White House warns free Covid treatments are at risk as subsidies run out
Some Americans might have to pay out of pocket for therapeutics if Congress doesn’t pass a new Covid funding bill.
Today's Liberal News
Criticizing Ukraine Is Free Speech, Too
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Friday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekWhat is a valuable insight, lesson, or perspective you have learned from someone who doesn’t share your politics?Email your thoughts to conor@theatlantic.com.
A Film That Finally Captures Murakami’s Writing
Drive My Car is a special movie. It’s a film about language, but its silences carry the most powerful moments of communication. It’s a three-hour drama about grief, but the experience of watching it is breezily loose and oddly comforting. And it’s one of very few adaptations of the renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s work, although the moments that best capture his style were invented by the director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s Dream Life
This morning, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress from his desk in Kyiv, bitter thoughts must have crossed his mind. Not so long ago, Donald Trump wouldn’t let Mike Pence attend the Ukrainian president’s inauguration. Zelensky spent the first year of his administration begging for an invitation to the White House that never arrived.
The Thriller Is Sexy Again in Ben Affleck’s Deep Water
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Ben Affleck, resplendent with stubble and weary eye bags, is a rich but bored husband with a beautiful (but also bored) wife, rattling around in a giant house wondering what to do with himself. Soon enough, a dead body appears.
The Most Haunting Truth of Parenthood
Do we ever really understand our parents? Certainly not when we’re children. If we’re lucky, we begin to understand them later. We might one day realize, for example, that they carried burdens we couldn’t see. Sometimes I wonder if I might have learned something important about what was to come in adulthood had I been paying closer attention when I was little, but no, I couldn’t have related then.
A NATO No-Fly Zone in Ukraine Would Be “Direct Involvement in the War Against Russia,” Experts Warn
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to demand the U.S. and NATO allies impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an idea that President Biden has rejected even as a growing number of Republicans embrace the idea despite the risk it could draw the U.S. directly into the war against Russia and possibly spark a nuclear confrontation.
A Tale of Two Wars: Biden Decries Russian Atrocities in Ukraine While Backing Saudi/UAE War in Yemen
As the U.S. and U.K. push for Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to offset a rise in global energy prices amid sanctions on Russia, the kingdom on Saturday announced it had executed 81 people — the country’s largest mass execution in decades.
Ukrainians Unite to Hold Back Russian Forces in Kyiv, Mykolaiv & Odessa as 3 Million Refugees Flee
We speak with Ukrainian reporter Nataliya Gumenyuk, who has been reporting from across Ukraine, including the strategic port cities of Mykolaiv and Odessa in the south of the country. More than 3 million refugees have fled the conflict, and Russian forces are increasingly targeting civilian areas. Gumenyuk says the Russian invasion has reshaped Ukrainian national identity and united the previously fractious country in common purpose.
Some hospitals ask patients, visitors to remove N95s, citing CDC
N95s, which seal tighter to the face, offer better protection against Covid-19, studies show.
CDC wants to monitor poop: States aren’t all on board
Wastewater surveillance gained popularity during the pandemic as state and local health officials demonstrated how they could detect the coronavirus in their community’s sewage systems before residents developed symptoms.
Pfizer CEO says another Covid booster will be needed
Albert Bourla’s comments continue a roller-coaster pattern of differing communication from the pharmaceutical company and the government as the pandemic enters its third year.
Obama tests positive for Covid-19
The 44th president, who reported only a scratchy throat, said that former first lady Michelle Obama had tested negative and that both were vaccinated and boosted.
U.S. inflation soared 7.9 percent in past year, a fresh 40-year high
The increase reported by the Labor Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb.
Russia oil shock looms over Fed inflation fight
The Fed is already expected to begin a campaign of interest rate increases next month in a bid to remove its support for economic growth amid a blistering job market and rapidly rising prices.
Biden takes victory lap with January jobs report
“America’s job machine is going stronger than ever,” Biden said at the White House.
U.S. employers shrug off Omicron, add 467,000 jobs in January
The burst of jobs came despite a wave of Omicron inflections that sickened millions of workers, kept many consumers at home and left businesses from restaurants to manufacturers short-staffed.
Opinion | Why Are Minority-Owned Banks Disappearing? Washington Holds the Smoking Gun
Congress needs to create a new safety net for such lenders — not let regulators squeeze them out of business.
In Belarus, Russia’s Partner in Ukraine Invasion, There Is “No Possibility” of Dissent on War
Ukraine says Belarus could become directly involved in the Russian invasion. This comes as Russia sent thousands of troops to Belarus to attack Ukraine from the north and NATO has accused the Russian Air Force of flying warplanes from airfields in Belarus last week. “We all know, see and understand that the territory of Belarus is used for conducting the war against Ukraine,” says Natallia Satsunkevich, an activist with the leading independent Belarusian human rights group Viasna.
Carlson Lobs Transphobic Attacks At Adm. Rachel Levine Over ‘Woman Of The Year’ Honor
“Levine is a fake admiral and, we’re told, a woman,” the Fox News host said, denigrating the nation’s first openly transgender admiral.
Jeanine Pirro Erupts At Geraldo Rivera For Suggesting Putin ‘Was Playing’ Trump
The Russian leader “was a wuss when Trump was president,” the Fox News host shouted at her colleague.
Ukraine update: ‘Limited to no progress’ for Russia; Zelenskyy addresses Congress tomorrow
Today saw “limited to no progress” by Russian ground forces, according to a Pentagon spokesman, though Russia continues to shell civilian population centers. While Ukrainian cities in the south of the country remain surrounded or under occupation, the situation in Kyiv appears more stable, with no Russian advancement and open Ukrainian supply lines.
The judicial system in D.C. is collapsing due to Republican obstruction
A man standing in a long line at a Washington, D.C., courthouse said that he has been trying to get a case settled for well over a year. A woman, meanwhile, stood nearby trying to resolve an issue with a restraining order that she took out on someone. Sadly, she decided to give up and let it go unresolved. “I’m a veteran and a woman. Something bad would have to happen to me for people to pay attention.” Right now, D.C.
‘People’s Convoy’ zealot goes full road rage, punches innocent D.C. commuter’s window
Well, if I were driving around in circles all day to protest pandemic mandates that have largely been rescinded, I might get pretty frustrated, too. Troop TruckNutz—aka the “People’s Convoy”—has been doing God knows what on the D.C. Beltway lately, for reasons known only to them. And it’s started to get pretty pathetic, frankly.
It would be one thing if they were harassing and endangering commuters for an absurd reason—i.e.
Putin once again demonstrates the disastrous effects of leaders believing their own lies
Despite Vladimir Putin’s draconian efforts to control the flow of negative information about his ill-conceived and (so far) poorly executed war on Ukraine, it appears that what passes for Russia’s “legitimate” administrative state may be horrified by the entire operation.
SEC will soon require disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions from publicly traded companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon adopt a rule requiring all publicly traded companies to disclose just how much greenhouse gas they emit while doing business, the Washington Post reports. The rule, which is likely to be announced on Monday, will include climate risk disclosure—something that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously discussed adopting and that President Biden touted as a goal during his 2020 campaign.
Confusion And Terror Reign In Texas For Families Of Trans Teenagers
Amid unprecedented attacks, including harassment from state officials, many families are dreading the next knock on the door.
Tennessee Advances More Extreme Version Of Texas Abortion Ban
Tennessee’s bill would ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy and deputize citizens to enforce it, allowing the law to evade court challenges.
Greg Gutfeld Addresses His ‘Little Kerfuffle’ With Colleague Benjamin Hall
After their on-air debate, Hall was hospitalized in an attack in Ukraine that also killed a Fox News cameraperson and a consultant.
Pfizer seeks emergency authorization for 2nd Covid booster for 65-plus
The request for a second booster shot is based on two real-world data sets suggesting another vaccine dose boosts protection against the Omicron variant while maintaining its safety profile.