U.S. President Joe Biden faces some new challenges as a new COVID-19 variant is spreading through the country, and a new jobs report has shown much lower gains than expected, driving down expectations of robust economic growth. What will be Biden’s plans moving forward as the pandemic lingers on?

And, after 400 years, Barbados has cut ties with the British monarchy. The small Caribbean island gained its independence from Britain in 1966, but kept the Queen as its head of state. Earlier this week, it cut those ties, and a new President was sworn in.

Joining the discussion:

John Burnett is the Managing Director and Founder of 1 Empire Group.
Jacquie Luqman is the Co-host of “By Any Means Necessary” on Radio Sputnik. Dr. Krishna Udayakumar is the founding Director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.
DeLisle Worrell is the former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados.
Vijay Prashad is the Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

President Biden said it was “incredible news” that the U.S. unemployment rate had fallen to 4.2% in November. The jobs report showed the country gained 210,000 new jobs last month, well below forecasts for 573,000.
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As eighth U.S. state finds Omicron cases, Delta remains nation's top coronavirus threat https://t.co/6Nd9egxBMV pic.twitter.com/GVArIe84EV

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 3, 2021

Barbados will become a republic this week, replacing Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

British colonizers enslaved over 380,000 people to work on Barbados' sugar plantations. Sandra Mason, set to be the first president, said she wants to "fully leave our colonial past behind." pic.twitter.com/mlx4GDyE0B

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