There’s Strong Evidence In-Person Learning Can Be Done Safely, CDC Says

The CDC released new guidelines for reopening schools, with health leaders saying it can be done safely; KDKA's Nicole Ford reports.

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  • Austria and Denmark break away from Brussels' vaccines strategy

    Austria and Denmark have become the latest EU countries to break away from Brussels' vaccines strategy, raising fears that the bloc's unity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic was crumbling. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Monday night said that Austria would work with Israel and Denmark on second generation coronavirus vaccines and “no longer rely on the EU in the future”. It is widely seen as a rebuke to the European Commission-led joint procurement scheme for vaccines, which has lagged far behind the UK, Israel and US, and involved negotiating for supplies as a bloc. Mr Kurz told Bild, Germany’s biggest selling newspaper, that the European Medicines Agency had been “too slow” in approving the jabs. "We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines," he said. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that she had already bid for supplies of Israel’s leftover vaccines in another sign of the disintegrating confidence in Brussels to deliver the jabs. 7.54 doses per 100 people have been administered in the EU, compared to 31.58 in the UK and 89.99 in Israel. Austria has given 7.4 doses per 100 people and Denmark 11 doses. Mr Kurz is due to travel with Ms Frederiksen to see Israel's rapid vaccine roll-out up close in a visit that will cause blushes in Brussels. An EU diplomat said the joint procurement strategy was “born out of fear” that smaller countries would miss out. “That said if all the smaller chickens are leaving the nest it begs the question why we initiated joint procurement at all,” the diplomat said. "You can't have enough vaccines that are effective against the different virus strands," a second EU diplomat from a major member state said in Brussels. "So we should wish them luck - I guess." The European Commission's preference is for member states to stick to the joint approach because side deals sap the bloc’s negotiating power. EU rules allow national governments to approve and buy vaccines which are not part of the joint scheme, such as the Russian Sputnik and Chinese vaccines. Other EU leaders have already moved to secure national supplies of the vaccines rather than wait for the EU scheme, which involved countries negotiating as a bloc to drive down prices. Last night, Poland’s President talked to China’s leader Xi Jinping about a possible purchase of Chinese vaccines. Slovakia took the first delivery of two million doses of the Sputnik vaccine, which has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency, on Monday. Andrej Babis, the Czech prime minister, said he would not wait for the EU regulator before buying Sputnik. Hungary has already approved and bought Sputnik without waiting for the EU regulator and is also the first member state to approve the Chinese vaccine. On Sunday, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister, posted a photo of himself being vaccinated by the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. Budapest has bought 2m doses of Sputnik and 5m jabs of Sinopharm. The authoritarian leader attacked the EU scheme in late February. “We’ve sought to do something together that we could have managed more successfully on an individual basis – take a look at the examples of Britain or Serbia,” he said. Regional leaders in France said they would try and negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies in January but have so far had no success. Germany ordered 30 million extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine outside of the scheme in September. Berlin also has a separate order of 20m doses with CureVac. “We have all agreed that there will be no parallel negotiations or parallel contracts,” Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after news of the German side deals broke. A commission spokesman said that the joint vaccine programme had not crumbled and warned that emergency authorisations of jabs at national level could be risky. "It's not that the strategy unravelled," the spokesman said,"For our vaccines, we go through the European Medicines Agency because we want to ensure efficacy and safety. What member states do in addition to that, it's their responsibility." The under-fire European Commission president has repeatedly defended the decision to negotiate as a bloc, despite a row following supply shortfalls from AstraZeneca. She said the strategy ensured smaller member states had access to the jabs in the European Parliament in February. She claimed it would have been “the end of our community”, if larger, richer countries had snapped up all the vaccines instead of securing them jointly as a Union. Brussels has secured and authorised supplies of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines but the distribution of the jabs at national level have been slow.

  • QAnon believers apparently think Joe Biden is a robot with a malfunctioning mouth

    Some believers think Trump will take power again on 4 March

  • ‘Completely insane’: Trump decision to get vaccine in secret criticised by CNN doctor

    Dr Reiner said, ‘without [Trump’s] very visible assent to vaccines, it has devastating result on acceptance of vaccines in people who doubt it right now’

  • FBI investigating if Capitol officer Brian Sicknick was sprayed with chemical irritant

    Medical examiner is ‘awaiting toxicology results’ before releasing a report on the death

  • Biden calls Mexican president an ‘equal’ partner amid surge in border crossings

    President’s warm tone towards Mexico has translated to substantial policy changes

  • Mother of two wins Miss Germany

    (SOUNDBITE) (German) MISS GERMANY CANDIDATE FROM THURINGIA, ANJA KALLENBACH, SAYING:"I am Anja. I am Miss Thuringia. I am an entrepreneur and a mother of two and I like mountain biking. And I want to encourage everyone out there to live their dreams, from now on."33-year-old Anja Kallenbach was crowned Miss Germanyin the revamped beauty contestLocation: Rust, Germany Organizers ditched the classic swimsuit walkand focused on a woman's conviction and personality rather than her looks(SOUNDBITE) RHINELAND-PALATINATE CONTESTANT, SABRINA REITZ, SAYING:"Yes, last year things started changing, the concept was changed so that it is about personality, so that what you have experienced or the kind of vision you have or how you can pass it on to other women is important. And you just notice that here too, we are united."(SOUNDBITE) (German) MISS GERMANY CANDIDATE FROM THURINGIA, ANJA KALLENBACH, SAYING: (AFTER BECOMING MISS GERMANY)"I am absolutely happy. But I think I haven't quite realized it yet. I think I have to let it all sink in first, but I'm incredibly proud to be the ambassador of all 16 of us women now. We will make a difference."

  • Harry tells Oprah he worried of history repeating

    Prince Harry was worried about history repeating itself, according to excerpts released from his and his wife Meghan's much-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey.The CBS broadcast network released two brief clips from Oprah interview of the couple, which is scheduled to air on March 7.The suggestion of history repeating itself appears to reference the fate of Harry's mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by the British press and died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris after her divorce from Prince Charles.Harry said "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting her talking to you with my wife by my side," before going on to add "Because I can't imagine what it must have been like for her (Diana), going through this process by herself all those years ago.”It is the first TV interview the couple, formally known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have given since making their homes in California last year.They shocked Britain when they decided to step back from royal duties.Last month the couple announced that are expecting a second child.In the clips, Oprah said that no subject was off limits and at one point tells the couple "you have said some pretty shocking things here," including that their situation had been "almost unsurvivable".

  • Merrick Garland could be confirmed as Biden’s attorney general this week

    Biden AG pick passes out of committee by bipartisan 15-7 vote

  • Duchess of Sussex accused of 'bullying Palace staff to tears'

    The Duchess of Sussex faced several bullying complaints from members of her staff during her time as working royal, it was claimed on Tuesday night, as tensions between the couple and Buckingham Palace deepened. She was accused of driving two personal assistants out of the household and undermining the confidence of a third employee, The Times reported. A spokesman for the Sussexes told The Telegraph: "The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma. "She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good." Jason Knauf, the couple's communications secretary at the time, submitted a formal complaint about the claims in October 2018 in an apparent bid to protect his staff. In his email, he said: "I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable. The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behaviour towards Y."

  • The nefarious issue that tanked Biden Cabinet nominee Neera Tanden

    Tanden's confirmation failure makes her the first Cabinet pick to be disqualified. It's no coincidence that she's an Asian American woman.

  • Meghan wore earrings gifted by Prince Salman after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered

    The Duchess of Sussex wore earrings during a royal tour which were a gift from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia who is accused of ordering the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Chopard earrings worn by the Duchess at a formal dinner in Fiji in October 2018 during a royal tour of New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga were a wedding gift from the crown prince according to The Times. Kensington Palace was reportedly instructed to brief the media that the chandelier earrings were “borrowed” and this was reported by outlets covering the engagement. An aide has claimed the Duke and Duchess said the earrings were borrowed from a jeweller. Lawyers for the Duchess told The Times that while she may have stated the earrings were borrowed she did not say that they were borrowed from a jeweller. The lawyer denied the Duchess misled anyone about their provenance.

  • Schumer says "we'll have the votes" to pass COVID relief bill

    The Senate majority leader said that the Senate will take up President Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill as early as Wednesday.

  • Texas Gov. Abbott says he's opening the state '100%' and lifting the mask mandate a day after the CDC warned states not to relax COVID-19 restrictions

    Texas is experiencing an uptick in reported COVID-19 cases after the winter storm, and it has more hot-spot counties than any other state.

  • Former MLB executive says Albert Pujols was lying about his age when he signed a $240 million contract with the Angels

    "Not one person in baseball believes Albert Pujols is the age he says he is," former Miami Marlins President David Samson.

  • Republicans and majority of Democrats vote to keep incarcerated people from participating in elections

    No Republicans supported restoring the right to vote to incarcerated felons. A majority of Democrats likewise opposed the measure.

  • I received my first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in New York City and had to battle a flawed booking system

    An Insider reporter struggled to book an appointment and had to wait in line for hours to get the first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

  • California crash kills 13 of 25 people crammed into SUV

    Authorities are investigating whether human smuggling was involved after a crash Tuesday involving an SUV packed with 25 people and a tractor-trailer that left 13 people dead and bodies strewn across a roadway near the U.S. Mexico border. When police arrived, some of the passengers were trying to crawl out of the crumpled 1997 Ford Expedition while others were wandering around the fields. The rig's front end was pushed into the SUV's left side and two empty trailers were jackknifed behind it.

  • GOP Senators Grill FBI Director over Use of Geolocation Data to Track Capitol Rioters

    Senators Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah) on Tuesday pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray on the procedures federal law enforcement officials have used to track down those who participated in the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. “I’m anxious to see those who committed unlawful, violent acts on January 6 brought to justice,” Lee said during a Senate Judiciary Hearing on Tuesday. “I also believe that … with this circumstance, like every other circumstance, we have to make sure that the civil liberties of the American people are protected.” The Utah Republican explained that he had “heard a number of accounts” of people who were in Washington, D.C. on January 6 who never went near the Capitol but were “inexplicably” contacted by FBI agents who knew of their presence in the district that day “with no other explanation, perhaps, other than the use of geolocation data.” “Are you geolocating people, through the FBI, based on where they were on January 6?” Lee asked Wray. “I think there may be some instances in which geolocation has been an investigative tool, but I can’t speak to any specific situation,” Wray responded. “But what are you using to do that?” Lee asked. “What’s your basis for authority? Are you using national security letters?” Wray said, “I don’t believe in any instance we’re using national security letters for investigation of the Capitol—” Lee interrupted to ask the FBI director if he had gone to the FISA court, to which Wray responded he did not “remotely believe FISA is remotely implicated in our investigation.” The senator continued pressing Wray, asking if the FBI is “using warrants predicated on probable cause.” “We certainly have executed a number of warrants in the course of the investigation of January 6,” Wray said. “All of our investigative work in response to the Capitol [riot] has been under the legal authorities that we have in consultation with the [Department of Justice] and the prosecutors.” Later, Hawley continued Lee’s line of questioning regarding geolocation data, asking Wray if his position is that he doesn’t know “whether the bureau has scooped up geolocation data, metadata cell phone records from cell phone towers.” “Do you not know, or are you saying maybe it has or maybe it hasn’t? Tell me what you know about this,” Hawley said. “So when it comes to geolocation data specifically—again, not in a specific instance, but just even the use of geolocation data—I would not be surprised to learn—but I do not know for a fact—that we were using geolocation data under any situation with connection with the investigation of [January 6],” Wray said. “But again, we do use geolocation data under different authorities and specific instances.” The FBI, Department of Justice and local police in Washington, D.C. are investigating the origins and execution of the January rioting at the Capitol, with the probe resulting in hundreds of arrests so far. Republicans have expressed concern that the methods law enforcement has used to track down rioters could infringe upon personal liberty. Last month Bank of America sparked outcry after it said it would hand over banking information to the federal authorities for people suspected of having involvement in the riots. In the days after the riot, Bank of America handed over data to the FBI on thousands of customers who traveled to Washington, D.C. around January 6, Fox News reported.

  • 10 hours in Cancún hurt Ted Cruz's job approval more than when he tried to flip the presidential election

    New polling from Morning Consult shows Ted Cruz's job approval fell more after traveling to Mexico than when he objected to the election results.

  • CNN's Chris Cuomo is facing backlash for refusing to cover his brother Gov. Andrew Cuomo's scandals after praising his pandemic response

    The TV host said he "obviously" can't cover his brother's scandals because it presents a conflict of interest.