memeorandum: U.S. Travel Hit Pandemic High Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday (Alison Sider/Wall Street Journal)

11:25 AM ET, November 26, 2021

Top Items:

CNBC:

Dow drops 800 points as new Covid variant sparks market sell-off — U.S. stock dropped on Friday on renewed Covid fears over a new variant found in South Africa. — The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 800 points, or more than 2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

Discussion: New York Post, NBC Chicago, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Guardian

Wall Street Journal:

Stock Futures, Oil Drop on Concerns Over New Covid-19 Variant — Treasury yields slide as investors shed riskier assets and pile into havens — Stocks, oil prices and government-bond yields slumped after South Africa raised the alarm over a fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus …

Washington Post:

Countries move to cut air links with southern Africa amid news of virulent new coronavirus variant — LONDON — As alarm over a new, possibly more infectious coronavirus variant spread around the world, France, Britain, Japan and Israel began to ban or order quarantines for air passengers arriving from the southern African region.

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News and Associated Press

Mack Lamoureux / VICE:

QAnon's ‘Queen of Canada’ Calls for Followers to ‘Kill’ People Vaccinating Children — QAnon influencer Romana Didulo told her 70,000 followers that “duck-hunting season is open” and by ducks she means healthcare workers, politicians, and journalists. — Mack Lamoureux — TORONTO, CA

Discussion: Insider, Canadian Anti-Hate Network and Raw Story

Amir Tibon / Haaretz:

Three Years Late, Israelis Finally Hear the Truth About Trump — Netanyahu's former Mossad chief, defense minister and IDF commander are speaking out on Trump's departure from the Iran deal, years after the then-prime minister celebrated it — When Donald Trump decided to withdraw …

Lian Buan / Rappler:

Calida blocks Maria Ressa's travel for Nobel Prize: She's a ‘flight risk’ — Calling the Rappler CEO a “flight risk,” Solicitor General Jose Calida has filed an opposition with the Court of Appeals (CA) seeking to bar Maria Ressa from traveling to Oslo, Norway, in December to personally receive her Nobel Peace Prize.

Declan Walsh / New York Times: Ethiopian Leader Vows to Lead Troops as War Threatens to Widen

David L. Stern / Washington Post:

Ukraine's Zelensky alleges Russia plotting coup against him for next week — KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a group of Russian and Ukrainians is planning to stage a coup d'etat in Ukraine next month and that the plotters are trying to enlist the help …

Discussion: CNN, Fox News and Hackwhackers

CNN:

Trump pulls strings behind the scenes to help loyal 2022 candidates — Trump endorses Rep. Mo Brooks for Alabama Senate seat — (CNN)Former President Donald Trump has taken his involvement in 2022 Republican primaries to a new level as he works to permanently mold the GOP in his image.

Discussion: New York Magazine, POLITICUSUSA, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Raw Story

New York Post:

Facebook declared Kyle Rittenhouse guilty, silencing his defense in the court of public opinion — “We've designated the shooting in Kenosha a mass murder and are removing posts in support of the shooter,” Facebook announced barely a week after the event, as it began a truly epic campaign …

Politico:

Renters strike back as cities cap price hikes by landlords — The revival of rent control policies long derided by economists, including one of President Joe Biden's top advisers, comes as officials scramble to contain rising prices across a range of goods and services.

Roni Caryn Rabin / New York Times:

Texas Abortion Law Complicates Care for Risky Pregnancies — Doctors in Texas say they cannot head off life-threatening medical crises in pregnant women if abortions cannot be offered or even discussed. — A few weeks after Texas adopted the most restrictive abortion law in the nation …

Merck.com:

Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics Provide Update on Results from MOVe-OUT Study of Molnupiravir, an Investigational Oral Antiviral Medicine, in At Risk Adults With Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19 — KENILWORTH, N.J. & MIAMI—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada …

Rebecca Shabad / Reuters:

As new debt limit showdown looms, lawmakers consider long-term solutions — WASHINGTON — As Congress prepares for yet another showdown over the debt ceiling, long-term solutions for addressing what has become an increasingly partisan issue are re-emerging.

Christopher Flavelle / New York Times:

Saving History With Sandbags: Climate Change Threatens the Smithsonian — Beneath the National Museum of American History, floodwaters are intruding into collection rooms, a consequence of a warming planet. A fix remains years away. — WASHINGTON — President Warren Harding's blue silk pajamas.