Three things for November 29
1. Omicron variant reaches North America
On Sunday, Canadian officials announced two cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19, a variant on the rise in Africa and Europe, have been detected.
According to NBC, Ontario health officials Christine Elliott and Kieran Moore said two people who had recently been in Nigeria have tested positive for the variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said while vaccines will offer some protection from the variant, the mutations allow the omicron variant to bypass some of the body’s immune responses. The omicron variant is also highly transmissible.
These factors have led countries around the world to enter a state of caution as officials advocate for stricter testing for COVID-19 for individuals coming into countries from problematic regions.
The omicron variant has not been detected in the United States yet.
“We have not detected it yet, but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility, and you’re already having travel-related cases that they’ve been noted in Israel and Belgium and in other places — when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go essentially all over,” said Fauci.
President Joe Biden provided an update today about the U.S. response to the variant. For more information on his update, read the full Reuters article.
2. Ghislaine Maxwell trial set to begin
Ghislaine Maxwell, a once-prominent socialite, stands accused of helping Jefferey Eptstien exploit and sexually abuse several minors between the years 1994 and 2004. Opening statements in the six-week trial were read today at the Manhattan federal court in New York City.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her as the federal prosecution seeks to portray Maxwell as the lead coordinator of the sex trafficking ring.
Maxwell’s federal trial comes 17 months after her arrest and more than two years after Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting his own trial on child sex trafficking charges.
According to NPR, the government's case focuses on a lengthy period in which Maxwell “was in an intimate relationship with Epstein” and was being paid by Epstein to manage his properties. It focuses on the abuse of four unnamed victims — three of whom prosecutors say Maxwell recruited from 1994 to 1997 — as well as a 14-year-old girl whom the government says was groomed to engage in sexual acts with Epstein between 2001 and 2004.
District Judge Alison J. Nathan has already ruled the victims and others may use pseudonyms during the trial to protect privacy.
3. Catholic nuns speak out about abuse in convents
The Catholic church has begun to take a closer look at convents across the world as more and more accounts of abuse, neglect and racism come to light.
The book “A Veil of Silence” by Salvatore Cernuzio, a Vatican journalist, is the latest expose to come from approved Vatican sources about the conditions inside of convents. The book recounts the experiences of 11 women from convents across the globe and their experiences.
The tales from the women range from verbal abuse to control so strict the sisters were forced to ask for permission to use the restroom and receive sanitary products.
According to Reuters, some nuns were stigmatized as “traitors” by their orders and had great difficultly getting jobs in the outside world.
