Bloomberg News reports: China says it’s determined to hold a successful Winter Olympics in roughly 65 days even after the World Health Organization warned Covid cases may surge due to “severe consequences” fueled by omicron. The new variant “will definitely bring some challenges to prevention and control,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian [photo] said Tuesday at a regular press …

The Associated Press reports: Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history. Barbados didn’t need permission from the U.K. to become a republic, although the island will remain a member of the Commonwealth Realm. It’s an event that the …

Reuters reports: Far-right French pundit Eric Zemmour announced his candidacy for president on Tuesday with a video in which, to ominous music and footage of street violence, he said he wanted to save France from decadence and minorities that “oppress the majority”. His declaration came hours before the conservative Les Républicains hold their final TV debate ahead of a congress …

“If you haven’t checked in on Tony Fauci lately, you may be a little surprised to discover what he’s become. If you tune in a couple years ago you may recall Fauci as a conventional public health official. “He wore button-down shirts, he gave careful, precise answers that suggested deep medical knowledge. No more. “After two years of being nonstop …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Pennsylvania Republican insiders say celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz is likely to join Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, perhaps as soon as this week. Widely known as Dr. Oz, he has already hired top campaign aides and has reached out to some Republican political leaders in the state, according to multiple Pennsylvania Republicans familiar with the matter. Oz, …

Mediaite reports: Fox Nation host Lara Logan went there during an appearance on Fox News’s Prime Time on Monday night and compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. Or at least, that’s what people are telling her, so she says. “What you see on Dr. Fauci – this is what people say to me: that he doesn’t represent …

Media Matters has the transcript: The virus is mutating because that’s what viruses do, especially when it’s trying to sneak around a vaccine. It gets smarter. But usually when they become more transmissible, the viruses also become less deadly. But only time will tell here. Whatever happens with Omicron, this I know. The same control freaks hate the fact that …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Arlene Dahl, who starred in the 1959 sci-fi classic Journey to the Center of the Earth and many other films along with TV roles and also was an influential beauty and astrology writer, has died. She was 96. Dahl appeared on multiple TV soap operas including All My Children and One Life to Live and guested on …

Gothamist reports: New York City has issued a health advisory that recommends all residents wear a mask indoors and in public settings, in response to the emergence of the omicron variant. Officials said the new advisory strengthens the city’s position on mask-wearing, though it echoes a previous recommendation issued in August. Mayor Bill de Blasio and city health commissioner Dr. …

El Paso’s CBS News affiliate reports: A newly signed agreement will allow the construction of border wall on state-owned land in the Rio Grande Valley. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced Monday that a lease agreement between the General Land Office and the Department of Public Safety will allow the construction of a border wall along a GLO-owned farm …

From the editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ten months after a group of Senate Democrats lodged ethics complaints into the conduct of Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas regarding their roles in sparking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Senate Ethics Committee has shown no sign of movement. Both senators tell …

The Guardian reports: A small but vocal alliance of left-leaning students at Arizona State University (ASU) is demanding Kyle Rittenhouse be removed from online classes, despite the teen’s acquittal this month on charges of murdering two men and injuring another during protests for racial justice in Wisconsin last year. The 18-year-old has been celebrated in rightwing circles after a jury …

The Tennessean reports: The complaint, the first directed to the state under the new law passed this spring, was filed by Robin Steenman [photo], chair of the Moms for Liberty Williamson County chapter, a conservative parent group sweeping the nation. The 11-page complaint alleged that the literacy curriculum, Wit and Wisdom, used by Williamson County Schools and at least 30 …

The New York Times reports: Prosecutors who say Bill Cosby belongs in prison are asking the United States Supreme Court to throw out an appellate court ruling earlier this year that overturned his 2018 conviction for sexual assault on due process grounds. Mr. Cosby walked free from prison in June after serving less than three years of a three-to-10-year sentence. …

The Bulwark reports: Over the weekend, Conservatism Inc. found a new scandal to promote: A false report that Nancy Pelosi had purchased a $25 million mansion in Florida, home to 2024 hopeful, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Trump. To underscore: This story is false. Nancy Pelosi has not bought a $25 million mansion in Florida. But watching how the …

Via email from GOP Rep. Jim Banks: Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks released the following statement about pending government funding legislation currently slated for a vote by the end of the week: “The border crisis, the inflation crisis, the supply chain crisis and the government debt crisis—each of the crises facing our nation today can be traced back to …

“I wanted to let her know directly that I had reflected on my previous remarks. As a strong Christian woman who values faith deeply, I never want anything I saw to offend someone’s religion. So I told her that. “She said that she still wanted a public apology because what I had done wasn’t good enough. So I reiterated to …

Chicago’s ABC News affiliate reports: Jussie Smollett’s trial began Monday nearly three years after the former “Empire” actor reported he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in Chicago. The actor is facing charges for what authorities say was a fake attack. Smollett told police he was walking home early in the morning back in January of 2019 when …

Politico reports: A judge is allowing a Broadway actor arrested for his alleged walk-on role in the Capitol riot to remain free on pretrial release, despite his bizarre claims to be beyond the jurisdiction of the court. At a contentious hearing held Monday, James Beeks — a Michael Jackson impersonator who starred as Judas in a traveling “Jesus Christ Superstar” …

The Independent reports: The House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection will meet on Wednesday to consider authorising criminal contempt of congress charges against Jeffrey Clark, the ex-Trump justice department attorney who pushed to weaponise the department in service of former president Donald Trump’s push to overturn results of the 2020 election. If the committee votes in favor of …