Closer than we ever been before to passing a strong and tough media shield bill, said Schumer. To important bipartisan compromises, we put together a strong bill that balances the need for national security with that of a free press. This legislation ensures that the tough investigative journalism that holds government accountable will be able to thrive.

Et Alia Press/Arshia KhanCrystal C. People pulled my hair. It was terrible. I recently went into their Palo Alto store to check out their sunglasses. When I asked if they have anti reflective coating, I was told that they were polarized, which is better. I pointed out that there is no tradeoff between anti reflective coating (which is applied to the back of lenses) and polarization, and the salesperson parroted the same line without seeming to understand that she was missing the point.

Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Kent variant of the coronavirus with a key mutation that enables the South African variant to escape some of the vaccines used against it must be taken very seriously in the UK, according to a leading microbiologist.Prof Ravi Gupta of the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, who is a member of the government’s scientific advisory body Nervtag, warned that the mutated variant, at the moment causing just 21 known cases, should be treated with as much concern as the South African variant.The Kent variant B117, which spreads twice as fast as the original coronavirus, is now dominant in the UK and is present in many countries around the world. But Public Health England has identified 21 cases of B117 that also have the E484K mutation: 14 in the Bristol region, four in Greater Manchester and three elsewhere. E484K is the change to the spike protein in South Africa that scientists believe is chiefly responsible for vaccines triggering a lower antibody response to infection.Nervtag (new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group), which is part of the UK Sage committee of scientists, has designated this a “variant of concern”.This key mutation that had now arisen in the UK has been shown to reduce the efficacy of antibodies in many lab studies, said Gupta.

Leaders of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, and of Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that opposes any negotiations with Israel, began Egyptian brokered talks on Monday to address long standing divisions ahead of elections planned for later this year. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will allow Russian gas to be pumped directly to Germany, but the US has threatened to impose sanctions on any company involved with the project, arguing it will make Europe too dependent on Russia for its energy needs. Lobbying group Environmental Action Germany (DUH) this week published a leaked letter from Olaf Scholz, the German finance minister, to Steve Mnuchin, the then US treasury secretary, dated last August.