Greenhouse gas emissions that have already been released will warm the Earth to a level beyond goals that have been set in international agreements, according to a new paper. 

New calculations published in the journal Nature Climate Change estimate that warming based on emissions that have already happened, called “committed warming,” will cause the planet to heat up by between 2.3 degrees celsius and 2.8 degrees celsius when compared to pre-industrial levels. 

In the Paris climate accords, countries agreed to the goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees celsius and said it would be better to limit it to 1.5 degrees celsius. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The new paper argues that some previous estimates of how much warming the Earth is committed to are undercounting. 

The papers’ authors argue that those estimates don’t adequately consider changes that will occur in the interim as a factor in their calculations. 

However, in a video explaining the paper’s findings, co-author Andrew Dessler said that its findings are not “game over for the climate.”

“This committed warming is a very slow process because it requires warming regions of the planet that are very slow to warm, thus, it may take centuries for the bulk of this committed warming to occur,” the Texas A&M University professor said.  

He warned, however, “If we continue to emit greenhouse gases at the rate we currently are, then we will blow through the 1.5 and 2 degree celsius limits, possibly within a few decades.” 

Under President TrumpDonald TrumpAttorney says census count to determine congressional seats won’t be done until February Trump’s final push for Georgia runoff dominated by personal grievances Trump at Georgia rally says he hopes Pence ‘comes through for us’  MORE, the U.S. pulled out of the Paris agreement. However, President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenAttorney says census count to determine congressional seats won’t be done until February Trump’s final push for Georgia runoff dominated by personal grievances Trump at Georgia rally says he hopes Pence ‘comes through for us’  MORE has pledged to rejoin the accord.

North Korean leader Kim Jong UnKim Jong UnNorth Korea asks for COVID-19 vaccines from international alliance: report Five top challenges for Biden on defense Kim Jong Un thanks North Koreans for their support ‘in difficult times’ in his first New Year’s cards to the public MORE on Tuesday admitted in an address to the country’s first ruling party congress in five years that he has failed in his efforts to rebuild the nation’s economy, which has been hit especially hard recently by the coronavirus pandemic and continued international sanctions. 

According to The New York Times, the country’s Korean Central News Agency published text of the speech Wednesday, revealing that Kim told members of the congress that his “five-year economic development plan has fallen greatly short of its goals in almost all sectors.”

“We should further promote and expand the victories and successes we have gained at the cost of sweat and blood, and prevent the painful lessons from being repeated,” he added, as reported by The Associated Press. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The meeting of the Workers’ Party Congress is expected to last a few days and work on adopting a new five-year economic plan, as well as party leadership changes. 

The congress last met in 2016, the first such meeting in 36 years, where Kim adopted his previous five-year economic plan with a goal of creating a “great socialist country” by 2020, according to the Times. 

However, this has been limited by what Kim has called “multiple crises” facing one of the poorest countries in Asia. 

U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear program have continued to cripple the national economy. While President TrumpDonald TrumpWarnock defeats Loeffler in Georgia Senate runoff The Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Eric Trump warns of primary challenges for Republicans who don’t object to election results MORE signaled a potential change in relations by organizing three summits with Kim starting in 2018, these efforts failed to reach any substantial change. 

Additionally, a series of natural disasters, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, have further destabilized the country. 

ADVERTISEMENT

North Korea has continued to argue that it has not had a single COVID-19 case, although this has been disputed by several outside experts.

In November, South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by members of the country’s intelligence agency said that the North Korean government had ordered the execution of at least two people, locked down the capital of Pyongyang and implemented other measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Wall Street Journal reported early December that North Korean actors attempted to hack into at least six pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 treatments in the U.S., the U.K. and South Korea. 

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that North Korean officials had submitted an application to receive the coronavirus vaccine from Gavi, an alliance for aiding vaccine distribution in low-income nations. 

Last week, Kim in his first New Year’s Day cards to citizens thanked them for “having invariably trusted and supported our party even in the difficult times,” adding that he “will work hard to bring earlier the new era in which the ideals and desires of our people will come true.”

The United Kingdom officially economically broke off from the European Union on Thursday at 11 p.m. London local time.

The official break comes after the U.K. reached a deal last week that defined its economic relationship with the EU going forward, ensuring that the U.K. would not endure a “hard” no-deal Brexit come January. 

U.K.’s departure from the EU’s single market marks the largest economic change for the country since WWII, according to The Associated Press. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in New Year’s video, calling it “an amazing moment for this country.”

This break comes 11 months after the U.K. officially left the EU and entered into a “transition period.”

Though U.K. lockdown measures restrict mass gatherings, some Brexit supporters gathered outside of Parliament to toast the news at 11 p.m., according to the AP.

ADVERTISEMENT

The deal announced last week did not place tariffs or quotas on the U.K. However, companies and traders will now face customs declarations and border checks.

The deal also allows each side to use an independent subsidy control adjudicator to settle any disputes.

One of the top provisions for both sides was an agreement on fishing rights for coastal towns in both the U.K and the EU. 

Both the U.K. and EU agreed to “establish a favourable climate for the development of trade and investment between them,” and the U.K. said it would phase in new rules on EU fishing in British waters for 5 ½ years.

Stock markets on Wednesday closed at new highs even as swarms of armed rioters mobbed the Capitol, interrupting Congress’s certification of President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenTrump acknowledges end of presidency after Congress certifies Biden win Congress affirms Biden win after rioters terrorize Capitol Here’s how newspaper front pages across the world looked after mobs stormed the Capitol MORE‘s electoral win.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 438 points, or 1.4 percent, to a new record of 30,829. The S&P 500 gained 21 points, or 0.6 percent, closing just shy of its previous record, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 78 points, or 0.6 percent.

Markets appeared unmoved by the crowds’ successful breach of the Capitol and unprecedented interruption of the nation’s process of peacefully transferring power.

ADVERTISEMENT

The intrusion by supporters of President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump acknowledges end of presidency after Congress certifies Biden win Congress affirms Biden win after rioters terrorize Capitol Third House lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19 this week MORE forced lawmakers and their staffs to shelter in place.

Markets rose earlier in the day on news that Democrats would take control of the Senate following two victories in Tuesday’s runoff elections in Georgia.

With a clean sweep, Democrats are more likely to pass larger stimulus and COVID-19 relief, which would boost the economy. Big companies could also see tax increases, which would eat into their profitability.

Markets remained frothy after the morning’s bounce, even as pro-Trump demonstrations turned violent.

The entire D.C. National Guard has been mobilized to help restore order after supporters of President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump acknowledges end of presidency after Congress certifies Biden win Congress affirms Biden win after rioters terrorize Capitol Third House lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19 this week MORE on Wednesday stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers to halt their counting of Electoral College votes and shelter at undisclosed locations.

“We have fully activated the D.C. National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement as they work to peacefully address the situation,” acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“We are prepared to provide additional support as necessary and appropriate as requested by local authorities,” he added. “Our people are sworn to defend the constitution and our democratic form of government and they will act accordingly.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Miller also said he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark MilleyMark MilleyOvernight Defense: Capitol overrun by pro-Trump rioters | Entire DC National Guard activated | 38-year-old soldier dies of COVID-19 DC National Guard mobilized to Capitol 10 former Defense secretaries call on Pentagon to stay out of election fight MORE have spoken with House and Senate leadership in both parties, as well as Vice President Pence, who was at the Capitol to preside over the proceedings when the rioters breached the building.

A congressional aide confirmed to The Hill that about “1,100 National Guard personnel” — the size of the entire D.C. Guard — “have been approved to help restore order.”  The aide added guardsmen are “already in coordination with D.C. law enforcement personnel.”

The governors of Virginia and Maryland are also sending members of their National Guards, as well as state police troopers, into D.C. to help respond to the violence and chaos.

A joint session of Congress was convening Wednesday to certify President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenTrump acknowledges end of presidency after Congress certifies Biden win Congress affirms Biden win after rioters terrorize Capitol Here’s how newspaper front pages across the world looked after mobs stormed the Capitol MORE’s win in the November presidential election when pro-Trump rioters calling for the election to be overturned breached the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to abruptly recess less than an hour into debate on the first GOP objection to a state Biden won — Arizona.

Among the wild scenes that were playing out at the Capitol on Wednesday, Capitol Police officers inside the House chamber drew their guns in anticipation of rioters trying to breach the door after a glass window was shattered.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some of the mob broke into the Senate chamber, with one getting up on the dais and yelling “Trump won that election.”

At least one person was shot in a confrontation at the Capitol, according to The Associated Press.

Unlike state National Guards, which are controlled by governors, the D.C. National Guard is commanded by the president, or by delegation the Defense secretary or Army secretary.

For more than an hour after the mob first breached the Capitol, conflicting reports circulated about whether congressional leadership had requested Guard help or if the Pentagon had denied a request for help, as lawmakers implored Trump to rein in his followers and send in the National Guard.

In an apparent response to the initial reports that the Pentagon denied a request for assistance, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman stressed late Wednesday afternoon that there have been two requests this week — one from the D.C. mayor earlier in the week and today’s — and that both have been approved.

ADVERTISEMENT

Initially, about 340 D.C. Guardsmen were activated at D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request this week in anticipation of protests surrounding the vote certification.

But the Guard was taking pains to avoid any perception of militarizing the protest response after the heavy-handed response to racial justice protests in June that saw hundreds of guardsmen from around the country pour into D.C. at Trump’s request and a National Guard helicopter hover over protesters in the way the military does to insurgents overseas.

The Guard had stressed earlier this week their only job would be crowd control at local subway stations and helping police with street closures. They also stressed they would be unarmed and wearing black identification vests common for domestic support operations rather than combat camouflage.

Ellen Mitchell contributed to this report which was updated at 5:14 p.m.

Stock markets on Wednesday opened relatively flat to the news that Democrats may win the Senate majority, which would give the party the presidency and majorities in both chambers of Congress after President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenThe Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Warnock win puts Democrats within reach of Senate majority Eric Trump warns of primary challenges for Republicans who don’t object to election results MORE takes office.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 7 points, a negligible amount in percentage terms, while the S&P 500 fell 19 points, or 0.5 percent. The tech-heavy NASDAQ fell more significantly, at 155 points, or 1.2 percent.

Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) is projected as the winner over Sen. Kelly LoefflerKelly LoefflerWarnock defeats Loeffler in Georgia Senate runoff The Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Warnock win puts Democrats within reach of Senate majority MORE (R-Ga.), while Jon Ossoff (D) is leading Sen. David PerdueDavid PerdueThe Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Warnock win puts Democrats within reach of Senate majority Warnock declares victory in Georgia Senate runoff as race remains too close to call MORE (R-Ga.).

ADVERTISEMENT

Taking both seats would leave a 50-50 Senate, with Democrats holding the majority by virtue of Vice President-elect Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisThe Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Warnock win puts Democrats within reach of Senate majority Warnock declares victory in Georgia Senate runoff as race remains too close to call MORE‘s tie-breaking vote. 

Markets tend to thrive in periods of divided government, when it is more difficult for sweeping legislation to be enacted.

Democrats are likely to push through more robust stimulus for the ailing economy, which according to ADP shed jobs in December for the first time since April. They are also likely to increase corporate taxes, taking away from the bottom lines of big companies traded on major stock indexes.

 

The bright lights of the winter holidays are giving way to a dark winter of death and disease across the United States as a new variant of the coronavirus that has already killed more than 350,000 Americans begins to worry public health experts and officials.

Millions of Americans who traveled to see family over the Christmas and New Years holidays once again threaten to contribute to an already-unprecedented spike in cases caused by family gatherings over the Thanksgiving holidays.

And the early optimism over vaccines created in record time is giving way to frustration and anger as distribution and administration fall substantially behind expectations.

ADVERTISEMENT

The United States continues to lead the world in infections and deaths. More than 355,000 people have died from causes related to the coronavirus, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, a toll that is greater than the next two countries — Brazil and India, home to a combined 1.5 billion people — combined.

Fourteen of the 20 worst outbreaks in the world, measured by the number of residents per 100,000 infected, are American states. Arizona, California, Rhode Island and Tennessee have all recorded an average of more than 90 new cases a day per capita over the last week.

It is too early to tell whether the Christmas holiday will lead to a substantial spike in cases. Most states paused testing and reporting of new case data over at least a few days during the holiday week, muddling figures from the first several days of the new year.

But experts are worried by the new variant of the virus that broke out first in the United Kingdom. Early research suggests that variant is substantially more transmissible than previous strains. While experts say it does not appear that the strain causes more severe disease, the simple arithmetic of higher transmission is likely to lead to more death.

“Viruses don’t respect borders, so the identification of a strain in the U.K. that appears to transmit easier and faster than the previous strain is likely a harbinger of what we will see in the United States,” said Rich Besser, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who now runs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Just by transmitting easier, that will lead to increased numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Viruses are simple organisms that replicate billions or trillions of times in anyone infected, making mutations common. The coronavirus itself appears to mutate at about a quarter of the speed of HIV, and about half as rapidly as a typical influenza virus. 

It is unlikely that the new strain will have an impact on the effectiveness of the vaccines, two of which have been approved by American regulators and another produced by AstraZeneca and Oxford University that has been approved by British officials.

But the path to herd immunity — the point at which enough people have either generated immunity to the virus by recovering on their own or received one of the vaccines — is still miles away. Only about 4.6 million Americans, or about 1.5 percent of the nation’s population, has received a vaccine. Twenty million Americans have tested positive for the virus, though its true toll is probably substantially higher.

Experts estimate that at least 75 percent, and perhaps as much as 90 percent of the population would need to be immune from the virus to stop its spread. Even those who recover will need a vaccine, some warned, because the vaccine conveys a higher degree of immunity than the body’s immune system creates itself.

“The vaccine offers a more robust immunity than previous infection,” said Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. “In each of the trials early on they noticed the antibody levels and the neutralizing activity was lower in convalescent infection than the vaccine.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The pace of vaccine administration has frustrated local, state and federal officials, though it has picked up in recent days. Some are concerned at the number of those eligible for the vaccine — including front-line health care workers who are most at risk of infection — who have declined to receive their shots.

“Vaccines only work if people get them, and if 40 to 50 percent of people who work in nursing homes are concerned about safety and decide not to get vaccinated and similar proportions of health care workers decide to wait to get vaccinated, it won’t have the kind of impact that it could,” Besser said. “As people start to know friends and relative who have been vaccinated and hear about their experience with the vaccine, I think that’s going to encourage more acceptance.”

The surge in cases even as the vaccine begins to roll out threatens the stability of the American health care system. Nationally, 77 percent of intensive care unit beds were occupied at the end of December. Hospitals in the hardest-hit areas have reported running low on oxygen, and many in Los Angeles County are declaring emergencies that will send ambulances elsewhere.

At the same time, while England and Scotland implement new lockdowns to combat the spread, the American appetite for strict containment measures is virtually nonexistent. 

“There’s so much excitement and enthusiasm around the vaccine and so much attention to the challenges that many states are seeing in distributing” it, Besser said. “We are losing sight of what will reduce disease impact this winter, and that is following the guidance of public health officials.”

The combination of a more transmissible new variant, an overtaxed health care system and a public that is letting down its guard has positioned the country that has proved worst in the world at containing the virus for the most deadly stretch of the pandemic.

“Previously, you were burning some wood, but now it’s burning wood with some starter fluid, some kerosene on top,” Feigl-Ding said. “It will just keep burning and burning, and this is why the tug of war becomes much harder to win.”

 

A group of U.S. intelligence agencies on Tuesday formally accused Russia of being linked to the recently discovered hack of IT group SolarWinds that compromised much of the federal government.

The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) attributed the effort to Russia. The group had set up a cyber unified coordination group in December after the compromise of SolarWinds was revealed.

“This work indicates that an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks,” the agencies said in a joint statement around their investigation into the cyber incident.

ADVERTISEMENT

The agencies emphasized that “at this time, we believe this was, and continues to be, an intelligence gathering effort. We are taking all necessary steps to understand the full scope of this campaign and respond accordingly.”

Reuters first reported last month that the Commerce and Treasury departments had been hacked as part of the attack on SolarWinds, which counts the majority of federal agencies and U.S. Fortune 500 companies as customers.

Since then, agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration have confirmed they were affected by the attack, with hackers potentially present in these systems since March.

SolarWinds reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month that up to 18,000 of its customers had potentially been compromised.

The federal agencies on Tuesday noted that of the 18,000 public and private sector groups that used SolarWinds’s Orion software, which the hackers used to infiltrate networks, “fewer than ten U.S. government agencies” had been “compromised by follow-on activity in their systems.”

President TrumpDonald TrumpWarnock defeats Loeffler in Georgia Senate runoff The Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Eric Trump warns of primary challenges for Republicans who don’t object to election results MORE addressed the hack — among the worst cyber incidents in American history — in a tweet last month in which he questioned whether China was involved. Both the Chinese and Russian governments have denied involvement.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control,” Trump tweeted. “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!).”

Both Secretary of State Mike PompeoMike PompeoPro-democracy figures reportedly arrested in Hong Kong under sweeping national security law Hillicon Valley: US intel agencies blame Russia for massive SolarWinds hack | Website crashes mar early coronavirus vaccine rollouts | Google workers make waves with new union OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Intel agencies point finger to Moscow on hack | Trump orders carrier to stay in Mideast | Defense letter took two days MORE and former Attorney General William BarrBill BarrHillicon Valley: US intel agencies blame Russia for massive SolarWinds hack | Website crashes mar early coronavirus vaccine rollouts | Google workers make waves with new union OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Intel agencies point finger to Moscow on hack | Trump orders carrier to stay in Mideast | Defense letter took two days US intel agencies blame Russia for massive SolarWinds hack MORE have previously said they believed Russia was behind the cyber espionage incident, while President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenThe Memo: Georgia voters deliver blow to Trump Warnock win puts Democrats within reach of Senate majority Eric Trump warns of primary challenges for Republicans who don’t object to election results MORE described the hack as a “grave risk to our national security.”

Biden said last month that the attack had all the hallmarks of a Russian cyber operation, and urged Trump to officially designate the nation as behind the incident.

“It certainly fits Russia’s long history of reckless disruptive cyber activities, but the Trump administration needs to make an official attribution,” Biden said. “This assault happened on Donald Trump’s watch when he wasn’t watching. It’s still his responsibility as president to defend American interests for the next four weeks.”

Pompeo doubled down Tuesday on accusing Russia of hacking the SolarWinds software, telling Bloomberg News that the incident “was in fact a Russian operation,” though emphasizing that the U.S. constantly faces cyberattacks from other nations including China, North Korea and Iran.

The federal agencies described the incident Tuesday as “a serious compromise that will require a sustained and dedicated effort to remediate, and vowed to “continue taking every necessary action to investigate, remediate, and share information with our partners and the American people.”

Some initial steps were taken to respond to the incident in December, with CISA issuing an emergency directive requiring all federal agencies to immediately disconnect from any SolarWinds products or software.

Federal agencies were not the only groups hit, with Microsoft confirming last week that the hackers had been able to view its source code, though not change anything, linking the attack to an unnamed nation state. 

Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post published in December that the company had notified 40 customers that were targeted “more precisely” by the attackers, with these groups including government agencies, think tanks, IT groups and government contractors in the U.S. and around the world.

“This is not ‘espionage as usual,’ even in the digital age,” Smith wrote. “Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world.”

Key leaders on Capitol Hill called for strong action Tuesday to investigate the incident following the agencies’ statement attributing the hack to Russia.

“Russia has long been an aggressive and malign actor in cyberspace, and this operation demonstrates their continued determination and capability to attack our networks and undermine our national security, just as they attacked our democracy in 2016,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam SchiffAdam Bennett SchiffPelosi names House Democratic leaders for Electoral College debate US intel agencies blame Russia for massive SolarWinds hack Ocasio-Cortez says Trump’s Georgia call is an impeachable offense MORE (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

ADVERTISEMENT

Schiff called for the federal government to step up efforts to protect its networks against cyberattacks, along with pushing for a higher level of cooperation with the private sector to prevent these types of incidents.

“There is likely much more to learn, and this is only the beginning of this necessary work. Congress will need to conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances leading to this compromise, assess the deficiencies in our defenses, take stock of the sufficiency of our response in order to prevent this from happening again, and ensure that we respond appropriately,” Schiff said.

House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John KatkoJohn Michael KatkoUS intel agencies blame Russia for massive SolarWinds hack No Labels tapping Larry Hogan as co-chair Lawmakers call for action after ‘devastating’ nation state cyberattack on federal government MORE (R-N.Y.) also pushed for a response to the incident. The panel, alongside the House Oversight and Reform Committee, opened an investigation into the SolarWinds incident last month.

“The size and scope of this cyber attack highlight the need to drive operational and policy improvements in the cybersecurity arena,” Katko tweeted. “As the lead Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, this will be a top priority. The stakes are too high.”

Updated: 6 p.m.

An appeals court in Milan on Tuesday ordered the tech giant Facebook to pay 3.8 million euros ($4.7 million) for copying an app made by an Italian company.

A judge in Milan found that Facebook had copied the “Nearby” feature created by Italian software company Business Competence for its app “Faround,” Reuters reports. The app uses geolocalization to let users know of nearby restaurants, clubs and shops.

The court’s decision on Tuesday upheld a 2019 ruling, Reuters notes, and increased the amount of damages from an initial 350,000 euros to 3.8 million.

ADVERTISEMENT

A spokesperson for Facebook told Reuters, “We have received the court’s decision and are examining it carefully.”

The Hill has reached out to Facebook for further comment regarding the court’s decision.

In 2019, Facebook paid a reported $5 billion settlement in a deal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to close an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The fine was slammed by lawmakers as being too soft of a punishment for the company.

Facebook is currently facing a lawsuit from the U.S. government that threatens to force it to break up. The social media website, which also owns Instagram, is accused of making acquisitions to decrease competition and worsening the quality of options for consumers.

The FTC and 48 state and territory attorneys general have proposed forcing the tech giant to divest its assets like Instagram and Whatsapp.

– WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling has re-branded it’s official website to reflect the new WWE NXT. While the URL still references FCW (FCWWrestling.info), most references to FCW have been eliminated in favor of NXT, with a new design, updated roster section, new talent bios and more.

– Dolph Ziggler posted the following video to Tout on Tuesday, responding to Chris Jericho’s insult from Monday’s RAW that his hair looks like a bowl of spaghetti:

WWE SummerSlam 2012 Results