January 28: American diplomacy - always “Blinken”?

In which, America seeks to turn the screws on Russia, Biden gets a surprise gift, Omicron turns downward, and North Korea gonna North Korea.

Omicron now omi-gone?

Omicron was here until it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still dealing with Covid, we still have many full emergency rooms, and the number of deaths from Omicron now equals deaths from Delta (though with very different case rates). That being said, as many observers anticipated/predicted, and as South Africa’s own experience with…