The Washington Post
Government nears possible shutdown as Republicans take aim at vaccination and testing mandates
The U.S. government on Wednesday moved one step closer to a potential shutdown, as some Republicans seized on a fast-approaching fiscal deadline to mount fresh opposition to President Biden’s coronavirus vaccine and testing mandates.
The emerging conservative campaign quickly divided GOP lawmakers, enraged congressional Democrats and threatened to unravel days of delicate bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill. The current federal spending agreement is set to expire Friday at midnight.
“We’re opposed to the mandate,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “We don’t want the federal government to be able to fund them in any way shape or form.”
U.S. is top contributor to plastic waste, report shows
The United States ranks as the world’s leading contributor of plastic waste and needs a national strategy to combat the issue, according to a congressionally mandated report released Tuesday.
“The developing plastic waste crisis has been building for decades,” the National Academy of Sciences study said, noting the world’s current predicament stems from years of technological advances. “The success of the 20th century miracle invention of plastics has also produced a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look.”
The United States contributes more to this deluge than any other nation, according to the analysis, generating about 287 pounds of plastics per person. Overall, the United States produced 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016 — almost twice as much as China, and more than the entire European Union combined.
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court justices sound ready to restrict the right to abortion
The Supreme Court’s conservatives sounded ready on Wednesday to severely restrict a woman’s right to choose abortion and possibly overturn Roe vs. Wade entirely.
The court now has six justices who are deeply skeptical of abortion rights. And during arguments about a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, only Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. seemed interested in finding a narrow ruling.
The others — including Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, Trump appointees who some legal experts thought might join Roberts — sounded prepared to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe abortion ruling.
California confirms nation’s first Omicron variant coronavirus case
The first U.S. case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been confirmed in San Francisco, putting California at the center of the nation’s pandemic response once again.
Officials said the infected individual returned home from South Africa on Nov. 22. A few days after arriving, the person began to feel ill and got tested. On Monday, the result came back positive, and the virus specimen was subsequently analyzed and revealed to be the latest named coronavirus strain.
The person was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization. Officials said the individual’s condition was improving as of Wednesday.
Bloomberg
Jan. 6 Panel Recommends Holding Ex-Justice Official in Contempt
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol voted Wednesday to recommend that a second ally of …Donald Trump be found in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to provide documents and testimony sought under subpoena.
Jeffrey Clark, an ex-Justice Department official, is accused of pressuring colleagues at the agency to assist in Trump’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The committee advanced the resolution on a 9-0 vote even as it granted him a last chance to appear, by Saturday.
U.S. Seeks Break for Swiss Trader Who Made $70 Million Illegally
U.S. prosecutors asked for leniency for a former Swiss trader who admitted raking in $70 million from an international insider trading ring that bridged three continents, generating a fortune in illegal profits from tips stolen by bankers.
Marc Demane Debih was part of a web of inside traders that generated tens of millions of dollars on illegal tips about drug company earnings and acquisitions. He was arrested in Serbia in 2018, then secretly held in U.S. custody before pleading guilty to 38 criminal counts in a hearing in New York that was closed to the public.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said they will ask for leniency for Demane Debih when he’s sentenced Dec. 10, claiming the former trader aided their investigation by incriminating others in the ring. He has also agreed to turn over $49 million.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stacey Abrams is running for Georgia governor in 2022
Stacey Abrams launched a campaign for Georgia governor Wednesday with a pledge to fight for economic equality and expand health care access, setting up a potential rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in one of the nation’s most competitive political battlegrounds.
The Democrat announced her campaign with a video that highlighted her work in the state since her narrow 2018 defeat to Kemp, along with a message that “opportunity and success in Georgia shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code, background or access to power.”
Her decision, long expected by local Democrats, clears the way for what could be a titanic showdown between two longtime political rivals. That is, if Kemp survives a fight for the GOP nomination first.
Ipswich Local News
Belsito is first Democrat to take 4th Essex since 1858
Jamie Belsito has won the 4th Essex District seat, the first Democrat to do so in 163 years, according to initial results from town clerks in the district.
The Democrat took on Republican Robert Snow of Rowley to see who would win the Statehouse seat vacated by Brad Hill. He stepped down earlier this year to become a commissioner with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Hill, a Republican from Ipswich, served for 23 years. […]
Belsito will serve for one year until the regular elections next year. However, redistricting means major changes are in store and she will not even be resident in what will become the 2nd Essex District.
Houston Chronicle
Vice President Kamala Harris unveils administration's priorities for space
Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized building a STEM workforce, addressing climate change, and promoting the rules and norms that govern space on Wednesday during the first National Space Council meeting of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Her remarks in Washington — and the newly created U.S. Space Priorities Framework released Wednesday — are the first major space policy announcements to come from the Democratic administration. Snippets of information have come out, such as the continuing support for NASA’s Artemis Program that will return humans to the moon, but now there is a formal document outlining the Biden administration’s goals for exploring, defending and preserving space.
“Through our work in space, we have an opportunity to benefit not only the American people but all of humanity,” Harris said during a gathering of the council, which she chairs. “Our framework is therefore comprehensive. Our agenda is ambitious. But as an astronaut once told me about the advice he received ahead of his first spacewalk: He was told, ‘It’s simple. Just focus on what’s right in front of you, and from there widen your view.’ That, my friends, is how we will move forward.”
AP News
Trump tested COVID-positive pre-debate
Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 three days before his first presidential debate in September 2020 with Joe Biden, according to a new book by Trump’s former chief of staff. […]
Mark Meadows writes that [Trump] received a negative test shortly after the positive test and resumed his usual activities, including attending the debate against his Democratic challenger…
The revelation, if confirmed, would further show that the Trump White House did not take the virus seriously even as it spread among White House and campaign staff and eventually sent Trump to the hospital, where he required supplemental oxygen and experimental treatments.
Detroit-area election official in 2020 ballot dispute dies
A Republican election official who caused controversy by initially refusing to certify 2020 Detroit-area results in favor of President Joe Biden has died after being admitted to a hospital with COVID-19.
William Hartmann…, 63, was a member of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, a low profile panel that briefly burst into the national spotlight a year ago when it tied, 2-2, and failed to certify election results.
Detroit Free Press
Authorities: Oxford school shooting suspect talked in video about killing students before rampage
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald charged Ethan Crumbley, 15, as an adult. The high school student is accused of killing four people — Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17 — and injuring seven others during the rampage Tuesday.
McDonald said the facts “suggest this was not just an impulsive act," adding “we are considering charges against both parents and we will be making a decision swiftly.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
[…] The total number of guns purchased each year in the United States is hard to come by. But the number of FBI background checks, which represents a substantial portion of efforts to acquire firearms, reached a record 39.7 million in 2020 — a 40% jump from the year before. The surge began during the early months of COVID-19, and it picked up steam in the summer after the murder of George Floyd and its consequences.
In a new study exploring the psychology behind these purchases, Rutgers University researchers found that when compared with other gun owners, those who purchased firearms in 2020 seemed more sensitive to perceived threats and had less control over their emotions and impulses.
“What we’re showing is that these people who are purchasing firearms during the 2020 surge are different from typical firearm owners,” said Taylor R. Rodriguez, one of the study authors. “There’s something unique about this group of people.”
The Atlantic
Iran Feels Cornered by the Biden Administration
[…] Tehran had hoped that Joe Biden’s presidency would herald an easy and quick return to the nuclear agreement that Donald Trump pulled out of, and with it would come the lifting of sanctions. But the Biden administration has been more intransigent than the Iranians expected. Almost a year after Biden took office, no relief is in sight for Iran’s economy. It contracted by 7 percent from 2019 to 2020, and the national currency has taken a plunge. Iran’s oil exports rose to 2.5 million barrels a day in 2016, after the nuclear deal came into effect, then dropped to 400,000 barrels a day under Trump. Under Biden, oil exports have inched up, but barely, and the country’s reserves have strengthened only thanks to rising oil prices. Under Trump, Iran lost access to more than $100 billion of its foreign reserves; so far under Biden, they remain off limits, in bank accounts around the world. Iran needs this money to stabilize its national currency, keep its economy running, and stave off protests. And yet, despite all this, Iran appears in no mood to compromise, continuing to fund and develop its nuclear program and regional power plays.
But tighter resources are not Iran’s most serious concern. An Iranian academic based abroad, who asked to remain anonymous because he still travels regularly to Tehran, told me that although Iran is not able to spend as much as it used to on its regional allies and proxies (the figure is almost half of what it was in 2014, down to about $2 billion to $3 billion a year, he estimates), the real challenge facing Tehran is the rapidly changing regional landscape—which is precisely why it cannot compromise in nuclear talks.
Vox
Venus could have been a paradise but turned into a hellscape. Earthlings, pay attention.
“Hellscape” is the most appropriate word to describe the surface of Venus, the second planet from the sun. At 900 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s the hottest planet in the solar system, thanks to an atmosphere that’s almost entirely made up of carbon dioxide. Clouds made of highly corrosive sulfuric acid are draped over a volcanic landscape of razor-sharp lava flows. Most crushingly, the pressure on the surface of Venus is about 92 times the pressure you’d feel at sea level on Earth.
“It’s really almost entertainingly, comically horrible, like some sort of cosmic deity had a really, really grumpy day and just went ‘Nope, I’m gonna ruin this planet,’” Robin George Andrews, a science journalist and volcanologist, says…
Some scientists suspect Venus was once much like Earth, with a liquid water ocean like the ones that support life on our planet…Scientists know something on Venus triggered truly catastrophic levels of climate change, causing surface temperatures to shoot up hundreds of degrees. But they don’t know exactly what.
Scientific American / E&E News
Arctic Snow Is Shifting to Rain As Temperatures Rise
As the Arctic warms and transforms, many of its most iconic, frozen features are dissolving away. Glaciers are melting and trickling into the sea. Sea ice is giving way to open ocean. Permafrost is thawing and turning to mush.
And the snow that caps the extraordinary Arctic environment is increasingly turning to rain. The gradual shift to a rainy climate isn’t unexpected. But new research now suggests that this transformation may happen faster than earlier studies had predicted.
The new study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, suggests parts of the Arctic could tip into a rain-dominated regime as early as the 2060s or 2070s, if the world continues to warm at high rates between now and the end of the century. That’s several decades earlier than previous studies had estimated.
CNBC
A woman who says she was sexually abused by late sex criminal and financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell testified Wednesday that Epstein took her to meet Donald Trump at his Florida club when she was 14 years old.
The woman, in testimony at Maxwell’s federal sex crimes trial, did not allege any improper conduct by Trump when she met him at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The Daily Beast
Dark-Money Group Paid Former Trump AG to Ask for Pardons—and He Never Registered as a Lobbyist
In Donald Trump’s final months in office, lobbyists swarmed the White House in hopes of securing pardons for their clients. It was a cash bonanza for Beltway insiders aspiring to bend the aggrieved president’s ear, as disclosures required by federal law later revealed.
But one person stands out among that crowd, both for his former role in the Trump administration and for the fact that he never registered as a lobbyist—even though he was being paid $400,000 by a conservative “dark money” group that had tapped him to lead its efforts to secure pardons and commutations.
Matthew Whitaker held senior roles in Trump’s Justice Department from September 2017 to February 2019, finishing off his DOJ tenure with a three-month stint as the acting attorney general. And when he finally departed the administration, he found quite the cushy gig: chairing a new project for the right-wing nonprofit FreedomWorks.
The Guardian
US warns Russia has plans for ‘large scale’ attack on Ukraine
The US says it has evidence Russia has made plans for a “large scale” attack on Ukraine and that Nato allies are “prepared to impose severe costs” on Moscow if it attempts an invasion.
Speaking at a Nato ministers meeting in Latvia, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said it was unclear whether Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade but added: “He’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order, should he so decide.
“So despite uncertainty about intention and timing, we must prepare for all contingencies while working to see to it that Russia reverses course.”
Saudis used ‘incentives and threats’ to shut down UN investigation in Yemen
Saudi Arabia used “incentives and threats” as part of a lobbying campaign to shut down a UN investigation of human right violations committed by all sides in the Yemen conflict, according to sources with close knowledge of the matter.
The Saudi effort ultimately succeeded when the UN human rights council (HRC) voted in October against extending the independent war crimes investigation. The vote marked the first defeat of a resolution in the Geneva body’s 15-year history.
CNN
China is mining much more coal again and that's boosting its factories
China's economy is finally getting some good news: Its big factories are staging a recovery as a power crunch that held back production starts to ease because of a big jump in coal supply.
A government survey of manufacturing activity increased to 50.1 in November from 49.2 in October, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday. It was the first reading above 50 — indicating expansion rather than contraction — in three months. It was also the first time since March that the index increased over the prior month […]
The energy crunch, along with surging raw material costs, resulted in a sharp drop in industrial output for September and October. To combat the problem, authorities have relaxed their efforts to cut carbon emissions and ordered coal mines to ramp up production.
The result was notable. China — which uses more than half the world's coal supply and is already the largest emitter of carbon — set a new daily record for coal production in mid-November, according to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Symone Sanders, Harris' chief spokesperson, to leave White House
Symone Sanders, Vice President Kamala Harris' chief spokesperson and senior adviser, is leaving the Biden administration at the end of the year, according to a source familiar with the decision.
"Symone has served honorably for three years," the source told CNN. "The President and vice president are grateful for Symone's service and advocacy for this White House. She is a valued member, a team player, and she will be missed. We are grateful to have her working through the end of the year."
Her expected exit marks the second departure among Harris' top communication staff in recent weeks.
NPR News
Living robots made in a lab have found a new way to self-replicate, researchers say
Scientists say they've witnessed a never-before-seen type of replication in organic robots created in the lab using frog cells. Among other things, the findings could have implications for regenerative medicine.
The discovery involves a xenobot – a simple, "programmable" organism that is created by assembling stem cells in a Petri dish — and is described by a team of researchers from Tufts University, Harvard University and the University of Vermont in a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. […]
The researchers hope that one day these xenobots — described by the same team in a paper published nearly two years ago — could be programmed to perform useful functions…
EuroNews
COVID-19: EU countries should debate mandatory vaccination, says von der Leyen
The chief of the European Union's executive arm said Wednesday that EU nations should open a debate around making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory because too many people still refuse to get shots voluntarily. […]
Asked about the hot topic of compulsory vaccination, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a matter for each member state to decide, but regretted the amount of doses that are being left unused. Health policy remains a national prerogative in the EU.
"Two or three years ago, I would have never thought to witness what we see right now, that we have this horrible pandemic, we have the life-saving vaccines but they are not being used adequately everywhere. And thus this is an enormous health cost," von der Leyen said.
"One-third of the European population is not vaccinated. These are 150 million people. This is a lot," she told reporters.
Deutsche Welle
Ethiopia: Government claims territorial gains over Tigrayan forces near capital
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went to visit troops
The office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Wednesday that government forces retook territory from Tigrayan forces northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.
The prime minister's office said the town of Shewa Robit, some 220 kilometers (136 miles) northeast of the capital, along with several other towns and villages in the Amhara region had been recaptured.
Later on, government forces announced they had recaptured the UNESCO World Heritage site Lalibela, home to rock-hewn monolithic churches built in the 13th century. The site fell to Tigrayan fighters in August.
Germany: WWII bomb explosion injures several near Munich train station
Four people were injured in an explosion near Munich's main train station on Wednesday, the city's fire department said.
The blast, caused by a previously unexploded World War II bomb, prompted officials to halt all train services along one of Europe's busiest rail lines. […]
A WWII-era aerial bomb was the cause of the blast, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said during a visit to the site. Workers accidentally hit the 250-kilogram (551-pound) bomb while conducting drilling work, he said.
Al Jazeera
Why is Turkey’s lira crashing and will currency crisis worsen?
Once again, Turkey is in the throes of a currency crisis. The lira has lost more than 40 percent of its value against the United States dollar this year, making it the worst-performing of all emerging market currencies. […]
The rapid slide has ushered in a wave of dollar hoarding, and even witnessed the unusual sight of people taking to the streets to protest President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s handling of the economy. […]
The lira’s recent troubles were triggered after Turkey’s central bank cut interest rates by a full percentage point on November 18th – the third cut since September – and signalled it would slash rates again in December.
Mexico and US to launch plan to stem Central American migration
Mexico’s foreign ministry has said the Mexican and US foreign development agencies will work together on a project to address the root causes of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The “Planting Opportunities” project announced on Wednesday will bring together the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and target the three so-called Northern Triangle countries.
Migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador has fuelled record numbers of people being apprehended at the US-Mexico border, as asylum seekers have tried to enter the United States after fleeing poverty, violence and political instability.
BBC News
When Jesus is used to steal from his flock
To his listeners, William Neil "Doc" Gallagher was known as the "Money Doctor" - a charming financial guru who advertised his services on Christian radio, broadcast all over the American conservative 'Bible Belt' that stretches across North Texas.
His adverts often concluded with a familiar slogan: "See you in church Sunday."
"Doctor Neil Gallagher is a premier true American, with integrity in all his pursuits," a narrator says in a corporate video posted to YouTube. "His life's passion is to help people retire safe, early and happy." […]
In reality, Gallagher was anything but. Instead, he was a fraudster who amassed $32m (£24m) in a Ponzi scheme that mostly targeted retired victims between the ages of 62 and 91.
Peng Shuai: WTA announces immediate suspension of tournaments in China
The Women's Tennis Association has announced the immediate suspension of all tournaments in China amid concern for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.
Peng, 35, disappeared from public view for three weeks after accusing a top Chinese official of sexual assault.
WTA chief Steve Simon said he had "serious doubts" that Peng was "free, safe and not subject to intimidation".
"In good conscience, I don't see how I can ask our athletes to compete there," he said.
Ars Technica
Judge blocks Biden vaccine rule, citing “liberty interests of the unvaccinated”
A federal judge yesterday blocked a Biden administration COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, granting a request for preliminary injunction filed by Republican attorneys general from 14 states.
US District Judge Terry Doughty ruled that the government lacks authority to implement the rule that "requires the staff of twenty-one types of Medicare and Medicaid healthcare providers to receive one vaccine by December 6, 2021, and to receive the second vaccine by January 4, 2022." Providers that don't comply face penalties, including "termination of the Medicare/Medicaid Provider Agreement."
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate regulates over 10.3 million health care workers in the US, of which 2.4 million are unvaccinated.