Tuesday morning news - December 7, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

NYC plans strict employer vaccine mandate » Outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a strict new vaccine mandate on all private employers in the Big Apple.

DE BLASIO: All employees and patrons to have, from 12 years old and up, two doses. And that will take effect on Dec. 27th.

Residents will have to flash their vaccine card to get into many businesses—including restaurants, gyms, and theaters.

The city already requires vaccines for hospital and nursing home workers, city employees, and public and private school teachers.

The mayor said he expects his mandate, one of the most aggressive in the country, to withstand legal challenges.

Federal courts have put President Biden’s similar nationwide mandate for businesses on hold as lawsuits play out in the courts.

Justice Department sues Texas over new redistricting maps » Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that the Justice Department is moving to halt a redistricting plan in Texas.

GARLAND: The Justice Department has filed suit against the state of Texas for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The Lone Star State will soon add two new congressional seats due to its population growth. It’s not unusual for the party in power in a given state to redraw district lines for a political advantage, a process sometimes called gerrymandering. But the Biden Justice Dept. says Texas has gone too far.

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said minorities represent most of the state’s growth. And the Justice Department alleges that the plan discriminates against those minority voters.

GUPTA: These redistricting plans will diminish the opportunities for Latino and black voters in Texas to elect their preferred representatives.

The Republican Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, condemned the litigation. He called it an “absurd” intrusion by the Democratic administration and a “ploy to control Texas voters.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it won’t referee partisan gerrymandering disputes.

Forecasters now expect larger and long-lasting inflation » In a new survey, business economists in the United States say that inflation will be greater and last longer than previously expected. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has more.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The National Association for Business Economics released the survey on Monday.

Its panel of about 50 forecasters now expects consumer prices to rise 6 percent this quarter compared with a year ago. That’s up from a September survey, when that same panel predicted a 5 percent rise.

Most of the panelists—87 percent—say supply chain bottlenecks are a major factor, inflating consumer prices on almost everything.

Nearly 60 percent of the panelists expect the job market to reach full employment over the next year. And two-thirds of the forecasters think wage gains will keep inflation elevated over the next three years.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

David Perdue launches primary challenge against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp » A former Republican U.S. senator is aiming to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

PERDUE: I’m David Perdue. I’m running for governor to make sure Stacy Ambrams is never governor of Georgia.

Perdue’s Monday announcement sets up a bitter 2022 primary fight while Democrat Stacey Abrams is likely to await the winner.

Perdue lost his Senate seat last year to Democrat Jon Ossoff and has been flirting with a bid for governor for months. And former President Donald Trump has been publicly urging him to run against Kemp.

A spokesman for Gov. Kemp said—quote—“The man who lost Republicans the United States Senate” now “wants to lose the Georgia governor’s office.”

Perdue says he’ll campaign on a platform of ditching the state income tax and giving parents more say over what’s taught in public schools.

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi convicted » In Myanmar, a military-ruled court has convicted ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on two criminal charges. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: A court said Aung San Suu Kyi was guilty of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions and sentenced her to four years behind bars. That sentence was, however, quickly cut in half.

Many global leaders blasted her conviction on Monday as another effort by the ruling military to roll back the democratic gains of recent years.

The military ousted her in a de facto coup earlier this year, claiming massive voting fraud in last year’s election.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won that election in a landslide, and independent observers did not detect any major problems with the vote.

This was only the first in a series of cases brought against the 76-year-old Suu Kyi since her arrest on Feb. 1st.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

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

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.