As president-elect in November 2020, Mr. Biden and his staff proceeded with the transition process by treating Mr. Trump’s attempts to reverse the election as little more than histrionics. The calculation made back then by Mr. Biden and his advisers was that America was simply ready to move on, but on Thursday, the president was more willing than usual to address Mr. Trump’s claims, calling him a loser in the process. “He’s not just a former president. He’s a defeated former president — defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes in a full and free and fair election,” Mr. Biden said. “There is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate.”

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This anniversary of Jan. 6 marked a turning point for President Biden, who for much of his first year in office avoided direct confrontation with his predecessor, Donald J. Trump.

On Thursday, Mr. Biden took deliberate aim at Mr. Trump, assailing him for watching television as the attacks unfolded, spreading a lie that the 2020 election was rigged, and holding “a dagger at the throat of America” when he encouraged his supporters to attack the United States Capitol.

But Mr. Biden held on to one vestige from the past year: He still refused to call Mr. Trump by name.

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President Joe Biden forcefully condemned former President Donald Trump today for promoting a “big lie” that the 2020 United States election was stolen and inciting an angry mob of his supporters to attack Congress on January 6, 2021. In a blistering speech delivered in Statuary Hall, an ornate and marbled chamber that was choked with tear gas a year ago, Biden delivered a blistering attack on Trump as a “defeated president” who today still threatens American democracy. “We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie,” Biden said. Here’s the truth. The former president of the United States of America has spread a web of lies about the 2020 election.” “For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden said.

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A jury member from the Elizabeth Holmes trial told ABC News that he found it difficult to convict the former Theranos CEO. "[We] respected Elizabeth's belief in her technology, in her dream. [We thought], 'She still believes in it, and we still believe she believes in it,'" juror No. 6, Wayne Kaatz, told the news outlet. "It's tough to convict somebody, especially somebody so likable, with such a positive dream," he added. On Monday, Holmes was convicted on four fraud-related charges following a monthslong federal trial. The jury found the Theranos founder guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud investors by exaggerating what her company's blood testing machines could do, as well as how widely the machines were used. Holmes was acquitted on four counts related to the patients who had taken Theranos blood tests. The group was unable to reach a verdict on three other counts of fraud against investors.

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Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player, traveled from Dubai to Australia, a journey that was supposed to begin his defense of the Australian Open singles championship.

Today, he was told he would need to leave the country, following a 10-hour standoff with government officials at a Melbourne airport, where he was held in a room overnight over the validity of his visa and questions about the evidence supporting a medical exemption from a coronavirus vaccine. 

At least 4,500 schools across the country will close their physical buildings for one day or more in the first week of 2022, according to the data service Burbio, which has been tracking school calendars since 2020. Some level of school disruption was inevitable with the omicron variant, which is driving record case counts and swamping hospitals, transit lines, and emergency services around the country. But America’s public schools were struggling to stay open even before the latest surge hit, beset by quarantines, staffing troubles, and, sometimes, burnout among educators stretched to the breaking point by two years of pandemic instruction.

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In a sweeping speech marking the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland pushed back on criticism that the Justice Department's January 6 probe has not been aggressive enough, while signaling that no one would be off limits as prosecutors "followed the facts."

"The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last," Garland said. "The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law -- whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."

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Irv is the author of Campaign of the Century

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Betty's top tips for living well.

NEVER TAKE A FRIENDSHIP FOR GRANTED.

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO CREATE YOUR OWN DEFINITION OF “HEALTHY.”

FIND A WAY TO LEAVE A MARK.

ALWAYS MAKE TIME TO PURSUE YOUR PASSIONS.

FINDING LOVE ISN’T EASY.

CHIVALRY IS A DISAPPEARING QUALITY, AND ONE WORTH SAVING.

INTEGRITY IS NOT AN INNATE QUALITY.

THERE’S NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY TO DEAL WITH GRIEF.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MAINTAINING A SENSE OF HUMOR.

TO TELL A DIRTY JOKE YOU MUST FIRST UNDERSTAND THE ART BEHIND IT.

GRAVITY IS INEVITABLE.

KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND ALWAYS STAY CURIOUS.

LONGEVITY IS A PRIVILEGE.

ALWAYS BE ABLE TO LOOK YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR.

REGRETS ARE A WASTE OF TIME.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER.

SLEEP IS OVERRATED.

EVERY DAY IS A GIFT.

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More children are getting hospitalized with Covid-19 than ever before as the Omicron variant's dominance intensifies.

An average of672 children were admitted to hospitals every day with Covid-19 during the week ending Sunday, the highest such number of the pandemic, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It follows a record-high number of new Covid-19 cases among children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The US had more than 325,000 new cases among children during the week ending December 30, according to data published this week by the AAP, marking a 64% increase in new childhood cases compared to the previous week, the AAP said.

About 1,045 children under 18 have died from Covid-19, the CDC said..

And across all age groups, Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a new milestone.

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The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol asked Fox News host Sean Hannity to voluntarily answer questions, including about his communications with former President Donald Trump and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the period around the attack.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) said in a letter to Mr. Hannity that their panel had information that the television host had advance knowledge regarding the planning for Jan. 6 by Mr. Trump and his legal team. The committee leaders also said that “it appears that you were expressing concerns and providing advice to the President and certain White House staff regarding that planning.”

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