China should share raccoon dog data in probe of COVID-19 origins, WHO says
The World Health Organization called on China to fully share genetic data that may help discern the origins of COVID-19 after it appeared briefly on an international database.
A new analysis of specimens collected in January 2020 at a wet market in Wuhan where the initial human infections were detected found evidence of the virus along with large amounts of genetic material from raccoon dogs, according to a group of scientists spanning the U.S. and Europe.
The underlying data from Chinese researchers, which some outside experts said bolstered the idea that the virus spilled over from animals at the market, was subsequently removed. The Atlantic first reported news of the evolving research.
The data could have and should have been shared three years ago, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday at a press conference.
—Bloomberg News
Republicans take aim at Biden student loan forgiveness
WASHINGTON — Republicans are employing a new strategy to thwart President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas and Joni Ernst of Iowa said Friday they will introduce a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn Biden’s proposal, which would eliminate up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
Republicans say the plan, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost $400 billion, is unconstitutional and outside the scope of the administration’s authority.
“President Biden’s student loan scheme does not ‘forgive’ debt, it just transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans to those who never went to college, or sacrificed to pay their loans off,” Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said it was regrettable that the GOP is determined to fight the debt relief plan.
—CQ-Roll Call
University of Chicago grad students vote overwhelmingly to unionize
CHICAGO — Graduate students at the University of Chicago voted overwhelmingly to unionize following a ballot count held Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board, the latest such vote in a swell of organizing at universities across the country.
The U of C graduate students’ vote comes on the heels of a union victory in January at Northwestern University, where graduate students are also represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. In recent months, graduate students at the University of Southern California and Yale also have voted to unionize.
U of C graduate students voted 1,696 to 155 to unionize, according to NLRB records. The new bargaining unit will comprise about 3,200 graduate students.
“We are now very excited about what’s next — bargaining and how we can improve our working conditions,” said Valay Agarawal, a second-year graduate student in the chemistry department and the communications secretary for the union.
—Chicago Tribune
Slovakia will send entire fleet of MiG-29 jets to Ukraine
Slovakia will send its entire fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine to boost its defense against Russian forces, government officials said.
The eastern NATO member state will send all 13 of its MiG-29 jets – grounded since last August and in various states of readiness – at an unspecified date, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told reporters in Bratislava on Friday.
The announcement comes a day after Poland said it will send four Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days. Both nations are responding to pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has persistently demanded warplanes since the first days of the war as essential to driving back the Russian invasion.
The deliveries would cross a threshold in sending firepower to Kyiv, as many western allies have drawn the line at delivering fighter jets, citing the risk of being drawn into a direct confrontation with Moscow.
—Bloomberg News
