‘Stealth’ variant
no cause for alarm, but could slow
case decline
In recent days, headlines about a “stealth” omicron variant have conjured the notion that a villainous new form of the coronavirus is secretly creating a disastrous new wave of COVID-19. That scenario is highly unlikely, scientists say. But the new variant, which goes by the scientific name BA.2 and is one of three branches of the omicron viral family, could drag out the omicron surge in much of the world. BA.2 doesn’t appear to cause more severe disease, and vaccines are just as effective against it as they are against other forms of omicron. But it does show signs of spreading more readily.
Trump says he would consider pardons
for Jan. 6 defendants if elected
Donald Trump said Saturday that if elected to a new term as president, he would consider pardoning those prosecuted for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year. He also called on his supporters to mount protests in Atlanta and New York if prosecutors in those cities, who are investigating him and his businesses, took action against him. The promise to consider pardons is the furthest Trump has gone in expressing support for the Jan. 6 defendants. “If I run and I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” he said, addressing a crowd at a fairground outside Houston that appeared to number in the tens of thousands.
In icy conditions, the Northeast starts digging out
In Stoughton, Massachusetts, 20 miles south of Boston, homeowners took to their driveways Sunday morning with shovels, snowblowers and a little civic pride. Excavating cars that could hardly be seen under mountainous piles of dense snow, Stoughton residents faced the chilly task of digging out from a record-breaking winter storm, but at least they had some bragging rights. Stoughton saw the most snowfall — 30.9 inches — of any city or town in the Northeast during the storm. For Stoughton and other municipalities across the Northeast, Sunday was a recovery day after a fierce storm with high winds pummeled them over the weekend, bringing more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the region.
University mistakenly tells 5,500 students they won huge scholarships
Oakland University — where the campus extends into two cities, Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Rochester Hills, Michigan, each about 30 miles from Detroit — said it mistakenly told 5,500 incoming students that they had won scholarships valued at $48,000 over four years. In-state students pay about $58,000 in tuition over four years, with room and board costing an additional $11,192 a year, according to the university. The university told students in a follow-up email, “Because you are not a recipient of the Platinum Presidential Scholar Award, this message was unfortunately sent to you in error.” Brian Bierley, a spokesperson for the university, said in a statement that the mistake was “due to human error.”
US allies retake control of prison
in Syria, subduing
IS fighters
Kurdish-led forces regained full control of a prison in northeastern Syria on Sunday after a battle that spread to neighborhoods in the most intense urban combat involving U.S. soldiers in Iraq or Syria since the self-declared Islamic State caliphate fell in 2019. “We announce the end of the sweep campaign in al-Sinaa Prison in Ghweran neighborhood in Hasaka and the end of the last pockets in which ISIS mercenaries were holed up,” the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish militia, said in a statement, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group. The U.S. Special Operations Joint Task Force said the militia had cleared the prison of “active enemy fighters.”
UAE intercepts Yemen missile
as Israeli
president visits
The United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels early Monday as the Israeli president visited the country, authorities said, the third such attack in recent weeks. The attack amid President Isaac Herzog’s visit only fuels the ongoing tensions affecting the wider Persian Gulf, which has seen a series of attacks as Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers collapsed and Yemen’s yearslong war raged.
Rain-fed landslides, flooding kill at least 19 in Brazil
Landslides and flooding caused by heavy rains killed at least 19 people in Brazil’s most populous state Sunday while high waters forced some 500,000 families from their homes over the weekend, authorities said. Three people from the same family died when a landslide destroyed their house in the city of Embu das Artes, according to the municipal government, while four other people were rescued by firemen. Four children died in Francisco Morato, Sao Paulo state Gov. João Doria said, and the state government said four other people died in Franco da Rocha. Deaths also were reported in Ribeirão Preto and Jaú.
Spotify to add advisories to podcasts discussing COVID-19
Following protests of Spotify kicked off by Neil Young over the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, the music streaming service said that it will add content advisories before podcasts discussing the virus. In a post Sunday, Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek laid out more transparent platform rules given the backlash stirred by Young, who on Wednesday had his music removed from Spotify after the tech giant declined to get rid of episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which has been criticized for spreading virus misinformation. Ek said that the advisories will link to Spotify’s fact-based COVID-19 hub in what he described as a “new effort to combat misinformation.” It will roll out in the coming days, Ek said. He did not specifically reference Rogan or Young.
By wire sources
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