🦠 California is currently allowing hospitals to force asymptomatic staff with COVID to work as the state grapples with a spike in Omicron cases and staff shortages.

🗣 'Hospitals have to exhaust all other options before resorting to this temporary tool. Facilities and providers using this tool, should have asymptomatic COVID-19 positive workers interact only with COVID-19 positive patients to the extent possible,' a statement issued by the California Department of Public Health on Saturday read.

However, the news has sparked outrage among health professional advocates, who argue that hospital staff are carrying the brunt of the pandemic on their shoulders and are currently at risk along with their patients

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Despite some of the relative successes of @RonDeSantisChannel in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration and much of the media remain hostile to Florida's way of coping with the virus, the governor believes

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⚡️ Representative Ocasio-Cortez tests positive for COVID-19

❗️🇺🇸🌆🚒 The deadly fire at an apartment building in the Bronx was caused by an electric heater malfunction, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Daniel Nigro explains.

⚡️ Comedian and actor Bob Saget has passed away at the age of 65

The actor was found dead in a room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando

Russian hackers FIN7, who are allegedly behind the ransomware operations of Darkside and BlackMatter, are accused of sending two types of packages, “those imitating HHS are often accompanied by letters referencing COVID-19 guidelines enclosed with a USB", media reported, citing the FBI.

🗣 They added that the hackers usually pretended to be from the US Department of Health and Human Services or Amazon as a means of deceiving their ransomware targets

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🎬🦑 O Yeong-su from the South Korean hit TV show Squid Game wins 🏆Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globe Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) said on Twitter.

Many Virginia residents had demanded that Democratic governor, Ralph Northam resign after one of his yearbook photos from East Virginia School of Medicine (EVMS), Northam's alma mater, sparked widespread outrage.

The fact is that the photo on Northam's yearbook page shows two men, one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. Northam apologized for the photo, said he had never seen it before, and insisted that he was not one of the two men pictured in it

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⚡️ Nicole Kidman wins Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Drama at the 2022 Golden Globes

👏 Golden Globes 2022 winners:

“The Power of the Dog” - Best Motion Picture – Drama

“West Side Story” - Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy

Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos” - Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Will Smith, “King Richard” - Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Rachel Zegler, “West Side Story” - Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical/Comedy 

Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick… BOOM!” - Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy

Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” - Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog” - Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” - Best Director – Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast” - Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

“Encanto” - Best Picture — Animated

“Drive My Car” - Best Picture — Non-English Language

“Dune” - Best Original Score – Motion Picture

“No Time to Die,” No Time To Die” - Best Song Motion Picture

⚡️ U.S. State Department spokesperson says security talks between United States and Russia in Geneva have started

‼️NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says that effective dialogue between the alliance and Russia is possible but NATO needs to be ready if Moscow "chooses confrontation."

LAPD officers saved a pilot, setting him free from the cockpit of his plane just in time after it crash landed onto rail tracks. Close one!

American Airlines evokes backlash online after apologising for pilot's 'Let's Go Brandon' sticker

⚡️ US-Russia security talks in Geneva conclude after roughly 7.5 hours, the State Department says

🇺🇸🏊‍♀️ American transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (right), who managed to break several records after switching to women's competitions, has lost the race during university competitions in the US.

She was been defeated by another transgender athlete, Isak Hoenig (left).

Photo credit: Penn Athletics website

LIVE | Senior Russian diplomats hold press briefing after talks with US

❗️US to impose sanctions including on key financial institutions, export controls if Russia launches incursion into Ukraine - Sherman

NATO must reject 'military development of territory' of its eastern members, Russia says after talks

Sergei Ryabkov's main statements following the talks between Russia and the United States:

▪️Russia has no intention to "attack" Ukraine.

▪️Russia calls on the United States to be as responsible as possible - the risks of military confrontation must not be underestimated.

▪️There is a basis for reaching an agreement with the United States and NATO on security guarantees, the search for a balance of interests is possible.

▪️Attempts by the United States and NATO to blackmail and intimidate Russia are unacceptable, they will not give results.

Major statements made by Sherman after the talks between Russia and the United States:

▪️The United States announced that it is open to mutual limits on military exercises and transparency measures with Russia.

▪️The delegations of the United States and Russia confirmed in Geneva that a nuclear war cannot be won and should not be unleashed.

▪️The United States and Russia did not set a time frame for arms control negotiations.

▪️The US and the Russian Federation did not discuss Kazakhstan at the talks in Geneva.