Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest from Michigan: “Authorities are searching for the parents of a teenager accused of killing four people in a Michigan high school shooting earlier this week, the sheriff’s office confirmed Friday. The news came shortly after Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced that James and Jennifer Crumbley had been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.”
* Sending vaccines abroad: “The Biden administration announced Friday that it is sending 9 million Covid vaccine doses to Africa amid growing concerns about the omicron variant. The new shipment brings the total U.S. donations to Africa to 100 million vaccines, the White House said. An additional two million vaccines will be sent elsewhere in the world.”
* Start the clock on the next deadline: “President Joe Biden signed into law on Friday a bill to keep the government funded through mid-February, avoiding a shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline.”
* White House warning: “President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to make it ‘very, very difficult’ for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine and said new initiatives coming from his administration are intended to deter Russian aggression.”
* Masks work, whether some conservatives want us to know that or not: “Mask mandates were effective as the Delta variant of the coronavirus was driving a surge in Covid-19 cases across Missouri, according to an analysis that the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services conducted in early November. But the state did not immediately share that data with the public.”
* Oh my: “Envelopes full of cash and checks were found behind a loose toilet by a plumber doing repairs at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Texas, according to church officials.” * A story we’ve been following: “Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and seven other pro-Donald Trump attorneys have been ordered by a federal judge to pay $175,000 in sanctions to Michigan officials they unsuccessfully sued in an effort to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.” * A lot of folks really do believe some strange stuff: “A photoshopped poster advertising a non-existent film called ‘The Omicron Variant’ has duped some social media users into thinking the namesake coronavirus variant was planned.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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