Covid-19

According to a report from the BBC, two of Donald Trump's golf resorts in Scotland, were the recipients of a combined £3m in furlough money from the UK government that was offered to keep people working as the Covid-19 pandemic created havoc, according to newly published document.

The BBC had reported that furlough money was designed to pay "the wages of people who couldn't work, or whose employers could no longer afford to pay them," and Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited, and Golf Recreation Scotland Ltd which owns Trump's Turnberry golf course, took advantage of the program while at the same time cutting back on employees as business fell.

According to a report from the Washington Post, religious institutions in the United States are seeing an exodus of clergy members who have grown weary of secular politics invading their conversations and counseling with parishioners.

As Michele Boorstein documents, churches are undergoing a "crisis" as pastors and clergy members abandon their posts and look for greener pastures with the past few years of political strife taking its toll.

According to a report from TMZ, a brawl broke out on a Los Angeles to Memphis flight on Christmas Eve after one passenger confronted another about not wearing his mask during the resurgent Covid pandemic.

The report notes that an unidentified passenger wearing a blue jacket had reportedly been loud and drinking on the red-eye flight while only occasionally wearing his mask, which led to a fellow passenger to comment, "You must be from L.A. because you think you're better than everyone else."

Right-wing media personality Candace Owens on Thursday urged supporters of former President Donald Trump to go easy on him for promoting COVID-19 vaccines.

In a video Owens posted on social media, she explained that Trump was an "old" person who came from a generation where people believed the advice of medical professionals.

Efforts in Europe to encourage vaccine use through certificates proving vaccination, a negative test result or evidence of having had Covid have created a mountain of regulation.

Here are some of the more puzzling rules as Europeans settle for another winter holiday season overshadowed by the pandemic threat:

Omicron's rise has heralded another pandemic-tinged Christmas for billions, with Santa's arrival and longed-for family reunions overshadowed by the prospect of yet more Covid restrictions.

Festive jokes about reindeer having "herd immunity" and millions isolating "Home Alone" may be wearing thin, but the emergence of the ultra-infectious Omicron variant means the pandemic isn't going anywhere.

New York's famous New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will be drastically scaled back due to the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday, as the Omicron variant fuels a "staggering" surge in Covid cases.

Typically some 58,000 New Yorkers gather to watch a giant ball drop marking the arrival of a new year, but next week the capacity will be reduced to 15,000, with each attendee required to wear a mask and prove they have been vaccinated.

Some supporters of former President Donald Trump were left disillusioned when they tried to eat at the grill located in Trump Tower, only to be denied service for not being able to show proof of vaccination.

The supporters filmed a video of their ordeal, in which a security officer explained to them that they needed to show proof of vaccination in order to get service.

If former President Donald Trump tries to recapture the White House in 2024, it would be "the best thing that could happen" to President Joe Biden, according to MSNBC host and analyst Al Sharpton.

Biden said Wednesday he plans to seek re-election, adding that a potential rematch with Trump would only increase his desire to run.

Many supporters of former President Donald Trump have stuck with him over the years through a number of scandals, ranging from getting caught on camera boasting of sexually assaulting women to getting impeached for a second time for inciting a riot at the United States Capitol.

But some hardcore Trump fans seem to have reached their limit when the former president started to lean into promoting getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday authorized Merck's Covid pill for high risk adults, a day after giving the green light to a similar pill by Pfizer.

"Today's authorization provides an additional treatment option against the COVID-19 virus in the form of a pill that can be taken orally," said FDA scientist Patrizia Cavazzoni.

Fears that supply chain issues would destroy Christmas failed to materialize — and Democrats should put it on a bumper sticker, according to one MSNBC personality.

That advice came from former Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-FL) on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."