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The new Omicron variant is a pandemic gut check
CNN
The emergence of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant feels like a pandemic gut check.
Scientists have long known that the world would see emerging coronavirus variants. Viruses mutate constantly.
But when South Africa's health minister announced Thursday the discovery of the B.1.1.529 variant, which appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of the country, it was the strongest reminder yet that the pandemic is not over.
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Over the past 10 days, Vice President JD Vance put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on notice, rattled the confidence of century-old allies in Western Europe during his first foreign trip, decamped to Capitol Hill to help in delicate budget talks and delivered a spirited defense of the Trump administration’s first month to a gathering of conservatives outside the nation’s capital.