Obama, Bush, Clinton volunteer to publicly receive COVID-19 vaccine, Interpol returns Maina to Nigeria and more

For the first installment of our series marking thirty years since the fall of the Soviet Union, we ask the question: is Stalin making a comeback? Since 2014 and Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea, statues and busts of the Soviet dictator have been appearing all over Russia. Meanwhile, many of the details concerning the crimes committed by his regime remain unknown, with archives in large part still closed. Putin, a former KGB agent and FSB chief, does not hide his nostalgia for the Soviet era. His regime has cultivated an ambiguous relationship with Stalin, and he stands accused of using the same methods against his opponents today.

German doctors and their staff have been facing aggression and threats from vaccine opponents. They have described having frayed nerves as pandemic fatigue sets in among patients and medical staff.

West African bloc ECOWAS said they hoped to have an election plan from Mali by the end of this year, after a meeting with the interim leaders. Mali's authorities had previously said elections could be delayed.

A small-town mayor is set to take on Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2022 parliamentary elections, after winning an opposition primary. Peter Marki-Zay will represent a broad spectrum of parties who have joined forces to oust Orban and his ruling Fidesz party.

A parliamentary committee has said holding the vote would be "impossible." The country's election board has now suggested January 24 as an alternative.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

The court has agreed to hear arguments about the Biden administration's vaccine or testing requirement for large employers, and a separate vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

The head of the World Health Organization says rich countries are merely prolonging the pandemic by fueling vaccine inequality. "No country can boost its way out of the pandemic," he says.

Instead, mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣⁣

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is less likely to land patients in hospital in comparison with delta.

Kim Potter fired her gun instead of her taser during the attempted arrest of Daunte Wright at a traffic stop. The death occurred during the Derek Chauvin trial.