Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia has become the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, claiming victory in a global race to conquer COVID-19. The vaccine was developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, and Putin said one of his two daughters is among the Russians already inoculated with the vaccine, joining a small group that includes the researchers who developed it and about 50 members of Russia's military.
Medical experts expressed concerns that the Kremlin aggressively and dangerously rushed the vaccine approval process, putting global prestige over public health. Putin said the Gamaleya vaccine had proven effective in two months of early-stage human trials and offered lasting immunity. Russian officials said Phase III trial of the vaccine will be conducted in Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and maybe Brazil as thousands of Russian medical workers, teachers, and other groups are inoculated. The World Health Organization lists the Gamaleya vaccine trial as in Phase I.
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci testified earlier this month that countries should only roll out vaccines after extensive testing. "I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone, because claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing, I think, is problematic at best," Fauci told Congress. Peter Weber
Be prepared for another live-action Lion King.
A follow-up to Disney's 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King is in the works, and Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins will direct it, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter reported on Tuesday. The screenwriter behind the 2019 film, Jeff Nathanson, has reportedly already finished a draft of the script, per Deadline.
Jenkins confirmed the news on Twitter and in a statement, saying, "Helping my sister raise two young boys during the '90s, I grew up with these characters. Having the opportunity to work with Disney on expanding this magnificent tale of friendship, love and legacy while furthering my work chronicling the lives and souls of folk within the African diaspora is a dream come true."
The 2019 remake of The Lion King was directed by Jon Favreau, and it grossed a whopping $1.6 billion, becoming the seventh highest-grossing movie of all time despite receiving middling reviews. The original animated Lion King was followed by the direct-to-video The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½.
Deadline says Jenkins' movie will be "moving the story forward while looking back," and Variety reports it will "partly focus on the early years of Mufasa." The Lion King is the latest remake from Disney to get another installment; a follow-up to 2019's Aladdin is also in the works, and the 2017 Beauty and the Beast remake is getting a Disney+ prequel series about LeFou and Gaston.
Jenkins' 2016 film Moonlight previously won the Academy Award for Best Picture — though famously, La La Land was first wrongly announced to have won — and he followed that up with another acclaimed film in 2018, If Beale Street Could Talk. Should his Lion King movie go on to win any Oscars, let's just hope they read the right winner the first time. Brendan Morrow
For the first time in months, New York City's daily COVID-19 positivity rate has risen above three percent.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) in a news briefing on Tuesday said the city's coronavirus positivity rate is 1.38 percent based on its seven-day rolling average, but the daily positivity rate has risen to 3.25 percent, which according to The New York Times is the highest the number has been since June.
"That is cause for real concern," de Blasio said.
De Blasio also said that the city is facing a "serious problem" that is "primarily" in nine zip codes. Officials have been "particularly concerned about eight neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens" that "have accounted for about one-fourth of New York City's new cases in the past two weeks," The New York Times previously reported.
In recent months, New York had brought its number of new COVID-19 cases down significantly after being the hardest-hit state for a while early in the pandemic. But New York recently reported more than 1,000 new daily cases for the first time in months. The news that the daily positivity rate has risen above three percent was announced on the same day that New York City's elementary schools began in-person classes. The Times' Eliza Shapiro notes that if the city's positivity rate remains above three percent for seven days, public schools will be forced to close.
"We know we can turn it around, but everyone has to be a part of it," de Blasio said. "But we also know that there have to be very tough measures ready to go and that we will use them as quickly as needed." Brendan Morrow
The National Football League is facing its first major in-season hurdle regarding the coronavirus pandemic after the league announced Tuesday that the Tennessee Titans had three players and five team personnel members test positive for COVID-19. The tests apparently went through multiple rounds of evaluation to confirm the results, as is league protocol.
The Titans are closing their facilities until Saturday, as are the Minnesota Vikings, who the Titans played Sunday, although there's no word if Minnesota actually has any positive tests.
As things stand, it seems the Titans and the league are hoping the team team can safely play against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but it will likely be a wait-and-see approach. Scheduling logistics, of course, take a back seat to the health of the individuals who tested positive, but the league is reportedly mulling contigency plans should the game be postponed. Major League Baseball, for what it's worth, experienced two major outbreaks early in its 2020 season, but the regular season finished smoothly. Read more at ESPN. Tim O'Donnell
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah has died, state media reported Tuesday. He was 91. The cause of death was not made clear, but he fell ill with an unspecified condition earlier this year.
Sheikh Sabah, whose family has ruled Kuwait for 260 years, had served as emir, the country's ultimate authority, since 2006. Before that he was prime minister and, for many decades, foreign minister. While in that role, per BBC, the staunch U.S. ally became known as the "dean of Arab diplomacy" for his efforts to restore relations with countries that supported Iraq during the Gulf War when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.
As emir, The Associated Press notes, he served as a mediator between Qatar and several Arab nations that launched a boycott against Doha, but the situation remains unresolved. In 2011, he maintained power during the Arab Spring protests, while still allowing demonstrations.
He is expected to be succeeded by his half brother, the 83-year-old crown prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. Read more at BBC and The Associated Press. Tim O'Donnell
When President Trump speaks in private about religion, "many" of his comments are "marked by cynicism and contempt," reports The Atlantic.
Former aides described how they have "heard Trump ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss various faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride certain rites and doctrines held sacred by many of the Americans who constitute his base."
In one instance, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen told The Atlantic that in 2015, Trump enthusiastically showed him an article about a megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million for a private jet; Trump reportedly said the pastor was "full of sh-t" and that "they're all hustlers." Cohen also remembered that once, when Trump was told that his son was at a playdate with a Jewish girl, he said to Cohen, "Great. I'm going to lose another one of my kids to your people." And according to Cohen, Trump frequently mocked Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.
In another instance, a former adviser recalled showing Trump a video of a televangelist performing "faith healings," which Trump reportedly laughed at, saying, "Man, that's some racket." The report additionally quotes a recording of Trump meeting with religious figures in 2016 in which he reportedly admitted that "I don't know the Bible as well as some of the other people" and joked about being taken aback when Mike Pence asked him to bow his head and pray.
"I said, 'Excuse me?’" Trump reportedly said. "I'm not used to it."
Former campaign official A.J. Delgado told The Atlantic that Trump is "not a religious guy," while former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res said, "I always assumed he was an atheist." The White House told The Atlantic that Trump is "a champion for religious liberty" who is "also well known for joking and his terrific sense of humor, which he shares with people of all faiths." Read more at The Atlantic. Brendan Morrow