A pharmacist prepares a dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Johannesburg.
PHOTO:SUMAYA HISHAM/REUTERS
“Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine neutralized the Omicron variant in lab tests, but the two-dose regimen was significantly less effective at blocking the virus.
A third dose increased antibodies 25-fold compared with two doses in the Omicron variant, the companies said. Still, two-doses may prove effective in preventing severe illness from Covid-19, they said.
Pfizer and BioNTech are working on an Omicron-specific vaccine that they hope to have available by March.
The companies’ early findings come a day after scientists in South Africa reported findings from early lab tests indicating the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine generated one-fortieth of the infection-fighting antibodies against Omicron than against the original version of the virus.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Sixty percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters: This comes as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the U.S. It has been detected in 19 states, and the number is expected to increase, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said during Tuesday's White House COVID-19 briefing.
Yes, but: Walensky noted that the Delta variant is still the dominant strain in the U.S.
By the numbers: Approximately 71% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, and around 23% have had a booster shot.
Some 64% of those over 5 years old are fully vaccinated. That number is around 72% for all adults.” Read more at Axios
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell commenting yesterday on negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
“Two key pieces of legislation passed the House late yesterday. Democrats, joined by lone GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, voted to pass a new debt ceiling plan to raise the country’s borrowing limit and avoid a disastrous default later this month. It will now be taken up by the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have reached a deal to let Democrats raise the ceiling on their votes alone — a plan McConnell backs because it absolves the GOP of any responsibility for the critical vote. The annual National Defense Authorization Act also made it through the House with strong bipartisan support. The bill sets the policy agenda and authorizes nearly $770 billion in funding for the Department of Defense. This year’s version also changes the way sexual harassment and assault is handled in the military, and authorizes millions to assist with defenses in Ukraine.” Read more at CNN
“The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a closely watched case about whether parents may use state education money to pay for sectarian schools . While the central question in the Maine case deals with religious freedom versus separation of church and state, the outcome could have a significant impact on the issue of school choice, including voucher programs. Some experts see potential impact far beyond Maine if the court ultimately requires states to fund religious schools in programs where they currently do not. The case comes at a time when the court's 6-3 conservative majority has looked favorably on religious freedom claims.” Read more at USA Today
“A bipartisan panel of legal scholars examining possible changes to the Supreme Court voted unanimously Tuesday to submit to President Biden its final report, which describes public support for imposing term limits but ‘profound disagreement’ about adding justices.
Biden assembled the commission in response to demands from Democrats to restore what they called ideological ‘balance’ on the court, now with three liberals and six conservatives, including three justices picked by President Donald Trump.
In advance of the 34 to 0 vote, commissioners from across the political spectrum aired their differences about specific proposals for overhauling the court even as they praised the collegial process of assembling the nearly 300-page document….
Calls for overhauling the court began after the Republican-controlled Senate blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016 and found renewed urgency after the Senate rushed through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last year.
The Supreme Court’s approval rating among the public has dropped to a new low, prompting some justices to come forward and to defend its independence as they consider highly contentious cases involving gun rights, religious freedom and abortion….
Among the proposals the commission considered are term limits for justices, who currently have life tenure and often serve for decades. Until the late 1960s, the average term was 15 years, but has now increased to about 26 years. Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest serving justice, joined the bench 30 years ago.
Proposals include staggered 18-year terms that would make appointments more predictable by ensuring that all presidents have the opportunity to nominate two justices in each term they serve. The report, which takes no position on the proposal, cites testimony from a group of Supreme Court practitioners who concluded that an 18-year nonrenewable term ‘warrants serious consideration.’
Should Congress seek to impose term limits, the commission suggests a constitutional amendment would be the preferred approach rather than a change in statute. The report cautions that any change driven by lawmakers could face a constitutional challenge to be decided by the Supreme Court, raising questions about whether the justices could even review such a case.” Read more at Washington Post
“Amazon web services, the cloud computing branch of Amazon, suffered an outage yesterday that had massive effects across the internet. Since other companies rely on the service for computing and storage capabilities, users couldn't access everything from Netflix, Venmo, Disney+, Ring, Roku and Duolingo to NPR's own news apps.” Read more at NPR
Incoming German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is sworn in by Bundestag President Bärbel Bas in Berlin today. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
“Olaf Scholz has been voted in as Germany’s new chancellor, ending Angela Merkel’s 16 years at the helm. This was an expected victory for the 63-year-old leader of the Social Democratic Party. The SPD narrowly prevailed in September’s federal elections, and have been engaged in negotiations ever since. Even though Scholz and Merkel are from opposing parties, he is seen as a like-minded successor in many ways. He served as vice-chancellor and finance minister in Merkel's grand coalition government, a powerful position in German national politics, and has positioned himself as a safe and pragmatic leader with moderate and centrist political views. Scholz will be inheriting the difficult job of steering Germany through a time of diplomatic uncertainty in the European Union, and must do so without the hard-won international reputation of his predecessor.” Read more at CNN
“Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will no longer cooperate with the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. A letter from his attorney says Meadows was ready to voluntarily appear for a deposition, but ‘actions by the Select Committee have made such an appearance untenable.’ The committee has formally subpoenaed the phone records of more than 100 people, including Meadows and many other Trump officials and associates. The records do not include the content of the calls, but rather details about who called or texted whom, when, and for how long. Meadows’ reversal means he is once again in danger of being held in contempt of Congress and could face jail time — a punishment the committee says they are not afraid to pursue.” Read more at CNN
“Chile’s Congress has voted to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. The bill was first introduced by former President Michelle Bachelet, but was revived after current President Sebastian Piñera -- a right-wing, conservative politician -- said earlier this year that he supported marriage equality. ‘In this way, all people without distinguishing by sexual orientation, will be able to live love and form a family with all the protection and dignity that they need and deserve,’ he said in June. When he signs the bill, Chile will join Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay and parts of Mexico in the group of Latin American countries that have legalized same-sex marriage. Across the world, Tokyo’s Metropolitan government will start a system that effectively allows same-sex marriage in Japan's capital starting next year. The only place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage is Taiwan.” Read more at CNN
“Mistaken identity? French authorities have arrested and detained a Saudi man they believe was involved in the 2016 murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It’s unclear, however, if they caught the right person, or if he just shares a name with their target—especially after a Saudi official insisted they arrested the wrong man.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“After years of unorthodox economic policies championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s currency seems to be in free fall. It has lost nearly half its value against the dollar this year, and one estimate has clocked annual inflation for November at more than 58%. Across the country, residents are lining up for subsidized bread, having trouble finding imported goods and medicine and cutting back on meat. Some with the means to do so are fleeing in search of a better life in Europe, where some governments have taken a harder line against migration. Investors and economists fear that Turkey’s embattled economy will likely worsen, as Erdogan has fired virtually any economic adviser who disagrees with his tactics.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“LONDON (AP) — Rohingya refugees sued social network powerhouse Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by military rulers and their supporters in Myanmar.
Years after coming under scrutiny for contributing to ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar, recently revealed internal Facebook documents show the company still has problems defining and moderating hate speech and misinformation on its platform in the country. The breaches have even been exploited by hostile actors since the Feb. 1 military takeover this year that resulted in human rights abuses across the country.
The Rohingyas’ claims were fortified by the revelations in internal company documents that former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen provided this fall to Congress and U.S. securities regulators. The documents could also serve to buttress potential legal action by other groups around the world harmed by hate speech and misinformation on Facebook’s platform.
Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in California against Facebook parent Meta Platforms, saying Facebook’s arrival in Myanmar helped spread hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that ‘amounted to a substantial cause, and eventual perpetuation of, the Rohingya genocide.’” Read more at AP News
Instagram unveiled a raft of new features aimed at teen safety.
The platform will prompt users who are under 18 to take breaks, or to view new topics if they’ve been dwelling on one thing too long. It will also block users from tagging or mentioning teens who don’t follow them, among other steps. The changes come the day before Instagram head Adam Mosseri is slated to testify in the Senate about the photo-sharing app’s impact on younger users. A series of WSJ articles this fall showed that internal company research found Instagram to be harmful for a sizable chunk of young users, particularly teenage girls with body-image concerns. Instagram’s parent company has disputed the characterization of the findings.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Saule Omarova, Biden’s nominee for a banking regulator job, withdrew after senators of both parties opposed her.” Read more at New York Times
“A statue of Robert E. Lee that once stood in Charlottesville, Va. — and was the focus of a 2017 white nationalist rally — will be melted down for a new artwork.” Read more at New York Times
“SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A company once owned by ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli will pay up to $40 million to settle allegations that it jacked up the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4 ,000% after obtaining exclusive rights to the drug, the Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday.
The FTC said Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, agreed to settle allegations that it gouged buyers and monopolized sales of Daraprim, which is used to treat toxoplasmosis, an infection that can be deadly for people with HIV or other immune-system problems and can cause serious problems for children born to women infected while pregnant.
Vyera raised the price of the decades-old drug from $17.50 to $750 per pill after obtaining exclusive rights to it in 2015.” Read more at AP News
“Opening statements are expected to begin Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter , who shot Daunte Wright while yelling ‘Taser’ in a Minneapolis suburb earlier this year. Prosecutors say Potter, 48, who was a veteran Brooklyn Center police officer, who committed first- and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Wright, a 20-year-old Black man. According to the complaint, Potter recklessly handled her firearm and caused Wright's death by her ‘culpable negligence’ – a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk. Defense attorneys say the shooting was an innocent mistake and that Potter immediately expressed ‘remorse.’” Read more at USA Today
“A California judge plans to sentence Scott Peterson to life in prison in the 2002 murders of his pregnant wife and unborn son after the state Supreme Court last year threw out his death sentence. Peterson had contended his trial was flawed. While the court upheld his murder conviction, the justices said the trial judge ‘made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson’s right to an impartial jury at the penalty phase.’ They agreed with his argument that potential jurors were improperly dismissed from the jury pool after saying they personally disagreed with the death penalty but would be willing to follow the law and impose it.” Read more at USA Today
“A majority of young Americans are worried about the state of democracy in the U.S., according to a new poll released last week by the Harvard University Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.
The poll found that 52% of young people in the U.S. believe that the country's democracy is either ‘in trouble’ or ‘a failed democracy.’ Just 7% said that democracy in the United States is "healthy.’
There are significant partisan divides. While young Democrats are roughly evenly split on whether U.S. democracy is functioning or in trouble, 70% of young Republicans reported that the country was either a democracy in trouble, or a failed democracy….
The Harvard Youth Poll is one of the most extensive efforts to poll young Americans, who are notoriously difficult to survey. The poll of 2,109 18- to 29-year-old U.S. residents was conducted between Oct. 26 and Nov. 8, with interviews in English and Spanish.
The poll also found that nearly half of young Republicans say there is a 50% chance or better that they will see a second civil war in their lifetime, compared to 32% of young Democrats and 38% of independent or unaffiliated voters.” Read more at NPR
“Kyle Rittenhouse told a conservative podcast it was ‘probably not the best idea to go down’ to Kenosha, NBC News reports.” Read more at Axios
“Lives Lived: Hyun Sook Han was 12 when she fled her home during the Korean War. She dedicated her life to an adoption program for Korean orphans. Han died at 83.” Read more at New York Times
“Building a home is more expensive than ever. That's largely due to the rising cost of lumber, which is needed to build new houses and meet buyers' demands. And the problem won't be letting up, since Biden's Commerce Department announced it was doubling duties on softwood lumber imported from Canada.” Read more at NPR
“An American hedge-fund billionaire has surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m and been handed an unprecedented lifetime ban on acquiring other relics as part of an agreement with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Michael Steinhardt, one of the world’s largest collectors of ancient art, ‘displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts’, the district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said on Monday.
The lifetime ban marks the dramatic culmination of an international investigation that began officially in 2017….
Vance noted that the antiquities would be returned to their rightful owners rather than be held as evidence for the years necessary to complete a grand-jury indictment and trial.” Read more at The Guardian
Ready for the holidays. Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
“Behold the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex — all swaddled in a cozy Christmas sweater.
The replica T. rex at the Natural History Museum in London is an enormous, ferocious-looking beast that was built to scale, standing about 60 percent the size of the 40-foot-long prehistoric creature.
The animatronic attraction, which features roaring sound effects, often startles visitors, but on Monday, the predatory edge was somewhat softened when visitors found the T. rex bedecked in a giant blue, red and green holiday sweater, replete with cheerful Christmas trees and snowflakes.
The turtleneck, created by a British company that has also dressed members of Parliament, fit snugly around the T. rex’s wide upper body and neck, then tapered into sleeves short enough to encircle the dinosaur’s wee arms.” Read more at New York Times