On Christmas Eve, Dr. Anthony Fauci will turn 81. Having advised seven presidents in his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he is one of America's best-known doctors, and, for many, a trusted voice on Covid-19.
Just when we thought we were heading for a more normalized holiday season, a new variant -- the dreaded Omicron -- has been identified as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization. I and other public health experts are cautioning Americans to take this variant seriously, but also to be patient, as we have much to discover. But I recognize that the wait feels understandably frustrating: how is it possible that almost two years into the pandemic, we still can't know with certainty what the next best step might be?
Prosecutors charged the parents of a 15-year-old suspected school shooter with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in a rare move that sent shockwaves across the country.
It is never a good idea to campaign too openly for a future congressional leadership post which assumes an outcome in an upcoming election. Experience dictates members of Congress demonstrate prudence and humility before voters cast their ballots, sometimes in unpredictable ways. House Democrats learned this hard lesson in 2020 as they underperformed unexpectedly and nearly lost their majority, while Joe Biden won the presidency by a comfortable margin.
At least five conservative radio hosts who warned their audiences against the vaccine have died of Covid in recent months. But the death of Marcus Lamb this week highlights a different network of misinformation that has nearly as broad a reach in conservative circles but receives far less attention in political media: conservative Christian broadcasters.
On November 24, the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa identified a new coronavirus variant of concern, dubbed Omicron. Since the variant's initial identification in South Africa, it has been discovered in a number of countries spanning multiple continents, and on Wednesday, the first case of Covid-19 caused by this variant was reported in California.
Guns do kill people -- in significant numbers, more quickly and easily than many other weapons. Time and time again, guns have been used in mass killings, including at schools where children should be focusing on their education rather than practicing how to fend for themselves in active shooter drills.
Having spent a couple decades in and around failing Arab-Israeli negotiations, I know a negotiation that's in serious trouble when I see one. The Iran nuclear negotiations that resumed this week in Vienna after a suspension of almost five months are a case in point.
Heading into Wednesday's oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, there was little doubt that the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority would be looking to alter the status quo on abortion. The question going into oral argument was how.
If we needed more proof of the magnitude of the threat posed by anti-vaccine activists, conspiracy theorists and irresponsible public figures, look no further than the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. As long as large segments of the world's population remain unvaccinated, the virus survives, mutating into new forms, disrupting our lives and adding to the toll of disease and death.
Just when you think you know the depth of former President Donald Trump's recklessness and arrogance, something new comes along to prove you don't. According to The Guardian, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reveals in a new book that Trump tested positive for the Covid-19 virus three day before his first debate with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. The book says another test in that period came back negative.
After video surfaced of Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert making anti-Muslim comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar in mid-November, Congress must again contend with a major question: how to handle members who step out of line, offending and potentially endangering the wellbeing of their colleagues.