 Former President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to prevent a cache of documents from being shared with the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The committee has long sought the records from the National Archives, including activity logs, notes from then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and other paperwork that could shed light on the Trump administration's activities that day. Trump is asking for the court to put a hold on a lower court's order saying he can't block their release while it makes a determination on if it will take up the case. More: - In a Thursday filing, Trump's lawyers say the committee's interest in the documents "pales in comparison to President Trump's interest in securing judicial review before he suffers irreparable harm."
- The committee believes the documents may provide more evidence that Trump and members of his administration intentionally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and promoted baseless accusations of fraud.
- The Biden administration declined to exert executive privilege over the records, which it said was not in the national interest.
- Trump's attorneys say he should still get to invoke executive privilege over the documents even though he is no longer in office.
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Consumer spending grew at a slower rate in November than October, likely due to increased spending in October to get ahead of potential supply chain issues during the holidays, economists said. Consumers appear confident as Christmas shopping concludes, and forecasters still expect a robust fourth quarter. More: - Some economists are still expecting a brief economic slowdown, however, due to the omicron variant.
- Oxford Economics lowered its estimates for annual GDP growth in the first quarter from 3.4% to 2.5%.
- Personal income grew 0.4% in November, compared to 0.5% in October.
- The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's benchmark for targeting 2% inflation over time, was up 5.7% from November 2020, its highest level since 1982.
- Inflation could still be an issue in 2022 due to the supply chain, though consumers appear content to keep spending amid price increases.
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 The FDA authorized Merck's antiviral pill molnupiravir to treat COVID-19 on Thursday, the second oral treatment to receive an emergency use authorization. Health officials said molnupiravir should not be the preferred treatment for COVID-19, however, as it has proven less effective than Pfizer's pill, Paxlovid, which received authorization on Wednesday. A clinical trial found Merck's pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 by 30%, less than initially estimated, and far less than Paxlovid's 89%. More: - The need for updated treatments is critical, as two of the three authorized monoclonal antibody treatments have been found to not be effective in those infected with the omicron variant.
- While omicron cases may be less likely to result in hospitalization than earlier variants, the increased caseloads based on high transmissibility could still overwhelm hospitals.
- Merck's pill has not been tested specifically against omicron, though researchers believe it will still be effective.
- 378,000 treatment courses of molnupiravir are expected to be available within a few weeks, with another 3.1 million coming in January.
- Molnupiravir is taken as 40 pills over five days.
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 GOOD NEWS: Shaq-a-Claus, the annual event where former NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal distributes gifts to children, is celebrating its 20th year. For this year's event, 500 students at Wesley Lakes Elementary School in McDonough, Georgia, received toys, bikes, gift cards, and even haircuts for Christmas. Shaq says he remembers growing up without toys and how special it was to receive a gift at community events, inspiring him to give to children around the holidays. He says his goal in future years is to hold a "Shaq-a-Claus" marathon, where famous friends of his will hold similar events in all 50 states.
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 Amazon has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and will allow its warehouse employees to more easily organize. The settlement will require Amazon to email about one million current and former warehouse workers to notify them of their rights, and it will allow the NLRB to more easily sue Amazon if it believes the e-commerce giant is in violation of the terms of the agreement. The settlement follows six lawsuits filed by Amazon workers who say they were prevented from organizing. More:
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 Author Joan Didion has died at 87 of Parkinson's disease. Didion's fame came as a voice in America's New Journalism movement in the 1960s, adding a literary style and subjectivity to the turmoil of the era. She penned evocative essays about hippies, the 1970s film industry, music, and prominent figures like Howard Hughes in her classic collections "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" and "The White Album." More: - Though most notable for her nonfiction, Didion also wrote five novels, including "Play It as It Lays" and "A Book of Common Prayer," and co-wrote several screenplays, including "The Panic in Needle Park" (1971) and "A Star Is Born" (1976).
- For nearly four decades, she was married to novelist John Gregory Dunne, with whom she wrote several screenplays.
- Her most recent collection of nonfiction, "Let Me Tell You What I Mean," was released in January 2021.
- In 2017, Didion was the subject of a Netflix documentary, "The Center Will Not Hold," which was directed by her nephew Griffin Dunne.
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- Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was convicted of two counts of manslaughter on Thursday in the April 2021 killing of Daunte Wright. Potter said she mistook her gun for her Taser. Prosecutors said they would seek a longer prison term than the seven years recommended under sentencing guidelines.
- President Biden signed legislation on Thursday banning imports from the Xinjiang region of China where up to one million members of the Uyghur Muslim minority have been the victims of human rights abuses.
- Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas passed up docking on the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Aruba this week after 55 passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Last week, the cruise line's Symphony of the Seas returned to Miami after 48 passengers and staff tested positive.
- Nassau County's district attorney will not file sexual misconduct charges against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in regard to a 2019 incident at the Belmont Racetrack in Long Island. DA Joyce Smith said the allegations were credible and troubling, "but not criminal under New York law."
- The Federal Election Commission has dismissed complaints against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy alleging illegal fundraising. The FBI is still investigating the alleged "straw donor scheme."
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 |  | Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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