- The first patient has received the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, in what the UK health secretary called a "real pivotal moment."
- The US has administered more than 4.2 million vaccine doses, but is lagging behind some other countries as hospitalizations continue to surge following the holidays.
- India is embarking on one of the world's most ambitious mass immunization programs, after regulators approved two vaccines for restricted emergency use.
- Countries around the world have implemented restrictions and travel bans for the UK to contain a new Covid-19 variant first reported in England.
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The runoffs will determine which party controls the Senate
Hundreds gathered outside the Georgia Statehouse in Atlanta on Saturday for a prayer march ahead of Tuesday's U.S. Senate runoff elections in the state.
The marchers prayed for "biblical values to be exalted in the Georgia Senatorial elections," according to the Georgia Prayer March, which organized the event. The march was billed as nonpartisan but the website said participants would be marching for issues like "sanctity of life in the womb, the sacredness of one man-one woman marriage, the scripturally-based free market system and supporting Israel" -- all traditionally conservative issues.
"We do not tell anyone for whom to vote," the website said. "That is your decision. We are non-partisan. We do, however, pray for Georgians to vote for candidates with distinctly biblical values. Our prayer is for biblical values to be followed in our nation."
SEN. PERDUE ON HIGH-STAKES GEORGIA RUNOFFS: 'THESE LAST 3 DAYS ARE REALLY CRITICAL' Several of the speakers urged voters to cast ballots for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and questioned the validity of the presidential election, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Loeffler faces Democrat the Rev. Raphael Warnock on Tuesday while Perdue will be challenged by Democrat Jon Ossoff. ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: WHERE ARE THE GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATES TODAY, 3 DAYS OUT FROM RUNOFFS? "What happens on Tuesday will determine the fate of the republic," evangelical pastor and organizer Dr. Jim Garlow said, according to the newspaper. Other speakers included Alma Rivera, Robert Weinger and Bishop Wellington Boone, according to WXIA-TV in Atlanta. More than 3 million voters in the state have already cast their ballots during the early voting period that ended Friday. Around 5 million Georgians voted in the presidential election. Early turnout lagged in rural and conservative areas last week but Republicans are confident they will do well in Election Day turnout as in the presidential election, the Journal-Constitution reported. President Trump and Perdue both received around 60% of in-person Election Day votes.
Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia on Monday
At least 3 million people have already cast early votes in the Georgia runoff elections, in what has been a 2-month sprint that will likely determine which party gets the majority in the U.S. Senate.
Those numbers were more than half of the record-setting 4.9 million total voters in the state who cast in the general election. Both Georgia Senate seats – and control of the chamber – will be up for grabs on Tuesday as Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler aim to hold off Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Photo credit: Getty Images
The runoff elections have gripped national attention and were necessary after no candidate won more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 3 election.
Democrats are optimistic based on early-voting numbers. Figures showed that Black voters made up a larger percentage of the early-voting electorate than in November’s general election. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on ads in what are likely to be two of the most expensive months of nonpresidential politics in American history. If Republicans win one or both of those seats, the party will retain a slim majority in the Senate. With Democrats already having control of the House and the White House after November's election, Loeffler told "Fox News Sunday" that Democratic victories this week would result in drastic changes in Washington. GEORGIA VOTERS HOLD PRAYER MARCH AHEAD OF SENATE RUNOFFS "It's a choice, it's a stark contrast between the freedoms — our way of life here in Georgia — or socialism, government control," she said. "We know the agenda of the left because Chuck Schumer told us he was going to take Georgia and then change America. And we know that radical agenda is not just high taxes, open borders, defunding the police, government-run health care, but he has radical candidates in this race, his agents of change."
Loeffler said President Trump "knows exactly what’s on the line on Tuesday." Both Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia on Monday and make one final push in the state's runoff elections.
Fox News' Tyler Olson, Paul Steinhauser, and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report Six-year-old Peyton Denette works on her speech and language skills with speech-language pathologist Olivia Chiu of Two Can Talk remotely from her home in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday, March 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette The Canadian Press Published Monday, January 4, 2021 5:26AM EST Last Updated Monday, January 4, 2021 5:59AM EST TORONTO -- Students across Ontario will return to the virtual classroom today as part of a provincewide lockdown.
The measure ends for all students in northern Ontario and elementary students in southern Ontario after the first week back from winter break. High schoolers in southern Ontario will continue online learning until Jan. 25. The move is part of a provincial lockdown that began on Boxing Day and is set to last until Jan. 9 in northern Ontario and Jan. 23 in southern Ontario. It comes after a long weekend that saw record-breaking COVID-19 case counts. The province logged 3,363 new cases on Saturday, up from Thursday's record of 3,328. Yesterday, it recorded 2,964 new cases and 25 deaths. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mo Brooks, R-Ala., explained during an exclusive interview with "Sunday Mornings Futures" why they are spearheading the effort in the House of Representatives objecting to the certification of the presidential election results on Jan. 6. "The ultimate arbiter here, the ultimate check and balance is the United States Congress and when something is done in an unconstitutional fashion, which happened in several of these states, we have a duty to step forward and have this debate and have this vote on the 6th of January," Jordan told host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. Jordan and Brooks appeared on "Sunday Morning Futures" hours after House Republicans held a rare Saturday night conference call to address their goal of overturning certain states' Electoral College results on Wednesday, Brooks told Fox News. Brooks said 50 lawmakers, including Jordan, President Trump and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, were on the call. He added that the members on the call reflected only "some" of those in Congress who have committed to challenging the Electoral College results, which favored Democrat Joe Biden. In order for an objection to be considered, it must be endorsed by at least one senator and one representative, which is looking more likely as a dozen senators came forward Saturday publicly following the announcement by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that he would object to Pennsylvania’s results. The senators announced Saturday they would object unless an emergency 10-day audit was conducted to review allegations of voter fraud by an electoral commission. Following an endorsed objection, the House and Senate would be required to suspend their joint session and separate to debate objections for two hours. The House and Senate would then need to vote on certifying the results; the objections must maintain a simple majority, otherwise they will be dismissed and the existing results finalized. On Sunday, Brooks says he intends to object to six states – Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada – saying some of the states "clearly violated Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, the election clause, that empowers the United States Congress paramount authority and then legislatures secondary authority to set the times, places and manner of elections." "Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, all clearly violated Article I, Section 4 so we can either ratify that with our votes, that illegal conduct, or we can oppose it," he continued. "I stand for opposing the violation of the United States Constitution, federal statutes and state statutes." Brooks said he has seen "overwhelming and compelling" evidence that there was fraud and brought up Nevada as an example. Brooks claimed that even though Biden "purportedly prevailed by 33,000 plus or minus votes," there were tens of thousands of "votes identified that were illegal," including from thousands of non-citizens and individuals who allegedly voted twice. "You’ve got people who purported to live at an address that doesn’t exist, people who purported to live at an address that is a business address where of course nobody lives, you’ve got dead people voting," Brooks said, adding that if all those votes, which he is "quite confident" overwhelmingly went to Biden, are removed from the equation, "Trump carried Nevada." "And then you’ve got the massive violation of Article I, Section 4, where mail-in balloting is not allowed," Brooks added. "Congress, pursuant to its powers in Article I, Section 4, establish a day four of the election, that’s a 24 hours window." "We set exceptions for certain absentee ballot purposes, people overseas, people who are disabled, what have you, but this mail-out ballot scheme, that is in direct violation of Article I, Section 4, that is in direct violation of the statutes of the United States Congress, those are illegal votes."
Republican allegations of widespread voter fraud that could overturn the election results have so far not been proven in court or found by state and local election officials. The movement to overturn certain states' Electoral College results also has caused a divide within the Republican Party, with several GOP senators condemning the move Saturday. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has been a critic of the president throughout his tenure and called GOP senators' plan to reject the Electoral College results an "egregious ploy." Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., also condemned the move by defending the integrity of his state’s voting accountability, saying Trump's loss was "explained by the decline in suburban support." GOP LAWMAKERS REJECT GOP PUSH TO OBJECT TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE RESULTS Trump repeatedly has claimed the election was fraudulent, despite former Attorney General William Barr announcing that the Department of Justice could find no evidence to support widespread voter fraud. The Supreme Court has refused two Trump campaign-led lawsuits, and more than 50 cases have been dismissed from lower courts across the country. Jordan told Bartiromo on Sunday that he believes Democrats wanted "chaos and confusion created around mail-in voting" because "they were going to win the election after the election." "Several of these states did it [counting votes] in an unconstitutional fashion. That is the heart of our argument," Jordan added. "So let’s have the debate on Wednesday, let’s show the American people what took place, they haven’t had that, there have been no hearings." "We’ve called for hearings and investigations in Congress, [House Judiciary Committee Chairman] Jerry Nadler and [Oversight Committee] Chairwoman [Carolyn] Maloney won’t hold them here in the United States House of Representatives so we have to have this debate on the 6th of January, on this Wednesday, so the American people can see what was done in an unconstitutional fashion," he continued. Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report. A group of GOP senators have called for an electoral commission to be established to audit results of the 2020 presidential election. House Republicans are growing concerned that if Republican senators don’t object to at least three states during the Jan. 6 certification of the presidential election results, that the "entire effort" will be "worthless," sources told Fox News. Last month, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was the first Republican senator to commit to objecting to the election results, specifically in Pennsylvania, while a group of GOP senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Saturday said they would object to the certification unless there was an emergency 10-day audit of the results by an electoral commission. GOP SENATORS, LED BY CRUZ, TO OBJECT TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE CERTIFICATION, DEMAND EMERGENCY AUDIT But House Republican sources told Fox News Sunday that there is a growing concern that the Republican senators will not object to enough states to make a difference in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which has been called in favor of President-elect Joe Biden since November. Two House Republican officials told Fox News that more than 100 GOP House members will object to the election results in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin. "If the Republican senators don’t object to enough states, the entire effort on Jan. 6th is worthless," a House Republican official told Fox News. "To have any chance of impacting the outcome of the 2020 election, the Republican senators must join Republican House members in objecting at least three states and ideally all six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin. "If Republican senators only object to one state, Joe Biden will undoubtedly secure enough electoral votes to become president," the official continued, adding that "the pressure really is on the Republican senators like Ted Cruz to join House Republicans here." "If they don’t, it will be a great disappointment to the president, their constituents, and ensure a Joe Biden victory," the official said. Cruz, on Saturday, was joined by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.; James Lankford of Oklahoma; Steve Daines of Montana; John Kennedy of Louisiana; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Mike Braun of Indiana; as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming; Roger Marshall of Kansas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. The group claims that the Nov. 3 election "featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and illegal conduct." So far, those claims of widespread fraud that could affect the results have not been substantiated in the courts or by state and local election officials. "We should follow that precedent," the group said in a statement. "To wit, Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed."
If that doesn't happen, the senators intend to vote against certification. "Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed," they said in the statement. A source familiar with the effort by the GOP senators told Fox News that it was Cruz who orchestrated the push for the audit just days before the joint session of Congress on Wednesday to officially approve the Electoral College votes electing former Vice President Joe Biden. The senators and senators-elect are calling for Congress to appoint a commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of the election returns in states where the results are disputed. They cite as precedent the 1877 race between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford Hayes, in which there were allegations of fraud in multiple states. Read more here. Get Face Masks From CNN’s Arnaud Siad in London A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on December 30, 2020 in Paris. Stephanie de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images The French government aims to vaccinate 26 million French people against Covid-19 “by the summer,” France's Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on Sunday, speaking to CNN’s affiliate BFMTV.
His comments come amid criticism that France is lagging behind countries like the United Kingdom and Germany in the numbers of people having received a first dose of the vaccine. “Right now we have 500,000 doses [of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine] arriving each week and we have already secured the contract for hundreds of thousands of doses per week for other vaccines whose use will be rapidly approved,” he said. The official added that the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines will be also approved by the European Medicines Agency “in the coming days.” French Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on Twitter on Thursday an acceleration of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in France. “We have decided, at the same time, to accelerate the protection [against Covid-19] of priority groups. As of Monday, healthcare workers aged 50 and more, on a voluntary basis, will be able to get vaccinated in centers that already have the vaccine,” he announced. “We know how to do mass vaccination,” Veran added, citing 1.5 million flu vaccines delivered in the country on the first day of the vaccination campaign last year. From CNN's Livia Borghese Italy's coronavirus death toll reached 75,332 on Sunday after a rise of 347 daily Covid-19 related deaths, the government's dashboard shows.
The country recorded new 14,245 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases recorded to 2,155,446. From CNN's Schams Elwazer Doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine arrive at the Princess Royal Hospital on January 2 in West Sussex, England. Gareth Fuller/WPA Pool/Getty Images The United Kingdom will become the first country in the world to administer the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday as its National Health Service (NHS) “rapidly scales us the biggest immunization program in its history,” NHS England said in a statement.
The vaccines will initially be delivered at “a small number of hospitals for the first few days for surveillance purposes” before the bulk is rolled out to medical practices late in the week, the statement said. In addition to the 700 vaccination sites already in operation, an additional 100 hospital sites and 180 “GP-led services” are also expected to come on line this week. Tens of thousands of current and former NHS workers are being trained as vaccinators to support the program. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to transport and to store than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – which was approved for use in the UK last month and has to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius – making it easier to deliver to care homes. According to the statement, NHS England expects most care home residents to have received the shot by the end of the month. On Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Twitter the NHS had administered one million Pfizer/BioNTech doses. British health officials said last week that the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine should be extended beyond the recommended 21 days in order to allow more people to be vaccinated. From CNN's Karen Smith Healthcare worker Nithya Rajendran receives an injection of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at St James's Hospital in Dublin on December 29, 2020. Marc O'Sullivan/AFP/Getty Images Ireland reported Sunday a total of 101,887 cases of Covid-19 with a record daily high of 4,962 confirmed cases.
There has been a total of at least 2,259 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland as of Sunday, the government’s Department of Health reported. What you need to know
Signs helping direct the flow of student traffic are seen at Kensington Community School amidst the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carlos Osorio Katherine DeClerq, Multi-Platform Writer, CTV News Toronto Published Sunday, January 3, 2021 12:18PM EST Last Updated Sunday, January 3, 2021 12:20PM EST Ontario’s education minister has confirmed the start dates for in-person learning at schools will not change amid a rising number of COVID-19 cases over the holidays.
In a letter sent to parents on Saturday, Stephen Lecce reiterated that “schools are not a source of rising community transmission” and that the institutions have been protected in part due to the extended holiday break. Ontario went into a provincewide lockdown as of Dec. 26, forcing non-essential businesses to close and prohibiting in-person dining at bars and restaurants. Among the restrictions, the province announced that publicly-funded elementary schools would be closed until at least Jan. 11. Students will instead participate in remote, virtual learning during the first week of the month. In northern Ontario, all schools are scheduled to reopen on that date while in southern Ontario, secondary school students were told they would not be returning to the classroom until Jan. 25. The lockdown itself is scheduled to last until at least Jan. 23 in southern Ontario, pending an extension order by the government. On Saturday, Lecce confirmed that in-person learning will resume on the original dates outlined. “We believe so strongly that schools are essential to the well-being, mental health and development of a child, and therefore, must be safeguarded at all costs to ensure they can remain open for safe in-class instruction,” the letter said. “I want to reassure parents that according to the province’s leading doctors, our schools are safe, with eight out of 10 schools in this province having no cases of COVID-19 and based on board reporting, 99.64 per cent of students have not reported a case of COVID-19.” Between mid-September and Dec. 21, the province reported 5,103 cases of COVID-19 in students and 1,094 cases among school staff. At least 1,095 additional cases of the novel coronavirus were logged in “individuals not identified,” which could include parents or family members of school-related cases. Nine-hundred and seventy-six of Ontario’s 4,828 schools have reported a case of COVID-19. Lecce said that in order to ensure safety in schools this year, the government will continue enhanced testing at schools and “allocate a new and significant investment in school safety, including enhanced air quality, more PPE (personal protective equipment), and additional staffing and cleaning.” “We will do whatever it takes to ensure our kids can continue to learn,” the letter read. Over the long weekend, the province logged more than 8,800 new cases of COVID-19. On New Year’s Day, Ontario hit a record high of 3,363 infections while 2,476 cases were reported on Saturday and 2,964 were reported on Sunday. Over the course of these three days, officials reported 120 deaths related to COVID-19. Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault holds a news conference to discuss Election Canada's services to electors for the upcoming election, in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday, September 17, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Fred Chartrand) Jordan Press, The Canadian Press Published Sunday, January 3, 2021 6:13AM EST OTTAWA -- Elections Canada watched as social media posts from Canadians began wondering if the last federal election had been rigged by dubious voting machines.
The tweets were linked to the U.S. election and unverified claims from President Donald Trump and his allies that automatic vote tabulators were to blame for his loss to Joe Biden. On Nov. 16, the agency tweeted how it only uses paper ballots counted by hand in a bid to educate Canadians. On Nov. 17, Trump turned the tweet upside down by pointing to it as proof of the conspiracy against him. "This is unfortunate and not at all intended," chief electoral officer Stephane Perrault wrote in response to one email with a link to Trump's tweet. The email is among just over three dozen pages of documents about the social media posts obtained by The Canadian Press under the access-to-information law. Many parts of the documents have been blacked out with officials citing them as sensitive advice to senior officials, or removing names for privacy reasons. From what is available, it appears that the genesis for the tweet began on Nov. 9 with discussions taking place in the days after about how to respond to concerns about voting machines used in the U.S. presidential election. Elections Canada officials noted that many Canadian social media users had been claiming that machines created by Dominion Voting Systems, used in the American election, had also been used here. One document notes some believed "the results of the last election illegitimate." "Users taking part in those discussions will point out the fact that machines were either used or could potentially be used to count the votes, adding to the already corrupt system and leading to rigged results," reads one document. "Most users seem to appreciate (Elections Canada) providing factual information and that information is being used to respond to inaccurate posts." Indeed, that's what the agency sought to do during the American presidential election, explaining the voting system in Canada, particularly mail-in ballots that were in higher demand south of the border as a result of the pandemic. Automatic tabulators aren't used at the federal level for elections, but ones manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were used in the party leadership race where Justin Trudeau became Liberal leader. A photo of him voting in that 2013 contest became part of the swirl of internet conspiracy speculation about the machines. Dominion Voting's systems have also been used by the federal Conservatives and numerous provinces and municipalities. Elections Canada's first tweet about automatic voting machines was on Nov. 12. Four days later, the agency tweeted about the issue again, writing in part, "We use paper ballots counted by hand in front of scrutineers and have never used voting machines or electronic tabulators to count votes in our 100-year history." The next day, at 4:10 p.m., an internal email noted the post created "lots of very positive interactions" and "lots of new followers too." "Team did a really great job staying on top of all the interactions," read the email that eventually made its way to Perrault. The team's job got busier 29 minutes later when the president hit the retweet button. "THIS SAYS IT ALL!" Trump wrote to his 88.5 million followers at 4:39 p.m. Six media requests landed within the next 45 minutes. Online responses from social media users flowed in and emails started landing in Perrault's inbox. One read, "Way to go, you have arrived on the inter web!" with two smiley faces. Another from a Liberal party official -- the name has been redacted, but not the "↕liberal.ca" -- sent Perrault the tweet with a note, "I thought you might appreciate this shout out from Trump." Perrault's response to the latter email was an abridged version of one he sent after 6:18 p.m. when he received a similar email from his counterpart in B.C. "Yes, this is quite unfortunate and not at all intended: our social media team was simply responding to persistent questions and inaccurate stories about how we use Dominion," Perrault wrote in response to the latter message. "We have nothing against Dominion (or tabulation where it is warranted). Dominion voting and EMBs 1/8electoral management bodies 3/8 that rely on them do not deserve this." The message that was crafted on Nov. 17 played out in some form over the ensuing days when Perrault or Elections Canada dealt with questions about Trump and the tweet: The message was "intended to inform people" who "mistakenly believed" the voting machines were used in federal elections, read a draft response for Perrault's review, "and should not be construed as anything other than that." The documents also show the detailed evaluation of interactions it was seeing online, along with specific lines it could provide in response. "Elections Canada strives to be the trusted source of information about the federal electoral process," the agency said in a statement. "When we notice incorrect information on social media, our social media team works with the agency's subject matter experts to craft messages to counter that incorrect information." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2021.
Sunday will mark the anniversary of the death of Iran's Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a military strike that President Trump reportedly ordered
President Trump and anyone else linked to the U.S. strike one year ago that killed a notorious Iranian general "will not be safe on Earth," a top official in Tehran warned Friday, according to a report.
Speaking in Tehran on Friday, Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s judiciary chief, said not even Trump was "immune from justice" for his role in the strike in Baghdad that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a major general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Times of Israel reported. "They will witness severe revenge," Raisi told the gathering at Tehran University, referring to Trump and U.S. military leaders. "What has come so far has only been glimpses." "Do not presume that someone, as the president of America, who appeared as a murderer or ordered a murder, may be immune from justice being carried out. Never," Raisi reportedly continued. "Those who had a role in this assassination and crime will not be safe on Earth." IRAN GENERAL WARNS US THAT IT'S READY TO RESPOND TO MILITARY PRESSURE Sunday will mark the anniversary of the death of Soleimani, who was also the long-running leader of the elite intelligence wing called Quds Force – which itself has been a designated terror group since 2007. Considered one of the most powerful men in Iran, he routinely was referred to as its "shadow commander" or "spymaster." U.S. officials have said President Trump ordered the U.S. military strike that killed the 62-year-old general on an access road to Baghdad International Airport. The same operation reportedly killed at least seven other people. In addition, the Iran Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. in a Twitter post on Friday. "By committing a craven act of terror against Gen Soleimani, the US violated int'l law & the UN Charter in a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty," the post said. " ... Iran won't rest until bringing those responsbile to justice."
Other top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have previously spoken of retribution for the death of Soleimani, the Times reported.
President Trump reportedly ordered the military strike last year that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
At the same event Friday, Iranian Gen. Hossein Salami, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said Iran was fully prepared to respond to U.S. military pressure as tensions remained high between Washington and Tehranin the final days of Trump’s term as president.
In a recent show of strength, the U.S. military flew two B-52 bombers on a mission in the Middle East earlier this week, marking the third time in 45 days that U.S. Air Force bombers had flown missions in the Persian Gulf region. The U.S. bombers flew without incident with no immediately apparent Iranian retaliation.
Previously, just two days before Christmas, President Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran after several rockets were fired at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 20.
"Some healthy advice to Iran," the president wrote. "If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over." Fox News’ Lucas Y. Tomlinson and Frank Miles contributed to this report.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Yale professor Nicholas Christakis speaks with CNN on Saturday, January 2. CNN
We’re not out from under the coronavirus pandemic yet, but a Roaring ’20s-type rebound is on the horizon, according to sociologist, physician and Yale professor Nicholas Christakis.
This will take time, Christakis told CNN. “Plagues are not new to our species; they're just new to us,” he said. By the beginning of 2022, we will reach herd immunity and a majority of the population will be vaccinated, he predicts, but “it's still going to take some time to recover from the social and psychological and economic shock,” he said. So by the end of 2023, Christakis said the world will enter the post-pandemic period, and “all of these…experiences that are now being constrained by the germ will reverse.” “If history is a guide, what's going to happen is all of us that have been cooped up — have been saving our money, have become more religious…more risk-averse — all of those trends will unwind and people will relentlessly seek out social opportunities in nightclubs and bars and political rallies and sporting events and musical concerts and so on. There might be…some sexual licentiousness, people with a lot of pent-up desire…[and] more liberal spending, for example,” he added. Watch:
From CNN's Sharif Paget Passengers arriving from United Kingdom fill in forms with their travel details at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, on December 22, 2020. Rafiq Maqbool/AP India will resume limited flights with the United Kingdom after suspending them for two weeks amid concerns over the new variant of coronavirus, India's Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said Saturday.
Flights to the UK will resume starting Jan. 6, Puri said in a tweet, while flights from the UK to India will start back up on Jan. 8. All passengers coming from the UK must present a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours before boarding, India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement Saturday. It will be mandatory for passengers flying from the UK to take another Covid-19 test on arrival at Indian airports, it said. From CNN's Junko Ogura and Sharif Paget Saitama Gov. Motohiro Ono, Chiba Gov. Kensaku Morita, Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa speak during a press conference on Saturday, January 2 in Tokyo. Muneyuki Tomari/Kyodo News/AP The governor of Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures on Saturday urged Japan's central government to declare a state of emergency amid a surge in new coronavirus cases.
Tokyo's Gov. Yuriko Koike and the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures made the request during a meeting with Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is Japan's Economy Minister in charge of the government's coronavirus response. At a news conference after the meeting, Nishimura said that the government will consider the request the governors made after consulting with health experts. He added that he shares the view that the situation in the metropolitan area is "severe" and the "issuance of a state of emergency is in sight." Governors warn of infection surge: The four governors called the recent surge a "crisis situation" that could have a major impact on the health care system. They argued measures need to be strengthened immediately and further cooperation with the national government is necessary under a special anti-coronavirus law. Tokyo reported 814 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday after it reaching an all-time high of 1,337 cases on Thursday -- exceeding 1,000 for the first time. From CNN’s Arnaud Siad and Sharon Braithwaite A person receives the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a vaccination center in York, England on December 21, 2020. Danny Lawson/PA Images/Getty Images Mixing Covid-19 vaccines is not recommended, Public Health England’s Head of Immunisations Dr. Mary Ramsay said Saturday, after government guidance was updated this week to say the interchangeability of Covid-19 vaccines was a "reasonable" option.
“We do not recommend mixing the Covid-19 vaccines – if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa,” Ramsay said in a statement. “There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received. Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all,” she added. Ramsay clarified the UK’s position on vaccine mixing after an update to the government’s vaccine playbook on Dec. 31. What did the updated guidance say? Thursday's guidance said if the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, “it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule." “This option is preferred if the individual is likely to be at immediate high risk or is considered unlikely to attend again,” it added. Which vaccines are the UK using? The UK authorized emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on December 2 and the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine on Dec. 30. The guidance recommends both vaccines to be administered in two doses, a minimum of 21 days apart for Pfizer/BioNTech and 28 days apart for AstraZeneca, with longer term protection provided by the second inoculation. UK guidelines contradict US approach: The updated UK guidance contradicts guidelines in the United States for the two vaccines it has authorized, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that the authorized Covid-19 vaccines “are not interchangeable with each other or with other Covid-19 vaccine products,” and that “the safety and efficacy of a mixed-product series have not been evaluated. Both doses of the series should be completed with the same product.” The CDC adds, however, that “if two doses of different mRNA COVID-19 vaccine products are inadvertently administered, no additional doses of either product are recommended at this time.” From CNN's Pierre Buet in Paris French Gendarmes break up a rave by the French authorities near a disused hangar in Lieuron, France, on January 2, 2021. Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images Five people have been arrested and more than 1,000 fines have been issued after an illegal New Year's rave in the French countryside ended on Saturday, local authorities said.
More than 2,500 partygoers attended the illegal party in the region of Brittany in France, despite the government's strict coronavirus restrictions and a national night-time curfew. About 1,600 fines were issued as of Saturday following the rave, which started on Thursday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said via his official Twitter profile. Trucks, sound systems and generators have been seized and Gendarmes officers "are continuing their investigation and checks so that this illegal event is harshly sanctioned," Darmanin added. Of the 1,200 fines, 800 are related to coronavirus restrictions, Emmanuel Berthier, prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, said. Up to 20 vehicles including trucks which may be carrying sound equipment managed to escape the police block, Sauvegrain added. "There is a judicial investigation which will allow us to identify the main perpetrators and to arrest them," Sauvegrain added. Local police said they had tried to shut down the rave, but "faced violent hostility," with a police vehicle set on fire, other vehicles damaged, and soldiers sprayed with bottles and stones, causing minor injuries. "No new violence" occurred since Thursday, a Gendarmerie Nationale spokesperson told CNN on Saturday, adding that partygoers were "leaving the premises voluntarily." Local authorities said the number of partygoers was "estimated at 2,500, coming from different French departments and from abroad." A national curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. has been in place since December 15. The Navajo Nation faces a battle to protect its elders and traditions as Covid-19 deaths spike1/2/2021 From CNN's Natalie Chinn The Northern Navajo Medical Center is shown as staff inside begin to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on December 16, in Shiprock, New Mexico. Micah Garen/Getty Images Native Americans are losing their elders to Covid-19. As death tolls continue to climb, tribes are struggling to protect some of their last remaining knowledge and language keepers.
"Every time one of those elders leaves this world, it's like a whole library, a whole beautiful chapter of our history, of our ceremonies -- all that knowledge, gone," Clayson Benally, a member of Navajo Nation, said. It's not written, it's not dictated, you're not going to find it on the internet." Self-isolating in their Flagstaff, Arizona, homes, Clayson and his sister Jeneda Benally have been working to pass on the knowledge of their elder father, Jones Benally, during the pandemic. "I take it as the greatest responsibility I've ever had in my life to make sure that our knowledge keepers, to make sure that my parents, come out on the other side of this pandemic," Jeneda said. Native Americans are particularly susceptible to the coronavirus because they suffer from disproportionate rates of asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. The Navajo Nation is the largest tribe in the US, with over 300,000 members, and had reported 22,776 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 783 deaths as of Thursday. The tribe has been on lockdown since November 16 and will continue to stay at home until January 10, according to a recent announcement from the Navajo Department of Health. The new measures also include 57-hour weekend lockdowns. "Wherever we go, we're cautioned," Jones said. Read the full story. |
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