Supreme Court allows challenge to Texas abortion law but leaves it in effect
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that abortion providers in Texas can challenge a state law banning most abortions after six weeks, allowing them to sue at least some state officials in federal court despite the procedural hurdles imposed by the law’s unusual structure. But the Supreme Court refused to block the law in the meantime, saying lower courts should consider the matter. The development was both a minor victory for supporters of abortion rights and a major disappointment to them. They had hoped that the justices would reverse course from a Sept. 1 ruling that had allowed the law, the nation’s most restrictive, to go into effect.
6 more subpoenas issued in House panel’s Jan. 6 investigation
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued six new subpoenas Friday, digging deeper into the rallies that preceded the mob violence and organizers’ meetings with then-President Donald Trump. Among those issued subpoenas Friday included Robert “Bobby” Peede Jr., a former director of the White House advance team, and Max Miller, a former aide, who both met with Trump on Jan. 4 to discuss the rally planned for two days later at the Ellipse. Another is Brian Jack, Trump’s former political affairs director who reached out to several members of Congress to ask them to speak at the Jan. 6 rally.
CDCidentifies 43 omicron infections in 22 states
Forty-three infections with the omicron variant were identified in 22 states during the first eight days of December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday, offering a first glimpse of the variant’s course in the United States. One individual, who was vaccinated, required a brief hospital stay, and there were no deaths. The most common symptoms were cough, fatigue and congestion or a runny nose. The first cases appeared to be mild, but the report warned that “as with all variants, a lag exists between infection and more severe outcomes.” Omicron is believed to be even more transmissible than the delta variant.
Michael Nesmith, the ‘Quiet Monkee,’ dead at 78
Michael Nesmith, who rocketed to fame as the contemplative, wool-cap-wearing member of the Monkees in 1966, then went on to a diverse career that included making one of the rock era’s earliest music videos and winning the first Grammy Award for video, died Friday at his home in Carmel Valley, California. He was 78. Jason Elzy, head of public relations for Rhino Records, the label that represents the Monkees, said the cause was heart failure. Nesmith was a struggling 23-year-old singer and songwriter when he saw an advertisement in Variety seeking “four insane boys” for “acting roles in new TV series.”
Prosecution rests in sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell
Prosecutors completed presenting their case against Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday, after a key accuser at the British socialite’s sex-abuse trial testified that Maxwell and her companion, Jeffrey Epstein, forced themselves on her when she was just 16. Three others have asserted at the trial that began two weeks ago that Maxwell recruited them to give Epstein massages meant as a ruse for sexual abuse. Maxwell, 59, has denied charges she groomed underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019. Her lawyers say the government is making her a scapegoat for alleged sex crimes committed by her onetime boyfriend and moved immediately for a judgment of acquittal after prosecutors rested Friday afternoon.
New York’s COVID surge is back — and so is its mask mandate
Facing a cold-weather surge in COVID-19 infections, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday that masks will be required in all indoor public places unless the businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement. Hochul said the decision to reinstitute a mask mandate was based on a rising number of cases and hospitalizations, which has been especially pronounced in parts of upstate New York. New York enacted a mask mandate at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 that ended in June 2021 for vaccinated individuals. New York joins several states with similar indoor mask mandates, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada and Hawaii.
Vaccine mandates rekindle fierce debate over civil liberties
In England, the prime minister talks about compulsory vaccinations, six months after proclaiming “Freedom Day” from restrictions. In Germany, the new chancellor has endorsed barring unvaccinated people from much of public life. In Austria, the unvaccinated will remain confined to their homes, even after the government lifts a lockdown Sunday. Across Europe’s democracies, the latest wave of the pandemic is prompting governments to reimpose sweeping restrictions on free movement and mixing in their societies. Only this time, many of the rules single out the unvaccinated. That has stirred street protests and rekindled a debate over how much countries should curtail individual liberties in the name of public health.
Nobel-winning journalists call for social media accountability and denounce war talk
The two journalists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — Maria Ressa, 58, of the Philippines, and Dmitri Muratov, 60, of Russia — used their acceptance speeches Friday to express alarm about the threats to democracies and to call for greater accountability for social media companies that Ressa said are dividing and radicalizing societies. The journalists’ speeches contained dire warnings that the world is headed toward more violence and misery without a renewed commitment to democracy and the values connected to it: truth, peace and human rights. Ressa and Muratov were the first journalists to receive the Nobel Peace Prize since 1935.
Death toll hits 54 in migrant truck crash in Mexico
The Guatemalan teenager said he had been packed with more than 150 fellow migrants for hours, some choking on the southern Mexico heat. Then the speeding tractor-trailer started to fishtail uncontrollably, said the teenager, Esvin Chipel Tzoy. Within seconds, the vehicle flipped and crashed, the deadliest single-day disaster in many years to befall Central American migrants who attempt the perilous route through Mexico to the United States. Mexico officials said at least 54 people had been killed and 106 hospitalized in the Thursday crash. They attributed the disaster to excessive speed and said the driver, who may have passed undetected through immigration checkpoints, escaped after the crash.
By wire sources
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