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wwwnc.cdc.gov:
Level 4: Very High … Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status. If you travel on a cruise ship, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel and get a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose if you are eligible. Getting vaccinated is still the best way to protect yourself from severe disease …
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, Bloomberg, NPR, Insider, HillReporter.com, Slate, CBS News, Forbes, 6abc, NBC Boston, Wholistic, New York Post, Neil’s Newsletter, CNBC, Mock Paper Scissors and Political Wire
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Adeel Hassan / New York Times:
Covid Live Updates: South Africa Says Its Omicron Wave Has Passed With No Big Spike in Deaths — The announcement offered cautious hope to other countries grappling with the fast-spreading variant. The C.D.C. urged Americans to stay off cruise ships, regardless of vaccination status.
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The Guardian, Townhall, Don't Worry About the Vase, UPI, Manu’s Perspective, New York Post, FOX 46 Charlotte, The Daily Wire, KRON4, Metro.co.uk and Joe.My.God.
Carl Zimmer / New York Times:
J&J's booster shot provides strong protection against severe disease from Omicron, a study says.
J&J's booster shot provides strong protection against severe disease from Omicron, a study says.
Discussion:
medRxiv, Bloomberg, CNN, Mic, New York Post, HotAir, The Daily Wire, NPR, UPI, Politico, abc7NY, KTLA, NBC New York and Joe.My.God.
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
FDA expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots for 12-to-15-year-olds by early next week
FDA expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots for 12-to-15-year-olds by early next week
Discussion:
New York Times, UPI and CNN
Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
Federal Judges Order Release of Jeffrey Epstein Civil Settlement at Issue in Lawsuit Against Prince Andrew — Federal judges ordered the unsealing of a 2009 settlement agreement that Prince Andrew has claimed insulates him from a civil lawsuit accusing him of having sexually abused a 17-year-old girl.
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Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
U.S. ends case against Jeffrey Epstein's jail guards — U.S. prosecutors decided to end their criminal case against two Manhattan jail guards who admitted to falsifying records on the night the financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself on their watch. — In a Thursday filing in Manhattan federal court …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Insider, New York Post, Law & Crime, NOQ Report and The Gateway Pundit
Timothy Bella / Washington Post:
BBC faces backlash after Dershowitz analyzes Maxwell case, despite accusation from alleged Epstein victim — The BBC says it is investigating how Alan Dershowitz was allowed on its airwaves to talk about the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell without mentioning that the constitutional lawyer …
Joshua Kendall / New York Magazine:
She Tweeted That Alan Dershowitz Might Be Acting Crazy. So Yale Fired Her. — The strange free-speech case of Bandy Lee. — “I think I'll order only a bowl of the New England clam chowder,” Bandy Lee said to me one afternoon several months ago, as we settled in at a restaurant overlooking the Boston Common.
Reuters:
Anatomy of a death threat — Trump supporters have waged a campaign of intimidation against the state and local officials who administer U.S. elections. This visual analysis explores hundreds of menacing messages - and explains why they're difficult to counter. — SCROLL TO CONTINUE
Monica R. McLemore / Scientific American:
The Complicated Legacy of E. O. Wilson — We must reckon with his and other scientists' racist ideas if we want an equitable future … Monica R. McLemore is an associate professor in the Family Health Care Nursing Department and a clinician-scientist at Advancing New Standards …
Karen Townsend / HotAir:
White House asks Supreme Court to intervene in Remain in Mexico legal battle — The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court if it really has to continue a successful policy to thwart illegal migration instated by the previous administration. The administration is asking that the Supreme Court …
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News and The Hill
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Devoun Cetoute / Miami Herald:
Florida COVID update: cases, hospitalizations, deaths — Florida on Thursday reported 77,848 additional COVID-19 cases and 90 more deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data. The large increase comes from the CDC backlogging cases …
Discussion:
Florida Politics
Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:
A New Ban on Surprise Medical Bills Starts This Week — If you have a medical emergency, you will no longer need to worry about a large bill from a doctor you did not choose. — For years, millions of Americans with medical emergencies could receive another nasty surprise …
Claire Ellicott / Daily Mail:
'I don't know much about foreign affairs': George W. Bush made startling confession to Britain's US ambassador, National Archive documents reveal — George W Bush admitted he knew little about international affairs, papers show — His later presidency was dominated by US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan
Discussion:
Raw Story, Breitbart and Political Wire
BBC:
Ashraf Ghani: Ex-Afghan president describes moment he fled the Taliban — Afghanistan's former president has defended his decision to flee the country as the Taliban closed in earlier this year, saying he did it to prevent the destruction of Kabul. — The Taliban seized power in August after taking control of the capital.
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The Daily Caller, New York Post, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, middleeastmonitor.com, New York Times, WTOP News and Insider
Stef W. Kight / Axios:
The relentless 2021 news cycle in one chart — Between a siege on the Capitol building, a Texas snowstorm, Brood X cicadas, the Olympics and a stuck container ship in the Suez Canal — not to mention endless COVID variants — it's been a busy year. — Why it matters: In the inaugural Axios …
Megan Basham / The Daily Wire:
British Newspaper Cancels ‘Person Of The Year’ Poll After J.K. Rowling Runs Away With Top Spot — Readers of the British newspaper, The Guardian, are accusing the outlet of deactivating an online poll that asked readers to vote on “Person of the Year” after it became apparent that J.K. Rowling would handily win.
Discussion:
Power Line, RedState and Breitbart
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Weekly jobless claims total 198,000, less than expected and around 52-year low — Weekly jobless claims totaled 198,000 for the week ended Dec. 25. — That was below the 205,000 forecast and near the lowest level since 1969. — Continuing claims also fell, dropping to 1.72 million for their lowest total since March 7, 2020.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Wall Street Journal
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Peter Thiel, Donald Trump Jr. to co-host fundraisers for Cheney challenger — Tech billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. are co-hosting a pair of January fundraisers for Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman, the Trump-backed primary challenger running against GOP Rep. Liz Cheney …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Jessica Chasmar / Fox Business:
Let's Go Brandon store chain to expand in New England: ‘Business is very, very good’ — Chain owner Keith Lambert tells FOX Business he's opening two new locations to meet demand — Business is booming for a Let's Go Brandon store chain selling anti-President Biden merchandise across New England.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, No More Mister Nice Blog, RedState and IJR
Houston Keene / Yahoo News:
Ocasio-Cortez staffer calls Israel a ‘racist European ethnostate’ that was built on ‘stolen land’ — FIRST ON FOX: A staffer for “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., referred to Israel as a “racist European ethnostate” on social media. — Hussain Altamimi joined Ocasio-Cortez's office …
Heather Mac Donald / New York Post:
Where is the outrage over the killing of Baltimore police officer Keona Holley? — It was an iconic moment in the coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol: CNN anchor Don Lemon wept at video footage of police officer Daniel Hodges being crushed in a door by the mob.
James Pethokoukis / Faster, Please!:
🎬 Why 2022 won't be anything like the 2022 of ‘Soylent Green’ — “The world has been oscillating between fears of two catastrophes — the population explosion and the atom bomb. Both pose a mortal threat. In this intolerable situation, with the menace of doomsday hanging over us …
Discussion:
National Review
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Pro-Trump lawyer says his plantations were go-to spots for those aiming to overturn the 2020 election — Lin Wood says he hosted numerous election conspiracists on his plantation properties in South Carolina after the election. — His guests included fellow Trump ally attorney Sidney Powell …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Inside the campaign to undermine Georgia's election — Editor's note — Between the Nov. 3 presidential election and Jan. 6, Georgia was at the center of the biggest election dispute of modern American history. AJC reporters worked day and night for months to capture the election results …
Discussion:
Peach State Politics …
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Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
‘Slow-motion insurrection’: How GOP seizes election power
‘Slow-motion insurrection’: How GOP seizes election power
Discussion:
Anti-Knowledge, Talking Points Memo, RINO’s Wrecking Crew, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Joe.My.God., Mic, PBS NewsHour and Bangor Daily News
Associated Press:
Confederate monuments will likely go to Black history museum — RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia and Richmond officials on Thursday announced a tentative agreement to transfer ownership of the city's now mostly removed Confederate monuments to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.
New York Times:
After 4 Killings, ‘Officer of the Year’ Is Still on the Job — A Pennsylvania state trooper was returned to duty following three investigations by his own agency. A fourth inquiry is underway. — In November 2008, Pennsylvania Trooper Jay Splain was honored at a county law enforcement banquet as a hero …
John Wright / Raw Story:
Ted Cruz mistakes ‘Western Australia’ for ‘Washington State’ in botched attack on ‘power-drunk’ Dems — Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz apparently confused “Western Australia” with “Washington State” in an attempted attack on Democrats over COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday night.
Discussion:
UPROXX, Mediaite and HillReporter.com