Wednesday morning news - December 22, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Biden announces massive COVID-19 testing effort » At the White House on Tuesday, President Biden announced a new effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

BIDEN: The federal govt. will purchase one-half-billion additional at-home rapid tests. We’ll be giving these tests to Americans for free.

The president said the tests will start shipping out next month. He also announced increased support for hospitals under strain.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday he’s activating National Guard troops to assist overwhelmed hospitals in his state.

BAKER: There’s no question the next few weeks will be enormously difficult for our healthcare community. There are staff shortages, sicker patients, and few stepdown beds available.

New U.S. cases of COVID-19 have doubled over the past three weeks.

A resurgence of the delta variant started the latest wave but omicron has overtaken it as the dominant variant in the country.

Dr. Amesh Adaljia at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said omicron is so incredibly infectious that it may be just a matter of time before everyone gets infected, vaccinated or not. But he said vaccines do largely protect against severe cases.

ADALJIA: If you’re somebody that’s fully vaccinated or if you’re high risk, fully vaccinated and boosted, you can really go about your life in a way that you could before the pandemic.

Omicron now accounts for about three out of every four infections in the United States.

Pentagon issues rules aimed at curbing extremism » Pentagon officials have issued new rules that they say are aimed at combating extremism within the U.S. military.

The announcement came nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, triggering a Defense Dept. review.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the new guidance doesn't make significant changes to what is or is not allowed. Rather, he said, it’s an effort to clarify.

KIRBY: These new updates provide increased clarity for service members and commanders on what qualifies as prohibited extremist activities.

The new guidance is far more specific about social media. Banned activities range from advocating terrorism or supporting the overthrow of the government to “liking” or reposting extremist views on social media.

The new rules also outline a two-step process for commanders to determine when to hold someone accountable.

Border Patrol: Possible terrorist apprehended at southern border » The chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma sector said agents apprehended a—quote—“potential terrorist” at the southern border. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Chief Patrol Agent Chris T. Clem announced this week that agents—in his words—“apprehended a potential terrorist who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico Thursday night.”

He said the 21-year-old migrant initially thought to be from Saudi Arabia is—quote—“linked to several Yemeni subjects of interest.” The Saudi Embassy, however, said the man was not a Saudi citizen.

Photos taken after the man’s arrest showed him wearing a jacket with a patch that said Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Oneida County is in New York. And an official with the county said, “The individual arrested is not affiliated with our organization in any way.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

U.S. population growth at lowest rate in pandemic's 1st year » U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic.

New figures released Tuesday that the United States grew only by 0.1 percent from July of 2020 to July of 2021. The Census Bureau said the population grew by just under 400,000 people over that 12-month span.

COVID-19 deaths, tighter immigration, and delayed pregnancies led to the slow population growth.

U.S. population growth has been lagging for years, but this was the first time since 1937 that the nation’s population grew by fewer than 1 million people.

Putin blames West for tensions, demands security guarantees » Russian President Vladimir Putin says the West is to blame for growing tensions with Russia. And he is again demanding certain guarantees from the United States and its NATO allies. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story.

PUTIN: [Speaking Russian]

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: At the Kremlin on Tuesday, Putin again said he wants guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not be allowed to join the NATO military alliance.

His remarks came just days after Moscow made the same demands in writing. Russia last week submitted drafts of proposed security agreements with the United States and NATO.

Putin charged Tuesday that if U.S. and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine, it will take those missiles only minutes to reach Moscow. And he said the Kremlin needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees,” as opposed to verbal promises that Moscow can't trust.

He said NATO has expanded eastward since the late 1990s and he claimed that is the reason for heightened tensions with Russia.

Thousands of Russian troops are now amassed along the Ukrainian border, but Moscow denies it has plans to invade the country.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

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

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