The discovery of new variants of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa have prompted a wave of travel bans around the world. But it’s an open question as to whether these measures are actually effective. And, there’s a potential humanitarian disaster unfolding along the border between Ethiopia and Sudan as a simmering conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has displaced tens of thousands of people. The $900 billion pandemic relief package approved Monday night has a lot in it, including one of the most significant pieces of climate change legislation that the US Congress has ever passed.

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