Good Evening,
It's Thursday, December 10th. |
FDA Advisory Panel Endorses Vaccine
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine passed a critical milestone today when a panel of experts formally recommended that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the vaccine. The agency is likely to do so within days, giving health care workers and nursing home residents first priority to begin receiving the first shots early next week, as the NYT reports. |
Negotiators Inch toward Deal on $1.4 Trillion Spending Measure
Long-standing issues over funding for the Department of Homeland Security and President Donald Trump’s border wall remain sticking points to finalizing the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending deal, as Politico reports. |
U.S. Set to Sanction Turkey over Russian Defense System
The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, a move likely to worsen already problematic ties between the two NATO allies, as Reuters reports. |
Climate Check
The CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program has released the final report in a CSIS series exploring how emerging economies can grow while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. |
Coronavirus Crisis Update
The Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast brings you the latest updates and analysis from CSIS experts and the leaders directing the global response. Past guests include NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff-designate Ron Klain, IHME Director Chris Murray, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), Former FDA Comissioner Peggy Hamburg, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify. |
Video Shorts
Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel! |
In That Number
853,000
The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits climbed to 853,000 last week, an indication layoffs remain at a high level nearly nine months into the pandemic.
Source: WSJ |
Critical Quote
“We have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it.”
— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) |
iDeas Lab
Nigeria's southern states have borne the brunt of much of the police’s use of force against civilians and protesters. Of the 10 states with the highest number of events where police have targeted civilians or responded to peaceful protesters, only two are located outside of the country’s south.
The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia. |
Optics
(Photo credit: Olivier Hoslet/Pool/AFP via Getty Images.) Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the EU headquarters in Brussels to discuss a EU-UK trade deal. |
Recommended Reading
“U.S. Nuclear Warhead Modernization and 'New' Nuclear Weapons,” by CSIS’s Rebecca Hersman and Joseph Rodgers. |
This Town Tomorrow
Tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m., the CSIS Energy Security & Climate Change Program hosts Eirik Wærness, Equinor senior vice president and chief economist, for a presentation of Equinor's Energy Perspectives 2020.
And then, at 12:00 p.m., CSIS's Project on Nuclear Issues on hosts House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith for a discussion of the NDAA and its implications for nuclear modernization.
Later, at 1:00 p.m., the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development is hosting a conversation with David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, on steps the international community should take to help lower-income countries manage the economic consequences of the pandemic.
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Video
CSIS recently rolled out the latest Armitage-Nye report, which discusses the issues that the United States and Japan should prioritize to advance their relationship as well as global security and prosperity. Watch the event here. |
Podcasts
On the most recent episode of The Trade Guys, we break down the latest trade data and what it means for the future of globalization after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Listen on Spotify, Google Play, & Apple Podcasts |
Smiles
When Steely Dan hit the stage on the Late Show with David Letterman in ’95 it was the first time they’d appeared on television in 20 years. I remember it so well. It was a stunning performance. We never, ever, saw musicianship like this on television during that era.
The richness and precision of their sound, the tightness and professionalism of the band, and the seriousness of it all was riveting. This clip doesn’t include Letterman’s skittish introduction, but if you saw it you could tell that Dave was authentically nervous and that Letterman bandleader Paul Schaffer was also on pins and needles. After all, these weren’t regular rock stars, this was Steely Dan, and they knew they were hosting something special. Fagan sporting a black leather blazer, and Becker clad in a jazzy unconstructed suit look perfect, convey a stone cold seriousness and a New York cool that is undeniable. I’ll never get over this performance. It’s one for the ages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NdYkxd0U-c. |
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I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow
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