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Yahoo NewsIsrael's rapid rollout provides the first real-world proof that COVID vaccination works as well as promised
Now that a huge share of Israelis have been vaccinated, experts are looking at the country’s experience as a kind of real-world, real-time experiment, with unique data that could start to answer some of our most pressing questions about the power of vaccines to curb the pandemic.
- The Week
Biden's team is reportedly surprised Republicans don't see the political upsides of backing a big COVID-19 bill
The politics of COVID-19 spending legislation is complicated. President Biden and former President Donald Trump, who don't agree on much, both pushed to get $2,000 direct payments to most Americans this winter, and the Republican governor of West Virginia is backing Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package while his state's Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, favors a smaller package. The White House is privately meeting with a group of Senate Republicans who proposed a $618 billion alternative package, The Associated Press reports, even as Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reject that amount as insufficient and urge Democrats to go big and go quickly. Biden and his advisers "publicly tout the virtues of bipartisan collaboration," but "they aren't pollyannaish about it," Sam Stein reports at Politico. "They know there is no recent history to suggest any such collaboration is coming.," but "inside the White House there is still some surprise that Republicans currently aren't more interested in working with them on COVID relief. Not because they believe Republicans philosophically support the bill, but because there are clear political incentives for them to do so." Biden and his aides have noted repeatedly that just because the budget reconciliation process would allow Democrats to pass much of the $1.9 trillion package without Republican support, Republicans can still vote for the package. If Democrats go the budget reconciliation route, the 10 Senate Republicans can either "oppose the measure without being able to stop it or work to shape it, pledge to vote for it, and get credit for the goodies inside it," Stein reports. "Put another way: Republicans could vote for a bill that includes billions of dollars of help for states, massive amounts of cash for vaccine distribution, and $1,400 stimulus check for most Americans. Or they could oppose it on grounds that the price tag is too steep, or the minimum wage hike is too high, or the process too rushed." And if they do that, a senior administration official told Stein, "they'll get no credit" for those $1,400 checks. Democrats only have the party-line option because they unexpectedly won both Senate seats in a Georgia runoff election, Stein notes, and one political "lesson from that episode is, quite bluntly: It's better to be on the side of giving people money." Trump understood that. Time will tell what Senate Republicans will decide. More stories from theweek.comStephen Bannon, pardoned by Trump, may now be charged over the same scheme in New YorkMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsDemocrats may only have one chance to stop America from becoming a one-party state
- The Independent
Alleged Capitol rioter asks for permission to vacation in Mexico ahead of trial
Julian Castro compares woman’s holiday to Trump-era deportations, decries ‘two systems of justice in America’
- Architectural Digest
One Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s Coffee Table
Furniture made from waste materials just keeps getting better—and easier to buyOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- The Telegraph
Police use drug dealer's phone to warn 'middle-class' cocaine 'users' of arrest
Police used a county lines drug dealer's phone to message "middle-class" cocaine “users” and warn them they risk being arrested for fuelling the abuse of children. Officers in the West Midlands seized the device during a crackdown on criminals supplying Class A drugs worth £3,000-a-day to people across Birmingham and Worcestershire in November last year. The phone contained the mobile numbers of more than 2,000 customers who received SMS marketing updates from drug gangs. Police said they believe many of the customers will be "middle-class professionals" with "social" cocaine habits. On Tuesday all the contacts on the phone received messages telling them their phone numbers had been identified in the investigation.
- Military.com
Navy Task Force Calls for Changing Ship Names that Honor Confederacy
Task Force One Navy was directed to identify and dismantle barriers of inequality.
- Associated Press
Supreme Court sides with Germany in Nazi-era art dispute
The Supreme Court is making it harder for a multimillion-dollar lawsuit involving centuries-old religious artworks obtained by the Nazis from Jewish art dealers to continue in U.S. courts. The court ruled unanimously Wednesday in a case involving the 1935 sale of a collection of medieval Christian artwork called the Guelph Treasure. The heirs of the art dealers contended the sale of the works, now said to be worth at least $250 million, was done under pressure.
- Yahoo News Video
Republicans give update after meeting with Biden about COVID-19 relief package
GOP senators updated the press after meeting with President Biden to discuss a coronavirus relief package.
- The Week
Biden adviser suggests holdovers from Obama era dictated 'harsh' response to GOP COVID-19 relief proposal
The Monday night White House statement that appeared to take some air out of bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill negotiations didn't sound like President Biden, an anonymous longtime adviser to the commander-in-chief told Politico. "I think it sounded like more like [White House Chief of Staff] Ron Klain," the adviser said. "The GOP plan wasn't a joke. I looked at it and said, 'OK the midpoint between $600 billion and $1.9 trillion is about 1.2 or 1.3.' I was a little surprised we hit back that hard. It's not like our plan is perfect and there's nothing we can approve. Vintage Biden would not have been that harsh." The adviser suggested that while Biden has a penchant for bipartisan deal-making, Klain, an Obama-era holdover, doesn't have fond memories of working with Republicans after unsuccessful talks with GOP lawmakers about the stimulus in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the Affordable Care Act. "Ron has this whole thing: 'Remember how they rat-f---ed us on the ACA!," the adviser told Politico. It's worth noting, however, the White House statement did say Biden wants to keep talking with the group of senators going forward, so the idea of a bipartisan resolution hasn't been completely shot down, even if the possibility is shrinking. Read more at Politico. More stories from theweek.comStephen Bannon, pardoned by Trump, may now be charged over the same scheme in New YorkMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsDemocrats may only have one chance to stop America from becoming a one-party state
- BBC
Myanmar coup: China blocks UN condemnation as protest grows
The fate of political leader Suu Kyi remains unclear as civilian disobedience gathers pace.
- NextShark
Alleged Rioter Bailed Out Twice Before Arrested Again With Guns, Cocaine
A Minnesota man who was bailed out twice by the Minnesota Freedom Fund has been arrested again and is now facing charges for alleged possession of firearms and a controlled substance. New charges: Thomas Moseley, 29, was arrested for the third time on Jan. 27 and is facing three new felony counts of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office via Fox News. The basis of his arrest was related to the damage of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct in August 2020.
- The Telegraph
What Russia's Sputnik V vaccine means for the UK
This was first published in The Telegraph's Refresher newsletter. For more facts and explanation behind the week’s biggest political stories, sign up to the Refresher here – straight to your inbox every Wednesday afternoon for free. What’s the story? It was the race the Kremlin was desperate to win. The global effort to find and develop an effective vaccine for the coronavirus was not just a matter of life and death for the countries that took part: it was a matter of national pride. Yesterday interim trial data showed that the Russian vaccine, known as Sputnik V, is almost 92 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid after two doses, bringing it in line with many of the jabs that have been developed in the West. Phase three trials reported by the Gamaleya National Research Centre, which developed the vaccine in Moscow, show little or no side effects in 20,000 participants. The Russian vaccine works in a similar way to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab: by placing the genetic material of Covid-19 into a harmless adenovirus, then injecting it into the patient. So-called “viral vector” vaccines are easier to store and cheaper to produce – making them more convenient than “spike protein” jabs, like the Pfizer and Moderna offerings. For the Russian government, the apparent safety of the Sputnik vaccine represents not just a national and public health victory but a relief, since authorities began distributing the vaccine before the results of the trials. More than 1.5 million people, including the Telegraph’s Moscow Correspondent Nataliya Vasilyeva, have already received it. That gamble appears to have paid off. Ian Jones, professor at the University of Reading, and Polly Roy, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, yesterday pointed out that the jab’s development “has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency”. “But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated,” they said. “Another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19.” Others are more circumspect. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has been reluctant to address the news about Sputnik V, despite his enthusiastic support for Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca. In a briefing with reporters yesterday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted any comment on vaccines was a matter for scientists, not Downing Street. Asked why Mr Johnson had not yet welcomed the news, the spokesman would not comment further. Mr Johnson’s reluctance to welcome the news was shared by his Cabinet, who made no mention of the vaccine all day. Looking back That could be explained by the fact that the news follows months of anxiety about the UK’s own vaccine rollout, which began with the first NHS jab in December. Russia’s first dose, meanwhile, was injected in August. Vladimir Putin, the President, announced on television that his daughter was one of the first to receive it. The Russians have not been shy about treating the development of the jab as a competition, either. The product’s name is a reference to Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be launched from Earth. That satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, and marked both a major turning point in the space race and bitter defeat for the United States. For UK politicians, who pride themselves on their “world-beating” international comparisons, Russia’s vaccine success is problematic, while the timing of the announcement could not have been worse. Hours later, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, issued a statement condemning the Russian courts for their imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician who returned to the country following a near-miss poisoning with a toxic nerve agent, thought to have been carried out by Russian intelligence services. Anything else? All that could mean the UK is unlikely to want to cooperate with Russia on the rollout of its jab – but Russian scientists have already suggested a partnership with Britain. Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the group that funded Sputnik V and a close ally of Mr Putin, said combining a shot of his vaccine with one of the AstraZeneca jab could “actually work better because immunity gets stronger”. “This idea, called heterogeneous boosting, is at the core of the Sputnik vaccine because we use two different shots and we believe this is the best way to fight with mutations and this also fosters a partnership between different vaccine manufacturers,” he told the BBC. The proposal presents ministers with an interesting diplomatic question, as well as potential concerns about vaccine efficacy and logistics. Mixing supplies of Sputnik and AstraZeneca would mean unprecedented co-operation between public health bodies between the two countries. Before coronavirus, the last major incident Public Health England dealt with was the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury by Russian GRU agents, which marked a significant cooling of relations. Elsewhere, both countries also want to use vaccines as a diplomatic tool overseas. With supplies running short and almost all manufacturers based in richer countries, inoculations could become a major source of soft power for the states that have funded their development – including both the UK and Russia. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has already announced the UK will use its war chest of more than 400 million vaccines to help poorer countries around the world once Britons have been protected. Russia, meanwhile, has taken tens of millions of orders from Egypt, Nepal, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina for Sputnik. Both will likely use vaccines to strengthen their influence in regions of diplomatic interest, as well as through politically neutral schemes like the WHO’s Covax. The Refresher take The development of any new vaccine is a boon for the global fight against coronavirus because the disease will not be brought under control until it has been tackled everywhere. But the apparent success of the Sputnik V jab presents Russia’s Western rivals with an interesting dilemma: to embrace and support Mr Putin’s vaccine and consider combining it with their own, or to continue to ignore it. Mr Johnson’s current strategy, to continue to talk up Britain’s successes while jealously guarding its supplies for the first-phase rollout, will come to an end when all UK adults have received their doses. What he and others do next about Sputnik V could mark a major shift in Russia’s relationship with the West and in the course of the pandemic.
- Reuters
Trump impeachment lawyer says would be 'idiotic,' 'insane' to rehash election fraud claims
A lawyer for Donald Trump on Wednesday said it would be "idiotic" and "insane" to dispute the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election during his Senate impeachment trial, adding that the former U.S. president has not pressured him to make those arguments. "Injecting that into a case that is already a winner would be idiotic," said Bruce L. Castor Jr, a recent addition to Trump's legal team, in an interview with Reuters. "Nobody has pressured me to make that defense," Castor added, saying Trump was happy with a brief filed by Castor and his co-counsel David Schoen on Tuesday.
- The Independent
Biden news - live: Taylor Greene to lose posts as president accused of robbing Trump staff of parental leave
Live updates on Joe Biden from the White House and Trump news
- Military.com
Top Marine General: We Need to Get Comfortable with 'Throwaway' Equipment
The Pentagon needs to think differently about investments, Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger said.
- Associated Press
FBI: 2 agents killed, 3 wounded, suspect dead in Florida
Two FBI agents were killed and three wounded in a shooting that erupted on Tuesday when they arrived to search an apartment in a child pornography case, a confrontation that marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history. The violence forced residents in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Sunrise to huddle inside their homes as a SWAT team stormed the apartment building and police helicopters circled overhead. FBI Director Christopher A. Wray identified the two slain agents as Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, both of whom specialized in investigating crimes against children.
- The Week
Further analysis finds Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 76 percent effective 3 months after first shot
Further analysis of trial data for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca appears to have provided a boost for the United Kingdom's plan to lengthen the interval between doses to up to 12 weeks, which allows the country to administer the initial shot to more people. The U.K.'s decision is at the center of a wider debate over whether governments should prioritize of partially inoculating a larger percentage of the population or save second doses and give fewer people complete protection. The latest update to the study, which hasn't been peer-reviewed yet, suggests the vaccine is 76 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections up to three months after a singular dose. That level of immunity appears to kick in a little more than three weeks after the initial shot, with little evidence of protection waning in the interim period. The figure then rises to 82 percent after the second dose. Swabs taken weekly from volunteers in the U.K. (the study also included participants in Brazil and South Africa) also showed a 67 percent reduction in positive PCR tests, raising confidence the vaccine may help prevent transmission as opposed to just lowering the risk of symptomatic and severe infections, though further study is necessary on that front. Read more at BBC and Bloomberg. More stories from theweek.comStephen Bannon, pardoned by Trump, may now be charged over the same scheme in New YorkMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsDemocrats may only have one chance to stop America from becoming a one-party state
- Reuters
Trump uses impeachment response to vent about election defeat
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday found a new outlet to air his unfounded claims about voter fraud, using his legal response to impeachment charges against him in the U.S. Congress as a vehicle for his conspiracy theory. Trump's claim that he was the victim of massive voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election, despite no evidence of it, has not ebbed in the days since he left the White House after spending his last two and a half months in office in a fruitless bid to overturn the results of the election won by Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump's desire to use the Senate impeachment trial to air his fraud claims was a factor in his parting of ways with five lawyers over the weekend, who wanted to focus on constitutional questions, a source familiar with the situation said.
- The Independent
Fox News blasted for coverage of Capitol police officer memorial
CNN, CSpan, and MSNBC all carried rolling live coverage as respect was paid to Officer Brian Sicknick
- National Review
McConnell Urges Caucus to Oppose Mayorkas for Biden DHS Secretary
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Senate Republicans to vote against President Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, blasting Alejandro Mayorkas as an “ethically-compromised partisan lawyer.” “Frankly, his record should foreclose confirmation, even to a lower post,” McConnell said Tuesday in a withering speech on the Senate floor, adding that it is “remarkable that someone with this record is even up for a Cabinet appointment. I’ll be voting against his confirmation and urge our colleagues to do the same.” The Kentucky Republican listed several aspects of Mayorkas’s career that he said make the DHS veteran unworthy of the Cabinet post. “As a high-ranking official in the Obama administration, Mr. Mayorkas did his best to turn U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services into an unethical favor factory for Democratic Party royalty,” McConnell continued. McConnell referenced an inspector general report that discovered Mayorkas had intervened to help several foreign investors connected to high-profile Democrats obtain green cards. Mayorkas previously headed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, where he promoted a “culture of fear and disrespect,” McConnell charged. The Senate GOP leader said he has supported Biden’s other Cabinet nominees up to this point because they are “mainstream” choices, but argued Mayorkas is “something else.” A handful of other Senate Republicans have also voiced concern about Mayorkas’s nomination as DHS chief. “There’s a number of problems with that nomination that we need to talk about,” Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said last week. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Mayorkas’s qualifications “unassailable.” “He is a seven-year veteran of the DHS and has already been confirmed by this chamber three — three — times,” Schumer said. “Like most of President Biden’s Cabinet nominees, his nomination is also history-making: He will be the first Latino and first immigrant to hold the top job at DHS.” The Senate voted to confirm Mayorkas as DHS Secretary Tuesday afternoon in a 56-43 vote. So far, five of Biden’s Cabinet-level nominees have been confirmed: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.