Surgeon general issues warning over vaccine misinformation as White House turns up the heat on Facebook
CNN
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned Thursday health misinformation is "a serious threat to public health," as administration officials grow increasingly concerned about misleading claims about coronavirus vaccines, leading to a confrontation with social media giant Facebook.
"I am urging all Americans to help slow the spread of health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," Murthy wrote in a 22-page advisory released Thursday. "Health misinformation is a serious threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people's health, and undermine public health efforts. Limiting the spread of health misinformation is a moral and civic imperative that will require a whole-of-society effort." The stark statement from the surgeon general comes as dangerous falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines are swirling and as health experts warn of the Delta variant's increasing spread among unvaccinated Americans. Nationwide vaccination rates are dropping, while in 46 states, the rates of new Covid cases this past week are at least 10% higher than the rates of new cases the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro during a US military operation in Venezuela, the command of the South American country has fallen into the hands of a woman: Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
The detailed timeline and the revelation that a CIA team has been operating inside Venezuela for so long sheds new light on the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro for the past several months.
Embattled Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of obstruction last month for helping an immigrant evade federal officers, has sent her resignation letter to the governor.
More than two decades ago, on January 24, 2004, I landed in Baghdad as a legal adviser, assigned an office in what was then known as the Green Zone. It was raining and cold, and my duffle bag was thrown into a puddle off the C-130 aircraft that had just done a corkscrew dive to reach the runway without risk of ground fire. Young American soldiers greeted me as we piled into a vehicle, sped out of the airport complex and then along a road called the “Highway of Death” due to car bombs and snipers.
CNN’s David Culver sees massive crowds building up in Doral, Florida, outside of Miami, a place where there are a lot of Venezuelans celebrating President Nicolas Maduro’s capture Saturday.
On November 2, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that land strikes in Venezuela would require the approval of Congress. She said that if Trump “were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then (we’d need) Congress.”
A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed Louisville’s proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over police reforms after the department withdrew its support of the plan earlier this year.
In the days since the Trump administration announced it would freeze federal child care payments to Minnesota amid an alleged fraud investigation, fear and confusion have spread almost as fast as the viral video that launched the scandal.
President Donald Trump wants to tamp down on public debates about his health.
A US appeals court ruled on Friday that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state was unconstitutional.
A CNN team witnessed several explosions on Saturday night in Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity. Follow for live updates.
Thousands of people gathered for a New Year’s Eve celebration in Seattle this week, anticipating the annual fireworks show at one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, when a man stopped on a lawn and opened his coat to reveal a loaded shotgun, police said, alarming witnesses and an officer nearby.
The US Coast Guard announced Friday night it has suspended its search for people in the water after US strikes on alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier this week.