US and Russian officials will take part in security talks on January 10 as the countries confront rising tensions over a military build-up around Ukraine.

US, Russian officials set for security talks on January 10

Poland's President Andrzej Duda announced his decision to veto a controversial media bill which aims to strictly regulate US own news channel TVN24.

Poland President Andrzej Duda vetoes media bill, seeks to calm US fears

A poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov has found that 62% of unvaccinated Americans have no plans of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Poll reveals 62% of unvaccinated Americans intend to not receive COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 cases surged in New York City and across the United States over the weekend, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season. The fast-spreading Omicron variant has become dominant in the US.

Omicron variant drives surge in COVID-19 cases across US, Fauci vows more testing

US department of Defence is working on a plan to provide real time intelligence information to Ukraine. This move aims to help Ukraine rapidly respond to a possible Russian invasion.

US plans to provide real time intelligence information to Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Russian diplomats, along with military officials will take part in talks with the US next month. He said that talks will focus on list of security guarantees that Russia wants from the US. Lavrov made the comments in an interview. It was livestreamed on his ministry's website.

Lavrov said that the talks would take place immediately after Russia's new year holidays. January 10 is the first official day of working in new year in Russia.

West is alarmed over Russia's buildup of troops along Ukraine border. Though Russia says it will not invade Ukraine, it is constantly saying that it is facing threat from its neighbour. This is perceived by many as Russian attempts to create a pretext for inavsion.

Russia is fiercely opposed to Ukraine's inclusion in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this stance in media interaction few days ago.

On Sunday, it was reported by Russia's Tass news agency that the country was considering a proposal for dialogue it received from NATO. This proposal is separate from any that may pertain to Russian talks with the US. As per the report, NATO proposal suggested that the talks begin on January 12.

Last week, Russia unveiled its wish list of security proposals. The list includes demand that NATO give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

The United States, the European Union and the Group of Seven have all warned Putin that he will face "massive consequences" including tough economic sanctions in the event of any new Russian aggression.

(With inputs from agencies)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Russian diplomats, along with military officials will take part in talks with the US next month. He said that talks will focus on list of security guarantees that Russia wants from the US.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Russian diplomats, along with military officials will take part in talks with the US next month. He said that talks will focus on list of security guarantees that Russia wants from the US. Lavrov made the comments in an interview. It was livestreamed on his ministry's website. Lavrov said that the talks would take place immediately after Russia's new year holidays. January 10 is the first official day of working in new year in Russia. West is alarmed over Russia's buildup of troops along Ukraine border. Though Russia says it will not invade Ukraine, it is constantly saying that it is facing threat from its neighbour. This is perceived by many as Russian attempts to create a pretext for inavsion. Russia is fiercely opposed to Ukraine's inclusion in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this stance in media interaction few days ago. On Sunday, it was reported by Russia's Tass news agency that the country was considering a proposal for dialogue it received from NATO. This proposal is separate from any that may pertain to Russian talks with the US. As per the report, NATO proposal suggested that the talks begin on January 12. Last week, Russia unveiled its wish list of security proposals. The list includes demand that NATO give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. The United States, the European Union and the Group of Seven have all warned Putin that he will face "massive consequences" including tough economic sanctions in the event of any new Russian aggression. (With inputs from agencies)

US-Russia talks to begin next month: Lavrov

A unique and lucrative challenge has come up for couples in the US. In it, the winners stand a chance to earn $25,000. But they will have to ditch internet-based technology for a month. &nbsp;

The challenge, which has been brought by Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur, is named "Kahlúa Stir Up Your Routine." &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-several-santas-ditch-reindeer-celebrate-christmas-with-surfboard-in-us-440378" hreflang="en">Watch: Several Santas ditch reindeer, celebrate Christmas with surfboard in US</a>

The 30-day break from technology can be refreshing for some and impossible for some. Before claiming the cash winnings, the winners of the grand prize will also have to pass a polygraph test. &nbsp;

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Need some ‘new year, new me’ motivation? How does the chance to win $25k sound…👀 
 
We are challenging one couple to go internet-free for 30 nights &amp; stir up their routine with the help of our Kahlúa kit for a chance to win $25k. 
 
Enter here👉 <a href="https://t.co/RQohf3ztk4">https://t.co/RQohf3ztk4</a> <a href="https://t.co/TnvAfLOGPm">pic.twitter.com/TnvAfLOGPm</a>
— Kahlúa (@Kahlua) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kahlua/status/1468272893381513216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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As per the rules of the contest, the test will be conducted by a "sponsor-appointed representative to confirm their participation and engagement in the sponsor-provided activities and verify that they completed the requirement to be ‘internet and social media free’ in a manner acceptable by sponsor during the designated time period for each of the 30 nights of the challenge." &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/on-christmas-50-vehicles-pile-up-in-major-crash-at-snowy-us-stretch-say-reports-440111" hreflang="en">On Christmas, 50 vehicles pile-up in major crash at snowy US stretch, say reports</a>

The company said it’s coming up with this challenge as nearly half of Americans "admit" that they spend "five to six hours on their phones daily," which it claimed is equal to nine years spent on mobile devices. &nbsp;

The coffee liqueur looks to encourage couples to spend more time with each other in the challenge. The registration for it will end on January 2, 2022, at 11:59 pm EST. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A unique and lucrative challenge has come up for couples in the US. In it, the winners stand a chance to earn $25,000. But they will have to ditch internet-based technology for a month.

A unique and lucrative challenge has come up for couples in the US. In it, the winners stand a chance to earn $25,000. But they will have to ditch internet-based technology for a month. The challenge, which has been brought by Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur, is named "Kahlúa Stir Up Your Routine." Also Read: Watch: Several Santas ditch reindeer, celebrate Christmas with surfboard in US The 30-day break from technology can be refreshing for some and impossible for some. Before claiming the cash winnings, the winners of the grand prize will also have to pass a polygraph test. Need some ‘new year, new me’ motivation? How does the chance to win $25k sound…👀 We are challenging one couple to go internet-free for 30 nights & stir up their routine with the help of our Kahlúa kit for a chance to win $25k. Enter here👉 https://t.co/RQohf3ztk4 pic.twitter.com/TnvAfLOGPm — Kahlúa (@Kahlua) December 7, 2021 × As per the rules of the contest, the test will be conducted by a "sponsor-appointed representative to confirm their participation and engagement in the sponsor-provided activities and verify that they completed the requirement to be ‘internet and social media free’ in a manner acceptable by sponsor during the designated time period for each of the 30 nights of the challenge." Also Read: On Christmas, 50 vehicles pile-up in major crash at snowy US stretch, say reports The company said it’s coming up with this challenge as nearly half of Americans "admit" that they spend "five to six hours on their phones daily," which it claimed is equal to nine years spent on mobile devices. The coffee liqueur looks to encourage couples to spend more time with each other in the challenge. The registration for it will end on January 2, 2022, at 11:59 pm EST. (With inputs from agencies)

A $25,000-challenge for couples has come up in US. Know how to win it?

I will leave the savvy political analysis to others. I don’t know why Sen. Joe Manchin apparently decided to go back on an explicit promise he made to President Joe Biden. Naïvely, I thought that even in this era of norm-breaking, honoring a deal you have just made would be one of the last norms to go, since a reputation for keeping your word once given is useful even to highly cynical politicians. I also do not know what, if anything, can be saved from the Build Back Better framework.

What I do know is that there will be huge human and, yes, economic costs if Biden’s moderate but crucial spending plans fall by the wayside.

Failure to enact a decent social agenda would condemn millions of American children to poor health and low earnings in adulthood — because that is what growing up in poverty does. It would condemn millions more to inadequate medical care and financial ruin if they got ill, because that is what happens when people lack adequate health insurance. It would condemn hundreds of thousands, maybe more, to unnecessary illness and premature death from air pollution, even aside from the intensified risk of climate catastrophe.

I am not speculating here. There is overwhelming evidence that children in low-income families who receive financial aid are significantly healthier and more productive than those who didn’t once they become adults. Uninsured Americans often lack access to needed medical care and face unaffordable bills. And studies show that policies to mitigate climate change will also yield major health benefits from cleaner air over the next decade.

As an aside, it is not clear how many Americans realize the extent to which we are falling behind other nations in terms of meeting basic human needs. For example, I still keep running into people who believe that we have the world’s highest life expectancy, when the reality is that we can expect to live between three and five fewer years than citizens of most European countries.

There are also, by the way, large and growing gaps between U.S. states. In 1979, life expectancy in West Virginia was only about 14 months shorter than in New York; by 2016, the gap had widened to six years. And yes, Manchin’s home state would benefit immensely from the social spending its Democratic senator seems determined to block.

The weakness of the U.S. social safety net also has economic consequences. It is true that we still have high gross domestic product per capita — but that is largely because Americans take far less vacation time than their counterparts abroad, which means that they produce more because they work more hours. In other ways we lag. Even before the pandemic, Americans in their prime working years were less likely to be employed than citizens of Canada or many European countries, probably in part because we do not help adults stay in the workforce by providing child care and parental leave.

But can we afford to make our lives better? One answer is that other rich countries seem to manage it just fine. Another answer is that Manchin’s objections to the proposed legislation evaporate under scrutiny.

Manchin asserted that the Congressional Budget Office determined that the cost of the bill is “upwards of $4.5 trillion.” No, it didn’t. That was a Republican-demanded estimate of outlays — not the considerably smaller impact on the deficit — under the assumption that everything in the legislation would be made permanent, which isn’t what the bill says. And if Congress did vote to extend programs like the child tax credit, it would probably also vote for revenue offsets. The budget office analysis of the legislation as actually written — which found it roughly deficit-neutral — is a much better guide to its likely fiscal impact than this rigged hypothetical.

As for Manchin’s claim that we have a “staggering” national debt, maybe it is worth noting that federal interest payments as a percentage of GDP are only half what they were under Ronald Reagan, and that if you adjust for inflation — as you should — they are basically zero.

What about inflation? The proposed spending in Build Back Better is spread over multiple years, so it wouldn’t do a lot to raise overall demand in the near term — the first-year addition to the deficit would be just 0.6% of GDP, which isn’t enough to make much difference to inflation in any model I know. Besides, the Federal Reserve has just made it clear that it is ready to raise interest rates if inflation does not subside, so government spending should matter even less.

As I said, I am not going to try to analyze Manchin’s thought processes, and I will leave it to others to speculate about his personal motives. What I can say is that the letter he released to explain why he said what he said on Fox News doesn’t read like a carefully worked-out policy statement; it doesn’t even read like a coherent ideological manifesto. Indeed, it feels rushed — a grab bag of Republican talking points hastily trotted out in an attempt to justify his abrupt betrayal and to portray himself as a victim.

Sorry, but no. America — not a senator who is taking heat for a broken promise — is the victim in this story.

I will leave the savvy political analysis to others. I don’t know why Sen. Joe Manchin apparently decided to go back on an explicit promise he made to President Joe Biden.

I will leave the savvy political analysis to others. I don’t know why Sen. Joe Manchin apparently decided to go back on an explicit promise he made to President Joe Biden. Naïvely, I thought that even in this era of norm-breaking, honoring a deal you have just made would be one of the last norms to go, since a reputation for keeping your word once given is useful even to highly cynical politicians. I also do not know what, if anything, can be saved from the Build Back Better framework. What I do know is that there will be huge human and, yes, economic costs if Biden’s moderate but crucial spending plans fall by the wayside. Failure to enact a decent social agenda would condemn millions of American children to poor health and low earnings in adulthood — because that is what growing up in poverty does. It would condemn millions more to inadequate medical care and financial ruin if they got ill, because that is what happens when people lack adequate health insurance. It would condemn hundreds of thousands, maybe more, to unnecessary illness and premature death from air pollution, even aside from the intensified risk of climate catastrophe. I am not speculating here. There is overwhelming evidence that children in low-income families who receive financial aid are significantly healthier and more productive than those who didn’t once they become adults. Uninsured Americans often lack access to needed medical care and face unaffordable bills. And studies show that policies to mitigate climate change will also yield major health benefits from cleaner air over the next decade. As an aside, it is not clear how many Americans realize the extent to which we are falling behind other nations in terms of meeting basic human needs. For example, I still keep running into people who believe that we have the world’s highest life expectancy, when the reality is that we can expect to live between three and five fewer years than citizens of most European countries. There are also, by the way, large and growing gaps between U.S. states. In 1979, life expectancy in West Virginia was only about 14 months shorter than in New York; by 2016, the gap had widened to six years. And yes, Manchin’s home state would benefit immensely from the social spending its Democratic senator seems determined to block. The weakness of the U.S. social safety net also has economic consequences. It is true that we still have high gross domestic product per capita — but that is largely because Americans take far less vacation time than their counterparts abroad, which means that they produce more because they work more hours. In other ways we lag. Even before the pandemic, Americans in their prime working years were less likely to be employed than citizens of Canada or many European countries, probably in part because we do not help adults stay in the workforce by providing child care and parental leave. But can we afford to make our lives better? One answer is that other rich countries seem to manage it just fine. Another answer is that Manchin’s objections to the proposed legislation evaporate under scrutiny. Manchin asserted that the Congressional Budget Office determined that the cost of the bill is “upwards of $4.5 trillion.” No, it didn’t. That was a Republican-demanded estimate of outlays — not the considerably smaller impact on the deficit — under the assumption that everything in the legislation would be made permanent, which isn’t what the bill says. And if Congress did vote to extend programs like the child tax credit, it would probably also vote for revenue offsets. The budget office analysis of the legislation as actually written — which found it roughly deficit-neutral — is a much better guide to its likely fiscal impact than this rigged hypothetical. As for Manchin’s claim that we have a “staggering” national debt, maybe it is worth noting that federal interest payments as a percentage of GDP are only half what they were under Ronald Reagan, and that if you adjust for inflation — as you should — they are basically zero. What about inflation? The proposed spending in Build Back Better is spread over multiple years, so it wouldn’t do a lot to raise overall demand in the near term — the first-year addition to the deficit would be just 0.6% of GDP, which isn’t enough to make much difference to inflation in any model I know. Besides, the Federal Reserve has just made it clear that it is ready to raise interest rates if inflation does not subside, so government spending should matter even less. As I said, I am not going to try to analyze Manchin’s thought processes, and I will leave it to others to speculate about his personal motives. What I can say is that the letter he released to explain why he said what he said on Fox News doesn’t read like a carefully worked-out policy statement; it doesn’t even read like a coherent ideological manifesto. Indeed, it feels rushed — a grab bag of Republican talking points hastily trotted out in an attempt to justify his abrupt betrayal and to portray himself as a victim. Sorry, but no. America — not a senator who is taking heat for a broken promise — is the victim in this story.

What we lose if we don’t build back better

Britain’s Cairn Energy Plc has withdrawn lawsuits against the Indian government and its entities in the US and UK in the retro tax case.

Cairn Energy withdraws cases from US, UK in retro tax case

US retail sales rose 8.5% during this year's holiday shopping season from November 1 to December 24, powered by soaring e-commerce sales.

US retail sales rise 8.5% in holiday season as online shopping booms

Coronavirus pandemic has changed the world to a great extent. Now, it seems the issues brought in due to the crisis seems to have been threatening the New York’s famed $1 street pizza in the US. &nbsp;

The rising costs of the rent, cheese, oil, wheat and meat coupled with scarcity of pizza boxes and spotty deliveries have forced the owners of eateries to consider hiking the price of the offering.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/on-christmas-50-vehicles-pile-up-in-major-crash-at-snowy-us-stretch-say-reports-440111" hreflang="en">On Christmas, 50 vehicles pile-up in major crash at snowy US stretch, say reports</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

In the city, there are around 1,700 pizzerias. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The existence of the $1 street pizza outlets has always been dependent on fast and high-volume trade. But it is being threatened due to the pandemic. &nbsp;

It seems to be a cause of concern for many New Yorkers, who earn low-income in the costly city. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/santa-clauss-house-in-north-pole-goes-under-hammer-gets-listed-for-1-million-440134" hreflang="en">Santa Claus's 'house' in North Pole goes under hammer, gets listed for $1 million</a>

Abdul Muhammad, owner, 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, which is an eight-location chain in Manhattan, said for the first time since opening in 2001, he may have to raise the price of the slice if costs continue to increase. “I have to think about it because my customers, many of them unemployed and struggling to make rent, can’t afford to pay more,” Muhammad added. &nbsp;

“People in New York love dollar-slice pizza because they’re everywhere around the city and they’re open late. Whenever you need to grab a bite, and don’t know what to have, you can have a slice and you’re good to go,” said NYU data science graduate Bishank Gaglani. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Coronavirus pandemic has changed the world to a great extent. Now, it seems the issues brought in due to the crisis seems to have been threatening the New York’s famed $1 street pizza in the US.

Coronavirus pandemic has changed the world to a great extent. Now, it seems the issues brought in due to the crisis seems to have been threatening the New York’s famed $1 street pizza in the US. The rising costs of the rent, cheese, oil, wheat and meat coupled with scarcity of pizza boxes and spotty deliveries have forced the owners of eateries to consider hiking the price of the offering. Also Read: On Christmas, 50 vehicles pile-up in major crash at snowy US stretch, say reports In the city, there are around 1,700 pizzerias. The existence of the $1 street pizza outlets has always been dependent on fast and high-volume trade. But it is being threatened due to the pandemic. It seems to be a cause of concern for many New Yorkers, who earn low-income in the costly city. Also Read: Santa Claus's 'house' in North Pole goes under hammer, gets listed for $1 million Abdul Muhammad, owner, 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, which is an eight-location chain in Manhattan, said for the first time since opening in 2001, he may have to raise the price of the slice if costs continue to increase. “I have to think about it because my customers, many of them unemployed and struggling to make rent, can’t afford to pay more,” Muhammad added. “People in New York love dollar-slice pizza because they’re everywhere around the city and they’re open late. Whenever you need to grab a bite, and don’t know what to have, you can have a slice and you’re good to go,” said NYU data science graduate Bishank Gaglani. (With inputs from agencies)

Rising costs may slide New York’s famed $1 street pizza off table in US

US department of Defence is working on a plan to provide real time intelligence information to Ukraine. This is according to a NYT report citing sources in the US govt.

US department of Defence works on plan to provide real time intelligence information to Ukraine

Although accidents are common at snowy highways but slowly major pile-ups of crashed vehicles also seem to have been becoming a norm in the bad weather in the US. &nbsp;

In a latest development, around 50 vehicles or more became a part of the pile-up at a stretch of snowy eastbound Interstate 94 in&nbsp;Minnesota state of the United States&nbsp;on Christmas Day. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/over-6000-flights-grounded-globally-over-christmas-weekend-amid-omicron-surge-439999" hreflang="en">Over 6,000 flights grounded globally over Christmas weekend amid Omicron surge</a>

The highway&nbsp;was finally reopened after clearing of vehicles by officials in around three-and-a-half hours, according to the reports. &nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSPcrash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MSPcrash</a> the multi-vehicle crash from earlier today occurred at approx 11:12am on I94 EB near exit77 (Ashby.) There were approx 35-40 vehs that were damaged in this incident &amp; another 30-40 vehs that were involved but no damage (slid off road/etc) no life threat inj &amp; remains
— Sgt. Jesse Grabow (@MSPPIO_NW) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSPPIO_NW/status/1474884998683631617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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It had begun around 11 am on Saturday and the road had been cleared by around 2.30 pm, reported FOX 9 of Minneapolis. &nbsp;

The crash had actually started with just two vehicles and as the collision had blocked the roadway, it led other vehicles to crash after arriving at the spot leading to the major pile-up, Minnesota state troopers told the station. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-horrific-shark-attack-us-male-surfer-loses-life-in-morro-bay-on-christmas-eve-439882" hreflang="en">In horrific shark attack, US male surfer loses life in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve</a>

The pile-up occurred between Fergus Falls and Alexandria in western Minnesota, which lies northwest of the Twin Cities area. &nbsp;

Although no serious injuries or fatalities were reported, a man was sent to hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, said the report. &nbsp;

Many vehicles in the pile-up were semi tractor-trailers, the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis reported. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Although accidents are common at snowy highways but slowly major pile-ups of crashed vehicles also seem to have been becoming a norm in the bad weather in the US.

Although accidents are common at snowy highways but slowly major pile-ups of crashed vehicles also seem to have been becoming a norm in the bad weather in the US. In a latest development, around 50 vehicles or more became a part of the pile-up at a stretch of snowy eastbound Interstate 94 in Minnesota state of the United States on Christmas Day. Also Read: Over 6,000 flights grounded globally over Christmas weekend amid Omicron surge The highway was finally reopened after clearing of vehicles by officials in around three-and-a-half hours, according to the reports. #MSPcrash the multi-vehicle crash from earlier today occurred at approx 11:12am on I94 EB near exit77 (Ashby.) There were approx 35-40 vehs that were damaged in this incident & another 30-40 vehs that were involved but no damage (slid off road/etc) no life threat inj & remains — Sgt. Jesse Grabow (@MSPPIO_NW) December 25, 2021 × It had begun around 11 am on Saturday and the road had been cleared by around 2.30 pm, reported FOX 9 of Minneapolis. The crash had actually started with just two vehicles and as the collision had blocked the roadway, it led other vehicles to crash after arriving at the spot leading to the major pile-up, Minnesota state troopers told the station. Also Read: In horrific shark attack, US male surfer loses life in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve The pile-up occurred between Fergus Falls and Alexandria in western Minnesota, which lies northwest of the Twin Cities area. Although no serious injuries or fatalities were reported, a man was sent to hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, said the report. Many vehicles in the pile-up were semi tractor-trailers, the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis reported. (With inputs from agencies)

On Christmas, 50 vehicles pile-up in major crash at snowy US stretch, say reports

A mother, who had lost her son last year, has been preserving a Christmas tree he had decorated before his death in the United States. It seems to be a memory she wants to preserve for future. &nbsp; &nbsp;

In December last year, 17-year-old Kooper, the son of the woman, had committed suicide, reported Southwest News Service (SWNS). &nbsp; &nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/watch-finally-revolutionary-james-webb-space-telescope-scales-sky-on-christmas-439928" hreflang="en">Watch: Finally, James Webb Space Telescope scales sky on Christmas</a>

The woman, Heather Davis, has been preserving the tree by wrapping it in cellophane to ensure it stays just the way her son had decorated it before his death. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Davis, who lives in Hobbs, New Mexico, unwrapped the tree along with her husband and two children this year. In the process of unwrapping, the decorations of the tree remained intact. &nbsp; &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-horrific-shark-attack-us-male-surfer-loses-life-in-morro-bay-on-christmas-eve-439882" hreflang="en">In shark attack, US male surfer loses life in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve</a>

"Kooper helped me buy and decorate that tree just before he passed away and that's something I'll hold on to forever,” Davis told SWNS. &nbsp;

"Unwrapping it for the first time this year, was emotional but it was nice to feel close to him again. The tree will be staying this way for every Christmas to come, so each year, we can remember our beautiful son," Davis added. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A mother, who had lost her son last year, has been preserving a Christmas tree he had decorated before his death in the United States. It seems to be a memory she wants to preserve for future.

A mother, who had lost her son last year, has been preserving a Christmas tree he had decorated before his death in the United States. It seems to be a memory she wants to preserve for future. In December last year, 17-year-old Kooper, the son of the woman, had committed suicide, reported Southwest News Service (SWNS). Also Read | Watch: Finally, James Webb Space Telescope scales sky on Christmas The woman, Heather Davis, has been preserving the tree by wrapping it in cellophane to ensure it stays just the way her son had decorated it before his death. Davis, who lives in Hobbs, New Mexico, unwrapped the tree along with her husband and two children this year. In the process of unwrapping, the decorations of the tree remained intact. Also Read: In shark attack, US male surfer loses life in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve "Kooper helped me buy and decorate that tree just before he passed away and that's something I'll hold on to forever,” Davis told SWNS. "Unwrapping it for the first time this year, was emotional but it was nice to feel close to him again. The tree will be staying this way for every Christmas to come, so each year, we can remember our beautiful son," Davis added. (With inputs from agencies)

US mother safeguards Christmas tree decorated by son before demise

A far-reaching bill aimed at barring products made with forced labour in China became law after President Joe Biden signed the bill Thursday.

But the next four months — during which the Biden administration will convene hearings to investigate how pervasive forced labour is and what to do about it — will be crucial in determining how far the legislation goes in altering the behaviour of companies that source products from China.

While it is against U.S. law to knowingly import goods made with slave labour, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act shifts the burden of proof to companies from customs officials. Firms will have to proactively prove that their factories, and those of all their suppliers, do not use slavery or coercion.

The law, which passed the House and Senate nearly unanimously, is Washington’s first comprehensive effort to police supply chains that the United States says exploit persecuted minorities, and its impact could be sweeping. A wide range of products and raw materials — such as petroleum, cotton, minerals and sugar — flow from the Xinjiang region of China, where accusations of forced labour proliferate. Those materials are often used in Chinese factories that manufacture products for global companies.

“I anticipate that there will be many companies — even entire industries — that will be taken by surprise when they realize that their supply chains can also be traced back to the Uyghur region,” said Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University in Britain.

If the law is enforced as written, it could force many companies to rework how they do business or risk having products blocked at the U.S. border. Those high stakes are expected to set off a crush of lobbying by companies trying to ease the burden on their industries as the government writes the guidelines that importers must follow.

“Genuine, effective enforcement will most likely mean there will be pushback by corporations and an attempt to create loopholes,” said Cathy Feingold, the international director of the AFL-CIO. “So the implementation will be key.”

Behind-the-scenes negotiations before the bill’s passage provided an early indication of how consequential the legislation could be for some of America’s biggest companies, as business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and brand names like Nike and Coca-Cola worked to limit the bill’s scope.

The Biden administration has labelled the Chinese government’s actions in Xinjiang — including the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, as well as forced conversions, sterilization and arbitrary or unlawful killings — as genocide.

Human rights experts say that Beijing’s policies of moving Uyghurs into farms and factories that feed the global supply chain is an integral part of its repression in Xinjiang, an attempt to assimilate minorities and strip them of their culture and religion.

In a statement last week, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that Biden welcomed the bill’s passage and agreed with Congress “that action can and must be taken to hold the People’s Republic of China accountable for genocide and human rights abuses and to address forced labour in Xinjiang.” She added that the administration would “work closely with Congress to implement this bill to ensure global supply chains are free of forced labour.”

Yet some members of the administration argued behind closed doors that the bill’s scope could overwhelm U.S. regulators and lead to further supply chain disruptions at a time when inflation is accelerating at a nearly 40-year high, according to interviews with more than two dozen government officials, members of Congress and their staff. Some officials also expressed concerns that an aggressive ban on Chinese imports could put the administration’s goals for fighting climate change at risk, given China’s dominance of solar panels and components to make them, people familiar with the discussions said.

John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy for climate change, and Wendy R. Sherman, the deputy secretary of state, separately conveyed some of those concerns in calls to Democratic members of Congress in recent months, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the bill’s lead authors, criticized those looking to limit its impact, saying that companies that want to continue to import products and officials who are reluctant to rock the boat with China “are not just going to give up.” He added, “They’re all going to try to weigh in on how it’s implemented.”

One reason the stakes are so high is because of the critical role that Xinjiang may play in many supply chains. The region, twice the size of Texas, is rich in raw materials like coal and oil and crops like tomatoes, lavender and hops; it is also a significant producer of electronics, sneakers and clothing. By some estimates, it provides one-fifth of the world’s cotton and 45% of the world’s polysilicon, a key ingredient for solar panels.

Xinjiang’s substantial presence in the solar supply chain has been a key source of tension in the Biden administration, which is counting on solar power to help the United States reach its goal of significantly cutting carbon emissions by the end of the decade.

In meetings this year, Biden administration officials weighed how difficult it would be for importers to bypass Xinjiang and relocate supply chains for solar goods and other products, according to three government officials. Officials from the Labor Department and the United States trade representative were more sympathetic to a far-reaching ban on Xinjiang goods, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Some officials in charge of climate, energy and the economy argued against a sweeping ban, saying it would wreak havoc on supply chains or compromise the fight against climate change, those people said.

Ana Hinojosa, who was the executive director of Customs and Border Protection and led the government’s enforcement of forced labour provisions until she left the post in October, said that agencies responsible for “competing priorities” like climate change had voiced concerns about the legislation’s impact. Companies and various government agencies became nervous that the law’s broad authorities could prove “devastating to the U.S. economy,” she said.

“The need to improve our clean energy is real and important, but not something that the government or the U.S. should do on the backs of people who are working under conditions of modern-day slavery,” Hinojosa added.

In a call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California this year, Kerry conveyed concerns about disrupting solar supply chains while Sherman shared her concerns with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., according to people familiar with the conversations.

Merkley, one of the lead sponsors of the bill, said in an interview that Sherman told him she was concerned the legislation was not duly “targeted and deliberative.” The conversation was first reported by The Washington Post.

“I think this is a targeted and deliberative approach,” Merkley said. “And I think the administration is starting to see how strongly Republicans and Democrats in both chambers feel about this.”

A State Department official said that Sherman did not initiate the call and did not express opposition to the bill. Whitney Smith, a spokesperson for Kerry, said any accusations he lobbied against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act were “false.” Pelosi declined to discuss private conversations.

Nury Turkel, a Uyghur American lawyer who is the vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the United States must “tackle both genocide and ecocide.”

“Policymakers and climate activists are making it a choice between saving the world and turning a blind eye to the enslavement of Uyghurs,” he said. “It is false, and we cannot allow ourselves to be forced into it.”

Administration officials have also argued that the United States can take a strong stance against forced labour while developing a robust solar supply chain. Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that Biden “believes what is going on in Xinjiang is genocide” and that the administration had taken a range of actions to combat human rights abuses in the region, including financial sanctions, visa restrictions, export controls, import restrictions and a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in February.

“We have taken action to hold the PRC accountable for its human rights abuses and to address forced labour in Xinjiang,” Horne said, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. “And we will continue to do so.”

The law highlights the delicate U.S.-China relationship, in which policymakers must figure out how to confront anti-Democratic practices while the United States is economically dependent on Chinese factories. China remains the largest supplier of goods to the United States.

One of the biggest hurdles for U.S. businesses is determining whether their products touched Xinjiang at any point in the supply chain. Many companies complain that beyond their direct suppliers, they lack the leverage to demand information from the Chinese firms that manufacture raw materials and parts.

Government restrictions that bar foreigners from unfettered access to sites in Xinjiang have made it difficult for many businesses to investigate their supply chains. New Chinese anti-sanctions rules, which threaten penalties against companies that comply with U.S. restrictions, have made vetting even more difficult.

The Chinese government denies forced labour is used in Xinjiang. Zhao Lijian, a government spokesperson, said U.S. politicians were “seeking to contain China and hold back China’s development through political manipulation and economic bullying in the name of ‘human rights.’” He promised a “resolute response” if the bill became law.

Lawmakers struggled over the past year to reconcile a more aggressive House version of the legislation with one in the Senate, which gave companies longer timelines to make changes and stripped out the SEC reporting requirement, among other differences.

The final bill included a mechanism to create lists of entities and products that use forced labour or aid in the transfer of persecuted workers to factories around China. Businesses like Apple had lobbied for the creation of such lists, believing they would provide more certainty for businesses seeking to avoid entities of concern.

A far-reaching bill aimed at barring products made with forced labour in China became law after President Joe Biden signed the bill Thursday. But the next four months — during which the Biden administration will convene hearings to investigate how pervasive forced labour is and what to do about it — will be crucial in determining how far the legislation goes in altering the behaviour of companies that source products from China.

A far-reaching bill aimed at barring products made with forced labour in China became law after President Joe Biden signed the bill Thursday. But the next four months — during which the Biden administration will convene hearings to investigate how pervasive forced labour is and what to do about it — will be crucial in determining how far the legislation goes in altering the behaviour of companies that source products from China. While it is against U.S. law to knowingly import goods made with slave labour, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act shifts the burden of proof to companies from customs officials. Firms will have to proactively prove that their factories, and those of all their suppliers, do not use slavery or coercion. The law, which passed the House and Senate nearly unanimously, is Washington’s first comprehensive effort to police supply chains that the United States says exploit persecuted minorities, and its impact could be sweeping. A wide range of products and raw materials — such as petroleum, cotton, minerals and sugar — flow from the Xinjiang region of China, where accusations of forced labour proliferate. Those materials are often used in Chinese factories that manufacture products for global companies. “I anticipate that there will be many companies — even entire industries — that will be taken by surprise when they realize that their supply chains can also be traced back to the Uyghur region,” said Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University in Britain. If the law is enforced as written, it could force many companies to rework how they do business or risk having products blocked at the U.S. border. Those high stakes are expected to set off a crush of lobbying by companies trying to ease the burden on their industries as the government writes the guidelines that importers must follow. “Genuine, effective enforcement will most likely mean there will be pushback by corporations and an attempt to create loopholes,” said Cathy Feingold, the international director of the AFL-CIO. “So the implementation will be key.” Behind-the-scenes negotiations before the bill’s passage provided an early indication of how consequential the legislation could be for some of America’s biggest companies, as business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and brand names like Nike and Coca-Cola worked to limit the bill’s scope. The Biden administration has labelled the Chinese government’s actions in Xinjiang — including the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, as well as forced conversions, sterilization and arbitrary or unlawful killings — as genocide. Human rights experts say that Beijing’s policies of moving Uyghurs into farms and factories that feed the global supply chain is an integral part of its repression in Xinjiang, an attempt to assimilate minorities and strip them of their culture and religion. In a statement last week, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said that Biden welcomed the bill’s passage and agreed with Congress “that action can and must be taken to hold the People’s Republic of China accountable for genocide and human rights abuses and to address forced labour in Xinjiang.” She added that the administration would “work closely with Congress to implement this bill to ensure global supply chains are free of forced labour.” Yet some members of the administration argued behind closed doors that the bill’s scope could overwhelm U.S. regulators and lead to further supply chain disruptions at a time when inflation is accelerating at a nearly 40-year high, according to interviews with more than two dozen government officials, members of Congress and their staff. Some officials also expressed concerns that an aggressive ban on Chinese imports could put the administration’s goals for fighting climate change at risk, given China’s dominance of solar panels and components to make them, people familiar with the discussions said. John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy for climate change, and Wendy R. Sherman, the deputy secretary of state, separately conveyed some of those concerns in calls to Democratic members of Congress in recent months, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the bill’s lead authors, criticized those looking to limit its impact, saying that companies that want to continue to import products and officials who are reluctant to rock the boat with China “are not just going to give up.” He added, “They’re all going to try to weigh in on how it’s implemented.” One reason the stakes are so high is because of the critical role that Xinjiang may play in many supply chains. The region, twice the size of Texas, is rich in raw materials like coal and oil and crops like tomatoes, lavender and hops; it is also a significant producer of electronics, sneakers and clothing. By some estimates, it provides one-fifth of the world’s cotton and 45% of the world’s polysilicon, a key ingredient for solar panels. Xinjiang’s substantial presence in the solar supply chain has been a key source of tension in the Biden administration, which is counting on solar power to help the United States reach its goal of significantly cutting carbon emissions by the end of the decade. In meetings this year, Biden administration officials weighed how difficult it would be for importers to bypass Xinjiang and relocate supply chains for solar goods and other products, according to three government officials. Officials from the Labor Department and the United States trade representative were more sympathetic to a far-reaching ban on Xinjiang goods, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Some officials in charge of climate, energy and the economy argued against a sweeping ban, saying it would wreak havoc on supply chains or compromise the fight against climate change, those people said. Ana Hinojosa, who was the executive director of Customs and Border Protection and led the government’s enforcement of forced labour provisions until she left the post in October, said that agencies responsible for “competing priorities” like climate change had voiced concerns about the legislation’s impact. Companies and various government agencies became nervous that the law’s broad authorities could prove “devastating to the U.S. economy,” she said. “The need to improve our clean energy is real and important, but not something that the government or the U.S. should do on the backs of people who are working under conditions of modern-day slavery,” Hinojosa added. In a call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California this year, Kerry conveyed concerns about disrupting solar supply chains while Sherman shared her concerns with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., according to people familiar with the conversations. Merkley, one of the lead sponsors of the bill, said in an interview that Sherman told him she was concerned the legislation was not duly “targeted and deliberative.” The conversation was first reported by The Washington Post. “I think this is a targeted and deliberative approach,” Merkley said. “And I think the administration is starting to see how strongly Republicans and Democrats in both chambers feel about this.” A State Department official said that Sherman did not initiate the call and did not express opposition to the bill. Whitney Smith, a spokesperson for Kerry, said any accusations he lobbied against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act were “false.” Pelosi declined to discuss private conversations. Nury Turkel, a Uyghur American lawyer who is the vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the United States must “tackle both genocide and ecocide.” “Policymakers and climate activists are making it a choice between saving the world and turning a blind eye to the enslavement of Uyghurs,” he said. “It is false, and we cannot allow ourselves to be forced into it.” Administration officials have also argued that the United States can take a strong stance against forced labour while developing a robust solar supply chain. Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that Biden “believes what is going on in Xinjiang is genocide” and that the administration had taken a range of actions to combat human rights abuses in the region, including financial sanctions, visa restrictions, export controls, import restrictions and a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in February. “We have taken action to hold the PRC accountable for its human rights abuses and to address forced labour in Xinjiang,” Horne said, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. “And we will continue to do so.” The law highlights the delicate U.S.-China relationship, in which policymakers must figure out how to confront anti-Democratic practices while the United States is economically dependent on Chinese factories. China remains the largest supplier of goods to the United States. One of the biggest hurdles for U.S. businesses is determining whether their products touched Xinjiang at any point in the supply chain. Many companies complain that beyond their direct suppliers, they lack the leverage to demand information from the Chinese firms that manufacture raw materials and parts. Government restrictions that bar foreigners from unfettered access to sites in Xinjiang have made it difficult for many businesses to investigate their supply chains. New Chinese anti-sanctions rules, which threaten penalties against companies that comply with U.S. restrictions, have made vetting even more difficult. The Chinese government denies forced labour is used in Xinjiang. Zhao Lijian, a government spokesperson, said U.S. politicians were “seeking to contain China and hold back China’s development through political manipulation and economic bullying in the name of ‘human rights.’” He promised a “resolute response” if the bill became law. Lawmakers struggled over the past year to reconcile a more aggressive House version of the legislation with one in the Senate, which gave companies longer timelines to make changes and stripped out the SEC reporting requirement, among other differences. The final bill included a mechanism to create lists of entities and products that use forced labour or aid in the transfer of persecuted workers to factories around China. Businesses like Apple had lobbied for the creation of such lists, believing they would provide more certainty for businesses seeking to avoid entities of concern.

US effort to combat forced labour targets corporate China ties

In a horrific shark attack, a male surfer lost his life in Morro Bay, California. The incident happened on Christmas Eve, the Morro Bay Harbor Department confirmed to CNN. &nbsp;

In a statement, the Harbor Department said, "Harbor, Police and Fire Departments responded to a report of a male victim unresponsive on the beach after he was pulled from the water suffering from an apparent shark attack." &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/los-angeles-police-ends-up-killing-a-14-year-old-girl-while-shooting-a-male-suspect-439877" hreflang="en">Los Angeles police ends up killing a 14-year-old girl while shooting a male suspect</a>

At 10:48 am PT off Morro Bay State Park beach, the officials located the male surfer, said Harbor Director Eric Endersby. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The victim was declared dead at the spot. &nbsp;

Morro Bay is located around 15 miles west of San Luis Obispo. The victim has been identified by the San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office. &nbsp;&nbsp;

It is making concerted efforts to notify the next of kin before disclosing the name of the victim, Endersby said. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-effort-to-combat-forced-labour-targets-corporate-china-ties-439874" hreflang="en">US effort to combat forced labour targets corporate China ties</a>

Endersby said, "It's a horrible accident. Fortunately, the weather and wind has ruined the surf, so there are not many surfers, but we've closed the waters for safety." &nbsp;

The representatives of the state parks are currently investigating the accident. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Although the beaches remain open in the area, the authorities have directed people to stay out of the water for next 24 hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a horrific shark attack, a male surfer lost his life in Morro Bay, California. The incident happened on Christmas Eve, the Morro Bay Harbor Department confirmed to CNN.

In a horrific shark attack, a male surfer lost his life in Morro Bay, California. The incident happened on Christmas Eve, the Morro Bay Harbor Department confirmed to CNN. In a statement, the Harbor Department said, "Harbor, Police and Fire Departments responded to a report of a male victim unresponsive on the beach after he was pulled from the water suffering from an apparent shark attack." Also Read: Los Angeles police ends up killing a 14-year-old girl while shooting a male suspect At 10:48 am PT off Morro Bay State Park beach, the officials located the male surfer, said Harbor Director Eric Endersby. The victim was declared dead at the spot. Morro Bay is located around 15 miles west of San Luis Obispo. The victim has been identified by the San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office. It is making concerted efforts to notify the next of kin before disclosing the name of the victim, Endersby said. Also Read: US effort to combat forced labour targets corporate China ties Endersby said, "It's a horrible accident. Fortunately, the weather and wind has ruined the surf, so there are not many surfers, but we've closed the waters for safety." The representatives of the state parks are currently investigating the accident. Although the beaches remain open in the area, the authorities have directed people to stay out of the water for next 24 hours. (With inputs from agencies)

In horrific shark attack, US male surfer loses life in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve

&nbsp;A 14-year-old girl, Valentina Orellana-Peralta, from Los Angeles, was fatally shot by the police in the dressing room of a clothing store when the officers were trying to fire at an assault suspect. Los Angeles police department’s assistant chief, Dominic Choi said that the police found her dead in a changing room with her mother after seeing a hole in “a solid wall that you can’t see behind.”

As per the authorities, the bullet went through the wall. However, the suspect was also shot and he has died.

It all started after a man began acting weirdly and threatened to throw items from higher floors. Not only this but he also attacked a woman using a bicycle lock. As of now, the investigators have not found a gun at the scene.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/caller-says-lets-go-brandon-to-biden-on-annual-christmas-calls-439763">Also read |&nbsp;Caller says 'Let's Go Brandon' to Biden on annual Christmas calls</a>

The incident took place at a Burlington store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley.&nbsp;

Chief of police, Michel Moore said, "This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.”

The suspect has not been named as of now.&nbsp;

Investigators are trying to determine if the assault was random or targeted.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

A 14-year-old girl, Valentina Orellana-Peralta, from Los Angeles, was fatally shot by the police in the dressing room of a clothing store when the officers were trying to fire at an assault suspect.

A 14-year-old girl, Valentina Orellana-Peralta, from Los Angeles, was fatally shot by the police in the dressing room of a clothing store when the officers were trying to fire at an assault suspect. Los Angeles police department’s assistant chief, Dominic Choi said that the police found her dead in a changing room with her mother after seeing a hole in “a solid wall that you can’t see behind.” As per the authorities, the bullet went through the wall. However, the suspect was also shot and he has died. It all started after a man began acting weirdly and threatened to throw items from higher floors. Not only this but he also attacked a woman using a bicycle lock. As of now, the investigators have not found a gun at the scene. Also read | Caller says 'Let's Go Brandon' to Biden on annual Christmas calls The incident took place at a Burlington store in the North Hollywood area of the San Fernando Valley. Chief of police, Michel Moore said, "This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.” The suspect has not been named as of now. Investigators are trying to determine if the assault was random or targeted. (With inputs from agencies)

Los Angeles police ends up killing a 14-year-old girl while shooting a male suspect

Is it a good idea for Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024? And, if he runs again and wins, would it be good for the United States to have a president who is 86 — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term?

I put these questions bluntly because they need to be discussed candidly, not just whispered constantly.

In the 1980s, it was fair game for reputable reporters to ask whether Ronald Reagan was too old for the presidency, at a time when he was several years younger than Biden is today. Donald Trump’s apparent difficulty holding a glass and his constricted vocabulary repeatedly prompted unflattering speculation about his health, mental and otherwise. And Biden’s memory lapses were a source of mirth among his Democratic primary rivals, at least until he won the nomination.

Yet it is now considered horrible manners to raise concerns about Biden’s age and health. As if doing so can only play into Trump’s hands. As if the president’s well-being is nobody’s business but his own. As if it doesn’t much matter whether he has the fortitude for the world’s most important job, so long as his aides can adroitly fill the gaps. As if accusations of ageism and a giant shushing sound from media elites can keep the issue off the public's mind.

It won’t do. From some of his public appearances, Biden seems ... uneven. Often cogent, but sometimes alarmingly incoherent. What is the reason? I have no idea. Do his appearances (including the good ones) inspire strong confidence that the president can go the distance in his current term, to say nothing of the next? No.

And many people seem to know it. Recently, my colleagues Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns reported on the Democratic Party’s not-so-quiet murmurs about what to do if Biden decides not to run. Aspirants for the nomination appear in the story like sharks circling a raft, swimming slow.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/caller-says-lets-go-brandon-to-biden-on-annual-christmas-calls-439763">Also read |&nbsp;Caller says 'Let's Go Brandon' to Biden on annual Christmas calls</a>

This is not healthy. Not for the president himself, not for the office he holds, not for the Democratic Party, not for the country.

In 2019, the Biden campaign — cognizant of the candidate’s age — sold him to primary voters as a “transition figure,” the guy whose main purpose was to dethrone Trump and then smooth the way for a fresher Democratic face. Biden never made that promise explicit, but the expectation feels betrayed.

Things might be different if the Biden presidency were off to a great start. It is not. Blame Joe Manchin or Mitch McConnell or the antivaxxers, but Biden’s poll numbers have been deeply underwater since August. The man who once gave his party hope now weighs on his party’s fortunes like a pair of cement shoes.

Things might also be different if it looked like the administration would soon turn the corner. That is the administration’s hope for the mammoth Build Back Better legislation. But last month’s passage of the infrastructure bill didn’t really move the political needle for Biden, and that bill was genuinely popular. Now BBB looms as another costly progressive distraction in a time of surging prices, spiking homicides, resurgent disease, urban decay, a border crisis, a supply-chain crisis and the threat of Iran crossing the nuclear threshold and of Russia crossing the Ukrainian border.

Oh, and Kamala Harris. Her supporters might decry the fact, but to an ever-growing number of Americans, the heir apparent seems lighter than air. Her poll numbers at this point in her term are the worst of those of any vice president in recent history, including Mike Pence’s. If she winds up as her party’s default nominee if Biden pulls out late, Democrats will have every reason to panic.

So what is the president to do? He should announce, much sooner than later, that he will not run for a second term.

The argument against this is that it would instantly turn him into a lame-duck president, and that is no doubt true.

But, news flash: Right now he is worse than a lame duck because potential Democratic successors are prevented from making calls, finding their lanes and appealing for attention. That goes especially for people in the administration who should be powerful contenders: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/latin-american-organisations-urge-us-to-curb-plastic-waste-export-439787">Also read |&nbsp;Latin American organisations urge US to curb plastic waste export</a>

And what would that mean for the rest of the Biden presidency? Far from weakening him, it would instantly allow him to be statesmanlike. And it would be liberating. It would put an end to the endless media speculation. It would inject enthusiasm and interest into a listless Democratic Party. It would let him devote himself wholly to addressing the country’s immediate problems without worrying about reelection.

And it needn’t diminish his presidency. George H.W. Bush accomplished more in four years than his successor accomplished in eight. Greatness is often easier to achieve when good policies aren’t encumbered by clever politics. Biden should think on it — and act soon.

Is it a good idea for Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024? And, if he runs again and wins, would it be good for the United States to have a president who is 86 — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term?

Is it a good idea for Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024? And, if he runs again and wins, would it be good for the United States to have a president who is 86 — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term? I put these questions bluntly because they need to be discussed candidly, not just whispered constantly. In the 1980s, it was fair game for reputable reporters to ask whether Ronald Reagan was too old for the presidency, at a time when he was several years younger than Biden is today. Donald Trump’s apparent difficulty holding a glass and his constricted vocabulary repeatedly prompted unflattering speculation about his health, mental and otherwise. And Biden’s memory lapses were a source of mirth among his Democratic primary rivals, at least until he won the nomination. Yet it is now considered horrible manners to raise concerns about Biden’s age and health. As if doing so can only play into Trump’s hands. As if the president’s well-being is nobody’s business but his own. As if it doesn’t much matter whether he has the fortitude for the world’s most important job, so long as his aides can adroitly fill the gaps. As if accusations of ageism and a giant shushing sound from media elites can keep the issue off the public's mind. It won’t do. From some of his public appearances, Biden seems ... uneven. Often cogent, but sometimes alarmingly incoherent. What is the reason? I have no idea. Do his appearances (including the good ones) inspire strong confidence that the president can go the distance in his current term, to say nothing of the next? No. And many people seem to know it. Recently, my colleagues Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns reported on the Democratic Party’s not-so-quiet murmurs about what to do if Biden decides not to run. Aspirants for the nomination appear in the story like sharks circling a raft, swimming slow. Also read | Caller says 'Let's Go Brandon' to Biden on annual Christmas calls This is not healthy. Not for the president himself, not for the office he holds, not for the Democratic Party, not for the country. In 2019, the Biden campaign — cognizant of the candidate’s age — sold him to primary voters as a “transition figure,” the guy whose main purpose was to dethrone Trump and then smooth the way for a fresher Democratic face. Biden never made that promise explicit, but the expectation feels betrayed. Things might be different if the Biden presidency were off to a great start. It is not. Blame Joe Manchin or Mitch McConnell or the antivaxxers, but Biden’s poll numbers have been deeply underwater since August. The man who once gave his party hope now weighs on his party’s fortunes like a pair of cement shoes. Things might also be different if it looked like the administration would soon turn the corner. That is the administration’s hope for the mammoth Build Back Better legislation. But last month’s passage of the infrastructure bill didn’t really move the political needle for Biden, and that bill was genuinely popular. Now BBB looms as another costly progressive distraction in a time of surging prices, spiking homicides, resurgent disease, urban decay, a border crisis, a supply-chain crisis and the threat of Iran crossing the nuclear threshold and of Russia crossing the Ukrainian border. Oh, and Kamala Harris. Her supporters might decry the fact, but to an ever-growing number of Americans, the heir apparent seems lighter than air. Her poll numbers at this point in her term are the worst of those of any vice president in recent history, including Mike Pence’s. If she winds up as her party’s default nominee if Biden pulls out late, Democrats will have every reason to panic. So what is the president to do? He should announce, much sooner than later, that he will not run for a second term. The argument against this is that it would instantly turn him into a lame-duck president, and that is no doubt true. But, news flash: Right now he is worse than a lame duck because potential Democratic successors are prevented from making calls, finding their lanes and appealing for attention. That goes especially for people in the administration who should be powerful contenders: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu. Also read | Latin American organisations urge US to curb plastic waste export And what would that mean for the rest of the Biden presidency? Far from weakening him, it would instantly allow him to be statesmanlike. And it would be liberating. It would put an end to the endless media speculation. It would inject enthusiasm and interest into a listless Democratic Party. It would let him devote himself wholly to addressing the country’s immediate problems without worrying about reelection. And it needn’t diminish his presidency. George H.W. Bush accomplished more in four years than his successor accomplished in eight. Greatness is often easier to achieve when good policies aren’t encumbered by clever politics. Biden should think on it — and act soon.

Biden should not run again, and he should say he won’t

US President Joe Biden has approved a law to ban imports from Xinjiang. The new law has triggered a backlash against Walmart in China. Chinese citizens are boycotting the retail giant over missing Xinjiang items. Palki Sharma has more.

Gravitas: Why are the Chinese boycotting Walmart

Various Latin American environmental experts and organisations&nbsp;have asked the US to decrease plastic waste exports to the region. The US is the biggest contributor to global plastic waste in the world as it contributed around 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016. Also, a report revealed that the US had doubled exports to some countries in Latin America&nbsp;during the first seven months of 2020.&nbsp;

As per a study by the Last Beach Cleanup, over 75 per cent of imports to the region come to Mexico as it received more than 32,650 tons. El Salvador was second, with 4,054 tons. Ecuador was in the third position third, with 3,665 tons.

Fernanda Solíz, the health area director at the Simón Bolívar University, in a report by The Guardian said, "The cross-border plastic waste trade is perhaps one of the most nefarious expressions of the commercialisation of common goods and the colonial occupation of territories of the geopolitical south to turn them into sacrifice zones."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-scale-deluge-report-reveals-us-is-the-worlds-biggest-plastic-polluter-433451">Also read |&nbsp;'Global scale deluge': Report reveals US is the world's biggest plastic polluter</a>

Meanwhile, a report titled "Reckoning with the US Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste," states that every American generates 130 kg of plastic waste per year.&nbsp;

Accounting to a 20-fold increase over half a century, global plastic production increased from 20 million metric tons in 1966 to 381 million metric tons in 2015.&nbsp;

There are a few nations that are doing their bit to fight against the problem of increasing plastic. For instance, the UK government is planning to ban single-use plastic plates and cutlery and polystyrene cups. France has decided to ban plastic packaging for nearly all fruit and vegetables from January 2022 in a bid to reduce plastic waste, followed by Spain which aims at banning the sale of fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic from 2023.

(With inputs from agencies)

Various Latin American environmental experts and organisations have asked the US to decrease plastic waste exports to the region. The US is the biggest contributor to global plastic waste in the world as it contributed around 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016.

Various Latin American environmental experts and organisations have asked the US to decrease plastic waste exports to the region. The US is the biggest contributor to global plastic waste in the world as it contributed around 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016. Also, a report revealed that the US had doubled exports to some countries in Latin America during the first seven months of 2020. As per a study by the Last Beach Cleanup, over 75 per cent of imports to the region come to Mexico as it received more than 32,650 tons. El Salvador was second, with 4,054 tons. Ecuador was in the third position third, with 3,665 tons. Fernanda Solíz, the health area director at the Simón Bolívar University, in a report by The Guardian said, "The cross-border plastic waste trade is perhaps one of the most nefarious expressions of the commercialisation of common goods and the colonial occupation of territories of the geopolitical south to turn them into sacrifice zones." Also read | 'Global scale deluge': Report reveals US is the world's biggest plastic polluter Meanwhile, a report titled "Reckoning with the US Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste," states that every American generates 130 kg of plastic waste per year. Accounting to a 20-fold increase over half a century, global plastic production increased from 20 million metric tons in 1966 to 381 million metric tons in 2015. There are a few nations that are doing their bit to fight against the problem of increasing plastic. For instance, the UK government is planning to ban single-use plastic plates and cutlery and polystyrene cups. France has decided to ban plastic packaging for nearly all fruit and vegetables from January 2022 in a bid to reduce plastic waste, followed by Spain which aims at banning the sale of fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic from 2023. (With inputs from agencies)

Latin American organisations urge US to curb plastic waste export

A former US police officer Kim Potter has been found guilty of manslaughter in killing of a young African-American man Daunte Wright. Potter said she mistook her gun for her taser during a routine traffic stop.

Ex-US cop Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in the death of an African-American man Daunte Wright

Russian Foreign Minister said he expects negotiations with the US to begin in January next year. Watch this report for more.

United States, Russia to hold talks within weeks

When Congress created a grant program early this year to help battered bars and restaurants survive the pandemic, one thing was immediately clear: The money would not be enough. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund contained $28.6 billion, far below the $100 billion that industry groups estimated was needed.

That made the rules about priority treatment — which were upended midstream by lawsuits from white male business owners who called them unfair — a crucial factor in determining who received relief.

But Small Business Administration records obtained by The New York Times reveal a capricious methodology for determining winners and losers. In the most extreme cases, applicants whom lawmakers intended to favor — women and business owners from certain racial and cultural groups — ended up effectively locked out. And even those unaffected by the litigation found themselves in a race for cash in which later applicants sometimes beat out those who had applied much earlier.

“So many of the people who needed this the most were left out,” said Matt Buskard, the owner of Bobcat Bonnie’s, a small chain in and around Detroit. Three of his locations had six-figure grants approved and then canceled a month later after lawsuits threw the program into turmoil.

The restaurant fund, which the Small Business Administration ran, was intended to be a targeted program with more lucrative aid than earlier efforts, like the agency’s Paycheck Protection Program. It offered grants of up to $10 million to cover the shortfall between pre-pandemic revenue and 2020 sales, minus other relief payments — effectively making the restaurants whole for a lost year.

Heeding the wishes of President Joe Biden, who pledged to put equity at the center of his agenda, lawmakers initially ordered the Small Business Administration to put a priority on applications from women, military veterans and certain racial and cultural groups. But a few weeks after the fund started making awards, court challenges put that to a halt. The agency was then supposed to start awarding grants “in the order in which applications are received.”

That was not what happened.

James Hutton submitted his claim just one minute after the application system opened May 3, seeking $2.4 million for his business, Players Sports Grill &amp;amp; Arcade in San Francisco. At the end of June, his grant was denied.

Rocky Aiyash applied May 24 — the last day the program accepted applications — seeking $1.8 million for Pazzo’s, an Italian restaurant in Chicago’s financial district. His grant was approved.

And agency data received by the Times under a public records request showed other striking irregularities inside a program that approved 101,000 applications and turned away 177,000 other qualified businesses.

More than 60% of the program’s funding — $18 billion — went to businesses run by women, veterans and historically underserved groups, mostly during an initial 21-day exclusivity period. But after court challenges overturned that rule, the approval process went haywire.

Records reviewed by the Times show that hundreds of the 24,000 grants made after the May 26 rule change went to applicants who were supposed to have been bumped to the end of the line. During that same period, the agency canceled at least 3,000 already-approved awards, including Buskard’s.

More than 1,000 successful applicants filed their claims on or after May 19, the day after the agency said the fund had effectively run dry. (Those figures exclude applications from businesses with less than $50,000 in annual sales; a set-aside for tiny companies had cash left until the very end.)

Aiyash was one of the lucky latecomers. He and his business partners opened Pazzo’s in 1999 and kept it running through the Great Recession. The restaurant had up to 60 employees before the pandemic; some had worked there for two decades.

The pandemic forced Pazzo’s to close for sit-down dining for more than a year and mostly wiped out the office worker lunch crowd it relied on. Two Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $340,000 helped a bit, but Aiyash’s outlook was bleak; he did not apply to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund right away because the odds seemed impossibly long.

“I just didn’t believe it was real, to be honest,” he said.

But a friend who had received a grant persuaded him to at least fill out the paperwork, and Aiyash filed his application just hours before the program closed. The grant money showed up in his bank account a week later — a happy surprise that helped Pazzo’s avert a permanent shutdown.

“We would have been gone,” Aiyash said. “There’s not even a question about it.”

So how was Aiyash’s grant approved when more than 100,000 others who had filed earlier were denied?

The Small Business Administration declined to discuss individual applications. But a senior agency official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, acknowledged that some late applications had zipped through the system. Myriad technical reasons affected their speed, the official said.

For example, claims for large sums faced more extensive vetting, and single-location restaurants were less complicated than chains seeking multiple grants for multiple spots, the official said. Perhaps most crucially for Pazzo’s, Aiyash applied using Toast, a restaurant sales software vendor that worked with the Small Business Administration to integrate its system, which significantly simplified the agency’s review.

The agency official compared the very late applications that got funding to a “perfect straight flush” — a wildly unlikely jackpot.

Which is precisely what grated on Hutton, who had applied the moment the fund opened.

“Government assistance shouldn’t be a lottery,” Hutton said.

Hutton spent weeks studying the program’s rules and preparing his paperwork. He viewed the grant as life or death for his business, which began nearly 30 years ago with a bungee trampoline on Pier 39, a popular tourist spot, and eventually encompassed a tiki bar, an arcade and a restaurant.

For nearly four months, his company was fully shut down. Logistics made takeout impractical — the restaurant juts out over the water and is hundreds of feet from a road — and food was never Players’ main selling point anyway. Visitors came for the drinks, the games and the panoramic view of Alcatraz Island.

The $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans that Hutton received made only a small dent in his losses, which reached six figures in some months on rent, insurance and other overhead. It was not until May that the business fully reopened.

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund seemed like a chance at salvation. But after he applied, his application never budged. Hutton made more than a dozen calls to the program’s help hotline; each time, he said, he was told that he simply had to be patient.

The bad news arrived June 30, almost two months after he applied. “Due to overwhelming demand, the SBA was unable to fund all qualified applications,” an email informed him. “Those applicants who have not received funding as of this email will have their applications held within the application platform to allow for processing in the order received if additional funds are provided by Congress.”

Restaurateurs and their advocates are desperate for Congress to act.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and the majority leader, told applicants at forums early this year that the fund would be replenished as needed. On Twitter, he referred to the $28.6 billion allocation as “a down payment.” But a handful of attempts by members of both parties to refill the program have fizzled, and Congress has largely shut down for the year.

“Congress went home, and their neighborhood restaurants and bars are going out of business,” said Erika Polmar, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “The nearly 200,000 restaurants that have applied for but have not yet received the RRF told us they were out of time months ago.”

The rapid spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has added to the urgency. Restaurants teetering on the brink are not sure they can survive another setback.

“Just this week, we had three big corporate holiday parties cancel,” said Catherine Manning, an owner of Villanelle, a farm-to-table restaurant in Manhattan, New York.

Like Buskard, who has sued the Small Business Administration, Manning lost a six-figure award after the agency canceled thousands of undisbursed grants for those in the priority queue.

It was a crippling blow.

“If we’d had the funding, we could have proceeded with confidence and gotten through this winter,” Manning said. “But now we’re going into the slow season, with COVID kicking up again. If we don’t get any help, I don’t know if we’ll be able to continue.”

When Congress created a grant program early this year to help battered bars and restaurants survive the pandemic, one thing was immediately clear: The money would not be enough.

When Congress created a grant program early this year to help battered bars and restaurants survive the pandemic, one thing was immediately clear: The money would not be enough. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund contained $28.6 billion, far below the $100 billion that industry groups estimated was needed. That made the rules about priority treatment — which were upended midstream by lawsuits from white male business owners who called them unfair — a crucial factor in determining who received relief. But Small Business Administration records obtained by The New York Times reveal a capricious methodology for determining winners and losers. In the most extreme cases, applicants whom lawmakers intended to favor — women and business owners from certain racial and cultural groups — ended up effectively locked out. And even those unaffected by the litigation found themselves in a race for cash in which later applicants sometimes beat out those who had applied much earlier. “So many of the people who needed this the most were left out,” said Matt Buskard, the owner of Bobcat Bonnie’s, a small chain in and around Detroit. Three of his locations had six-figure grants approved and then canceled a month later after lawsuits threw the program into turmoil. The restaurant fund, which the Small Business Administration ran, was intended to be a targeted program with more lucrative aid than earlier efforts, like the agency’s Paycheck Protection Program. It offered grants of up to $10 million to cover the shortfall between pre-pandemic revenue and 2020 sales, minus other relief payments — effectively making the restaurants whole for a lost year. Heeding the wishes of President Joe Biden, who pledged to put equity at the center of his agenda, lawmakers initially ordered the Small Business Administration to put a priority on applications from women, military veterans and certain racial and cultural groups. But a few weeks after the fund started making awards, court challenges put that to a halt. The agency was then supposed to start awarding grants “in the order in which applications are received.” That was not what happened. James Hutton submitted his claim just one minute after the application system opened May 3, seeking $2.4 million for his business, Players Sports Grill &amp; Arcade in San Francisco. At the end of June, his grant was denied. Rocky Aiyash applied May 24 — the last day the program accepted applications — seeking $1.8 million for Pazzo’s, an Italian restaurant in Chicago’s financial district. His grant was approved. And agency data received by the Times under a public records request showed other striking irregularities inside a program that approved 101,000 applications and turned away 177,000 other qualified businesses. More than 60% of the program’s funding — $18 billion — went to businesses run by women, veterans and historically underserved groups, mostly during an initial 21-day exclusivity period. But after court challenges overturned that rule, the approval process went haywire. Records reviewed by the Times show that hundreds of the 24,000 grants made after the May 26 rule change went to applicants who were supposed to have been bumped to the end of the line. During that same period, the agency canceled at least 3,000 already-approved awards, including Buskard’s. More than 1,000 successful applicants filed their claims on or after May 19, the day after the agency said the fund had effectively run dry. (Those figures exclude applications from businesses with less than $50,000 in annual sales; a set-aside for tiny companies had cash left until the very end.) Aiyash was one of the lucky latecomers. He and his business partners opened Pazzo’s in 1999 and kept it running through the Great Recession. The restaurant had up to 60 employees before the pandemic; some had worked there for two decades. The pandemic forced Pazzo’s to close for sit-down dining for more than a year and mostly wiped out the office worker lunch crowd it relied on. Two Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $340,000 helped a bit, but Aiyash’s outlook was bleak; he did not apply to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund right away because the odds seemed impossibly long. “I just didn’t believe it was real, to be honest,” he said. But a friend who had received a grant persuaded him to at least fill out the paperwork, and Aiyash filed his application just hours before the program closed. The grant money showed up in his bank account a week later — a happy surprise that helped Pazzo’s avert a permanent shutdown. “We would have been gone,” Aiyash said. “There’s not even a question about it.” So how was Aiyash’s grant approved when more than 100,000 others who had filed earlier were denied? The Small Business Administration declined to discuss individual applications. But a senior agency official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, acknowledged that some late applications had zipped through the system. Myriad technical reasons affected their speed, the official said. For example, claims for large sums faced more extensive vetting, and single-location restaurants were less complicated than chains seeking multiple grants for multiple spots, the official said. Perhaps most crucially for Pazzo’s, Aiyash applied using Toast, a restaurant sales software vendor that worked with the Small Business Administration to integrate its system, which significantly simplified the agency’s review. The agency official compared the very late applications that got funding to a “perfect straight flush” — a wildly unlikely jackpot. Which is precisely what grated on Hutton, who had applied the moment the fund opened. “Government assistance shouldn’t be a lottery,” Hutton said. Hutton spent weeks studying the program’s rules and preparing his paperwork. He viewed the grant as life or death for his business, which began nearly 30 years ago with a bungee trampoline on Pier 39, a popular tourist spot, and eventually encompassed a tiki bar, an arcade and a restaurant. For nearly four months, his company was fully shut down. Logistics made takeout impractical — the restaurant juts out over the water and is hundreds of feet from a road — and food was never Players’ main selling point anyway. Visitors came for the drinks, the games and the panoramic view of Alcatraz Island. The $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans that Hutton received made only a small dent in his losses, which reached six figures in some months on rent, insurance and other overhead. It was not until May that the business fully reopened. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund seemed like a chance at salvation. But after he applied, his application never budged. Hutton made more than a dozen calls to the program’s help hotline; each time, he said, he was told that he simply had to be patient. The bad news arrived June 30, almost two months after he applied. “Due to overwhelming demand, the SBA was unable to fund all qualified applications,” an email informed him. “Those applicants who have not received funding as of this email will have their applications held within the application platform to allow for processing in the order received if additional funds are provided by Congress.” Restaurateurs and their advocates are desperate for Congress to act. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and the majority leader, told applicants at forums early this year that the fund would be replenished as needed. On Twitter, he referred to the $28.6 billion allocation as “a down payment.” But a handful of attempts by members of both parties to refill the program have fizzled, and Congress has largely shut down for the year. “Congress went home, and their neighborhood restaurants and bars are going out of business,” said Erika Polmar, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “The nearly 200,000 restaurants that have applied for but have not yet received the RRF told us they were out of time months ago.” The rapid spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has added to the urgency. Restaurants teetering on the brink are not sure they can survive another setback. “Just this week, we had three big corporate holiday parties cancel,” said Catherine Manning, an owner of Villanelle, a farm-to-table restaurant in Manhattan, New York. Like Buskard, who has sued the Small Business Administration, Manning lost a six-figure award after the agency canceled thousands of undisbursed grants for those in the priority queue. It was a crippling blow. “If we’d had the funding, we could have proceeded with confidence and gotten through this winter,” Manning said. “But now we’re going into the slow season, with COVID kicking up again. If we don’t get any help, I don’t know if we’ll be able to continue.”

How a relief fund for restaurants picked winners and losers

The omicron variant, which is now dominant in the United States and spreading faster than any variant yet, has already pushed daily coronavirus case counts higher than the peak of the recent delta wave. By most estimates, the country is in for a significant winter surge.

Although there are early positive signs out of South Africa and Britain that omicron infections more often result in mild illness than previous variants, officials are warning that the new variant could swiftly overtax the health care system and bring significant disease to many communities.

Omicron is spreading fast.

The highly transmissible variant is causing near-vertical case growth in multiple US&nbsp;cities, with figures doubling about every two to three days. Officials expect it to break records. The high for average daily cases was 251,232, set in January. By some estimates, the United States could reach 1 million cases a day, even before the end of the year.

While omicron’s speed now speaks for itself, scientists are still racing to understand its threat. Preliminary studies out of Scotland and England suggest that infections from the variant could be milder, but scientists caution that omicron infections must be observed in the U.S. population before drawing conclusions.

Even if these early results hold and omicron does cause mostly mild illness, the sheer magnitude of cases it causes could still escalate hospitalisations at a time when many medical centers are already full.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/omicron-update-will-lift-travel-restrictions-on-southern-african-countries-says-us-439672">Also read |&nbsp;Omicron update: Will lift travel restrictions on southern African countries, says US</a>

“When we have millions and millions and millions of people, all sick, all together at one time, it doesn’t take a large percentage of those people to topple over the hospitals,” said Dr. Hallie Prescott, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.

Hospitals are already strained.

Hospitals across the country are close to brimming, their care wards filled with patients who have been ill with delta or delayed treatments for so long during the pandemic that they now need critical care. About 1 in 10 hospital service areas, scattered all over the United States, have had their intensive care units at more than 90% capacity in recent weeks.

“We have patients who are waiting in the emergency department for ICU care, so we are providing ICU care in the emergency department,” said Dr. Dani Hackner, chief clinical officer of the Southcoast Hospital Group in southeastern Massachusetts, which has postponed elective surgeries to relieve pressure on its medical centers.

“I do think the coming month is going to be a very tough month,” he added.

Hospital administrators say nurses and doctors are overwhelmed and exhausted and that staffing shortages are making matters worse. Several states, including Massachusetts, have called on the National Guard to provide extra support, and President Joe Biden recently announced he would direct more military personnel to assist overtaxed hospitals.

Not enough people are boosted, or vaccinated at all.

Public health experts are worried the millions of unvaccinated or not-yet-boosted Americans are vulnerable as omicron spreads. The variant is thought to evade immunity from both vaccination and prior infection, but early research suggests a booster provides the best protection against infection. And vaccination, even without the booster, is expected to maintain strong protection against hospitalisation and death.

Across the United States, nearly 62% of all people have been fully vaccinated and about 19% have received an additional booster dose, though not everyone is eligible yet. The coverage rates vary widely by state, with some of the lowest levels found in the South. The United States overall lags behind many other nations, in part because of vaccine hesitancy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ecuador-becomes-first-country-to-mandate-covid-vaccines-for-children-from-age-of-5-439596">Also read |&nbsp;Ecuador becomes first country to mandate Covid vaccines for children from age of 5</a>

Booster rates are also low because the rollout is just getting started. Adults and teens have been eligible for only a few weeks, and some adults are not aware that the additional shots are strongly recommended.

The Biden administration this week again emphasised the importance of being vaccinated or boosted as the most powerful tool against omicron. Still, researchers say there is significant uncertainty about what omicron will bring in the coming weeks.

“The truth is that we could be looking at a Category 5 hurricane or a tropical storm,” said Julie Swann, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina State University who was an adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. “But we have to prepare for the possibility of that Category 5 hurricane.”

The omicron variant, which is now dominant in the United States and spreading faster than any variant yet, has already pushed daily coronavirus case counts higher than the peak of the recent delta wave.

The omicron variant, which is now dominant in the United States and spreading faster than any variant yet, has already pushed daily coronavirus case counts higher than the peak of the recent delta wave. By most estimates, the country is in for a significant winter surge. Although there are early positive signs out of South Africa and Britain that omicron infections more often result in mild illness than previous variants, officials are warning that the new variant could swiftly overtax the health care system and bring significant disease to many communities. Omicron is spreading fast. The highly transmissible variant is causing near-vertical case growth in multiple US cities, with figures doubling about every two to three days. Officials expect it to break records. The high for average daily cases was 251,232, set in January. By some estimates, the United States could reach 1 million cases a day, even before the end of the year. While omicron’s speed now speaks for itself, scientists are still racing to understand its threat. Preliminary studies out of Scotland and England suggest that infections from the variant could be milder, but scientists caution that omicron infections must be observed in the U.S. population before drawing conclusions. Even if these early results hold and omicron does cause mostly mild illness, the sheer magnitude of cases it causes could still escalate hospitalisations at a time when many medical centers are already full. Also read | Omicron update: Will lift travel restrictions on southern African countries, says US “When we have millions and millions and millions of people, all sick, all together at one time, it doesn’t take a large percentage of those people to topple over the hospitals,” said Dr. Hallie Prescott, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. Hospitals are already strained. Hospitals across the country are close to brimming, their care wards filled with patients who have been ill with delta or delayed treatments for so long during the pandemic that they now need critical care. About 1 in 10 hospital service areas, scattered all over the United States, have had their intensive care units at more than 90% capacity in recent weeks. “We have patients who are waiting in the emergency department for ICU care, so we are providing ICU care in the emergency department,” said Dr. Dani Hackner, chief clinical officer of the Southcoast Hospital Group in southeastern Massachusetts, which has postponed elective surgeries to relieve pressure on its medical centers. “I do think the coming month is going to be a very tough month,” he added. Hospital administrators say nurses and doctors are overwhelmed and exhausted and that staffing shortages are making matters worse. Several states, including Massachusetts, have called on the National Guard to provide extra support, and President Joe Biden recently announced he would direct more military personnel to assist overtaxed hospitals. Not enough people are boosted, or vaccinated at all. Public health experts are worried the millions of unvaccinated or not-yet-boosted Americans are vulnerable as omicron spreads. The variant is thought to evade immunity from both vaccination and prior infection, but early research suggests a booster provides the best protection against infection. And vaccination, even without the booster, is expected to maintain strong protection against hospitalisation and death. Across the United States, nearly 62% of all people have been fully vaccinated and about 19% have received an additional booster dose, though not everyone is eligible yet. The coverage rates vary widely by state, with some of the lowest levels found in the South. The United States overall lags behind many other nations, in part because of vaccine hesitancy. Also read | Ecuador becomes first country to mandate Covid vaccines for children from age of 5 Booster rates are also low because the rollout is just getting started. Adults and teens have been eligible for only a few weeks, and some adults are not aware that the additional shots are strongly recommended. The Biden administration this week again emphasised the importance of being vaccinated or boosted as the most powerful tool against omicron. Still, researchers say there is significant uncertainty about what omicron will bring in the coming weeks. “The truth is that we could be looking at a Category 5 hurricane or a tropical storm,” said Julie Swann, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina State University who was an adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. “But we have to prepare for the possibility of that Category 5 hurricane.”

Omicron drives US virus cases past Delta’s peak

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