THE BIG STORY

Donald Trump has pardoned Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation

In case you need a refresher: Michael Flynn admitted to lying to investigators about his contacts with the Russian ambassador before Donald Trump took office.

Flynn originally entered a guilty plea in December 2017 — but he hadn’t been sentenced yet, which meant there was no final judgment on the record making his conviction official.

On Twitter, Trump wrote, “It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon.” Few are surprised by Flynn’s pardon — but the move reignited speculation that Trump would use his final months in office to reward allies under the cloud of a federal prosecution or investigation.

The president can issue pardons and commute sentences related to federal criminal cases up until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.

Michael Flynn with attorney Sidney Powell (right). Alex Wroblewski / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Artificial antibodies are the latest COVID-19 treatment. But hospitals may struggle to use them.

Earlier this week, the FDA gave emergency authorization for monoclonal antibodies made by the pharmaceutical firm Regeneron. This is a drug cocktail dubbed a “miracle” cure by President Trump after it was used to treat his coronavirus infection in October.

A few weeks before that, the agency authorized another monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 called bamlanivimab, made by the drug company Eli Lilly.

But here’s the thing: Scientists still have big questions about how well antibody therapies work. Because of the uncertainty about the benefits of the treatment, doctors have to decide which patients receive antibodies on a case-by-case basis.

SNAPSHOTS

Honestie Hodges, who was handcuffed by police when she was 11, died of COVID-19 at 14. The teen, whose horrifying treatment by Michigan police prompted changes within the department, died of COVID-19 weeks after her 14th birthday, her family said.

Soccer legend Diego Maradona died at age 60. Maradona, one of soccer’s most brilliant and controversial players, underwent brain surgery just weeks ago. He is remembered as the dominant soccer talent of his generation and, by nearly all measures, one of the two or three greatest ever to play the game.

She called out a troll on Facebook. Then Delta called her in for a meeting to fire her. Delta Air Lines said Kiersten Bak violated their social media policy. She says she was just calling out harassment from trolls.

Chrissy Teigen said she’s “in a grief depression hole” after defending Meghan Markle against a journalist who criticized her for speaking about her miscarriage. A journalist criticized Markle for writing “a 1000 word op-Ed about herself.” Teigen, who recently suffered pregnancy loss, jumped to Markle’s defense and shared that she was struggling with grief.

COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIPS

“I think he’s selfish”: How friendships have been tested during the pandemic

While coronavirus cases are on the rise everywhere, people are having to navigate tricky conversations: we don’t all have the same risk tolerance. Some of our friends are more willing to be out in the world, or have backyard visits, or in some cases ignore masks altogether.

So what do you do when you can’t agree on a level of mutual risk?

Michael Blackmon spoke with some people whose friendships have been tested by the coronavirus pandemic. Some relationships disintegrated because of a simple lack of proximity. Others were weakened by the inability to agree on whether hanging out is risky.

One story really stuck with me — here’s how one woman described an incident with her in-laws: “There was crying, yelling, and storming off. They wanted to hug the kids and didn't understand why we were separating them. They completely took it personally, and we've barely talked since.”

WITH GRATITUDE

17 of our favorite authors tell us about the books they’re most thankful for

For Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for books that help us navigate the world. So we reached out to 17 authors and asked them to share the books they’re most thankful for. Here’s what they told us.

Wishing you a safe Thanksgiving weekend,

Elamin