JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news, drugmaker Merck reported that its experimental pill
reduces COVID hospitalizations and deaths by 50 percent for those recently infected.
The company plans to seek federal approval for the drug.
We will have more on the potential of this new treatment after the news summary.
California has announced the nation's first statewide COVID-19 vaccination mandate for
schoolchildren. Governor Gavin Newsom said that it will be phased in seventh through
12 grades and then kindergarten through sixth as vaccines for different age groups win final
FDA approval. Newsom said it is clear that vaccine mandates work.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I think the evidence is rather overwhelming. They're getting people
vaccinated. They're actually ending this pandemic. And if that's the intention, to keep us healthy
and safe and get our economy moving and get our kids back with all the benefits of the
in person instruction, then all I say is, let's get this done and let's get others to
follow suit.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Later, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor refused to block New York
City's vaccine mandate for public school employees. It took effect this evening. The legal dispute
continues in lower courts.
Also today, the high court said Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for COVID. He
is fully vaccinated and shows no symptoms. The news came just ahead of the opening of
the court's new term on Monday. Justices plan to hear arguments in person for the first
time since the pandemic began.
The United Nations condemned Ethiopia today over its treatment of the rebel Tigray region
and warned that millions are facing famine. The U.N.'s humanitarian office said civilians
are in desperate need because the Ethiopian government is blocking food aid.
JENS LAERKE, Spokesman, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: It is
critically important that the humanitarian operation continues. And it does. We have
a very high number of people in very urgent need in Tigray. In fact, 5.2 million people
there are in urgent need of assistance.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The world body has also charged that Ethiopia had no legal right to expel
seven senior U.N. officials yesterday. The country's government accused the officials
of meddling in its internal affairs.
Demonstrators in Iraq today marked two years since nationwide protests demanding political
reform. Roughly 1,000 people marched in Baghdad. Many held photos of loved ones who were killed
by security forces during the unrest. They also renewed calls for change ahead of parliamentary
elections next week.
Back in this country, a federal judge in Texas is now considering whether to block the state's
new abortion law. At a hearing in Austin today, the U.S. Justice Department argued for an
injunction. The Texas law bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It also lets
private citizens enforce the ban by suing anyone who aids in an abortion.
On Wall Street, stocks opened October with gains, after slumping in September. The Dow
Jones industrial average was up 482 points, 1.4 percent, to close at over 34000. The Nasdaq
rose 118 points. The S&P 500 added 49.
And Jimmy Carter, the nation's oldest living ex-president, turned 97 today. He marked the
occasion quietly at his home in Plains, Georgia. Mr. Carter survived cancer in 2015, and he
and his wife, Rosalynn, celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in July.
Happy birthday.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": how a new drug could change the way COVID is treated
and reduce hospitalizations and deaths; the challenge to get hundreds of thousands of
migrants in Europe vaccinated; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart on the political precariousness
of the president's economic agenda; and much more.