Biden Urges Calm as He Steps Up Omicron Fight
President Joe Biden accelerated his administration’s coronavirus response Tuesday amid a surge in cases from a highly contagious variant, telling anxious Americans that “we should all be concerned about omicron, but not panicked.” In a White House address, Biden said the government will buy a half-billion rapid coronavirus tests and distribute them free to Americans, create new vaccination and testing sites, and send 1,000 military medical professionals to help hospitals nationwide. The president said military troops will begin arriving in Wisconsin and Indiana this week to aid health care workers at hospitals, and he said the first of the new testing sites will open in New York within days.
Hospitals Scramble as Antibody Treatments Fail Against Omicron
Hospitals, drug companies and Biden administration officials are racing to address one of the omicron variant’s biggest threats: Two of the three monoclonal antibody treatments that doctors have depended on to keep COVID-19 patients from becoming seriously ill do not appear to thwart the latest version of the coronavirus. The one such treatment that has performed well against omicron, sotrovimab, made by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, is so scarce that many doctors and hospitals have already run through their supplies. The Biden administration is in talks with GlaxoSmithKline about securing more doses to be delivered by early next year, a senior administration official said.
Flynn Sues Jan. 6 Committee as House Republican Rebuffs Investigators
Two allies of former President Donald Trump took steps Tuesday to try to stonewall the House committee investigating the Capitol attack. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, filed a lawsuit against the panel, and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., refused to meet with investigators. Flynn filed suit in Florida, trying to block the committee’s subpoenas. The panel has said it wants information from Flynn because he attended a meeting in the Oval Office on Dec. 18 in which participants discussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency, invoking certain national security emergency powers and continuing to spread the false idea that the election was tainted by widespread fraud.
Man Sentenced to 3 Years Over Threats to Journalists and Politicians
A California man who pleaded guilty to threatening dozens of people, including journalists and members of Congress, for saying former President Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election was sentenced Monday to three years in prison. Robert Lemke, 36, sent text and voice messages to about 50 people between November 2020 and early January. Several messages warned elected officials and reporters to stop telling the public that Joe Biden had won the election and said Lemke and others were “armed,” federal prosecutors said. The case is among several in which Trump supporters have been charged with threatening public figures for rejecting the false narrative that Trump won the election.
Designed to Prepare for Cyberattacks, a Panel Wraps Up Its Work
A commission created by Congress to develop a more strategic approach to defending against cyberattacks turns out the lights Tuesday, ending 2 1/2 years of work on policy recommendations, legislative pushes and warnings about malware, ransomware and other threats. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which released its first recommendations in March 2020, shuts down with notable successes. Among them are the creation of a national cyber director in the White House and measures to strengthen the powers of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as provisions in this year’s defense bill, including requirements for revised response plans and more exercises and drills for government officials.
2 Ship Officers Plead Guilty to Light Charges in Mauritius Oil Spill
The captain and first officer of a ship that hit a coral reef and spilled toxic fuel off the coast of Mauritius last year in the worst environmental disaster in the island nation’s recent history pleaded guilty Monday to endangering safe navigation. The spill destroyed the livelihoods of fishermen and tourism workers and threatened biodiversity hot spots. But the charges — for conduct “likely to endanger the safe navigation of the ship or to cause interference or annoyance to the other persons on board” — are among the lightest criminal ones under Mauritian law, and the two are likely to be freed soon, the lawyer for one of the men said.
Libya’s Long-Awaited Election Will Most Likely Be Delayed
Nearly 100 candidates declared they were running for president, a few of them among the most prominent in Libyan politics. More than one-third of Libyans registered to vote, and most signaled their intention to cast ballots. Western leaders and United Nations officials had thrown their support behind the election, one they said represented the best hope of reunifying and pacifying a country still largely divided in two and dazed from nearly a decade of internecine fighting. But with just a few days to go, the vote looks virtually sure to be postponed as questions swirl about the legitimacy of major candidates and the election’s legal basis.
British Court Orders Dubai Ruler to Pay 554 Million Pounds in Custody Settlement
London’s High Court has ordered the ruler of Dubai to pay his ex-wife and their two children more than 554 million pounds, according to court documents released Tuesday that said he posed “grave risk” to their safety. The documents detail a custody settlement, dated Nov. 19, that appears to be one of the largest in British history, equivalent to about $734 million. The settlement also appears to resolve a two-year court battle between Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, who fled to London in 2019, seeking political asylum and a divorce.
Harvard professor found guilty of hiding ties to China
A Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program was found guilty on all counts Tuesday.Charles Lieber, 62, the former chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of making false statements, and two counts of failing to file reports for a foreign bank account in China. The jury deliberated for about two hours and 45 minutes before announcing the verdict following five days of testimony in Boston federal court.
