efforts.” Read more at USA Today
“CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft has officially ‘touched’ the sun, plunging through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona.
Scientists announced the news Tuesday during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
The Parker Solar Probe actually flew through the corona in April during the spacecraft’s eighth close approach to the sun. Scientists said it took a few months to get the data back and then several more months to confirm.
‘Fascinatingly exciting,’ said project scientist Nour Raouafi of Johns Hopkins University.
Launched in 2018, Parker was 8 million miles (13 million kilometers) from the center of the sun when it first crossed the jagged, uneven boundary between the solar atmosphere and outgoing solar wind. The spacecraft dipped in and out of the corona at least three times, each a smooth transition, according to scientists.” Read more at AP News
“The ice shelf was cracking up. Surveys showed warm ocean water eroding its underbelly. Satellite imagery revealed long, parallel fissures in the frozen expanse, like scratches from some clawed monster. One fracture grew so big, so fast, scientists took to calling it ‘the dagger.’
‘It was hugely surprising to see things changing that fast,’ said Erin Pettit. The Oregon State University glaciologist had chosen this spot for her Antarctic field research precisely because of its stability. While other parts of the infamous Thwaites Glacier crumbled, this wedge of floating ice acted as a brace, slowing the melt. It was supposed to be boring, durable, safe.
Now climate change has turned the ice shelf into a threat — to Pettit’s field work, and to the world.
Planet-warming pollution from burning fossil fuels and other human activities has already raised global temperatures more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit. But the effects are particularly profound at the poles, where rising temperatures have seriously undermined regions once locked in ice.
In research presented this week at the world's biggest earth science conference, Pettit showed that the Thwaites ice shelf could collapse within the next three to five years, unleashing a river of ice that could dramatically raise sea levels. Aerial surveys document how warmer conditions have allowed beavers to invade the Arctic tundra, flooding the landscape with their dams. Large commercial ships are increasingly infiltrating formerly frozen areas, disturbing wildlife and generating disastrous amounts of trash. In many Alaska Native communities, climate impacts compounded the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to food shortages among people who have lived off this land for thousands of years.” Read more at Boston Globe
“GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency said Tuesday it has certified a 38-degree Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) reading in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk last year as the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic, the latest in a string of ‘alarm bells about our changing climate.’
The World Meteorological Organization said the temperature ‘more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic’ was registered on June 20, 2020, during a heat wave that swept across Siberia and stretched north of the Arctic Circle.
Average temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius more than usual in Arctic Siberia, playing a key role in forest fires, loss of sea ice and global temperature rises that made 2020 one of the three hottest years on record.” Read more at AP News
“A federal judge yesterday threw out Trump's lawsuit seeking to keep his tax returns from Congress, ruling that the Treasury Department could disclose them to the House committee that requested them more than two years ago. US District Judge Trevor McFadden -- a Trump appointee -- said in his opinion that Trump was ‘wrong on the law,’ as a ‘long line of Supreme Court cases requires great deference to facially valid congressional inquiries.’ McFadden also put the opinion on hold for 14 days to give Trump the chance to file his expected appeal.” Read more at CNN
“D.C.'s attorney general Karl Racine is suing two far-right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. He alleges the groups ‘conspired against the District of Columbia, its law enforcement officers and residents by planning, promoting and participating in the violent attack.’” Read more at NPR
“A retired Army colonel who worked with then-President Donald Trump’s outside legal team to claim that the 2020 election results were rigged was an invited speaker Tuesday at a state commission charged with shaping Louisiana’s voting system.
Phil Waldron’s 90-minute talk in Louisiana came just days after revelations that he had circulated and briefed members of Congress on a PowerPoint presentation that urged then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 to reject electoral votes from ‘states where fraud occurred,’ replace them with Republican electors or delay counting electoral votes until ballots could be seized and recounted with the help of National Guard troops.
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican who chairs the 13-member Voting System Commission, welcomed Waldron without mention of his role bolstering arguments that Joe Biden’s victory should not be certified. The commission is to recommend a type of voting system to replace Louisiana’s aging paperless voting machines.” Read more at Washington Post
“Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appears set to change his plea to guilty on federal charges that he violated George Floyd’s civil rights. A docket entry showed that a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his not-guilty plea in the case. Chauvin has already been convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges for pinning his knee against Floyd's neck during a May 2020 arrest even as the Black man said he couldn't breathe. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years. Chauvin and three other officers were indicted earlier this year on federal charges alleging they willfully violated Floyd’s rights while acting under government authority.” Read more at USA Today
“Two Fox News prime-time hosts tore into the House's 1/6 investigative committee last night as they spoke about their own texts during the siege.
Their texts had been turned over to the committee by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The hosts spoke 24 hours after committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney read the texts aloud during a hearing on holding Meadows in contempt.
Last night, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham both played tape of themselves on 1/6 as they condemned violence.
Ingraham said: ‘The more they talk about January 6th, the stronger Trump and the GOP are becoming in the polls.’
Hannity spoke next to a graphic saying: ‘SHAM COMMITTEE.’
The House voted 222-208 just after 11 p.m. to hold Meadows, a former House member, in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the 1/6 committee.
Only two Republicans — Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — joined Democrats in voting for the resolution.
Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said during the floor debate: ‘[I]f you’re making excuses to avoid cooperating with our investigation, you’re making excuses to hide the truth from the American people about what happened on January 6th.’
Reality check: An AP review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Trump has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.
President Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral College votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president.
The disputed ballots represent 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.” Read more at Axios
“Prince Andrew is asking a judge to dismiss a sexual-abuse lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, saying the accuser was the age of consent at the time.” Read more at USA Today
“New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams chose Keechant Sewell — chief of detectives in Nassau County, on Long Island — as his NYPD commissioner.
Why it matters: Sewell, 49, will be the first woman and third Black commissioner in the New York City Police Department's history.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, will be inaugurated Jan. 1 at the 92-year-old Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
‘Keechant Sewell is a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve,’ Adams told the New York Post.” Read more at Axios
“More than 60 people were killed and dozens injured after a tanker truck carrying gasoline exploded late Monday in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. The situation remains critical, Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor said yesterday has he appealed for blood donations. The fuel tanker exploded after it had stopped due to mechanical issues and began leaking gas, Almonor said. People gathered to collect fuel directly from the truck when the explosion happened, he said. Haiti, often ranked as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has been crippled by a severe fuel shortage that has led to power outages and protests.” Read more at CNN
“Standing together | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a show of solidarity in a video call today amid rising tensions between Moscow and the West over fears that Russia will invade neighboring Ukraine. Xi called Putin an ‘old friend’ and the Russian leader hailed their relations as ‘a true model of interstate cooperation.’
Leading nations of the European Union are resisting a push to quickly draw up specific sanctions and other punishments to impose on Russia if it attacks Ukraine.” Read more at Bloomberg
“In revolt | Boris Johnson suffered his biggest rebellion by Conservative lawmakers since becoming U.K. prime minister, forcing him to rely on opposition votes to mandate the use of so-called Covid passes against the spread of the omicron variant. Almost 100 Tories opposed his plan, both because they see it as a betrayal of their pandemic policy to date and out of frustration at some of Johnson’s self-inflicted errors that have damaged the party in recent weeks.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Better start | Justin Trudeau’s government released new budget estimates that showed an improving Canadian economy and smaller deficits than expected. It’s a better starting point for the governing Liberals as they begin a third term and gives the prime minister some breathing room to finance tens of billions of dollars in election-campaign promises.” Read more at Bloomberg
Afghanistan’s food crisis. Afghanistan’s food crisis is deteriorating rapidly, the U.N. World Food Programme warned on Tuesday as it published survey estimates showing 98 percent of Afghans were not eating enough food with WFP Spokesperson Tomson Piri blaming a collapsing economy, drought, and years of conflict for causing the dire circumstances. The agency plans to increase its food assistance from 15 million in 2021 to 23 million people, or almost 80 percent of Afghanistan’s population, in 2022.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Belarus’s opposition. The European Union has threatened further sanctions against Belarus after a court sentenced opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky to 18 years in prison on Tuesday, finding him guilty of inciting social hatred and instigating mass unrest. Tikhanovsky was arrested by Belarusian authorities in the run up to the August 2020 presidential election. His wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has led Belarus’s opposition movement in his stead, mounting a global campaign to challenge President Aleksandr Lukashenko.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being required by the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics to give back money from his $5.1 million book deal.” Read more at Axios
“A retired N.F.L. player who shot and killed six people in April had ‘unusually severe’ degenerative brain disease.” Read more at New York Times
“Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is officially the NBA’s three-point king.
When he made his second three-pointer of the game in a 105-96 road victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday, Curry surpassed Ray Allen’s record of 2,973 career three-pointers to become the most prolific outside shooter in NBA history.” Read more at Washington Post
Millennials are supercharging the housing market.
For years, conventional wisdom held that U.S. millennials, born from 1981 to 1996, would have persistently low homeownership rates, due to a shift in values, straitened finances and other factors. But after surpassing baby boomers in 2019 as the nation’s largest living adult generation, they have hit a housing milestone, accounting for more than half of all home-purchase loan applications last year. The pandemic and remote work accelerated millennial home-buying trends already under way. Young families living in apartments decided to buy houses in the suburbs or leave expensive cities for cheaper ones. Millennials who already owned homes traded up for more space. Forbearance on student-loan payments, federal stimulus checks and a booming stock market helped some first-time buyers afford down payments. The financial stakes could scarcely be higher for millennials, who have faced a wide wealth gap with previous generations.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Yes, restaurant menus really are shrinking.
This year, 60% of restaurants reported reducing their menu size, according to Datassential, a food-industry market-research firm that studied more than 4,800 menus in the U.S. The menus at fine-dining establishments were hit especially hard, with the number of items declining 23% over 2021. Many chefs were preparing for a comeback after trimming menus for takeout and delivery at the start of the pandemic, but the nearly two-year health crisis has largely shelved those hopes. Chefs who once planned exciting dishes for in-person dining say increasing food costs and staffing shortages are often limiting them to practical, cost-effective offerings. Appetizers and desserts are falling by the wayside, and pricey proteins such as tuna, steak and salmon are getting harder to find at some upscale spots. But that could mean more focused menus in some instances. ‘A lot of restaurants are trying to keep the quality, not quantity,’ says one menu trends expert.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The unionization movement at Starbucks is expanding.
Workers at two Starbucks locations in the Boston area want to unionize, days after employees at a store in Buffalo, N.Y., voted to form the first labor union at one of the coffee giant’s own U.S. cafes. Starbucks now faces the prospect of similar campaigns cropping up across the country. Its executives have said they respect the process but warned a union would interfere with management's relationship with workers. The company has pointed to its decision this fall to raise hourly pay, increase worker recruitment and improve cafe equipment. In a letter to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, two organizing committees representing the Boston-area store workers wrote: ‘We want to ensure that our voices are heard and that we have equal power to [effect] positive change for our store, district, and company.’” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The share of religiously unaffiliated Americans nearly doubled over the past 15 years to 29%, a Pew Research Center survey finds.
Christians of all varieties make up 63% of the adult population — down from 75% a decade ago.
Between the lines: Most of the increase in what Pew calls "nones" comes from the decline of Protestantism.
40% of U.S. adults are Protestants, down from 52% in 2007.
The big picture: The religiously unaffiliated are no longer crowded in coastal cities, Santa Clara adjunct professor Elizabeth Drescher told AP.
They're now spread across all regions, age ranges, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.” Read more at Axios
“After four months on the run in the Maryland suburbs, two zebras that escaped from an exotic animal farm have been caught.
Spokesmen for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Prince George’s County Department of the Environment confirmed that the zebras have been captured, but they could not provide details on when the recovery took place.
Neither the USDA nor Prince George’s County Animal Services were involved in the capture. They said they were notified Monday that the zebras had been recovered and returned to their herd last week. Prince George’s County officials said they had spent weeks working with the zebra caretakers trying to lure the escaped zebras into a corral using food and other zebras from the herd.
The pair were part of a trio that got away in late August from a large farm owned by Jerry Holly in Upper Marlboro off Duley Station Road, authorities said. One of the zebras died soon after their escape when it got caught in an illegal snare trap on a neighboring property. Officials have said at least 30 zebras live in a herd on Holly’s farm.” Read more at Washington Post