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| Treat COVID-19 at home? A new antiviral pill was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. President Joe Biden extended the freeze on federal student loan payments. And if you've been dreaming of a white Christmas, you might have to keep dreaming. |
| 👋 It's Laura. It's Wednesday. Here's all the news you need to know. |
| But first, that was an expensive pause. 😬 "Wheel of Fortune" fans are not happy after a pretty unfortunate moment when a contestant lost the final round because of a rule about timing. |
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FDA OKs antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 |
| It requires taking dozens of pills over five days, but a new antiviral medication authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday can help prevent people sick with COVID-19 from becoming severely ill. Paxlovid, made by Pfizer, reduced the risk of severe disease by nearly 90% in clinical trials and appeared to be safe. Taken as a pill soon after COVID-19 symptoms start, it is intended for people at high risk for severe disease, including those over 65, people with obesity or diabetes and anyone with a weakened immune system, as well as high-risk children ages 12 and up. The U.S. government pre-purchased doses to provide at no cost, but it's not clear how quickly it can be made widely available. |
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More time for student loan payments |
| President Joe Biden reversed course Wednesday and extended the freeze on federal student loan payments until May 1, citing the impact of the pandemic. In a statement, the president said though job numbers are up, he recognized that millions of borrowers would struggle to make their payments. Biden called on borrowers to prepare for the restart of payments by considering enrolling in one of the government's income-driven repayment programs. More than 40 million Americans have had nearly two years without required payments or interest on their collective $1.7 trillion in student loans. The Education Department said in a statement the pause is expected to save 41 million borrowers a combined total of about $5 billion a month. |
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 | | People check their rapid coronavirus test results outside a testing site on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York. | | Brittainy Newman/AP | |
What everyone's talking about |
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Jury deliberations in Kim Potter trial enter third day |
| Hours after requesting to hold Kim Potter's firearm, jurors deliberated for a third day Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of the former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright while yelling "Taser." The jury submitted two questions to the court Tuesday evening after nearly 13 hours of deliberating. The jurors asked the judge for guidance on what to do if they cannot reach a consensus and requested the zip ties on Potter's firearm be removed, so the gun could be held outside the evidence box. Potter, who is white, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Wright, who was Black, in April in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. Prosecutors say Potter "recklessly" handled her firearm and caused Wright's death through her "culpable negligence." Defense attorneys say Potter confused her firearm for her Taser but was justified in using deadly force because she was attempting to prevent Wright from injuring another officer. |
 | | A person demonstrates Dec. 21 outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis during jury deliberations in the trial of former police officer Kim Potter. | | KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images | |
Real quick |
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I'm dreaming of a white Christmas ☃️ |
| And it sure doesn't look like my dream is going to come true this year. A white Christmas looks unlikely for the majority of the USA, meteorologists say. "There isn't a lot of snow on the ground right now," AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker said. Excluding Alaska, 28% of the USA was snow-covered as of Dec. 22, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. That's below the 10-year average of 34%. Spots that sometimes see a snowy holiday season almost certainly won't this year. If you want a white Christmas, head north or west: According to NOAA, most of Idaho, Minnesota, Maine, upstate New York, the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada all have a high probability of seeing snow for the holiday. |
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 | | A Santa and his elf head back to shore after greeting drivers crossing the Shields Bridge in Belle Haven, Md. | | Phillip Spohn, Special to Salisbury Daily Times / USA TODAY NETWORK | |
What's 2021 without the discovery of a fearsome dinosaur? |
| An older, scarier, bird-like relative of the velociraptor was discovered by U.K. researchers. About the size of a wolf, measuring about 10 feet from nose to tail, the vectiraptor greeni dinosaur lived more than 100 million years ago in the early Cretaceous period, scientists said in findings published in the December issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cretaceous Research. A larger, sturdier ancestor of the velociraptor, the vectiraptor, which was covered in feathers, had large talons and blade-sharp teeth that allowed it to feed on even larger dinosaurs, the researchers said. And I say thank goodness these things aren't scurrying around today. |
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 | | Researchers discovered the vectiraptor greeni, a ferocious 10-foot-long bird-like predator related to the velociraptor. Living 100 million years ago on the Isle of Wight, the dinosaur preyed on smaller and larger dinosaurs in the U.K. | | Gabriel Ugueto | |
A break from the news |
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