Defense Cooperation: Israel and the U.S. are jointly developing a new ballistic missile shield, the Arrow-4, aimed at countering threats from Iran.
️
Vax Vote: Mohammed Dahlan, a rival to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, announced that the UAE would send 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Gaza.
⚕️
One Shot: A new Israeli study shows that a single dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 85% effective within 15-28 days following injection.
On the Mat: Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei, who fled Iran after refusing pressure to withdraw rather than face an Israeli opponent, is slated to compete today at a judo tournament in Tel Aviv.
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Good Wednesday morning.
The daily rundown Between Monday and Tuesday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 7,023 (nearly 0.4 percent), to 1,790,743; active hospitalizations went down by 74 (nearly 1.4 percent), to 5,307; deaths rose by 233 (0.8 percent), to 28,048.
Good Tuesday morning!
A number of Senate committees will hold confirmation hearings today for several of President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks.
Janet Yellen, Avril Haines and Alejandro Mayorkas will testify in front of Senate committees this morning, while Tony Blinken and Lloyd Austin are scheduled to appear before the Foreign Relations and the Armed Services Committees, respectively, this afternoon. More below.
A report in
Politico indicates that Biden’s transition team is alarmed about the number of Trump appointees “burrowing into career positions throughout the federal government.”
Biden has selected Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be assistant secretary of health. If approved, Levine would be the first openly transgender official confirmed by the Senate.
Among those receiving commutations was Philip Esformes, a Miami nursing home executive who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for paying bribes and receiving kickbacks in a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme. The White House announcement notedthat “Esformes, who is 52, has been devoted to prayer and repentance and is in declining health.”
Trumprailed against the new COVID relief bill last night in a video from the White House, specifically slamming foreign aid inclusions, which are actually part of the separate omnibus spending bill. “$85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment,” the president charged.
Good Tuesday morning!
Here they go again. A last-minute bid to delay calling a new election in Israel failed 49-47 in the Knesset overnight. If a national budget is not passed by midnight tonight, the Knesset will automatically disperse, with a new election slated for March.
Despite
the delay bill being backed by Likud and Blue and White, a series of defections from both parties ultimately doomed the legislation. Likud MK Michal Shir voted against the legislation, and then announced she would be joining Gideon Sa’ar’s new party.
White House
senior advisor Jared Kushner is leading a U.S. delegation on a direct flight from Tel Aviv to Rabat today to hold talks on taking steps toward upgrading ties between Israel and Morocco.