Patient in goundbreaking heart transplant dies
The first person to have his failing heart replaced with that of a genetically altered pig in a groundbreaking operation died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the transplant surgery. David Bennett Sr., who lived in Maryland, was 57. He had severe heart disease, and had agreed to receive the experimental pig’s heart after he was rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human heart. It was unclear whether his body had rejected the foreign organ. “There was no obvious cause identified at the time of his death,” a hospital spokeswoman said.
Biden takes step toward regulating cryptocurrencies
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday directing the federal government to come up with a plan to regulate cryptocurrencies, recognizing their popularity and potential to destabilize traditional finance. The order, under development for months, will coordinate efforts among financial regulators to better understand the risks and opportunities presented by digital assets, particularly in the areas of consumer protection, national security and illicit finance. The move, according to the Biden administration, is a response to the “explosive growth” in digital assets, the increasing number of countries exploring central bank digital currencies and a desire to maintain the U.S.’ technological leadership.
After Ottawa, trucker convoy near Washington is a low-key protest
When a convoy of trucks pulled out of California last month, rolling toward the U.S. capital just days after police in Canada cracked down on truckers occupying Ottawa, Washington braced for their arrival. The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning, and members of the National Guard were deployed, along with hundreds of city police officers. But this week, when the caravan of semis that had assembled in protest of vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions reached the capital, downtown Washington was business as usual. The convoy’s organizers say it is early, that their restraint has been strategic and that protesters are in it for the long haul.
Yoon Suk-yeol, SKorean conservative leader, wins presidency
A graft prosecutor turned opposition leader has won an extremely close presidential election in South Korea, defeating Lee Jae-myung of the governing Democratic Party and reinstating conservatives to power with calls for a more confrontational stance against North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. With 98% of the votes counted, the opposition leader, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading by a margin of 263,000 votes, or 0.8 percentage points, when his opponent conceded early Thursday. It was South Korea’s tightest race since it began holding free presidential elections in 1987. Yoon will succeed President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May.
Austria does a U-turn on mandatory vaccinations
Four months ago, Austria announced plans to become the first Western democracy to impose a general vaccine mandate to fight the coronavirus, a measure that would have hit adults who refused to be inoculated with fines of up to 3,600 euros (about $4,000). Karoline Edtstadler, the minister responsible for Austria’s constitutional affairs, said the country was doing a U-turn on its policy. The mandate officially took effect early last month, but enforcement was not scheduled to begin until next Tuesday. Now it will be temporarily suspended, although the legal framework will be kept in place in case another, more dangerous variant became dominant.
Hong Kong’s COVID crackdown stirs panic
As the government in Hong Kong struggles to contain the city’s worst COVID outbreak ever, some residents have panicked. Their anxiety is not just about the explosion of infections, but also about what the government will do next. Under pressure to eliminate infections, Hong Kong officials have vowed to test all 7.4 million residents. Such an operation would require restricting people’s movements, but the government has been ambiguous about whether it would impose a lockdown. Just the possibility of one, however, set off the run on groceries and other supplies. The city’s fatality rate from the virus is currently among the world’s highest, at 3 per 100,000 residents.
Did Amazon violate federal laws? Lawmakers ask for DOJ probe
Lawmakers followed through Wednesday on their threat to seek a criminal investigation of Amazon, asking the Justice Department to investigate whether the tech giant and senior executives obstructed Congress or violated other federal laws in testimony on its competition practices. The House Judiciary Committee escalated the bipartisan battle against the world’s biggest online retailer with a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland referring the case for a criminal inquiry. Amazon engaged in misleading conduct that appeared designed to “influence, obstruct or impede” the antitrust subcommittee’s 2019-20 investigation into the market dominance of Big Tech, the letter says.
By wire sources