Guess who pays for all those millions of COVID-19 vaccines

Then there's the matter of what the obligations these companies have when it comes to providing vaccines not only to U.S. citizens but to the rest of the world. Note that the fight against COVID-19 also entails tests and medicine, but I'm just going to focus on vaccines, as it's a critical and deep topic that also happens to be rich with drama. First you should know that the U.S. government has been in the business of funding vaccines long before COVID-19.

New Information Emerges in Report Detailing Deaths of Calif. Family of 3 Who Died on Hiking Trip

The family was first reported missing on Aug. 16 after their babysitter found the home empty, as PEOPLE previously reported. The Chronicle reports that the babysitter was the last person to see the family alive on the afternoon of Aug. 13 after cleaning their house. The unidentified woman's final communication with Chung came later that evening, per the report, when she received a text from the mother featuring a video of Miju starting to walk.

Omicron means it’s time to switch to N95 masks

At the moment, delta—which is more contagious than previous variants—is still the prevailing variant around the world, and with omicron increasing and winter underway in the northern hemisphere, it's again time to mask up properly. In other words, you might want to put away your cloth masks and turn to N95. What is the best type of mask?

Kennedy Center Honors and its traditions are back once more

The Kennedy Center Honors is returning to tradition this year. The lifetime achievement awards for artistic excellence will be presented Sunday night in a gala at the Kennedy Center's main opera house after the coronavirus pandemic forced delays and major changes to last year's plans. Honorees include Motown Records creator Berry Gordy, “Saturday Night Live” mastermind Lorne Michaels, actress-singer Bette Midler, opera singer Justino Diaz and folk music legend Joni Mitchell.

• 
  Tradition again: Biden celebrates Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell at Kennedy Center Honors

  Reuters
• 
  Kennedy Center ceremony returns to White House

  Politico

Was a young girl adopted from Russia capable of murder?

Troy Roberts: That's why you have to get help. Dr. Brian Kennedy: She is a risk to the family members. Dr. Brian Kennedy was one of the psychiatrists who saw Caralee.

White Supremacists Stage Bizarro Rally in Downtown D.C., Find Themselves Stranded

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A group of white supremacists stormed through downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening, bearing American flags and mildly menacing plastic shields while marching to the beat of a snare drum down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But after chanting aggressively about their plans to “reclaim America,” their intended show of force stalled spectacularly when they lost their ride. While the group had marched through the city with threatening chants about their plan to “reclaim America,” by the end of the night it was not even clear how they intended to reclaim their U-Haul.

Man accused of trying to intimidate judge in Potter trial

A Minneapolis man has been charged with trying to intimidate the judge presiding over the manslaughter trial of the former officer charged in Daunte Wright's death. The Star Tribune reports Cortez A. Rice was charged last week with tampering with a judicial officer, a felony. Rice allegedly went into the Loring Park condominium building where he thought Judge Regina Chu lived and made comments meant to intimidate her into allowing broadcast coverage of the trial of former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kimberly Potter, who is charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Wright, 20, in April.

A man who tested positive for Omicron variant says 15 of his friends who joined him at a New York anime convention also have COVID-19

A man who tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant says 15 of his friends are also sick. The man and a group of 30 people attended an anime convention in New York City last month. It's unclear if his friends also have the Omicron variant, but health officials are investigating.

• 
  Omicron variant discovered in Wisconsin

  WISN - Milwaukee Videos
• 
  Connecticut records first confirmed case of omicron variant of COVID-19

  Hartford Courant

Elderly Couple Claims They Were Removed From American Airlines Flight Over Prayer Shawl

A Jewish couple says they were removed from an American Airlines flight after they refused to put their religious items on them floor. According New York Post, the incident took place on Flight 322 back in August, when Roberto and Elana Birman were returning to their Brooklyn home from Miami. Prior to takeoff, a flight attendant reportedly began checking the overhead bins when she came across Roberto's small Tallit bag, which contained his prayer book and shawl.

COVID outbreak on cruise ship approaching New Orleans

Ten people aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship approaching New Orleans have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Saturday night. The Norwegian Breakaway had departed New Orleans on Nov. 28 and is due to return this weekend, the Louisiana Department of Health said in a news release. Over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

• 
  COVID cases found on Norwegian Cruise ship returning to New Orleans

  Reuters
• 
  Ten COVID-19 cases were detected on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship as it headed to port in New Orleans

  Business Insider

Fauci says early reports about omicron variant are encouraging

U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden's chief medial adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN's “State of the Union” that scientists need more information before drawing conclusion's about omicron's severity. Reports from South Africa, where it emerged and is becoming the dominant strain, suggest that hospitalization rates have not increased alarmingly.

• 
  Omicron variant found in nearly one-third of U.S. states

  Reuters
• 
  Fauci: U.S. reviewing its South African travel ban and hopes to lift it soon

  Politico

OU fraternity suspended, sorority disciplined as investigations continue

Delta Upsilon fraternity has been placed on emergency suspension, and Delta Gamma sorority is now on limited status, as first reported Friday by the school's newspaper, the OU Daily. The Delta Upsilon and Delta Gamma international offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. OU Fraternity and Sorority Programs and Services and the Office of Student Conduct are conducting separate investigations into the Greek chapters.

2 Louisiana insurance companies fail after Hurricane Ida

Insurance companies operating in Louisiana will be charged at least $100 million to pay the claims of two failed property insurers who went belly up in Hurricane Ida's aftermath. But the cost of dealing with the insolvent insurers ultimately will fall on the state after companies recoup the dollars through a series of tax credits. The Advocate reports that the board of the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association — a state-sponsored safety net for policyholders -- voted for the first time since 2004 to charge insurers 1% of their net written premiums to help fill its coffers.

Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized COVID-19 restrictions saying 'not a single school has closed because of cancer'

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized COVID-19 restrictions and said that no schools were closed because of cancer. Many Twitter users mocked the congresswoman for the implication that cancer is contagious. The Georgia congresswoman has long been an outspoken critic of COVID-19 measures.

Locked-Up 'Sullen' Crumbley Family Showing No Remorse After School Shooting, Says Sheriff

Suspected Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley along with his parents, who were arrested early Saturday while hiding in a warehouse, have expressed “no remorse,” after an attack that killed four high school students, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on MSNBC. “We've not seen any remorse” from James and Jennifer Crumbley and their 15-year-old son, said Bouchard, who described the family as “obviously sullen,” adding: “Not a lot of conversation.” “I don't know whether the sullenness is from being caught or whether it's from other emotions that are going on, but they haven't expressed it to us,” Bouchard told host Alex Witt hours after the parents were arrested.

• 
  Police to question artist linked to studio where parents of Michigan school shooting suspect found

  Reuters
• 
  "We have not seen any remorse"

  NBCU

What was that mysterious streak in the nighttime sky above the Blue Ridge Mountains?

Residents staring skyward saw a mysterious streak in the nighttime sky over the Blue Ridge Mountains and Upstate South Carolina on Thursday night. This is from the SpaceX Starlink satellite launch. Within an hour, the NWS solved the mystery: “This is from the SpaceX Starlink satellite launch,” an NWS meteorologist posted.

Jim Cramer: Buy these 4 'bargain basement' stocks to take full advantage of the omicron selloff — wait too long and you'll kick yourself

Disney (DIS) It's easy to understand why Disney made Cramer's list of beaten down values. While the S&P 500 has climbed a solid 22% year to date, Disney shares have tumbled 19% over the same time period and are off nearly 30% from their 52-week highs. Theme parks and cruise lines still make up about 17% of Disney's business, so it's no surprise that new COVID variants significantly hurt the stock's investor appeal.

COVID-19 curbs China's power in Indo-Pacific, risks of war 'significant' - report

The coronavirus pandemic has weakened China's power in the Indo-Pacific, and the region's deepening security uncertainties present a "significant" risk of war, the Lowy Institute said in a report on Sunday. U.S. allies in the region and key balancing powers such as India have never been more dependent on American capacity and willingness to sustain a military and strategic counterweight in response to China's rise, said the Sydney-based foreign policy think tank. At the same time, Beijing has sought to dissuade Southeast Asian countries from joining the U.S. coalition, while upgrading its military exchanges with Russia and Pakistan as well as North Korea and creating as such a formidable trio of China-aligned nuclear-armed powers in the region.

Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe

We propose that matter is not made of particles or waves, as was long thought, but – more fundamentally – that matter is made of fragments of energy. From five to one The ancient Greeks conceived of five building blocks of matter – from bottom to top: earth, water, air, fire and aether. Aether was the matter that filled the heavens and explained the rotation of the stars, as observed from the Earth vantage point.

A former Kamala Harris staffer says aides have to endure 'a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism': report

Amid turnover in Harris' office, reports have swirled for months concerning her office environment. An ex-Harris staffer told The Washington Post that the vice president is a highly-critical boss. "With Kamala you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism," the staffer said.

Japanese princess celebrates coming of age

Japan's Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, on Sunday celebrated her coming of age at the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo after turning 20 on Wednesday. Aiko, who is not eligible to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne, limited by law to males, bowed and smiled to the press wearing a tiara and a long white dress. The princess wants to become an adult who can be of service to others, she said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency on her birthday.

'Not the outcome we hoped for': Missing UNH student Vincenzo Lirosi found dead in Durham

Vincenzo Lirosi, a University of New Hampshire student who went missing early Saturday morning, was found dead Sunday, according to police. Lirosi, who was 22, was located by a New England Search and Rescue K-9 team in a marshy area off Coe Drive in Durham about 1:20 p.m. The cause and manner of death will be determined after an autopsy by the state medical examiner, according to Durham police.

He Never Touched the Murder Weapon. Alabama Sentenced Him to Die.

Nathaniel Woods assured his heavy-hearted father that everything would be all right. It was late afternoon on March 5, 2020, the day chosen by the state of Alabama to be Woods' last. Alabama — one of 26 states where an accomplice can be sentenced to death, according to the American Civil Liberties Union — argued that Woods had intentionally lured the officers to their deaths.

UAE defence ministry says French warplanes not a substitute for U.S. jets

The United Arab Emirates defence ministry said its purchase of French Rafale fighter jets would complement its planned deal to buy American F-35 warplanes, which has slowed due to Washington's concerns over Abu Dhabi's relationship with China. The Gulf Arab state on Friday ordered 80 Rafales made by Dassault Aviation and 12 Caracal military helicopters made by Airbus Helicopters in an arms contract worth 17 billion euros ($19.2 billion). Major General Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, said in a statement on state news agency WAM late on Saturday that the Rafale jets would replace the UAE's French-built Mirage 2000 fleet.