Friday morning news - November 5, 2021

OSHA unveils rules on Biden’s vaccine mandate » If you work for a company with 100 or more employees, the federal government says you’ll need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4th or get tested weekly.

The Biden administration issued new rules for its vaccine mandate on Thursday. Some economists are concerned that some employees may quit rather than comply, with companies already struggling to fill jobs at the start of the holiday season.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters …

PIERRE: If you’re asking like if we think the rules impact supply chain, the answer is no, we don’t think that it will.

But the administration did push the start date back by one month till after the holidays. The original date was December 4th.

OSHA, the agency that oversees workplace safety, issued nearly 500 pages of regulations Thursday. They detail how companies, and federal workers and contractors should comply with President Biden’s order.

The rules say companies must mandate masks for unvaccinated employees starting Dec. 5.

The rules would impact tens of millions of U.S. workers.

More than two dozen Republican state attorneys general have threatened legal action. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday …

DESANTIS: This is not consistent with a government of limited and enumerated powers. There is no general police power. There’s no power to mandate on the American people from the federal government.

Companies that don’t comply with the rules face stiff fines. The regulations do not apply to those working from home or in outdoor jobs.

Russian analyst who was source for Steele dossier arrested » The FBI has arrested a U.S.-based Russian analyst who helped fuel unverified allegations against former President Trump. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Igor Danchenko faces charges of lying to the FBI. The arrest stems from special counsel John Durham's ongoing investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

That probe ultimately turned up no credible evidence to support allegations of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Danchenko aided former British spy Christopher Steele in compiling what would come to be known as the “Steele dossier.”

Democrats paid Steele to look for connections between Donald Trump and Russia. And the FBI used information from Steele to get a surveillance warrant to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign aide.

The indictment says Danchenko falsely denied a relationship with a longtime Democratic operative and supporter of Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

He’s also accused of fabricating details of a phone conversation that he said showed a—quote—“well-developed conspiracy of co-operation” between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Britain clears COVID-19 drug for use » Regulators in the U.K. have given the green light to a new oral COVID-19 treatment.

The antiviral pill called Lagevrio is manufactured by Merck. British regulators cleared it for emergency use to treat adults who test positive for COVID-19 and have at least one risk factor for severe illness.

The drug targets the enzyme that the virus uses to reproduce. It then puts errors into the virus’s genetic code to help prevent severe infection. The agency said it extensively reviewed the DNA mutation and agreed it does not pose a risk to humans. But some independent experts say questions remain about its safety for certain patients.

Early studies from Merck showed the drug reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID by half.

U.S. regulators plan to consider the pill next month.

Unemployment claims reach new pandemic low » The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell to another pandemic low last week. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has more.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: Unemployment claims fell about 5 percent to a total of 269,000.

Jobless claims hit a peak of more than 900,000 in early January, but have fallen fairly steadily ever since. And we’re now moving close to pre-pandemic levels of around 220,000 a week.

Overall, 2.1 million Americans were collecting unemployment checks last week. That was down from 7.1 million a year earlier.

The U.S. government will release its closely watched monthly jobs report today.

Economists believe employers added 400,000 jobs in October. That would be more than twice the jobs added in September. But the United States is still 5 million jobs short of where it stood in February of last year before COVID-19 struck.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

Rescuers continue search after building collapse in Nigeria » Rescuers are still digging through the rubble of a high rise apartment building that collapsed in Nigeria earlier this week as hopes of finding more survivors are dimming.

The new luxury apartment building in the city of Lagos was still under construction when it crumbled to the ground on Monday. As many as 100 people were working at the site.

As of Thursday evening, officials had recovered 36 bodies. Rescuers pulled nine survivors from the debris on Tuesday but none since.

Officials don’t know how many people are still trapped inside the rubble, but that number could be more than 50.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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