Wednesday, December 8 top stories
It is Wednesday, December 8. Here are today’s top stories.
Pfizer said three doses of their Covid-19 vaccine provides the best protection against the omicron variant. This is based on lab studies of blood drawn from those who received two doses compared with those who received two doses and a booster shot. The two-dose group had much lower antibody levels against the omicron, while the three-dose group had antibodies that were able to neutralize omicron at much higher levels, at about 25 times higher. Pfizer said the lab studies show that two doses may not be sufficient to protect people against becoming infected from the omicron variant, but it may still protect you from severe disease. This means getting a booster shot is highly recommended for protection against omicron.
This early morning in New York City, a 50-foot Christmas tree just outside of Fox News’ headquarters was set on fire. The fire spread to several other smaller trees. Firefighters were able to put it out. The tree was not an actual tree, but a metal structure that was made to look like a tree and decorated with 10,000 ornaments and 100,000 lights. Police said they arrested a 49-year-old suspect who is accused of climbing up the tree, lighting ablaze papers he had with him, and shoving them into the tree. The suspect then climbed down to the floor and watched it burn. The man’s name is Craig Tamanaha. Police said he is homeless and it’s not clear what motive he had for burning the tree. Fox said they would rebuild the tree.
A law firm in Houston has filed a huge $10 billion lawsuit against Travis Scott and other defendants over the Astroworld Festival disaster in November in which 10 people died and hundreds were injured. The law firm is representing 1,547 concert g goers. The law firm, Brent Coon & Associates, said they are seeking justice for everyone who was impacted. This is just one of the hundreds of lawsuits filed since the incident on November 5. Travis Scott has recently requested to be dismissed from the lawsuits with a denial of all allegations of wrongdoing.
Golf star Tiger Woods announced he would play a golf tournament next week with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship, which is a father-son event. It will be the first time he is returning to competitive golf ever since he was seriously injured in a car crash in February. Tiger had severe injuries to his right leg that almost required amputation.
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President Biden plans to sign an executive order today to chart a path for the federal government to have net-zero emissions by 2050. Biden’s plan is to spend billions of dollars to have a federal fleet of electric vehicles, upgrade federal buildings, and have federal operations run on carbon-free electricity. Biden wants for all federal vehicles to be electric by 2035. This goal may be impacted if the Democratic Party loses the presidency in the next election because when former president Obama signed an executive order to significantly reduce the federal government’s emissions over 10 years in 2015, his presidential successor Trump revoked that order and told agencies to instead focus on reducing waste and cost-cutting.
Actor Nick Cannon made an emotional announcement on his talk show on Tuesday that his 5-month-old son, Zen, passed away from brain cancer. The mother’s name is Alyssa Scott. Cannon said he and the mother, Alyssa Scott, noticed that Zen’s head seemed larger than normal when he was two months old and had some breathing issues, so they decided to take him to a doctor. Doctors said there was a malignant tumor and conducted brain surgery. Unfortunately, the tumor wouldn’t stop growing and Cannon said last weekend was the last time he held his son. Cannon said Scott was the strongest woman he’s ever seen and that he is dedicating yesterday’s show to Zen.
Today Germany started a new era in their government when Olaf Scholz was sworn in as the chancellor of Germany, replacing the outgoing long-time leader Angela Merkel. Axios said Scholz is a “center-left” Social Democrat who served as a finance minister and vice chancellor in Merkel’s last government. Germany has the largest economy in Europe.
A cannabis company in Massachusetts made a huge 850-pound brownie that has 20,000 mg of THC to celebrate National Brownie Day and to promote their new line of edibles. The brownie is three feet by three feet and 15 inches tall. The company, MariMed Inc. said they have sold it to a customer who is a medical marijuana patient. It is unknown the cost. The company said they believe it is the largest THC-infused brownie ever made.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/health/pfizer-omicron-vaccine-data/index.html
https://abc7ny.com/fox-news-christmas-tree-on-fire-tyrus-nypd-new-york/11310845/