Axios

The number of people killed in encounters with police has not fallen despite the uproar over the deaths of George Floyd and Daunte Wright last year, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: Although ex-officers Derek Chauvin and Kimberly Potter were convicted for their roles in the deaths of Floyd and Wright respectively, "accountability for officers who kill remains elusive," the Times writes.

The White House will lift the travel restrictions it imposed on eight African countries last month after the Omicron variant was first reported in South Africa, White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz said on Friday.

Driving the news: The restrictions will end on Dec. 31, according to Munoz. He said the decision to lift travel restrictions was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden surprised patients at the Children's National Hospital on Friday for a Christmas Eve celebration.

Driving the news: First ladies typically visit the hospital's patients during the holidays, but the president joined her this year — the first time a sitting president joined his wife, according to AP.

Eight months after throngs of people filled a downtown Minneapolis plaza ahead of the Derek Chauvin verdict, a noticeably smaller group gathered to hear the fate of former police officer Kim Potter, who was found guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright's death Thursday.

The bottom line: Many across the trial-weary Twin Cities had checked out for Christmas.

Two Georgia election workers allege in a defamation lawsuit filed Thursday that conservative network One America News Network and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed they committed ballot fraud over the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Ruby Freeman and daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss allege in the suit first obtained by Politico that the baseless public claims "led to an immediate onslaught of violent and racist threats and harassment" that left them "afraid to live normal lives."

The South Korean government will pardon imprisoned former President Park Geun-hye, who was convicted of corruption in 2018, per Bloomberg.

Why it matters: Park, 69, was the first South Korean leader to be impeached and removed from office.

Falsifying a COVID-19 vaccination card is now a crime in New York, punishable with a year's prison sentence if convicted of carrying one and up to four years for faking a health passport.

Why it matters: Proof-of-vaccination requirements in N.Y. and elsewhere have spurred a new market for counterfeit certificates.

The CDC on Thursday shortened the recommended isolation time for health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to seven days if they're asymptomatic.

Driving the news: The new guidance follows calls by health officials for the CDC to shorten its recommendation on isolation for fully vaccinated people who test positive due to concerns about the Omicron variant.

President Biden signed a bill Thursday funding research into neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. 

Why it matters: The Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act ensures $100 million annually in federal funding from 2022-2026 to research cures for and the prevention and treatment of the progressive disease that affects cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has signed a bill into law that imposes criminal penalties on doctors who don't give medical care in the rare case of a baby born alive after an abortion attempt.

Details: The bill also requires doctors to report such circumstances.

George Floyd will not be posthumously pardoned for a 2004 Houston drug charge because the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles withdrew its recommendation, the Dallas Morning News first reported Thursday.

Driving the news: The board had recommended a full pardon for Floyd for the charge, for which he served 10 months in prison. A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Morning News that recommendation "contained procedural errors" and said there had been a "lack of compliance with Board rules."

Civil rights attorneys who represent the family of Daunte Wright said the family felt "relieved that the justice system has provided some measure of accountability" for Wright's "senseless death" in a police shooting.

• The family's statement came moments after Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of the 20-year-old during a traffic stop last April.

Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter on Thursday was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last April.

The big picture: The shooting, which came during the Derek Chauvin murder trial, sparked days of protests in the Minneapolis suburb.

Former President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the release of documents and records from his administration to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

The big picture: A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously denied Trump's bid to block the committee from obtaining the records earlier this month, saying they aren't protected by his claim of executive privilege.

President Biden signed a bill Thursday banning imports from China's Xinjiang region and punishing the Chinese government for its genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, per a White House release.

Why it matters: Human rights activists say the bill will impose the first substantive costs the Chinese government has ever faced for its atrocities in Xinjiang. This could set a precedent for other countries to follow suit, writes Axios' Zachary Basu.

Former President Trump pushed back against doubts about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines during an interview with conservative media personality Candace Owens released Wednesday.

Why it matters: Despite being vaccinated himself, Trump has sometimes given mixed signals to his supporters on whether they should take the shot. Trump-supporting communities, meanwhile, have seen markedly lower vaccination rates.

President Biden is willing to support "whatever it takes," including working around the Senate's filibuster rule, in the name of passing voting legislation. He has shifted his position on the filibuster in recent months.

Driving the news: "If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting it passed is the filibuster, I support making an exception on voting rights for the filibuster," Biden said during an interview with ABC News on Wednesday night.

Unvaccinated Americans' already low trust in the federal government plummeted over the course of 2021, exacerbating the challenges in getting the pandemic under control, according to a year's worth of data from the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: The implications extend beyond shots and boosters. Unvaccinated Americans in our surveys were far less likely to limit their social interactions or to wear masks outside the home, which correlated significantly with their reported rates of COVID-19 infection.

The Jan. 6 select committee on Wednesday asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to meet with the panel to provide information on his communications with former President Trump regarding the attack on the Capitol.

Why it matters: The request marks the second time in three days the panel's members have asked one of their colleagues to cooperate with their expanding investigation.

Virginia historians on Wednesday opened a 19th century time capsule found last week in the pedestal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which was removed from Richmond's Monument Avenue this year.

What they're saying: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam denounced the monument's Confederate myth that seeks to minimize slavery's role in the American Civil War, but said the capsule's opening was "an important day for the history" of Virginia as it "gives us an idea what folks were thinking about at this time of our history," per the Washington Post.

NIAID director Anthony Fauci warned Wednesday that large gatherings this holiday season are unsafe even for fully vaccinated people who've had a COVID-19 booster shot, as the Omicron variant surges across the U.S.

What he's saying: "There are many of these parties that have 30, 40, 50 people in which you do not know the vaccination status of individuals," Fauci said at a briefing. "Those are the kind of functions in the context of Omicron that you do not want to go to."

The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will hold oral arguments on Jan. 7 to consider legal challenges to President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for health care workers and large companies.

Why it matters: The mandates have faced a series of lawsuits from Republican-led states, businesses and religious coalitions.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told conservative outlet the Truth Gazette in an interview published Wednesday he believes he's well-placed to be selected as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Driving the news: Brilyn Hollyhand, the 15-year-old founder and editor-in-chief of the Gazette, asked Cruz if he'd ever try running for president again. "Absolutely, in a heartbeat," Cruz replied.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Driving the news: Clyburn, 81, said in a statement that he is asymptomatic and has been quarantining since Sunday. He is fully vaccinated and got his booster shot in September.

Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) told Politico on Wednesday that he "regrets" not certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Why it matters: Rice appears to be the first Republican to publicly say he regrets his decision. He was later one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach then-President Trump.

President Biden told ABC News in an interview that aired Wednesday he'll seek re-election in 2024 if he remains in good health, and if his predecessor runs "that'll increase the prospect" of him running.

Why it matters: There's been speculation that Biden, 79, may only serve one four-year term, due to age or other reasons.

The U.S. Air Force has denied 2,130 requests for religious accommodation regarding the Pentagon's coronavirus vaccine mandate, the service announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: The U.S. military has scrambled to address service members who defy the vaccination order amidst growing concern over another wave of infections fueled by the Omicron variant.