What Does National Security Even Mean Anymore? - Talking threats, foreign and domestic, with Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. - link
The Vaccine Resisters - Why do so many people say that they won’t be immunized against COVID-19? - link
Is the Vatican Finally Ready to Get Serious About Women in the Church? - Stories of American nuns over the past fifty years highlight an urgent need for change. - link
The Vicar of Christ Calls on the Grand Ayatollah - In a historic meeting in Iraq, the leaders of Catholicism and Shiite Islam urged coexistence among the Abrahamic faiths. - link
What the Coronavirus Variants Mean for the End of the Pandemic - The virus is mutating—but we can still beat it, one vaccination at a time. - link
From Vox
Meghan Markle says the royal family was “concerned” about her future child’s skin color -
Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, CBS, March 7, 2021. | Photo by Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese via Getty Images
In an interview with Oprah, the former Duchess of Sussex reveals a troubling encounter with the British royal family.
On Sunday night on CBS, Meghan and Harry, the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, sat down with Oprah for what was advertised as a no-holds-barred conversation about their experience with the British royal family. And they made one revelation that appeared to genuinely shock Oprah: Before the 2019 birth of their son Archie, members of the royal family, they said, had approached them with concerns about his skin color.
There were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born” from members of the royal family, Meghan said to a flabbergasted Oprah early on in the two-hour interview.
Meghan said she was not present at the conversations, but that she heard of them second-hand through Harry.
“About how dark your baby is going to be?” asked Oprah.
“Potentially,” said Meghan, “and what that would mean or look like.”
Meghan has a Black mother and white father, and has been subject to a storm of racist harassment from the British tabloid press ever since she became associated with the royal family. Similar racist harassment came publicly from the British royal family on at least one occasion, as well: infamously, Princess Michael of Kent wore a racist blackamoor brooch to be introduced to Meghan in 2017.
On Sunday night, Meghan declined to name the member or members of the family who speculated about what her then-unborn child might look like. “I think that would be very damaging to them,” she said.
When Harry joined the interview, he similarly refused to name names. “That conversation I’m never going to share,” he said. “It was awkward. I was a bit shocked.” Harry added that he had this conversation early on in his relationship with Meghan. “That was right at the beginning,” he said. “What will the kids look like?”
The couple also revealed that the palace expressed reluctance to grant their son Archie — great-grandson of the current Queen of England and grandson of the future King — a courtesy title, or to provide him with the security that normally accompanies that title, in violation of traditional royal protocol.
“Do you think it’s because of his race?” Oprah asked.
Meghan emphasized that she was not particularly concerned about Archie’s access or lack thereof to a title, but the lack of security gave her pause. And, she added, “the idea of the first member of color of this family not being titled in the same way” did not sit well with her.
Meghan and Harry married in 2018 in a lavish and history-making royal ceremony. In January of 2020, they declared their intentions to step back from their day-to-day duties as senior members of the royal family. Shortly thereafter, they announced that they would be relinquishing their “royal highness” titles. Sunday night’s conversation was the couple’s first lengthy interview since departing the royal family.
The US vaccine situation is looking up — but experts say you should keep wearing a mask -
A man adjusts his second face mask ahead of a funeral service in Los Angeles. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The US set a new daily record for vaccinations on Saturday with 2.9 million shots.
As the US ramps up its mass vaccination campaign, public health experts are warning against complacency — and a possible new surge in cases.
“It appears that things are going very well,” Osterholm said. “You can see blue skies. We’ve been through a terrible, terrible year. But what we know is about to come upon us is the situation with this B.1.1.7 variant … we do have to keep America as safe as we can from this virus by not letting up on any of the public health measures we’ve taken.”
NEW: @Mtosterholm says “we are in the eye of the hurricane right now” on the spread of the coronavirus. #MTP
Osterholm: “It appears things are going really well, we even see blue skies … but we know what is about to come upon us is the situation with this B117 [UK] variant.” pic.twitter.com/kQbYxdL6gS
One of those public health measures has been increasingly successful of late: White House Covid-19 czar Jeff Zients told Meet the Press Sunday that a record 2.9 million Covid-19 vaccines were administered on Saturday, setting a new record for the third day in a row.
On average, Zients said, the US is now administering about 2.2 million shots per day, an increase of 1.3 million doses per day compared to mid-January levels.
EARLIER: “It is really big progress to have enough vaccine supply for all adult Americans by the end of May,” says WH Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Jeff Zients. #MTP
“When we walked into office 6-7 weeks ago, there was not enough supply and it was pushed further out.” pic.twitter.com/jgq51wyKae
Polling suggests that vaccine hesitancy is also falling in the US, even as vaccine supply increases. According to a new Pew Research Center poll Friday, a combined 69 percent of the US population has either already been vaccinated or plans to get a vaccine when one becomes available.
That’s a significant step up from November, when only 60 percent of American adults said they definitely or probably would get the vaccine when it became available, according to Pew, and even more so from the nadir of US vaccine confidence in September, when just 51 percent planned to get vaccinated. Public health experts believe 70 to 80 percent of Americans will need to be vaccinated for the US to have herd immunity.
Vaccine hesitancy fell even more sharply among Black Americans in the most recent Pew poll: 61 percent now say they have either already been vaccinated or plan to get a vaccine, compared to 42 percent in November.
Those stats are just the latest bit of good vaccine news in the US, following the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of a third vaccine for emergency use late last month, and President Joe Biden’s Tuesday announcement that the US was “on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May.”
On Saturday, Biden laid out an even more ambitious target, suggesting that the US could have enough vaccines by mid-May.
Biden also announced a new partnership between pharmaceutical giants Merck and Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday. The two companies are set to work together in order to step up production of Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved single-shot vaccine, which clinical trials have shown is highly effective at preventing hospitalization and serious illness from Covid-19.
And billions of federal dollars for vaccine distribution are almost on the way after the Senate passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Saturday along strict party lines. The bill will be back in the House this week for a final vote, and is expected to land on Biden’s desk for a signature soon afterward.
Combined, the vaccine news points to a far more optimistic trajectory for the country heading into spring and summer, as Dr. Anthony Fauci noted on Face the Nation Sunday.
Will warmer weather mean less mitigation for COVID-19? Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @margbrennan, not so fast: “We’ve been through this movie before”, warning of precedent of surges in the summer.
Fauci says, however, vaccine supply will “dramatically increase” in the weeks ahead pic.twitter.com/BFmMfN0WwS
“We need to gradually pull back [on restrictions] as we get more people vaccinated,” he told host Margaret Brennan. “And that is happening every single day, more and more people, and particularly as we get more doses, which are going to be dramatically increased as we get into April and May.”
Don’t relax yet, public health experts say
Despite a tide of good news in recent weeks, Fauci also cautioned against rolling back restrictions too quickly, pointing out in his Face the Nation appearance Sunday that although US Covid-19 cases have fallen sharply in recent weeks, the decline is “starting to plateau.”
“Plateauing at a level of 60,000 to 70,000 new cases per day is not an acceptable level,” Fauci said. “And if you look at what happened in Europe a few weeks ago, they’re usually a couple of weeks ahead of us in these patterns, they were coming down too, then they plateaued. And over the last week or so, they’ve had about a 9 percent increase in cases.”
Another infection spike? A fourth wave? Dr. Anthony Fauci reiterates his concern that COVID-19 cases have declined and plateaued around 60k or 70k cases – he says that’s “unacceptable.” pic.twitter.com/bzbcEh0AJ3
Not every state in the US has taken Fauci’s warnings to heart, however: Despite concerns about a variant-fueled surge in the US, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves both moved to lift mask mandates and loosen other public health restrictions in their states last week, alarming public health officials.
“When you look at the numbers in Mississippi,” Reeves told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, “It doesn’t justify government intervention. … Our number one tool against the virus is putting shots in arms.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on CNN defends his decision to rescind his state’s mask mandate even as public health officials insist it’s a bad idea pic.twitter.com/5wmXKLQr0E
According to the Washington Post, however, Mississippi lags the rest of the nation in vaccine distribution per capita as of Thursday, as does Texas. And while vaccines are an important mitigation tool, Osterholm advocated for maintaining other techniques to stop infections as well, telling Meet the Press, “You wouldn’t catch me tonight in a crowded restaurant somewhere, even with my vaccination.”
Noting that public health guidance continues to recommend masks and social distancing, some of Abbott and Reeves’s fellow Republican governors, such as West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, have expressed confusion with Texas and Mississippi’s decision to relax restrictions early.
“For crying out loud,” Justice told Face the Nation Sunday, “If we could be a little more prudent for 30 more days, or 45 more days, or whatever it took for us to get on rock-solid ground, that’s the approach West Virginia’s going to take.”
West Virginia Governor @JimJusticeWV on other states lifting mask mandates during COVID-19
“For crying out loud, if you could be a little more prudent…for us to get on rock solid ground, that’s the approach West Virginia’s going to take.” pic.twitter.com/G0BzkOJLED
Justice’s stance isn’t just supported by public health experts, but polling also suggests that it’s popular: According to a new poll by ABC and Ipsos, a majority of Americans — about 56 percent — think mask mandates are being relaxed too quickly.
Zients reiterated that position to Todd on Sunday.
“We need to make sure that we do not let down our guard,” Zients said. “We need to stay on this path and beat this pandemic.”
Two more women accuse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment -
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference in September 2020 in New York City. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Cuomo is facing calls for his resignation amid a growing list of sexual harassment allegations.
In a pair of news reports Saturday, two more former aides to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused him of sexual harassment, a development that led New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to join calls for Cuomo, a Democrat, to resign.
“For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign,” Stewart-Cousins, also a Democrat, said in a statement Sunday.
As of Sunday, five women have come forward to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment. Most recently, Ana Liss, a former policy and operations aide to Cuomo from 2013 to 2015, told the Wall Street Journal the governor repeatedly inquired about her personal life, touched her, and on one occasion even kissed her hand. According to the Journal, Liss’s allegations were backed by recollections from multiple anonymous former staffers.
Separately, Karen Hinton — a former Cuomo aide who also worked with the now-governor as a consultant when he led the New York Department of Housing and Urban Development — told the Washington Post in a piece published Saturday that Cuomo invited her to his hotel, asked her personal questions about her marriage, and hugged her repeatedly in a manner that was “very long, too long, too tight, too intimate” when she attempted to leave.
“He pulls me back for another intimate embrace,” Hinton told the Post of the encounter. “I thought at that moment it could lead to a kiss, it could lead to other things, so I just pull away again, and I leave.”
Multiple people also confirmed to the Post that Hinton detailed the encounter to them shortly after it occurred in 2000, with one friend stating that Hinton was “really creeped out. It really freaked her out.”
Cuomo’s office has dismissed both accounts in statements to the Wall Street Journal and to the Washington Post, casting Hinton as “a known antagonist of the Governor’s who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago” and claiming that hugs and kisses — the behaviors that make up the alleged inappropriate and unwanted physical contact — are just “what people in politics do.”
Liss and Hinton are far from the only former aides to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment and misconduct. Both stories are backed by additional anonymous accounts from others who have worked with or for Cuomo — including that of a federal official who told the Post Cuomo kissed her on the cheek in front of colleagues shortly after she began work at HUD — and they are the fourth and fifth named accusers to emerge in recent weeks.
Previously, two other former aides — Lindsey Boylan, now a candidate for Manhattan borough president, and Charlotte Bennett — accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. A third woman, Anna Ruch, who did not work with Cuomo, recounted meeting the governor at a friend’s wedding, and says he attempted to kiss her.
Whoa at this pic: A young woman says Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked if he could kiss her at a wedding, and put his hands on her face
Ruch’s allegations are also backed by a photo of the encounter. Her story, as well as Bennett’s, was first reported by the New York Times. Boylan first accused Cuomo of misconduct in an essay posted to Medium in February this year.
According to Bennett, Cuomo asked her about her sex life and whether she was interested in older men, among other comments.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the Times of a June 5 encounter with Cuomo in his Albany office. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”
Cuomo is facing a flurry of misconduct allegations right now
In addition to a slew of sexual harassment allegations, Cuomo is also facing at least two other closely linked scandals that have left his political career in jeopardy.
One revolves around his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York: Despite a star turn for Cuomo early in the crisis, when New York City was far and away the hardest-hit area of the country, new reports suggest that the Cuomo administration deliberately manipulated nursing home death statistics to cast New York’s response in a more favorable light — and to shield the governor from criticism.
According to the New York Times, Cuomo aides — none of whom had a background in public health — rewrote a report first produced by New York state health officials to remove a statistic revealing how many nursing home residents died from the virus in the state.
Additionally, a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that the Cuomo administration initially undercounted those nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent, according to the New York Times. After the attorney general’s report was released in late January, the state provided new data that increased the reported number of nursing home deaths in New York by more than 40 percent.
Cuomo’s response to the nursing home scandal has also spun off into a scandal in its own right: In February, New York Assembly member Ron Kim, who is also a Democrat, said Cuomo allegedly threatened Kim’s career in politics over his criticism of Cuomo’s handling of nursing home deaths in New York, after comments Kim made to the New York Post detailing a call Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa had with lawmakers about the deaths.
“Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience,” Kim told CNN last month.
Kim also alleges that Cuomo told him, “We’re in this business together and we don’t cross certain lines, and he said I hadn’t seen his wrath and that he can destroy me.”
Kim’s account has since sparked the revelation of a number of other similar stories about Cuomo from New York politicians, which were bolstered by Saturday’s Washington Post story about Hinton.
According to the Post, Cuomo “was often consumed by rage and irritation toward [staffers], only to be kind and charming in their next interactions. They found the sharp contrast to be deeply disorienting, with some saying it even drove colleagues to suffer emotional breakdowns.”
In the same story, Kim told the Washington Post that Cuomo’s behavior was a pattern.
“He feels untouchable,” Kim said of Cuomo. “Whether it’s verbal or physical abuse, or threatening lawmakers or journalists for doing their jobs, it’s come to a level where it’s so normalized that he doesn’t think twice about behaving that way.”
Cuomo says he isn’t going anywhere
Despite the mounting and diverse set of misconduct allegations facing Cuomo, it’s unclear what the future holds for him. James, the New York attorney general, has opened an independent civil investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, and Saturday’s revelations have already intensified pressure on the governor to step down of his own accord.
Already this month, one member of New York’s congressional delegation, Rep. Kathleen Rice, has called on Cuomo to resign, and on Sunday, New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins did so as well.
“New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing the societal, health and economic impacts of it,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign.”
Stewart-Cousins’s statement is a blow to an already embattled Cuomo, but it’s not especially surprising: Stewart-Cousins indicated in an interview Thursday that she would call for Cuomo’s resignation if more sexual harassment allegations surfaced. Since then, two more women — Liss and Hinton — have gone on the record accusing Cuomo of sexual misconduct.
New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie supported Stewart-Cousins’s stance in a statement Sunday and called the allegations against Cuomo “deeply disturbing,” though he did not explicitly issue his own call for Cuomo to resign.
“I too share the sentiment of Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins regarding the Governor’s ability to continue to lead this state,” Heastie said. “I think it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
Thus far, however, Cuomo has resisted calls to resign, though he issued an apology of sorts for his conduct at a press conference Wednesday.
“I have learned from what has been an incredibly difficult situation, for me as well as other people, and I’ve learned an important lesson,” Cuomo said Wednesday. “I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused anyone. I never intended it, and I will be the better for this experience.”
He also reiterated his refusal to step down on Sunday prior to Stewart-Cousins’s statement, telling reporters on a conference call that “there is no way I resign.”
If Cuomo were to resign, however, he would be replaced by New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who would be the first woman to hold the office.
Even if he does stay in office, the recent tide of scandals could undercut Cuomo’s political future in the state. He will be up for reelection in 2022, if he does choose to seek a fourth term as New York governor, and as Politico points out, he might well face a difficult primary to claim the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
“Whether he resigns or not, there will be no shortage of candidates in 2022,” one anonymous source told Politico of Cuomo’s plight. “Donors and consultants have begun reaching out to prospective candidates because they see the writing on the wall.”
Finally, Cuomo’s eventual political fate could have far broader implications for the Democratic Party: As Vox’s Anna North has written, “what happens next” — whether resignation, impeachment, or an eventual primary repudiation — “will show how Democrats handle sexual misconduct allegations against one of their own more than three years after the Me Too movement started making headlines.”
From The Hindu: Sports
ICC events for women to have more teams from 2026 - The T20 World Cup will have 12 teams instead of 10 from the 2026 edition. The ODI World Cup will also be expanded - from eight teams to 10 - from the 2029 edition
Pakistan Cricket Board shuts offices after senior official tests positive for COVID-19 - The PCB decided to adopt a safety-first approach soon after the official tested positive and asked its employees to work from home.
Indian Women’s Football Alliance aims to empower women through soccer - Indian Women’s Football Alliance organised a football tournament of Women’s Day to highlight social issues that hamper women
India women vs South Africa women | Blown away in opener, rusty India aim to bounce back - A better prepared South Africa, on the other hand, were clinical and will be hard to beat in the coming games
Veteran Indian athlete Ishar Singh Deol dies at 91 - Deol had won many medals for the country and the State since 1951 and was awarded the Dhyan Chand National Award in 2009 for his lifelong contribution towards sports.
From The Hindu: National News
High lands of Kottayam to offer experiential tour packages - As the tourism sector in Kottayam gradually rebounds from the pandemic-induced slump, the villages on its high ranges are preparing to roll out the we
Mysuru dog squad gets Belgian Malinois puppy - A new member was on Monday added to the police dog squad in Mysuru. A two-month-old puppy of Belgian Malinois breed joined the squad to aid the police
Apollo Hospitals launches cancer awareness programme - Actor Radhika Sarathkumar flagged off two buses that would be used for cancer screening programmes
Farmers’ protest | Women farmers take centre stage at protest sites - Organisers laid out elaborate plans to let women farmers manage the stage, arrange food and security and share tales of their struggles on the International Women’s Day
Kerala High Court posts Sunny Leone’s bail plea for hearing on March 23 - Bollywood actor and her husband face cheating case in connection with a show that did not come off
From BBC: Europe
European Banking Authority hit by Microsoft Exchange hack - The EU body is one of the first major organisations to admit falling victim to the global email hack.
Switzerland referendum: Voters support ban on face coverings in public - The referendum, brought by a far-right party, could affect Muslim women who wear the burka or niqab.
UK minister accuses EU of ‘ill will’ over Brexit deal - Lord Frost says the EU has “significantly undermined” post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Pope Francis visits regions of Iraq once held by Islamic State - The Catholic leader delivers a message of hope in the former Islamic State stronghold of Mosul.
French MP and billionaire Olivier Dassault dies in helicopter crash - President Macron says Olivier Dassault’s death in a helicopter crash in Normandy is a great loss.
From Ars Technica
The iMac Pro has been discontinued - Apple confirms the meaning behind “while supplies last” note in online store. - link
Review: Separated siblings struggle to survive a brutal world in Tribes of Europa - Netflix’s new German sci-fi series is from the same people who brought us Dark. - link
A music video you can play: Indie rock inside the Unity engine - You’ve seen interactive music before—but an indie mindset changes the game. - link
The new Google Pay repeats all the same mistakes of Google Allo - For P2P users, the new app has fewer features, is less convenient, and has more fees. - link
Ars’ plea: Someone make this into a series - The Ars staff picks the novels we think would make compelling TV adaptations. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
The Devil sat at the gates of hell… (Story Joke) -
An old man suddenly arrived in a burst of flames, looking confused and lost. The Devil looked at his paperwork, and frowned. He was unable to find this old man’s data file.
“This can’t be right,” the old man grumbled, looking at the Devil, “I’ve been a good man my whole life.”
The Devil nodded apologetically, most people said this when they arrived at Hell. “Why don’t you start with how you died and we’ll figure it out.” He said
The old man signed and said:
“Well, I was out with minding my grandchildren, enjoying a fun day out. I don’t get the grandchildren often because my eyesight is starting to fade. But we were having the most wonderful time..
And that’s when everything went crazy!
Out of nowhere, I spotted the largest most grotesque mouse I’ve ever seen moving towards us. It was absolutely enormous!
And that’s when it moved. Straight towards the grandchildren first, limbs outstretched. You don’t know where mice have been, what if it had’ve bitten one of them? Can you imagine if they got rabies on my watch?”
“So what did you do?” The Devil whispered, entranced by the story. He was munching on a box of popcorn.
The old man continued,
“You don’t get how big this mouse was! Radiation it must’ve been. Too many phones these days, that’s what causes it.
I did the only think I could!
I grabbed my walking stick and I cracked it over the head. Now my eye sight isn’t that good anymore, but I whacked it good!
The kids started screaming at this point. You know how they get when you have to kill an animal.
But I needed to keep going. You see with mice, you need to see their guts to know their dead. Otherwise they’ll be back with others.”
“So you killed it?” The Devil asked. Some of his demigods had come to listen to the story.
The old man nodded,
“By golly I did! Guts and all were splattered for all to see. The kids had lost their mind at this point. Tears everywhere. A crowd had gathered as well, all screaming at the sight.
It was at this point though, that the exertion caught up with me. I felt my heart give way. I must have suffered a heart attack. Next thing I know, I’m here.”
“Well,” the Devil said, concerned, “This doesn’t seem to add up. Let me just give Heaven a call and we’ll try and see what’s going on here.
The Devil pulled up a phone from thin air and dialled a number.
“Hey Jesus bro,” the Devil said, “I think I’ve got one of yours here. His story checks out. Must have been a mix up.”
The Devil nodded as a voice on the phone spoke back to him. He gave the old man a silent celebratory thumbs up as the voice continued.
The Devil covered the phone speaker with his hand, turned to the old man and said,
“You’re all good, they just want to know where you were when you died.”
