text
stringlengths 10
159k
| url
stringlengths 19
865
| crawl_date
timestamp[s]date 2022-02-01 01:02:23
2024-12-02 05:16:38
| lang
stringclasses 1
value | lang_conf
float64 0.65
1
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
ATLANTA (AP) — There was no way a sore shoulder was going to prevent Trae Young from playing.
Not with Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns in town.
Young scored 43 points and led Atlanta’s flurry of 3-pointers as the surging Hawks beat Phoenix 124-115 on Thursday night to end the Suns’ 11-game winning streak.
“I think I just grew up just watching these moments and thinking about being in these moments,” Young said about the opportunity to face “the best team in the league with the best record. … I love these moments.”
The Hawks made 20 of 41 3-pointers, including six by Young. Young’s final 3 made it 122-113 with 37 seconds remaining.
“It was a steady dose of Trae,” Paul said. “Trae is just tough like that. If you watch him on a nightly basis, he’s a handful.”
NBA-leading Phoenix dropped to 41-10, losing for the first time since Jan. 8 at home against Miami. Devin Booker and Paul were named All-Stars before the game.
Booker led the Suns with 32 points. Mikal Bridges had 24, and Paul 18.
Kevin Huerter made five 3s and had 19 points for Atlanta. The Hawks (25-26) have won eight of their last nine games as they have started to regain the form which took them to last season’s Eastern Conference finals. They are still only 10th in the conference.
“We’ve got to use this as momentum,” Young said. “It’s a big win for us.”
The Hawks have won eight of their last nine games, with their only loss to Toronto on Monday coming when Young was held out with a right shoulder contusion.
Young, who will start as Atlanta’s only representative in the Feb. 20 All-Star Game, was still being called a game-time decision by coach Nate McMillan less than 2 hours before the game.
The Suns couldn’t stop the 3-point attack by the Hawks, who led 100-91 entering the final period.
“Any team that scores 100 points after three quarters on us, that’s just not something we’re used to,” said Suns coach Monty Williams.
The Suns’ second winning streak of more than 10 games this season included eight games on the road. They set a franchise record with 18 consecutive wins from Oct. 30 to Dec. 2, including a 121-117 home victory over the Hawks on Nov. 6.
Booker’s layup trimmed Atlanta’s lead to 108-101 before John Collins answered with jams on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 11 points and force a Phoenix timeout.
The Suns led 35-32 before Huerter sank four 3-pointers in a 15-4 Atlanta run early in the second period.
Thanks in part to a scoring flurry from Young, the Suns were not given the opportunity to test their 31-0 record when leading after three quarters. Young scored Atlanta’s last 12 points of the third.
Young sank two 3-pointers and had another basket following a steal of Booker’s pass in the hot streak.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Atlanta made 11 of 20 3s in the first half for a 64-61 lead at the break. Young set up a jam by Collins for the Hawks’ last basket of the half. … Atlanta’s streak of 12 games with 10 or more 3s is the third-longest in franchise history. … G Lou Williams (lower back spasms) did not play.
Suns: The All-Star honors are the 12th for Paul and third for Booker. … Phoenix took its last win in Atlanta on March 24, 2014, before eight consecutive road losses in the series. … Guards Cameron Payne (right wrist sprain) and Landry Shamet (right ankle sprain) and did not play.
THREE TIMES AN ALL-STAR
Booker said the All-Star honor “felt great.”
“Three times,” Booker said. “I don’t take it for granted. I think back to those days of dreaming just to be in the NBA. Now to be voted a three-time All-Star is pretty cool.”
INJURY SCARE
Collins scored 19 points before suffering a right shoulder injury with 1:49 remaining. Collins was escorted to the locker room before returning to the court for the end of the game.
Collins said the shoulder pain was initially “excruciating” but said he doesn’t expect to miss any games.
BIG NIGHT FOR YOUNG
Young added five assists. He posted his fourth game of the season with at least 40 points and five assists, tying Golden State’s Stephen Curry for the most in the league.
UP NEXT
Hawks: At Toronto on Friday night.
Suns: At Washington on Saturday night.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
|
https://www.krqe.com/sports/young-has-43-points-hawks-end-suns-11-game-winning-streak/
| 2022-02-04T23:03:27
|
en
| 0.967561
|
A July 18 trial has been scheduled for one of two people accused of killing Annika Swanson in November 2019.
Kevin S. German’s trial date was set during a hearing in Chase County District Court last week. The trial is scheduled to run through July 29.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 23.
German, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is charged with first-degree murder and felony kidnapping in connection with the abduction and death of Swanson, 22.
The murder charge was filed as a 1A felony, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison in Nebraska.
German also is charged with a second count of felony kidnapping for allegedly holding a second woman captive for three days in a home near Enders.
Authorities found Swanson’s body Nov. 24, 2019, at the bottom of an 8-foot-deep irrigation drainage pipe in a rural area near Imperial.
Her father had reported her missing three days earlier.
Keonna N. Carter, 24, of Taylorsville, Utah, is the co-defendant in the case. She is charged with first-degree murder and one count of felony kidnapping. Carter has not had a hearing since Oct. 27, 2020, and a search of court records does not indicate that one is scheduled.
Both German and Carter were arrested in Fort Collins, Colorado, in the final week of November 2019. They waived extradition back to Nebraska during early December hearings in Larimer County Court in Fort Collins.
Both remain confined at the Lincoln County Detention Center.
More by Tim Johnson
Five stories about law and order in North Platte
Keith L. Allen was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony.
“This next chapter is kind of for her,” Police Chief Dan Hudson said. “Every time I have been promoted or moved around within my profession, she had taken a step back or stopped her own upward promotion because of mine. This is a chance to spend more quality time together."
As of Wednesday afternoon, charges had not been filed in Cherry County Court and Kilmer’s initial court appearance had not been scheduled.
Logan J. Divine is being held in the Lincoln County Detention Center without bail. He made his initial appearance in Lincoln County Court on Thursday afternoon and was also charged with the use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony.
Gov. Pete Ricketts has appointed two North Platte lawyers to become judges in the 11th Judicial District.
|
https://nptelegraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/july-18-trial-date-set-for-suspect-in-2019-murder-of-annika-swanson/article_f46ba7ac-8604-11ec-b4b4-b7b4ed93cf97.html
| 2022-02-04T23:04:42
|
en
| 0.982077
|
The American Red Cross is facing its worst national blood shortage in a decade.
North Platte isn’t being spared.
“Usually there’s a lot of blood on the shelf” at the local Red Cross storage site, said Brandi Brown, collections specialist at the North Platte Blood and Platelet Donation Center. “The coolers aren’t full like they have been in the past.”
The American Red Cross says it has seen a 10% overall blood donation decline since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Blood drives have also been impacted by illness, weather and staffing limitations. Due to the shortage, hospitals may not receive 1 in 4 blood supplies they need, which poses a risk to patient care, says the Red Cross.
Brown urges prospective donors to think of the human impact they will make by giving blood.
“Think of the person that (the blood) is going to, how sick they are and how much they need it,” Brown said. “If they’re not able to get that, it’s life and death for people.”
While supply was dire a couple of weeks ago — a donor told Brown that blood had been limited to one unit per person — Great Plains Health Marketing Manager Mary Roberts said the North Platte hospital hasn’t had to delay any procedures. Roberts also said that though the need for blood is still critical, there was more on the shelf this week.
Donors don’t need to wait for a blood drive to give blood. The North Platte Blood and Platelet Donation Center at 1111 S. Cottonwood St. is open Saturday through Wednesday. Donors can schedule appointments from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“We hardly ever turn away a walk-in, so if walking in for people works, walk in,” Brown said. A blood donation usually takes about 30 minutes, Brown said.
In addition to blood, the Red Cross also needs people willing to donate red blood cells, plasma and platelets, the components that make up whole blood. Those donations take a little longer than a whole-blood donation.
Alyssa Fabik of North Platte and her parents donate blood products, making it what she calls “a family effort.” Fabik began donating blood in high school.
“I would tell you, I was a chicken and I was afraid of it, but it’s really not that hard of a process, and the Red Cross people will walk you through it,” she said.
Donating blood is another way for Fabik to give back, and “it’s not something that’s too terribly hard to do.”
“Most likely, your worst day of giving blood will be” the best day for the person who receives it, Fabik said.
If someone isn’t able to donate blood, there are still ways to help, according to Brown, like sharing posts about blood drives on social media or donating their time in other ways.
“We always tell people if you can’t donate or don’t have good enough veins: Bake cookies,” Brown said. “Bake cookies, bring them in; we’ll give them to the donors who can.”
More by Susan Szuch
Five stories about people who made North Platte -- and the world -- a better place
Whether it's changing the life of someone across the country or across the street, here are five stories of how North Platte residents work to create a difference in the world.
Social media allowed Lauressa Gillock to find a recipient for her daughter's liver and to stay in touch with others who received Olivia Swedberg's organs. “My daughter is living on through these other people, and it’s just an amazing gift to have.”
“The more we talk about it, the less stigmatized it’s going to get,” said Jennifer Krawjewski. “The less stigmatized it is, the more people we are going to be able to help, so we need to be having those conversations a lot more than we’re having them.”
At the Sew Day last Saturday, all skill levels were present, as well as people from all walks of life. But they all had at least two things in common: a love of sewing and an appreciation for veterans.
Co-workers, both current and former, as well as donors and friends celebrated the retirement of three Red Cross employees: Peggy Baker, Jolene Morgan and Jan Widick, who have over 80 years of service combined.
On Friday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services presented Maria Lein with a Community Health Worker Making a Difference Award…
Digital editor for The North Platte Telegraph.
|
https://nptelegraph.com/news/local/its-life-and-death-for-people-north-platte-impacted-by-national-blood-shortage-donors-needed/article_45a24ed4-8608-11ec-9dec-f3a02581ef4f.html
| 2022-02-04T23:04:48
|
en
| 0.965227
|
North Platte's evening forecast: Clear. Low 19F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. North Platte folks should see highs in the 50's tomorrow. It looks to reach a brisk 54 degrees. Expect a drastic drop in temperatures though, with a low reaching 24 degrees. We will see clear skies tomorrow. North Platte could see periods of brisk winds tomorrow, with winds reaching 16 miles per hour, coming from northwest. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Stay in the know. Visit nptelegraph.com for local news and weather.
Feb. 4, 2022 evening weather update for North Platte
Related to this story
Most Popular
- Updated
The latest from the massive winter storm sweeping across much of the U.S., causing power outages, canceled flights and fears of ice buildup.
- Updated
A mammoth storm dropping significant snowfall Wednesday threatens to paralyze parts of the Midwest and South with ice, snow, dangerously cold …
A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three U.S. states is the new world record holder for longest flash.
- Updated
It’s hard to get accurate measurements, but a national network of 8,000-plus volunteers with rulers and specific standards reports after every storm.
Like many modern observances, Groundhog Day can trace its origin from a few different directions.
For the drive home in North Platte: A mostly clear sky. Low 8F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Cool temperatures will blanket the North Platte area…
This evening in North Platte: Partly cloudy. Low near 20F. Winds light and variable. North Platte people will see temperatures in the 60s tomo…
North Platte people will see temperatures in the 60s today. It looks like it will be a mild 61 degrees. Expect a drastic drop in temperatures …
This evening's outlook for North Platte: Cloudy. Low near 0F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. It might be a good day to stay inside, with temperatu…
This evening's outlook for North Platte: A few clouds. Low 18F. Winds light and variable. North Platte folks should see highs in the 50's tomo…
|
https://nptelegraph.com/weather/feb-4-2022-evening-weather-update-for-north-platte/article_c64ab0a1-6fb4-5d34-b581-f81281b85c82.html
| 2022-02-04T23:04:54
|
en
| 0.901148
|
BEIJING (AP) — It was supposed to be a foregone conclusion that Russia’s powerful stable of figure skaters, including world champions in three of the four disciplines, would run away with the team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Nathan Chen and the rest of the Americans must have taken exception.
The three-time world champ’s winning short program set the tone for Team USA on Friday, and everyone else followed suit. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the rhythm dance with a season-best score, and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier capped the first of three days of team competition with a personal-best short program.
That left the Americans with 28 points, two ahead of the Russians and seven ahead of third-place China.
“We can walk away with a medal for sure. What color? It’s hard to say,” Chen said. “But I have faith in my teammates, and I know they’re going to do the best they can do.”
In fact, the only discipline they didn’t win was pairs. Knierim and Frazier were third behind China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who set a world record with their short program, and Russians Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.
“I’m so proud of us,” said Knierim, who helped the U.S. win team bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang. “I mean, there was a lot of push-down pressure within us. We just tried to ignore it, and we just rose to the occasion.”
There is still plenty of work to do for the Americans to climb the podium this time around.
The team event takes a break Saturday before the women’s short program Sunday, where the Russians will again be the favorites. After that, the top-five scoring nations advance to the free skates, with the medals decided Monday night.
Chen struggled to a fourth-place finish with his short program in the team event in Pyeongchang, and the dismal start to his Olympic debut four years ago carried right into the men’s event. His short program there was so strewn with mistakes that not even his brilliant free skate could land him on the podium.
Perhaps his flawless start in Beijing will send him in the other direction.
Performing to Charles Aznavour’s song “La Bohème,” Chen opened with a massive quad toe loop and landed the triple axel that often gives him problems. By the time he landed his quad salchow-triple toe loop combination, his technical mark was so far ahead of the field that first place was just about assured.
Chen received 111.71 points, a mark that would have won the men’s short program in Pyeongchang, and one that put him well clear of reigning Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan on Friday.
“Even if someone doesn’t have the best skate, we have an incredibly strong team to back us all up,” Chen said. “That’s certainly the case this time around. I’m happy I did my part and skated as good as I can.”
Oh, did he ever have someone backing him up.
After a disappointing showing of their short program at nationals, Hubbell and Donohue were perfectly in sync for the Americans on skating’s biggest stage, scoring a season-best 86.56 points for their Janet Jackson medley.
“It’s always better to give a great performance and to leave that impression with the judges,” Hubbell said, “but we also know that everything is dependent on how you perform each day and each time you step on the ice.”
World champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were the last ice dance duo to skate, but their program began to go awry during their twizzles. It briefly fell apart when Katsalapov stumbled during their midline step sequence, a mistake that left them in second place with 86.06 points.
“We are very confident,” Katsalapov insisted afterward, “because we have the strongest team.”
Perhaps. But not on Friday.
Knierim and Frazier punctuated a big day for the Americans. From their opening triple twist lift to their often troublesome triple toe loop, they made everything look easy just weeks after Frazier’s positive COVID-19 test forced them to withdraw from nationals.
Meanwhile, Germany and Ukraine had their chances of advancing dashed before they even stepped on the ice.
Nolan Seegert tested positive upon his arrival in Beijing, forcing him and pairs partner Minerva Fabienne Hase to withdraw from the team event. Ukrainian skater Ivan Shmuratko also tested positive and had to withdraw.
The two nations did not have a backup for their disciplines, so they received no points in the team event.
“Nolan is so far symptom-free,” said Hase, who was released from quarantine after testing negative. “Of course it was a shock for me as well. We were careful. I struggle a bit right now. I will try to get back on track in the next days.”
|
https://www.krqe.com/2022-olympics/chen-us-lead-team-figure-skating/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:08
|
en
| 0.979983
|
TIJUANA (Border Report) — Parents staged a demonstration demanding the state of Baja California pay teachers back wages so schools can reopen and they can get back to work.
The ongoing salary dispute, now entering its fourth month, has forced the closure of 1,700 public schools, almost half in the entire state.
The teachers union said its members are owed 500 million pesos, or about $25 million.
“It’s been a very long time without classes, my children have a right to an education, it’s not the same if we try to teach them in comparison to their teachers,” said parent Rosa Portillo, whose son is a first-grader at Francisco Madero Elementary in Tijuana.
Another parent, Joselyn, said the last time her daughters got any formal instruction was back in late October and it was virtual not in the classroom.
“We got all excited when they announced a return to in-class learning last month, but then with the ongoing COVID-19 situation and pay dispute the schools didn’t open,” she said.
The teachers union has said they won’t do virtual teaching or engage in any instruction until they all get their back wages.
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila says the teachers’ salaries have been paid and doesn’t understand why teachers are still not back in the classroom.
But the state’s Secretary of Education Gerardo Solís Benavides is contradicting the governor’s claims saying only 120 million pesos or about $6 million has been paid.
Solís Benavides stated they are maintaining a dialogue with teachers and their unions as they try to get them back into the classroom.
But someone inside the teachers union said there are no immediate plans to get teachers back to work.
“If they say, here is the money we owe, we’ll revise our strategy to lift the walkout and we’ll come back,” said a union rep who wanted to remain anonymous.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/labor-dispute-shuts-down-almost-half-the-public-schools-in-baja-california/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:14
|
en
| 0.967789
|
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal jury has convicted two members of the Barrio Azteca gang on felony charges related to the murders of a U.S. Consulate employee in Juarez, Mexico, her husband, and the husband of another consulate employee.
Jurors in El Paso on Thursday found Jose Guadalupe Diaz Diaz and Martin Perez Marrufo guilty of conspiracy counts for racketeering, narcotics trafficking, narcotics importation, money laundering, and murder in a foreign country.
The two men from Chihuahua, Mexico, were also found guilty of three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and three counts of murder resulting from the use and carrying of a firearm in relation to crimes of violence and drug trafficking.
Charges stem from the March 13, 2010, murders of Leslie Enriquez, Arthur Redelfs, and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros.
“Although 12 years have passed since these senseless murders, our office has only strengthened its resolve to seek justice for victims of cartel violence,” said Ashley C. Hoff, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas. “These guilty verdicts demonstrate the diligent pursuit of our prosecutors and our commitment to protecting communities from ruthless brutality.”
Diaz was extradited from Mexico in 2019 and Marrufo in 2020. Sentencing is scheduled for May 9. Diaz and Marrufo face a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.
Prosecutors presented evidence during the 13-day trial in U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone’s court pointing to Diaz and Marrufo as the gunmen on a “hit team” assigned by Barrio Azteca to take out consulate worker Enriquez and her companions after departing a child’s birthday party in Juarez. Prosecutors said the gang mistakenly identified them as rival gang members. Diaz, 43 and known as “Zorro,” shot and killed Enriquez and Redelfs, while Marrufo, 54, a.k.a. “Popeye,” killed Ceniceros, prosecutors said.
“These convictions demonstrate the Department’s commitment to combating violent transnational criminal organizations. I want to thank the Mexican Government for its cooperation including extraditing both defendants to the United States to face criminal charges,” said Kenneth A. Polite Jr., assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Barrio Azteca at the time lent its muscle to the Juarez cartel in a fight with the Sinaloa cartel for control drug trafficking routes to the United States. Initial reports said the cartel may have been under the impression that consulate employees provided U.S. visas to rival gang members, but the Justice Department said the employees were not involved in any wrongdoing.
Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, aka “Benny” and “Tury,” a lieutenant for Barrio Azteca, was convicted in 2014 or ordering the murders and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said Gallegos was in charge of cartel assassins responsible for up to 1,600 drug-related murders in Juarez in the mid-2000s and early 2010s.
“His gang of killers terrorized and victimized men and women on both sides of the border, but thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners he will now spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes.” said then-Acting Assistant Attorney General O’Neil.
A total of 35 individuals have been charged in connection to the case and/or Barrio Azteca activities. All have been apprehended and 28 have pleaded guilty, the Justice Department said.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/border-report/border-report-tour/mexican-gang-members-found-guilty-of-murdering-u-s-consulate-employee-two-others/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:20
|
en
| 0.955416
|
HOBBS, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico Game and Fish is trying to find whoever illegally shot ducks and geese with darts in southeast New Mexico. Investigators do not know how many birds may have been hit or killed but they say the first one was found mid-December at Green Meadows Park in Hobbs.
Story continues below
- Weather: Sunny skies but still very chilly
- Investigation: Video: Young DWI suspect says officer raped her
- Business: Amazon raising Prime membership fee – here’s when the new price kicks in
- Trending: Two teens assist stranded Albuquerque drivers during storm
If you know who may be responsible, contact Operation Game Thief, a program with the Department of Game and Fish.
Last April, Game and Fish received reports about a goose with a blow dart in its neck at Lake Carlsbad. No word if investigators tracked down that suspect.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/hobbs-geese-ducks-being-shot-with-darts/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:27
|
en
| 0.952714
|
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — With U.S. employers struggling to fill millions of job openings, advocates are calling on Congress to let more high-skilled immigrants enter the workforce.
“We have long seen the benefits of high-skilled immigration to the U.S. economy,” TechNet CEO Linda Moore said.
A recent study by TechNet, a tech industry advocacy group, found increasing high-skilled immigration results in economic growth.
“Immigrants also expand the tax base and innovation and create jobs all across the country,” Moore said.
Moore says it’s a labor force the country needs.
“America is just not graduating enough high-skilled workers to fill the shortage in the American economy,” Moore said.
However, Moore says outdated H-1B visa guidelines make it hard for companies to hire high skilled workers. She’s urging Congress to take action.
“We want to make it easier to create a comprehensive immigration reform structure in the country,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said.
Gillibrand believes allowing more high-skilled immigration has wide-ranging benefits.
“For our country, for our communities, for our families, for our culture and for the strength of our overall economy,” Gillibrand said.
But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) says lawmakers shouldn’t make any changes until they solve the southern border crisis.
“I believe our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, the current administration believes that we should have a policy of open borders,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn says once the border is secure, Republicans will be open to cooperating on immigration reform.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/washington-dc/tech-advocates-call-on-congress-to-increase-high-skilled-immigration-to-the-us/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:33
|
en
| 0.935627
|
Programming note: On Saturday Mark will be conducting another edition of our Clubland Q&A taking questions from Steyn Club members live around the planet at 5pm North American Eastern/6pm Greenwich Mean Time.
On the Friday edition of The Mark Steyn Show Mark led off with the seventieth anniversary of the Queen's reign, which falls this Sunday. Robert Lacey, royal biographer and advisor to The Crown on Netflix, joined him to analyse the state of monarchy a century after almost all the other empires tumbled. (The picture of Her Majesty at top right was taken by Mark's daughter a few years ago.)
Later, Graham Linehan, creator of Father Ted and The IT Report, swung by to ponder a world without jokes.
All that plus your comments and questions along the way. Click below to view the full show (you may have to reload the page):
~The Mark Steyn Show returns Monday at 8pm GMT on GB News. If you've missed a Steyn Show in recent weeks or recent years, you can find all our 2021 shows and many highlights from the archives in a handy Netflix-style tile format here.
~Join us over the weekend for various diversions, including not only the above mentioned Clubland Q&A but also Rick McGinnis' Saturday movie date. Clubland Q&A is a special production for The Mark Steyn Club. If you're wondering what all that's about, you can find more details here - and we also have a great gift membership.
|
https://www.steynonline.com/12110/the-survivor
| 2022-02-04T23:05:38
|
en
| 0.935734
|
LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — Super Bowl LVI kick-off is less than two weeks away, and security enforcement is picking up outside of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as stadium security is already feeling the pressure following a fan attack last weekend.
Security will be led by the local agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, with federal partners such as the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Federal Aviation Administration has designated the Los Angeles area a ‘No Drone Zone’ for the Super Bowl, prohibiting drones within a 30-nautical-mile radius of the stadium up to 18,000 feet in altitude from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. PST on February 13, 2022.
Drone operators who enter the restricted flight area without permission could face drone confiscation, civil penalties that exceed $30,000 and potential criminal prosecution, the agency said.
Meanwhile, stadium security is under intense scrutiny after a San Francisco 49ers fan was placed in a medically induced coma after being punched during a parking lot confrontation with an apparent Rams fan at the NFC Championship game, the mayor of Inglewood said Thursday.
Daniel Luna, 40, remained hospitalized after Sunday’s fight while police sought his attacker based on a blurry video and the license plate of a car, Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said at a news conference.
Because he still had his watch, wallet and cellphone on him, police don’t think robbery was the motive.
“We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time. We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation,” said in a statement to NewsNation.
The mayor said the video isn’t clear enough to provide a description of the suspect, but he was seen talking to some people in a car. Police want to find the car and talk to the occupants to see if they were involved, Butts said.
This incident is similar to one in 2011, where a San Francisco Giants fan was beaten and left with severe brain damage at a Dodgers game. Two men were convicted and sentenced to prison for that assault.
|
https://www.krqe.com/sports/the-big-game/officials-ramping-up-super-bowl-security/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:39
|
en
| 0.974076
|
BEIJING (AP) — It was supposed to be a foregone conclusion that Russia’s powerful stable of figure skaters, including world champions in three of the four disciplines, would run away with the team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Nathan Chen and the rest of the Americans must have taken exception.
The three-time world champ’s winning short program set the tone for Team USA on Friday, and everyone else followed suit. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the rhythm dance with a season-best score, and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier capped the first of three days of team competition with a personal-best short program.
That left the Americans with 28 points, two ahead of the Russians and seven ahead of third-place China.
“We can walk away with a medal for sure. What color? It’s hard to say,” Chen said. “But I have faith in my teammates, and I know they’re going to do the best they can do.”
In fact, the only discipline they didn’t win was pairs. Knierim and Frazier were third behind China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who set a world record with their short program, and Russians Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.
“I’m so proud of us,” said Knierim, who helped the U.S. win team bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang. “I mean, there was a lot of push-down pressure within us. We just tried to ignore it, and we just rose to the occasion.”
There is still plenty of work to do for the Americans to climb the podium this time around.
The team event takes a break Saturday before the women’s short program Sunday, where the Russians will again be the favorites. After that, the top-five scoring nations advance to the free skates, with the medals decided Monday night.
Chen struggled to a fourth-place finish with his short program in the team event in Pyeongchang, and the dismal start to his Olympic debut four years ago carried right into the men’s event. His short program there was so strewn with mistakes that not even his brilliant free skate could land him on the podium.
Perhaps his flawless start in Beijing will send him in the other direction.
Performing to Charles Aznavour’s song “La Bohème,” Chen opened with a massive quad toe loop and landed the triple axel that often gives him problems. By the time he landed his quad salchow-triple toe loop combination, his technical mark was so far ahead of the field that first place was just about assured.
Chen received 111.71 points, a mark that would have won the men’s short program in Pyeongchang, and one that put him well clear of reigning Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno of Japan on Friday.
“Even if someone doesn’t have the best skate, we have an incredibly strong team to back us all up,” Chen said. “That’s certainly the case this time around. I’m happy I did my part and skated as good as I can.”
Oh, did he ever have someone backing him up.
After a disappointing showing of their short program at nationals, Hubbell and Donohue were perfectly in sync for the Americans on skating’s biggest stage, scoring a season-best 86.56 points for their Janet Jackson medley.
“It’s always better to give a great performance and to leave that impression with the judges,” Hubbell said, “but we also know that everything is dependent on how you perform each day and each time you step on the ice.”
World champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were the last ice dance duo to skate, but their program began to go awry during their twizzles. It briefly fell apart when Katsalapov stumbled during their midline step sequence, a mistake that left them in second place with 86.06 points.
“We are very confident,” Katsalapov insisted afterward, “because we have the strongest team.”
Perhaps. But not on Friday.
Knierim and Frazier punctuated a big day for the Americans. From their opening triple twist lift to their often troublesome triple toe loop, they made everything look easy just weeks after Frazier’s positive COVID-19 test forced them to withdraw from nationals.
Meanwhile, Germany and Ukraine had their chances of advancing dashed before they even stepped on the ice.
Nolan Seegert tested positive upon his arrival in Beijing, forcing him and pairs partner Minerva Fabienne Hase to withdraw from the team event. Ukrainian skater Ivan Shmuratko also tested positive and had to withdraw.
The two nations did not have a backup for their disciplines, so they received no points in the team event.
“Nolan is so far symptom-free,” said Hase, who was released from quarantine after testing negative. “Of course it was a shock for me as well. We were careful. I struggle a bit right now. I will try to get back on track in the next days.”
|
https://www.wowktv.com/2022-olympics/chen-us-lead-team-figure-skating/
| 2022-02-04T23:05:57
|
en
| 0.979983
|
KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK)—The Kanawha-Charleston Health department reported 443 new COVID-19 cases as well as five more deaths on Friday.
The deaths include a 77-year-old male who was unvaccinated, a 20-year-old male who was unvaccinated, a 66-year-old male who was unvaccinated, a 59-year-old female who was unvaccinated, and a 58-year-old male who was unvaccinated.
Below are the updated COVID-19 numbers for Kanawha County as of Friday, Feb. 4:
|
https://www.wowktv.com/coronavirus-in-west-virginia/kanawha-county-reports-443-new-covid-19-cases-5-more-deaths/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:03
|
en
| 0.996138
|
CABELL COUNTY, WV (WOWK)—The Cabell County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the public’s help finding the owner of a vehicle believed to have been involved in two burglaries in the Barboursville area.
The vehicle’s license plate is not visible in the video posted by the sheriff’s office, but deputies believe that the vehicle is a 2010-2015 Nissan Cube.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective Hatfield at 304-633-2918 or message the sheriff’s office on Facebook.
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/deputies-look-for-help-solving-barboursville-burglaries/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:09
|
en
| 0.901475
|
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—New details are available in the case of a deadly arson fire that happened earlier this week in Kanawha City.
A criminal complaint says that Patricia Kay White committed first-degree murder by setting a fire inside the back door of a residence on the 5200 block of MacCorkle Avenue on Monday. The complaint says that White set the fire after an argument with her husband, David Sims.
52-year-old Dennis Rutledge was in an upstairs bedroom in the back of the house where the fire started. He was transported to the hospital and later died from his injuries.
Police and fire investigators reviewed surveillance video from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car close by, and the video showed a person leaning out a rear window of the first floor, retreating back inside the house, and then exiting through the back door. A brief light that appeared to be a flame can be seen on the video. The complaint says that the rear of the house was engulfed in flames within a matter of minutes.
A witness who works at a nearby business encountered Ms. White that night and told officers that White was upset about a previous argument with her husband. The witness said that White made a statement about setting the house on fire and had a small blue butane torch in her hand.
The complaint says that detectives located White on Wednesday at a bus stop in Kanawha City. Police say she showed the detectives the butane torch and agreed to be transported to the Charleston Police Department and give a statement to detectives. She asked what her bond would be while en route to the police department and was told she was not under arrest. She then told police that she was going to be arrested for arson.
White admitted to police that she was in the area at the time of the fire and believed that her husband was trying to keep her in the house and was going to set it on fire. She said she escaped and said that she saw a fire where her husband was while she left the house. She was released after questioning.
Police arrested David Sims, and he said he was in the home with Dennis Rutledge, according to the complaint. He said he heard a female yelling and screaming, and then an unknown man entered the room asking for David.
The complaint says that the unknown man told Sims that his wife was outside, and when Sims went outside to talk to her, he could tell that she (Patricia White) was extremely intoxicated and belligerent. Sims told police that he tried to calm her down, but she started making threats to set the house on fire.
Sims then told police he walked outside behind a tree to wait for White to leave. He said he saw the unknown man and White both leave the house. He said he walked to the back of the residence and saw it go up in flames. He did not see Rutledge leave.
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/more-details-released-in-kanawha-city-arson-murder-case/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:15
|
en
| 0.989237
|
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trump’s false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election, saying that the former president was simply “wrong.”
In a speech to the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trump’s intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that he could have done something to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.
“President Trump is wrong,” Pence said. “I had no right to overturn the election.”
While Pence in the past has defended his actions on Jan. 6 and said that he and Trump will likely never see “eye to eye” on what happened that day, the remarks Friday marked his most forceful rebuttal of Trump to date. And they come as Pence has been laying the groundwork for a potential run for president in 2024, which could put him in direct competition with his former boss, who has also been teasing a comeback run.
In a statement Tuesday, Trump said the committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol should instead probe “why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval.” And on Sunday, he blasted Pence, falsely declaring that “he could have overturned the Election!”
Vice presidents play only a ceremonial role in the counting of Electoral College votes, and any attempt to interfere in the count would have represented a profound break from precedent and democratic norms.
Pence, in his remarks Friday, described Jan. 6, 2021, as “a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol.”
Pence was inside the building, presiding over the joint session of Congress to certify the presidential election, when a mob of Trump’s supporters violently smashed inside, assaulting police officers and hunting down lawmakers. Pence, who had released a statement earlier that day to make clear he had no authority to overturn the will of the voters, was rushed to safety as some rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence framed his actions that day as in line with his duty as a constitutional conservative.
“The American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise,” he told the group Friday. He noted that, under Article II Section One of the Constitution, “elections are conducted at the state level, not by Congress” and that “the only role of Congress with respect to the Electoral College is to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states. No more, no less.”
“Frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president,” he added. “Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election. And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.”
Pence also acknowledged the lingering anger among many in Trump’s base. But, he said: “The truth is, there’s more at stake than our party or political fortunes. Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections — we’ll lose our country.”
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/politics/trump-is-wrong-pence-says-he-had-no-right-to-overturn-2020-election/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:21
|
en
| 0.979838
|
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of charges he cheated the porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with former President Donald Trump.
Avenatti, who acted as his own lawyer, stared straight ahead as the verdict was read. It was another crushing defeat for the California lawyer, who has faced legal problems after briefly rising to fame as one of Trump’s leading antagonists on cable news.
“I’m very disappointed in the jury’s verdict,” Avenatti told reporters outside the federal courtroom in New York. “I’m looking forward to a full adjudication of all the issues on appeal.”
U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Avenatti to surrender Monday to U.S. marshals in California. Avenatti has delayed serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for his 2020 conviction in an extortion case while waiting for the book proceeds trial and the retrial of a fraud case in a California federal court.
Sentencing was set for May 24. Prosecutors said it was likely that Daniels will speak at sentencing.
The verdict came hours after the jury foreperson sent a note to the judge saying one juror was refusing to look at evidence and was deciding the case based on her feelings and emotions.
“She does not believe she needs to prove her side using evidence and refuses to show us how she has come to her conclusion,” the note said. ”Not going on any evidence, all emotions and does not understand this job of a jury.”
But the verdict was unanimous.
It capped an unusual trial in which Avenatti dumped his lawyers and decided to represent himself on the trial’s second day, setting up a face-to-face showdown with Daniels, his former client, who appeared in a new role as star witness.
Avenatti said after the verdict that he did not regret representing himself.
Prosecutors portrayed Avenatti as a common thief and serial liar. He countered by seeking to cast himself as a white knight who came to the rescue of Daniels until she turned on him.
Over two days of cross-examination, he questioned her about the allegations that he’d swindled her out of book proceeds — and about ghost stories she’d told for a possible show about the supernatural world.
In addition to the sentence he has yet to begin serving for trying to extort up to $25 million from sportswear giant Nike, he is awaiting a retrial in Los Angeles on charges that he ripped off clients and others for millions of dollars. He represented himself last year for six weeks before a mistrial resulted.
Daniels had initially hired Avenatti as she was trying to escape the terms of a $130,000 hush payment deal that kept her from speaking publicly about an alleged sexual encounter that Trump says never happened.
Avenatti parlayed his representation with Daniels into a string of cable news appearances in which he mocked and baited Trump.
When Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, was raided by the FBI in connection with tax evasion and payments made to women on Trump’s behalf, Avenatti contributed to the spectacle by bringing Daniels to the federal courthouse.
The relationship between the two fell apart after Daniels said she learned that Avenatti had taken a share of her $800,000 book deal for himself.
Avenatti insisted he was innocent of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
After opening statements and two trial witnesses, he shed his lawyers and confronted witnesses himself, setting up his questioning of Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
Avenatti asked her about things she’d said for a potential program called “Spooky Babes” about living in a haunted house in New Orleans.
Among other things, Daniels had talked about an invisible assailant attacking her partner and communicating with dead people and with a doll who calls her “mommy.”
Prosecutors argued Avenatti was trying to portray Daniels as crazy — what they called a “blame-the-victim” defense that failed to support his claim he was owed the money after spending millions of dollars representing Daniels.
“Whether you think it’s kooky to believe in the paranormal, whether you think it’s weird, she can believe whatever she wants and still be stolen from by the defendant and still deserve not to,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Podolsky told the jury.
Text messages, prosecutors said, showed that Avenatti repeatedly lied to Daniels in 2018 when she pressed him on when she would get a large installment she was owed on the book deal. They said he’d already spent the money on airfare, food and payroll for his debt-ridden law firm.
Podolsky likened Avenatti to a store cashier taking $1,000 out of a register because he believed he’d worked really hard and deserved a bonus.
Avenatti argued at the conclusion of the two-week trial that the government failed to prove its case.
“I’m Italian. I like Italian food. Ladies and gentlemen, the case that the government is trying to feed you has a giant cockroach in the middle of the plate,” he told the jury. “Would you eat that dish or would you send it back? I submit that you would send it back.”
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/michael-avenatti-convicted-of-stealing-from-stormy-daniels/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:27
|
en
| 0.985868
|
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — With U.S. employers struggling to fill millions of job openings, advocates are calling on Congress to let more high-skilled immigrants enter the workforce.
“We have long seen the benefits of high-skilled immigration to the U.S. economy,” TechNet CEO Linda Moore said.
A recent study by TechNet, a tech industry advocacy group, found increasing high-skilled immigration results in economic growth.
“Immigrants also expand the tax base and innovation and create jobs all across the country,” Moore said.
Moore says it’s a labor force the country needs.
“America is just not graduating enough high-skilled workers to fill the shortage in the American economy,” Moore said.
However, Moore says outdated H-1B visa guidelines make it hard for companies to hire high skilled workers. She’s urging Congress to take action.
“We want to make it easier to create a comprehensive immigration reform structure in the country,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said.
Gillibrand believes allowing more high-skilled immigration has wide-ranging benefits.
“For our country, for our communities, for our families, for our culture and for the strength of our overall economy,” Gillibrand said.
But Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) says lawmakers shouldn’t make any changes until they solve the southern border crisis.
“I believe our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, the current administration believes that we should have a policy of open borders,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn says once the border is secure, Republicans will be open to cooperating on immigration reform.
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/washington-dc/tech-advocates-call-on-congress-to-increase-high-skilled-immigration-to-the-us/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:33
|
en
| 0.935627
|
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — When people talk about boosting the West Virginia economy, tourism is one of the first things they mention. But, now some in the legislature are wanting to target a specific kind of tourism.
One of the fastest-growing tourism segments in West Virginia involves all-terrain vehicles and off-road trailing riding, but some feel the state is not even close to maxing out the potential of this particular sector.
While places such as the Hatfield and McCoy trails are known regionally, some members of the legislature want to see a more national marketing campaign. one bill in the senate urges more money for the department of commerce to promote off-road tourism.
“Letting people know where these roads are, so they can plan their vacations if they live in Kansas. Unless you live around here and know your local road system, you don’t know the beauty of the backcountry dirt roads here,” said State Sen. Mark Maynard, (R) Wayne.
“The Hatfield-McCoy Trail is certainly one aspect, but there’s other trails out there and other development potential, certainly in the Upper Kanawha Valley,” said State Sen. Ron Stollings, (D) Boone.
In addition to tourism promotion money, there is a companion bill that could lead to the construction of a motorsports entertainment complex and race track at some unspecified location in West Virginia.
The bills to promote ATV tourism are not yet set for a vote. They’ve been referred to the Senate Economic Development Committee for further study.
|
https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/new-wv-bill-to-promote-more-atv-tourism/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:39
|
en
| 0.941581
|
With the ever-changing news cycle, it’s easy to miss captivating images that fly under the radar. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.
We’re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world this past week.
Check them out below.
Advertisement
With the ever-changing news cycle, it’s easy to miss captivating images that fly under the radar. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.
We’re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world this past week.
Check them out below.
Senior Photo Editor, HuffPost
|
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/11-striking-photos-you-missed-this-week_n_61fd9c84e4b05004242d4ca1
| 2022-02-04T23:06:41
|
en
| 0.825975
|
LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — Super Bowl LVI kick-off is less than two weeks away, and security enforcement is picking up outside of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as stadium security is already feeling the pressure following a fan attack last weekend.
Security will be led by the local agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, with federal partners such as the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Federal Aviation Administration has designated the Los Angeles area a ‘No Drone Zone’ for the Super Bowl, prohibiting drones within a 30-nautical-mile radius of the stadium up to 18,000 feet in altitude from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. PST on February 13, 2022.
Drone operators who enter the restricted flight area without permission could face drone confiscation, civil penalties that exceed $30,000 and potential criminal prosecution, the agency said.
Meanwhile, stadium security is under intense scrutiny after a San Francisco 49ers fan was placed in a medically induced coma after being punched during a parking lot confrontation with an apparent Rams fan at the NFC Championship game, the mayor of Inglewood said Thursday.
Daniel Luna, 40, remained hospitalized after Sunday’s fight while police sought his attacker based on a blurry video and the license plate of a car, Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said at a news conference.
Because he still had his watch, wallet and cellphone on him, police don’t think robbery was the motive.
“We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time. We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation,” said in a statement to NewsNation.
The mayor said the video isn’t clear enough to provide a description of the suspect, but he was seen talking to some people in a car. Police want to find the car and talk to the occupants to see if they were involved, Butts said.
This incident is similar to one in 2011, where a San Francisco Giants fan was beaten and left with severe brain damage at a Dodgers game. Two men were convicted and sentenced to prison for that assault.
|
https://www.wowktv.com/sports/the-big-game/officials-ramping-up-super-bowl-security/
| 2022-02-04T23:06:45
|
en
| 0.974076
|
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving member of the Senate, delivered an urgent message Friday to his former longtime colleague, President Joe Biden: Let Leonard Peltier go home.
“I urge President Biden to commute Leonard Peltier’s prison sentence and release him from federal prison,” Leahy said in a statement. “Peltier, a prominent Native American activist, was imprisoned for crimes he and many other legal experts and advocates maintain he never committed. His trial was so riddled with flaws that even one of the prosecutors trying him has acknowledged that Peltier was wrongfully convicted. Peltier, now 77 years old and ailing with multiple health problems, has served more than 44 years in federal prison.”
Peltier “is exactly the kind of individual who should be considered for clemency,” the statement said.
Leahy, who served in the Senate with Biden for 36 years, said the criminal justice system is clearly imperfect, and that Peltier “knows firsthand just how imperfect it can be.”
“I have long believed that pardons and commutations are vital tools to offer clemency and relief, particularly when our criminal justice system has been contorted to propagate injustices,” said the Vermont Democrat. “I call on President Biden to commute Mr. Peltier’s sentence expeditiously. It is the right thing to do.”
A spokesperson for the White House said that officials there are aware there is a renewed push for Peltier’s release from prison, but didn’t give details beyond that.
“We are aware of Mr. Peltier’s request for a pardon and the outreach in support of his request. As many of you know, President Biden has a process for considering all requests for pardon or commutation, which is run through our White House Counsel’s Office,” the spokesperson said. “I don’t have more to share on Mr. Peltier’s request at this time.”
Last week, Peltier told HuffPost that his prison’s constant COVID-19 lockdowns and failure to provide him and other inmates with booster shots have left him, and likely others, unbearably isolated and preparing for death. He is particularly vulnerable to COVID’s effects given his serious health problems, which include diabetes and an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Days later, Peltier tested positive for COVID-19.
Peltier, who the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office put in prison decades ago without any evidence that he committed a crime, is now in quarantine.
Leahy’s Friday statement marks the second time he’s addressed Peltier’s imprisonment in recent months. In November, he didn’t hesitate at all when HuffPost asked if he thought it was time for Peltier to go home.
“Yes,” he said flatly.
Leahy’s latest remarks appear to be the first time, though, that he has publicly called for Peltier’s freedom unprompted. To date, he is the highest-ranked official in the U.S. government urging Peltier’s release. Leahy, who is not seeking reelection this year, is third in the line of succession to the presidency, just after Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Biden and Leahy are still clearly in touch, at least through staff. Leahy was among those in attendance at a White House event on Wednesday marking the president’s renewed push on his Cancer Moonshot program.
|
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patrick-leahy-biden-leonard-peltier_n_61fd7fade4b0b69cfe8ee30e
| 2022-02-04T23:06:48
|
en
| 0.971304
|
WASHINGTON — Democrats had entered a defensive crouch ahead of Friday’s jobs report, which economists said would show the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs thanks to a surge of COVID-19 cases.
But it turned out the economy actually added nearly half a million jobs in January despite the quick-spreading omicron variant – another dollop of good news at the end of an unusually good week for Joe Biden.
The Biden administration has been flailing for months, with the coronavirus pandemic raging onward, despite many promises to contain the virus; its legislative agenda stalled, despite hopes he could be the next LBJ; and Russia threatening to invade Ukraine, despite Biden’s vows to be tougher on Moscow than his predecessor was. And inflation is burning holes in people’s wallets.
This week’s good breaks: the strong jobs report (which came with corrections making the past two jobs reports look far better than they did at the time), bipartisan backing for his strategy to counter Russia, a small step toward passage of a bipartisan economic package designed to counter China and a successful operation to assassinate a terrorist leader.
Don’t expect Biden’s approval rating to immediately skyrocket, or for the logjams blocking his legislative flow to disappear entirely. Centuries of history indicate Democrats are almost certainly in for a painful midterm, and attempts to move past the pandemic and accompanying economic malaise in the past have been undone by new variants. But the past week provides a peek at how Biden could maybe create a comeback narrative.
“People have counted out Joe Biden many times in his career, and he’s proved them wrong,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who chairs the Democratic Governors’ Association, said in an interview last weekend, before Biden’s string of good news. “His perseverance and his passion are going to shine through, particularly as we emerge from this pandemic.”
It was two years ago this week, after all, that Biden suffered a disastrous loss in the Iowa caucuses before he went on to win the Democratic nomination for president. Iowa was so bad for Biden he even lost some precincts to long-shot candidate Andrew Yang. The caucus itself was such an administrative mess that the whole episode seemed like an omen of cataclysm for the entire Democratic party.
The first bit of good news: a successful mission to assassinate Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of the self-declared Islamic State. While questions remain about civilian deaths — the U.S. says al-Qurayshi blew himself up, killing his wife and children, as American forces closed in — the successful raid, months in the making, should help Biden deflect GOP attacks on his foreign policy.
“This operation is a testament to America’s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they try to hide anywhere in the world,” Biden said in a celebratory speech on Thursday morning.
The second step came on Friday, when the House passed — largely along party lines — legislation aimed at bolstering American competitiveness with China. The legislation still has a road to travel before passage, since the House will need to reconcile its version with the Senate’s bipartisan package. But if it does pass, strategists in both parties believe its provision will make primo campaign advertisement fodder for incumbents who backed it.
But the cooperation Democrats are getting on legislation aimed at boosting federal support for technological research won’t extend to Biden’s quest for an overhaul of the social safety net. The Build Back Better Act remains as stalled as ever, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) this week pointedly describing the bill as “dead.”
Finally, the jobs report. Economists predicted net job losses for the month of January, and Democrats were preemptively warning that one bad month didn’t mean the economy had gone totally off track. But then the Labor Department announced Friday morning that the economy had added 467,000 jobs — and not only that, the department revised previous estimates, undoing several dud months that at the time they were announced foretold more political doom for Biden.
The White House has tried to get the country to focus on wage and job growth in the past — Biden’s first year in office has seen the highest average monthly job growth in decades — but inflation has diminished or eliminated those gains for many workers. The ability of economic growth to power through the pandemic has reassured some economists that the hot economy can survive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes that are coming this year.
Nevertheless, Friday’s good news will dissipate rapidly, and Republicans can talk right past it. Economy unexpectedly added jobs? They’ll just say the opposite happened.
“Joe Biden’s economy is leaving Americans behind, and the January jobs report shows that there are hundreds of thousands less jobs than he promised,” Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel said. “Hardworking Americans are facing historically high inflation, decreasing real wages and spiking gas prices, but Joe Biden doesn’t care.”
|
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unexpectedly-strong-jobs-report-caps-a-better-week-for-joe-biden_n_61fd8d22e4b06abdc4302458
| 2022-02-04T23:06:54
|
en
| 0.966746
|
Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.
The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.
The milestone comes more than 13 months into a vaccination drive that has been beset by misinformation and political and legal strife, though the shots have proved safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.
“It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
He noted that most of the deaths happened after the vaccine gained authorization.
“We got the medical science right. We failed on the social science. We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we have failed as America.”
Just 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We have underestimated our enemy here, and we have under-prepared to protect ourselves,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We’ve learned a tremendous amount of humility in the face of a lethal and contagious respiratory virus.”
Nor is COVID-19 finished with the United States. Dr. Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California at Irvine, predicted the U.S. will hit 1 million deaths by March 1.
“I think it’s important for us not to be numbed. Each one of those numbers is someone,” said the Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud, senior pastor of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church in Virginia. “Those are mothers, fathers, children, our elders.”
While omicron is loosening its grip on the U.S., with new cases plunging in recent weeks and the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 turning downward, deaths are running at more than 2,400 per day on average, the highest level since last winter.
Despite its wealth and its world-class medical institutions, the U.S. has the highest reported toll of any country, and even then, the real number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus is thought to be significantly higher.
Experts believe some COVID-19 deaths have been misattributed to other conditions. And some Americans are thought to have died of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes because they were unable or unwilling to obtain treatment during the crisis.
Anderson-Cloud lost her dementia-stricken father after he was hospitalized for cancer surgery and then isolated in a COVID-19 ward. He went into cardiac arrest, was revived, but died about a week later.
She had planned to be by his bedside, but the rules barred her from going to the hospital. She wonders if his condition was made worse by his isolation. She wonders if he was scared. She wonders how many other cases like his there are.
“There are all these stories and all that pain,” she said.
COVID-19 has become one of the top three causes of death in America, behind the big two — heart disease and cancer. Noymer said if the mortality rate from COVID-19 continues, it will shave up to two years off U.S. life expectancy.
Ja said he and other medical professionals are frustrated that policymakers are seemingly running out of ideas for getting people to roll up their sleeves.
“There aren’t a whole lot of tools left. We need to double down and come up with new ones,” he said.
When the vaccine was rolled out in mid-December 2020, the death toll stood at about 300,000. It hit 600,000 in mid-June 2021 and 700,000 on Oct. 1. On Dec. 14, it reached 800,000.
It took just 51 more days to get to 900,000, the fastest 100,000-death jump since last winter.
The latest 100,000 deaths encompass those caused by both the delta variant and omicron, which began spreading rapidly in December and became the predominant version in the U.S. before the month was out.
While omicron has proved less likely to cause severe illness than delta, the sheer number of people who became infected with omicron contributed to the high number of deaths.
“We have been fighting among ourselves about tools that actually do save lives. Just the sheer amount of politics and misinformation around vaccines, which are remarkably effective and safe, is staggering,” Sharfstein said.
He added: “This is the consequence.”
|
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-covid-deaths-900000_n_61fd9fbde4b0725faaca16e7
| 2022-02-04T23:07:01
|
en
| 0.978676
|
- Solana price was rejected near the $110 resistance zone but quickly recovered to test it again.
- Some short sellers may be trapped if bulls can rally SOL into the prior bull flag.
- Downside pressure remains.
Solana price action has had its whipsaws this week, more so than most high market cap cryptocurrencies. However, buyers appear undeterred this week as they make another run at the $110 resistance level despite some negative news and fundamentals.
Solana price bulls look for a breakout above $110 to test $125
Solana price action on Wednesday and Thursday looked like a very strong probability of a bearish continuation occurring. There were many good reasons to bet on that happening for bulls and bears who thought that Solana would dip lower. One of the primary reasons was the hidden bearish divergence while SOL was trading against a critical resistance level.
Many new short positions were added on derivatives exchanges which are now likely feeling the squeeze as Solana has returned to that critical $110 zone. If bulls wish to position Solana to initiate a new bull run, then a daily close at or above $120 is necessary.
A close above $120 means that Solana price closed above the Kijun-Sen, 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, prior 100% Fibonacci expansion, and the bottom trendline of a former bull flag. Additionally, a close at $120 would invalidate the current hidden bearish divergence that may continue to weigh on Solana price.
SOL/USDT Daily Ichimoku Kinko Hyo Chart
If bulls fail to push Solana to $120, the recent retest of $110 could be a bull trap and the final retest before a push toward the $75 zone begins.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Latest Crypto News & Analysis
Editors’ Picks
Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: BTC sets a bull trap before ultimate crash to $30,000
Bitcoin price has shown an increase in buyers over the past two days, leading to a quick run-up. This uptrend will likely last as BTC retests a crucial psychological level, luring buyers into a bull trap. Investors need to be cautious of a reversal that sends the big crypto in a tailspin.
Dogecoin nears 500,000 holders while DOGE price remains stagnant
The Shiba-Inu-themed memecoin, Dogecoin, has hit another milestone, reaching nearly half a million holders. Large wallet investors on Binance Smart Chain hold over 325 million Dogecoin tokens, implying that DOGE is a popular choice among whales.
Polkadot price stares at a 15% gain as DOT shows signs of life
Polkadot price is on a leg-up that could extend higher and retest a resistance barrier confluence. Investors have the opportunity to position themselves in the right direction and capitalize on this short-term up move.
Decentraland price eyes liquidity above $3 as MANA bulls comeback
Decentraland price looks ready for a quick run-up after it flipped a crucial hurdle into a foothold. Investors can expect MANA to continue this rally until it faces another stiff hurdle.
Bitcoin: BTC sets a bull trap before ultimate crash to $30,000
Bitcoin price has shown an increase in buyers over the past two days, leading to a quick run-up. This uptrend will likely last as BTC retests a crucial psychological level, luring buyers into a bull trap. Investors need to be cautious of a reversal that sends the big crypto in a tailspin.
|
https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/solana-tests-resistance-again-bulls-push-sol-towards-125-202202042154
| 2022-02-04T23:09:28
|
en
| 0.941571
|
الوكالة الوطنية: انهيار حائط دعم أحد المباني في حي مزهر شارع القاضي رالف رياشي في أنطلياس وقد سقط على إحدى الشقق في المبنى المقابل ما أدى إلى احتجاز أصحاب الشقة في داخلها وسقوط جريح
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/Lebanon/459101/
| 2022-02-04T23:09:29
|
en
| 0.838885
|
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/Lebanon/459102/
| 2022-02-04T23:09:35
|
en
| 0.94178
|
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/Lebanon/459104/
| 2022-02-04T23:09:42
|
en
| 0.94178
|
A planned trucker protest in Toronto this weekend against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions has prompted concerned health-care workers to organize a counter protest.
Organizers said they want to "establish a street presence during the convoy protest" to send a message that "access to health care should never be compromised."
"We want to ensure that health-care services remain available to anyone who needs them and to defend the right of health-care workers to show up for work in their hospitals and clinics free of harassment. We want to keep our streets open so that sick people can safely get the help they want and to reassure them that health-care workers stand with them," they said.
The truckers' protest is expected to be held at Queen's Park, near many of the city's busiest hospitals. On Friday, Toronto police closed a portion of University Avenue to protect Hospital Row.
READ MORE: Toronto to see ‘large police presence’ as city prepares for convoy protest
Ahead of the protest, hospitals sent out memos to their staff on their plans in preparation for the protest, with some closing a number of services and rescheduling appointments. Some were also told not to wear any clothing that would identify them as health-care workers when they report for work.
"We would always encourage our staff actually not to wear scrubs because of infection control reasons. But in this case, we particularly heard from our Ottawa colleagues that there were some health-care staff who felt harassed. So we really wanted to encourage our staff not to demonstrate that they were, in fact, health-care workers until they were at their respective hospitals," University Health Network President Dr. Kevin Smith told CP24 Friday afternoon.
He shared that coming to the hospital was a completely different experience with the police blockades that have been erected around the area.
"Unfortunately, people are already feeling the consequences of these demonstrations. And while we respect the constitutional right for people to demonstrate peacefully, it really is unfortunate that it is having a negative impact on exhausted health-care workers and very ill patients," Smith said.
On the planned counter-protest by health-care workers, Smith said he is grateful that they are standing up for their co-workers and patients but said there's no need for more protesters in the downtown core.
"So, you know, really, again, appreciate the sentiment. But bringing more people to that very congested part of the city, when we are already really experiencing challenges with traffic and with access, it is very much a mixed perception," Smith said.
He hopes that this weekend's protest will be peaceful and short so that hospitals can resume services on Monday so patients can get the care they need.
Smith added that if the protest gets extended like the one in Ottawa, contingency plans are ready.
"We are doing the very best we can. We obviously have fallen behind because we've had to cancel a great deal of activity because of the need to treat our COVID patients," Smith said.
"We have a command center for critical care that involves ambulance services as well. We also have the opportunity to look at the potential to shift patient activity elsewhere."
|
https://www.cp24.com/news/counter-protest-planned-by-health-care-workers-concerned-about-toronto-trucker-convoy-1.5768684
| 2022-02-04T23:09:59
|
en
| 0.984556
|
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he has full confidence Toronto police will be able to handle Saturday’s convoy protest and there will be "zero tolerance" for any potential acts of violence.
Ford made the comments during a virtual news conference with Canada's premiers on Friday.
"Any harassment or acts of hatred or acts of violence will have zero tolerance," Ford said.
Ford said he has been in contact with Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ottawa Major Jim Watson to offer whatever resources are necessary.
Protesters are expected to arrive in Toronto on Saturday and will gather at Queen's Park.
Part of University Avenue has been closed in preparation for the protest, in order to ensure emergencies services have access to Hospital Row.
Residents have been warned to expect a large police presence in the downtown core during the protests.
Meanwhile, in Ottawa, protesters have gathered for nearly a week and have said they won’t leave until Canada removes COVID-19-related mandates.
"What is happening in Ottawa, in my opinion, is unacceptable," Ford said. "Regarding Ottawa, the occupations, it’s not a protest anymore, it’s become an occupation."
Ford said the protesters are hurting local businesses in a "big way" and believes it’s time for the situation to "come to and end."
"You think we like lockdowns or pubic health measures? We don’t,” Ford said, adding he believes "They were necessary."
Ford said the situation in Ontario hospitals is improving day-by-day and the province is "so close to getting back to normal."
"We have to be united as Ontarians, as Canadians," Ford said.
|
https://www.cp24.com/news/doug-ford-makes-statement-ahead-of-toronto-convoy-protest-calls-situation-in-ottawa-unacceptable-1.5768560
| 2022-02-04T23:10:05
|
en
| 0.973939
|
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/World/459100/
| 2022-02-04T23:10:08
|
en
| 0.94178
|
TORONTO - Jurors at an inquest examining a scaffolding collapse that killed four men in Toronto have issued recommendations aimed at avoiding similar tragedies, including considering additional penalties for supervisors who violate construction regulations.
The seven recommendations for Ontario's Ministry of Labour also include conducting scans of other jurisdictions' use of emerging technologies to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities, and considering reviewing the frequency of refresher courses on suspended access equipment.
Dr. John Carlisle, the presiding coroner, says he hopes the inquest findings give the families of the workers who died some measure of closure.
The inquest was looking into the deaths of Fayzullo Fazilov, Alexsandrs Bondarevs, Vladimir Korostin and Aleksey Blumberg.
The men died after the swing stage they were on suddenly collapsed on Christmas Eve 2009, causing them to fall 13 storeys to the ground.
Another worker was seriously injured, and a sixth - who was tethered, as required under provincial law - was left hanging in mid-air but wasn't hurt.
The project manager, Vadim Kazenelson, survived the collapse by holding on to a balcony when the scaffolding fell.
Kazenelson was later convicted of four counts of criminal negligence causing death and one of causing bodily harm after an Ontario court found he was aware that protections against falls were not in place. He was given a 3 1/2 year sentence.
The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2022.
|
https://www.cp24.com/news/jury-issues-recommendations-for-ministry-of-labour-in-toronto-scaffolding-collapse-inquiry-1.5767615
| 2022-02-04T23:10:11
|
en
| 0.973734
|
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Republican National Committee censured two GOP lawmakers on Friday for participating on the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and assailed the panel for leading a “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
GOP officials took a voice vote to approve censuring Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger at the party's winter meeting in Salt Lake City. The censure was approved a day after an RNC subcommittee watered down a resolution that had recommended expelling the pair from the party.
The censure accuses Cheney and Kinzinger of “participating in a Democrat-led persecution.”
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel denied that the “legitimate political discourse” wording in the censure was referring to the violent attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and said it had to do with other actions taken by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. But the resolution drew no such distinction.
RNC members take issue with what they see as the overly broad subpoenas, including one for Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward. Ward, an osteopathic doctor, sued to block the subpoena and argues providing her phone records would compromise patients' privacy.
“What are you going for? What are you looking for? You should have a specific scope,” said Pam Pollard, an RNC member from Oklahoma.
But GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials, excoriated his party for the censure.
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol,” he tweeted. “Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”
McDaniel is his niece.
McDaniel and her co-chair Tommy Hicks focused their remarks to RNC members on the 2022 midterms and key tenets of their platform - crime rates, parental rights over school curriculum choices and pandemic restrictions on businesses. Though they hardly mentioned the former president by name, Trump's sway among party officials was made evident by the censure and criticisms of the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Cheney, of Wyoming, and Kinzinger, of Illinois, are the only two Republicans on the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. Trump and other GOP members were incensed when Kinzinger and Cheney agreed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's invitation to join the Democratic-led House committee, giving the Jan. 6 panel a veneer of bipartisan credibility.
The most consequential element of the censure is a call for the party to no longer support Cheney and Kinzinger as Republicans.
The censure - combined with support from RNC members from Wyoming - allows the party to invoke a rule to back candidates other than Cheney. It sets in motion a way for the party to support Cheney's primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, who has been endorsed by Trump. Wyoming's primary is in August.
Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler said in a statement that the move subverted the will of Wyoming voters.
“Frank Eathorne and the Republican National Committee are trying to assert their will and take away the voice of the people of Wyoming before a single vote has even been cast,” he said, referring to the Wyoming GOP chair who co-sponsored the resolution.
Kinzinger is not running for reelection.
RNC members also voted in favor of a rule change that would prohibit their candidates from participating in debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The institution has been a staple of presidential elections for three decades, but Republicans have decried the format as biased. After advancing on Friday, the rules change is expected to be completed when the RNC meets in summer.
Republicans object to past moderators they perceive as left-leaning and remarks about Trump made by commission co-chair Mike McCurry.
“Restoring faith in our elections means making sure our candidate can compete on a level playing field,” McDaniel said in a speech on Friday.
“We are not walking away from debates, we are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates because it's a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the American people,” she added.
Even with a rules change, decisions about whether to participate in commission-sponsored debates will fall to the GOP's eventual 2024 nominee.
|
https://www.cp24.com/world/gop-censures-cheney-kinzinger-as-it-assails-capitol-insurrection-probe-1.5768390
| 2022-02-04T23:10:17
|
en
| 0.965568
|
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/World/459105/
| 2022-02-04T23:10:20
|
en
| 0.94178
|
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday directly rebutted Donald Trump's false claims that Pence somehow could have overturned the results of the 2020 election, saying that the former president was simply “wrong.”
In a speech to the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence addressed Trump's intensifying efforts this week to advance the false narrative that he could have done something to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.
“President Trump is wrong,” Pence said. “I had no right to overturn the election.”
While Pence in the past has defended his actions on Jan. 6 and said that he and Trump will likely never see “eye to eye” on what happened that day, the remarks Friday marked his most forceful rebuttal of Trump to date. And they come as Pence has been laying the groundwork for a potential run for president in 2024, which could put him in direct competition with his former boss, who has also been teasing a comeback run.
In a statement Tuesday, Trump said the committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol should instead probe “why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval.” And on Sunday, he blasted Pence, falsely declaring that “he could have overturned the Election!”
Vice presidents play only a ceremonial role in the the counting of Electoral College votes, and any attempt to interfere in the count would have represented a profound break from precedent and democratic norms.
Pence, in his remarks Friday, described Jan. 6, 2021, as “a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol.”
Pence was inside the building, presiding over the joint session of Congress to certify the presidential election, when a mob of Trump's supporters violently smashed inside, assaulting police officers and hunting down lawmakers. Pence, who had released a statement earlier that day to make clear he had no authority to overturn the will of the voters, was rushed to safety as some rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence framed his actions that day as in line with his duty as a constitutional conservative.
“The American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise,” he told the group Friday. He noted that, under Article II Section One of the Constitution, “elections are conducted at the state level, not by Congress” and that “the only role of Congress with respect to the Electoral College is to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states. No more, no less.”
“Frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president,” he added. “Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election. And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.”
Pence also acknowledged the lingering anger among many in Trump's base. But, he said: “The truth is, there's more at stake than our party or political fortunes. Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won't just lose elections - we'll lose our country.”
|
https://www.cp24.com/world/pence-trump-is-wrong-to-say-election-could-be-overturned-1.5768553
| 2022-02-04T23:10:23
|
en
| 0.982011
|
Your message has been sent, we will get back to you soon.
THANK YOU
Your profile has been updated.
THANK YOU
Your story has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
Your announcement has been successfully submitted, pending approval before publishing on
tayyar.org.
THANK YOU
An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.
THANK YOU
Your changes have been saved
THANK YOU
Your verification link has been re-issued
THANK YOU
FOR SUBSCRIBING
You will start receiving tayyar.org newsletter soon.
SORRY
Your email address already exists in our database.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully. It has now been sent to the related company.
THANK YOU
Your application has been submitted sucessfully.
THANK YOU
Your vote has been submitted.
THANK YOU
Your password has been changed successfully.
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
You will
receive an email with a link to activate your account. Please go to
your email to confirm your registration and login.
WELCOME TO tayyar.org
you are now a registered member.
FORGOT PASSWORD
Please enter your email address below. You will send your a password reminder to
your email.
RESET PASSWORD
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media. See details.
|
https://www.tayyar.org/News/World/459106/
| 2022-02-04T23:10:27
|
en
| 0.94178
|
Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.
The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.
The milestone comes more than 13 months into a vaccination drive that has been beset by misinformation and political and legal strife, though the shots have proved safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.
“It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
He lamented that most of the deaths happened after the vaccine gained authorization.
“We got the medical science right. We failed on the social science. We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we have failed as America.”
Just 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We have underestimated our enemy here, and we have under-prepared to protect ourselves,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We've learned a tremendous amount of humility in the face of a lethal and contagious respiratory virus.”
Nor is COVID-19 finished with the United States: Jha predicted the U.S. will reach 1 million deaths by April.
“I think it's important for us not to be numbed. Each one of those numbers is someone,” said the Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud, senior pastor of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church in Virginia. “Those are mothers, fathers, children, our elders.”
The milestone came as omicron is loosening its grip on the country.
New cases per day day have plunged by almost half since mid-January, when they hit a record-shattering peak of more than 800,000.
Cases have been declining in 49 out of 50 states over the past two weeks, by Johns Hopkins' count, and the 50th state, Maine, reported that confirmed infections are falling there, too, dropping sharply over the past week.
Also, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 has declined 15% since mid-January to about 124,000.
But deaths are still running high at more than 2,400 per day on average, the most since last winter. And they are on the rise in at least 35 states, reflecting the lag time between when victims become infected and when they succumb.
Still, public health officials have expressed hope that the worst of omicron is coming to an end. While they caution that things could still go bad again and dangerous new variants could emerge, some places are already talking about easing precautions.
Los Angeles County may end outdoor mask requirements in a few weeks, Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.
“Post-surge does not imply that the pandemic is over or that transmission is low, or that there will not be unpredictable waves of surges in the future,” she warned.
Despite its wealth and its world-class medical institutions, the U.S. has the highest reported toll of any country, and even then, the real number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus is thought to be significantly higher.
Experts believe some COVID-19 deaths have been misattributed to other conditions. And some Americans are thought to have died of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes because they were unable or unwilling to obtain treatment during the crisis.
Anderson-Cloud lost her dementia-stricken father after he was hospitalized for cancer surgery and then isolated in a COVID-19 ward. He went into cardiac arrest, was revived, but died about a week later.
She had planned to be by his bedside, but the rules barred her from going to the hospital. She wonders if his condition was made worse by his isolation. She wonders if he was scared. She wonders how many other cases like his there are.
“There are all these stories and all that pain,” she said.
When the vaccine was rolled out in mid-December 2020, the death toll stood at about 300,000. It hit 600,000 in mid-June 2021 and 700,000 on Oct. 1. On Dec. 14, it reached 800,000.
It took just 51 more days to get to 900,000, the fastest 100,000-death jump since last winter.
The latest 100,000 deaths encompass those caused by both the delta variant and omicron, which began spreading rapidly in December and became the predominant version in the U.S. before the month was out.
While omicron has proved less likely to cause severe illness than delta, the sheer number of people who became infected with omicron contributed to the high number of deaths.
Ja said he and other medical professionals are frustrated that policymakers are seemingly running out of ideas for getting people to roll up their sleeves.
“There aren't a whole lot of tools left. We need to double down and come up with new ones,” he said.
COVID-19 has become one of the top three causes of death in America, behind the big two - heart disease and cancer.
“We have been fighting among ourselves about tools that actually do save lives. Just the sheer amount of politics and misinformation around vaccines, which are remarkably effective and safe, is staggering,” Sharfstein said.
He added: “This is the consequence.”
Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Paul Davenport in Phoenix; Robert Jablon in Los Angeles; Michael Stobbe in New York; and Patrick Whittle in Portland contributed to this report.
|
https://www.cp24.com/world/u-s-death-toll-from-covid-19-hits-900-000-sped-by-omicron-1.5768373
| 2022-02-04T23:10:30
|
en
| 0.977743
|
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers aren't slowing down as they wrap up the fourth week of the legislative session.
The last five days saw a blown effort to get mobile sports betting on the ballot, no changes for the 15-week abortion bill and more controversial voter reform making progress.
Here's this week's recap of what happened in Tallahassee:
Florida's mobile sports betting program was put on hold last year after a federal judge ruled against the new Seminole gaming compact. Many bet a ballot initiative would change things, but the effort went bust.
Time ran out on Tuesday for the two 2022 initiatives seeking to expand gaming in the state. Efforts to add more casinos and green light mobile sports betting failed to gather enough validated signatures.
One of the groups, Florida Education Champions, blamed COVID-19 for its failure to meet the deadline.
"While pursuing our mission to add sports betting to the ballot, we ran into some serious challenges, but most of all the COVID surge decimated our operations and ability to collect in-person signatures," said a Champions spokesperson in a statement. "We will be considering all options in the months ahead to ensure that Floridians have the opportunity to bring safe and legal sports betting to the state, along with hundreds of millions of dollars annually to support public education."
GOP senators also advanced a new election reform bill out of its first committee. The policy, carried by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, has several provisions.
They include the following:
- Requiring election supervisors scrub voter rolls annually instead of every two years
- Voters will need to provide more personal info to vote-by-mail, like social security or driver's license digits
- Increased penalties for things like ballot harvesting
- And the creation of an election crimes office to look at voter irregularities and alleged fraud
"This bill makes sure that we have more checks and balances," Huston said. "As I told my colleagues, you shouldn't be afraid of being too secure for your elections."
Democrats didn't like the bill, inspired by a DeSantis priority announced last year. Members said Florida's elections were already free of widespread fraud and that the bill would do more harm than good.
"I don't really understand what we are afraid of," said Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. Are we afraid of people voting? Are we afraid of people voting by mail?"
Efforts to amend Florida's bill banning abortions at 15 weeks, failed Wednesday.
Minority Leader Sen. Lauren Book offered the change, seeking exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking. Both Senate and House versions currently offer exceptions for only fatal fetal abnormalities.
"Now we've put them on a very short clock to make those decisions," Book said. "I've drafted several different amendments, several iterations, talked to the sponsor in the Senate and the House. I'm not sure we're going to get to a place where they agree, but that doesn't mean that we don't continue to try."
The bills each face one more stop before reaching chamber floors.
Finally, solar providers were very unhappy after a House committee voted in favor of changing the incentive program that many use to install expensive solar roof panels.
HB 741 gives utilities a break on the price of excess energy bought from solar customers, making it wholesale instead of retail.
Blake Ambrester, the founder of Solar Bear LLC, warned lawmakers the bill would close his business.
"I have 225 employees, all W2," Ambrester said. "They will lose their jobs if this bill goes forward."
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Plant City, promised to keep working toward a middle ground for all parties involved.
"Being in my fifth year, I don’t think I've run one bill to the end without changes," he said. "They are doing it in other states. We need to do it here in the state of Florida, and I am committed to finding the solution."
Next week marks the fifth of the 2022 legislative session, the midway mark for the 60-day process. Lawmakers are scheduled to conclude on March 11.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/fourth-week-of-floridas-legislative-session-sees-solar-incentive-flare-up-voter-reform-frustration
| 2022-02-04T23:10:40
|
en
| 0.968609
|
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is assessing the impact recent freezing temperatures had on the state’s agricultural industry.
The agency activated a survey on Friday that will help gather data and evaluate resources that affected businesses may need to recover from the freeze that occurred during the last weekend in January.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release that the state will help farmers affected by the freeze. DEO Secretary Dane Eagle said the survey ican be found at FloridaDisaster.biz.
DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in 30 of the state's 67 counties.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/florida-news/florida-assessing-damage-to-crops-caused-by-january-freeze
| 2022-02-04T23:10:46
|
en
| 0.942032
|
WARWICK, Ga, (AP) — A southwest Georgia police officer has been arrested on charges of selling marijuana while on duty and in uniform.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says that agents arrested 32-year-old Leon Mitchell of Albany on Jan. 28.
Agents say they were told that Mitchell was selling drugs while working as a police officer in Warwick, a Worth County town northeast of Albany.
Mitchell was arrested at the Warwick police department. Agents say they found marijuana, scales and plastic bags in the vehicle Mitchell was driving.
Mitchell remained jailed Friday in Lee County after a judge denied him bail. A Worth County jail official says she doesn't know if Mitchell has a lawyer to speak for him.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/georgia-news/georgia-officer-arrested-for-selling-marijuana-while-on-duty
| 2022-02-04T23:10:52
|
en
| 0.985406
|
ATLANTA (AP) — A Texas man accused of posting a message on Craigslist after the 2020 election calling on “patriots” in Georgia to “put a bullet” in three government officials has pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge.
Chad Stark and his attorney appeared briefly by video Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell Vineyard in Atlanta.
The 54-year-old Stark pleaded not guilty to one count of communicating interstate threats.
He remains free on bond.
The Justice Department has said Stark’s prosecution was the first criminal case brought by its new Election Threats Task Force.
Prosecutors did not name the officials who were threatened.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/georgia-news/texas-man-pleads-not-guilty-to-making-threats-after-election
| 2022-02-04T23:10:58
|
en
| 0.973536
|
ADEL, Ga. (WTXL) — Drivers should expect lane closures and delays as State Route (SR) 37 resurfacing across Cook County begins next week.
The contractor plans to start Monday, Feb. 7, on the west end of the project, which runs from the Colquitt County line to the Berrien County line.
It's a little under 14 miles. However, don't expect work to go straight through west to east due to work restrictions in certain areas.
Resurfacing is scheduled during daylight hours Monday through Friday, with some Saturday work possible, with two exceptions to minimize traffic disruptions:
- No work through Adel (milepost 6.117 to 7.933) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
- No work in the area of Cook High School (MP 7.966 to 10.130) from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Manhole lids must be raised to the level of new asphalt to prevent a bump in the road.
This will be done overnight.
Please schedule extra travel time or take an alternate route as this work is under way and be alert for traffic control, equipment and employees.
The completion date for the $3.2 million contract is June 30.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/state-route-37-in-cook-county-to-be-resurfaced-starting-monday
| 2022-02-04T23:11:04
|
en
| 0.960377
|
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If you haven’t already, it’s time to start preparing to file your taxes.
This year, millions of low-income families are eligible for a one-time tax break that could save them big bucks.
The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which is aimed at people in the lowest-paid jobs, is being tripled for a group of workers who typically don't benefit much from it: childless adults.
For the tax year that just ended, low-income workers without kids can receive a credit worth up to $1,500 — nearly triple what the credit was worth in 2020, thanks to the American Rescue Plan.
The plan allows anyone 19 and older, who's not a full-time student and has earnings, to claim the expanded credit.
18-year-olds who are without a home or who have been in foster care are also eligible.
Previously, only workers ages 25 to 64 could claim it.
Taxpayers without children who earned up to $21,430 from a job, gigs or self-employment can claim the credit when they file their tax returns this season.
In most years, workers earning more than about $16,000 are ineligible for the EITC.
Taxpayers can also choose to use income from 2019 to qualify for the credit — useful for those who lost their jobs in 2020.
Policy experts estimate that between 17 and 20 million workers will benefit from the expanded credit.
This story was first reported by Aaron Cantrell at WTVF in Nashville, Tenn.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/millions-of-low-income-people-in-the-u-s-eligible-for-tax-refund-boost-this-year
| 2022-02-04T23:11:10
|
en
| 0.977486
|
WASHINGTON (AP) — The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone, and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were not preventable.
The blast at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26 killed 11 U.S. Marines, a sailor and a soldier, who were screening the thousands of Afghans, frantically trying to get onto one of the crowded flights leaving the country after the Taliban takeover.
Officials said earlier thoughts that it was a complex attack involving gunfire were unfounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national-news/pentagon-deadly-afghan-airport-attack-was-not-preventable
| 2022-02-04T23:11:16
|
en
| 0.979451
|
Authorities in California had to evacuate several residents and close a highway after an enormous fire erupted at a vacant walnut processing plant on Friday.
Firefighters from three counties - Butte County, Sutter County, and Yuba City - have been working to put out the flames since Friday morning.
“Five county engines and a Battalion Chief are at [the] scene of a fire at Diamond Walnut,” the Cal Fire Butte unit tweeted.
Officials said flames were burning in hundreds of bins stacked around the edge of the property.
The fire also led to Highway 99 being temporarily shut down due to the smoke.
As a precaution, residences behind and near the facility were evacuated, Sutter County Undersheriff Scott Smallwood told the Sacramento Bee.
No injuries were reported.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/3-california-fire-crews-battle-large-fire-at-vacant-walnut-processing-plant
| 2022-02-04T23:11:22
|
en
| 0.979384
|
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that adults get Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine following full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA licensed the shots this week, so a CDC advisory committee and the agency itself were called on to do an additional review.
The panel heard summaries of medical studies that showed the vaccine is working against the coronavirus and there is no evidence of new safety concerns.
They voted unanimously to recommend the vaccine.
CDC Director Rochelle Walkensky endorsed the recommendation.
"We now have another fully approved COVID-19 vaccine," Walensky said in a statement. "If you have been waiting for approval before getting vaccinated, now is the time to join the nearly 212 million Americans who have already completed their primary series."
Friday's endorsement is likely to have little effect on the vaccination of adults in the U.S. Moderna's vaccine was operating under emergency use authorization which allowed millions of people to get the shot.
However, Walensky also encouraged people to get their booster shots.
"CDC continues to recommend that people remain up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, including getting a booster shot when eligible," she said.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/cdc-backs-moderna-covid-19-shots-after-full-us-approval
| 2022-02-04T23:11:29
|
en
| 0.976034
|
The U.S. surpassed 900,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University, as the country deals with the after-effects of record spread caused by the highly contagious omicron variant.
But, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the daily case rate is falling following the spread of omicron, the number of deaths caused by the recent outbreak continues to climb.
It's been about six weeks since the U.S. surpassed 800,000 COVID-19 deaths in December. Since then, the average daily death toll has risen to more than 2,000 a day — a level not seen since last February.
Trends in COVID-19 deaths tend to trail behind trends in COVID-19 cases, so the daily death rate will likely fall in the weeks ahead. But hospitals in some parts of the country remain overwhelmed with patients sick with the virus.
The tragic milestone comes a year after the initial distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. According to the CDC, 80% of those eligible for a vaccine in the U.S. have gotten at least one shot.
While the omicron variant has shown some resistance to vaccines compared to past variants, the shots are still extremely effective in preventing severe infection or death. According to a recent study released by the CDC, between Dec. 25 and Jan. 8, unvaccinated people were 23 times more likely to be sent to the hospital with omicron than those who were fully vaccinated and boosted.
According to a database kept by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. continues to lead the world in both deaths and total cases of the virus. Brazil (630,000) and India (500,000) are the only other countries that have recorded more than half a million COVID-19 deaths.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/coronavirus/us-surpasses-900-000-covid-19-deaths
| 2022-02-04T23:11:35
|
en
| 0.965037
|
Delta's CEO has reportedly asked the federal government to place unruly passengers on the no-fly list.
NBC News reports that Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that says federal action is needed to deal with the rise in unruly passengers.
According to the FAA, reports of unruly passengers dramatically increased during the pandemic. In 2021, there were nearly 6,000 reports of unruly passengers.
According to NBC News, Bastian has asked Garland to ban people from traveling on commercial flights if they are convicted of "an on-board disruption."
Reuters and NBC News report that the Justice Department has not commented on the request.
In January 2021, the FAA instituted a zero-tolerance policy for unruly passengers. The cases are no longer met with warning or counseling, according to the FAA.
"The agency will pursue legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members," the FAA states.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/delta-wants-unruly-passengers-placed-on-no-fly-list
| 2022-02-04T23:11:41
|
en
| 0.966934
|
New York City schools began a program Friday that shifted from traditional meals to vegan meals.
Every Friday, school cafeterias will serve vegan meals.
The initiative was started by the city's new mayor, Eric Adams, who is a vegan.
"Our children should not be continually fed food that is causing the healthcare crisis," Adams said in an interview with Good Day New York. "Childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, asthma— there's a real correlation to what we serve in the Department of Education every day."
As for the menu items, Adams said students are weighing in on what healthy foods they want to be served at school.
Friday's meal included vegan veggie tacos.
According to The Associated Press, students can still request a non-vegan option. Milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hummus and pretzels will always be available to students, the AP reported.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/new-york-city-schools-go-vegan-on-fridays
| 2022-02-04T23:11:47
|
en
| 0.967762
|
The publisher of the Wall Street Journal said Friday it believes it was hacked by Chinese intelligence.
The breach was discovered on January 20.
News Corp said data was stolen from journalists and other employees.
It is not known when hackers breached the network or how much data they stole.
The breach affected a limited number of email accounts and documents from News Corp headquarters, News Technology Services, Dow Jones, News UK and New York Post.
News Corp told employees in an email to staff that it believed the “threat activity is contained.”
Other newsrooms, including The New York Times have previously been hacked.
Journalists in Mexico, El Salvador and Qatar have also been hacked with spyware.
News Corp also owns HarperCollins, News Corp Australia and Storyful.
It does not appear employees at those companies were affected by the hack.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/publisher-of-wall-street-journal-hacked-likely-by-china
| 2022-02-04T23:11:53
|
en
| 0.974016
|
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State redshirt senior men's basketball player Malik Osborne had successful surgery on his left ankle Thursday, freshman Naheem McCleod had successful surgery on his right hand Friday and redshirt senior Anthony Polite has sustained an injured right wrist which will force him to miss an undetermined number of games announced Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton.
Osborne was injured in Florida State’s victory over NC State on January 1. McLeod was injured against Clemson on February 2. Polite was injured against Virginia Tech on January 29.
The surgeries for both Osborne and McLeod were performed at the Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic.
Florida State plays Wake Forest at home Saturday with tipoff set for 12 p.m. on Bally Sports.
|
https://www.wtxl.com/sports/fsu-osborne-mcleod-have-successful-surgeries-polite-out-with-injury
| 2022-02-04T23:11:59
|
en
| 0.986533
|
U.S. judge rejects Shkreli's objections to lifetime drug industry ban
Shkreli is serving a seven-year prison sentence in an unrelated securities fraud case. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A U.S. judge on Friday rejected former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli's objections to being banned for life from the drug industry and having to repay $64.6 million after jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug.
Lawyers for Shkreli, 38, had argued that the ban was overbroad and violated his right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment by barring him from publicly discussing the drug industry, even on a blog. In imposing a permanent injunction, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Shkreli's antitrust violations cost him that right when he intended to "influence the management or business" of a pharmaceutical company.
The Manhattan-based judge also said that requiring Shkreli to sell his shares in Phoenixus AG, the parent of Vyera Pharmaceuticals Inc, did not violate his due process rights after he used his position as its largest shareholder to orchestrate the antitrust violations. Shkreli is serving a seven-year prison sentence in an unrelated securities fraud case.
His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In imposing the lifetime ban https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-court-bars-martin-shkreli-pharma-industry-orders-646-million-payment-2022-01-14 on Jan. 14, Cote found that Shkreli used "particularly heartless and coercive" tactics to maintain a monopoly over the drug Daraprim, which treats a parasitic infection, and keep generic rivals off the market.
Shkreli gained notoriety in 2015 and became known as "Pharma Bro" when he raised Daraprim's price overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50. He had at the time been chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, later renamed Vyera.
Cote's rulings followed a non-jury trial in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission and seven U.S. states. Shkreli is eligible for release from prison on Nov. 7.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Turing Pharmaceuticals
- Daraprim
- U.S.
- Vyera
- Manhattan
- Denise Cote
- Martin
- Pharma Bro
ALSO READ
U.S. charges Belarus officials with aircraft piracy over diverted Ryanair flight
Mexico power bill in U.S. sights as Granholm makes case for renewables
Japan and U.S. to start new '2 plus 2' dialogue for economic issues -Kyodo
Top diplomats for U.S., Russia meet in Geneva on soaring Ukraine tensions
U.S. House panel turns to oil major boards in next climate probe
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1910953-us-judge-rejects-shkrelis-objections-to-lifetime-drug-industry-ban
| 2022-02-04T23:12:27
|
en
| 0.957746
|
EU, U.S. agree to resume trade in mussels, clams and oysters
The European Union and the United States have agreed to resume trade in mussels, clams and oysters from the end of February after they were halted more than a decade ago, marking another step in improved transatlantic relations. Trade in bivalve molluscs, also including cockles and scallops, came to a halt in 2011 due to differences in food safety rules, but transatlantic exports will initially resume for the Netherlands and Spain and the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Washington, the two sides said on Friday.
Shellfish producers in other U.S. states and EU member countries can apply for export clearance under the agreement through a streamlined regulatory process https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.fda.gov/food/international-cooperation-food-safety/questions-and-answers-shellfish-traded-between-united-states-and-certain-member-states-european__; !!GFN0sa3rsbfR8OLyAw!N_x5EMNiira-K0l9E3zaBBzu7fM9RNrMSsE7EynHChY qon4h0uRIr-NE9NoPLKhGn8YqVC8p$ established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, known as DG SANTE.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office said the two sides had concluded negotiations on Friday. The European Commission, which oversees trade for the 27 EU nations, said it had now adopted relevant legislation. The commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration carried out audits in 2015 and, after years of discussions, have recommended that the food safety systems for raw molluscs in the U.S. states and EU countries could be considered equivalent.
The commission said trading opportunities could be extended to more EU countries in the future under a simplified authorisation procedure agreed to between the two sides, the first time a U.S. agency has agreed to such a process. EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis in a statement said both sides had worked hard to resolve this long-standing issue.
"It shows that our efforts to forge a positive, forward-looking trade agenda with the United States are paying off," he said. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the agreement represented a positive step in U.S.-EU trade relations.
In 2020, the United States was one of the world's largest seafood exporters, with global sales of $4.5 billion. Last year, its seafood product exports to the EU exceeded $900 million. U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene said the deal was "long-overdue and a major win" for her home state of Washington and would support an industry that directly employs over 3,200 state residents.
"Before this trade freeze, Washington was exporting hundreds of thousands of pounds of shellfish to the European Union annually," said DelBene, a prominent Democrat on the tax- and trade-focused U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. Since the start of the Biden administration, the United States and the EU have suspended disputes over subsidies for aerospace companies Airbus and Boeing as well as steel and aluminium and set up a forum to coordinate on technology.
After U.S. President Joe Biden's election victory in November 2020, the European Union also removed EU tariffs on U.S. lobsters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-eu-trade-idUSKBN27R20S in return for reduced U.S. duties on EU exports from ceramics to prepared meals worth an annual $200 million.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1910968-eu-us-agree-to-resume-trade-in-mussels-clams-and-oysters
| 2022-02-04T23:12:35
|
en
| 0.953693
|
Wall St Week Ahead-Inflation data next focus for investors after bond yield spike
“We could potentially get a very difficult number to digest next week on the inflation front and that has the potential to cut the markets off at the knees,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, has climbed about 40 basis points in 2022 to over 1.9% as investors factor in at least five rate increases from the Fed this year.
Wild swings in stocks and a sharp run-up in government bond yields are putting the spotlight on next week’s U.S. inflation data, as investors brace for more volatility across assets.
A turbulent week in markets ended with a surge in Treasury yields to their highest level in more than two years after surprisingly strong U.S. jobs data stoked expectations of a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Robust data on inflation – which hit its highest annual level in nearly four decades in December – could further bolster the case for a more aggressive Fed and extend the climb in yields, dulling the allure of an equity market struggling to rebound from last month’s tumble.
Due out on Thursday, the U.S. consumer price index for January is expected to have risen 0.5%, culminating in an annual rise of 7.3%, which would be the largest such increase since 1982, according to a Reuters poll. “We could potentially get a very difficult number to digest next week on the inflation front and that has the potential to cut the markets off at the knees,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, has climbed about 40 basis points in 2022 to over 1.9% as investors factor in at least five rate increases from the Fed this year. The climb has weighed on equities overall while contributing to steep declines in the shares of many tech and growth stocks, whose valuations rely on future profits that are discounted more steeply as bond yields rise. The benchmark S&P 500 is down about 5.6% so far to start the year, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq logging a nearly 10% drop.
“The reason why people are hitting the reset button ... is because valuations were pulled forward a lot," said King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue Asset Management. "With rising rates, the valuations just can’t be justified. So whenever there is a little bit of a miss (on earnings) is when these stocks get punished quite a bit." The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 has fallen to 19.5 times from 21.7 times at the end of 2021, while the forward P/E for the S&P 500 tech sector has dropped to 24.4 from 28.5, according to Refinitiv Datastream.
Some investors believe stocks have further to fall before they become attractive. Analysts at Morgan Stanley on Friday urged clients to sell into equity rallies as “a tightening Fed historically brings lower returns and great uncertainty for equities” and wrote that the S&P 500’s fair value is closer to 4,000. The benchmark index on Friday rose around 0.5% to 4,500. Others are questioning whether the growth stocks that have led the markets higher for years are ceding leadership to so-called value stocks, comparatively cheap stocks that are expected to do better in a rising rate or inflationary environment.
The S&P 500 value index, replete with shares of energy firms, financial companies and other economically sensitive names, had declined 1.4% so far this year as of Thursday, versus a 10.2% drop for its S&P 500 growth counterpart . That disparity would be close to value's biggest annual outperformance over growth in two decades. "You are seeing gradually higher market interest rates that is causing investors to reassess and to look at near-term profitability and the value and cyclical trade," said John Lynch, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management.
The market was also digesting a topsy-turvy week of high-profile earnings. Shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc soared after their respective quarterly reports while megacap peer Meta Platforms Inc tumbled after the Facebook owner's dour forecast. Next week, reports are due from Walt Disney Co, Coca-Cola and Twitter Inc, with Nvidia Corp set to report the following week.
As with Meta Platforms, any disappointments in reports - especially from companies whose valuations remain expensive - could result in severe market fallout, investors said. "It’s been a volatile start to the year with investors swinging between concerns over Federal Reserve tightening and confidence in the economic recovery," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, said in a research note. "Meta aside, a solid earnings outlook is helping to ease the uncertainty, at least for the moment."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
U.S. charges Belarus officials with aircraft piracy over diverted Ryanair flight
Mexico power bill in U.S. sights as Granholm makes case for renewables
Japan and U.S. to start new '2 plus 2' dialogue for economic issues -Kyodo
Top diplomats for U.S., Russia meet in Geneva on soaring Ukraine tensions
U.S. House panel turns to oil major boards in next climate probe
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1910971-wall-st-week-ahead-inflation-data-next-focus-for-investors-after-bond-yield-spike
| 2022-02-04T23:12:43
|
en
| 0.959543
|
Peloton draws interest from potential buyers including Amazon
Peloton Interactive Inc has drawn interest from potential buyers including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc, according to a person familiar with the matter. Shares of the exercise equipment maker surged 40% in extended trading on the news which comes days after activist investor Blackwells Capital urged the company's board to put it up for sale.
Peloton Interactive Inc has drawn interest from potential buyers including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Shares of the exercise equipment maker surged 40% in extended trading on the news which comes days after activist investor Blackwells Capital urged the company's board to put it up for sale. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. It also said Amazon has been speaking to advisers about a potential deal. (https://on.wsj.com/3AVMIf7)
Peloton did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Amazon declined to comment. Pandemic darling Peloton has lost roughly $20 billion in market value since November, when it hinted that demand for its exercise bikes and treadmills was drying up faster than expected as COVID-19 restrictions ease and gyms re-open.
Last month, Blackwells Capital called on the board of Peloton to remove CEO John Foley immediately, accusing him of creating an atmosphere of high fixed costs and holding on to excessive inventory while also misleading investors about the need to raise capital. The investment firm, run by Jason Aintabi, also urged the board to put the company up for sale to a buyer like Walt Disney Co, Apple Inc, Sony Group or Nike Inc , Reuters reported on Sunday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Nike Inc
- Amazon
- Apple Inc
- Wall Street Journal
- Amazon.com Inc
- Peloton
- Walt
- Sony Group
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1910987-peloton-draws-interest-from-potential-buyers-including-amazon
| 2022-02-04T23:12:51
|
en
| 0.959637
|
Avenatti convicted of defrauding ex-client Stormy Daniels, sealing U.S. lawyer's fall
Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame for taking on then-U.S. President Donald Trump before a string of criminal charges ended his legal career, was convicted on Friday of defrauding a former client, porn star Stormy Daniels.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame for taking on then-U.S. President Donald Trump before a string of criminal charges ended his legal career, was convicted on Friday of defrauding a former client, porn star Stormy Daniels. Avenatti, who faces up to 22 years behind bars, had pleaded not guilty to embezzling nearly $300,000 in book proceeds intended for Daniels.
The verdict by a federal jury in Manhattan followed a two-week trial in which the brash, 50-year-old lawyer represented himself. Avenatti, who is based in Los Angeles, agreed to surrender to U.S. marshals in California on Monday. Sentencing was scheduled for May 24.
Following the verdict, Avenatti, who was wearing a black mask and a suit with a diamond-patterned tie, switched his gaze back and forth between the jury and down at the table he was sitting at. He vowed to appeal.
"I am very disappointed in the jury's verdict," Avenatti said. "I am looking forward to a full adjudication of all the issues on appeal." It was the second time in two years that Avenatti was convicted on federal charges in Manhattan. "Rather than advise his clients in their best interests, Avenatti instead used his law degree as a license to steal," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Daniels, the prosecution's star witness https://www.reuters.com/world/us/porn-star-stormy-daniels-testifies-against-fallen-lawyer-michael-avenatti-2022-01-27, testified that Avenatti had led her to believe her publisher had not disbursed advance payments totaling $297,500 for her memoir, "Full Disclosure," when she asked in 2018 and early 2019 about the delays. She said she later learned that Avenatti had diverted the money to an account he controlled, without telling her.
"I felt very betrayed and stupid," Daniels said. "Michael had been lying and stealing from me." In a statement following the verdict, Daniels' lawyer, Clark Brewster, said his client was "relieved this nightmare is over."
"Mr. Avenatti possessed the uncanny ability to steadfastly deny the crimes and persuade others he was entitled to the embezzled funds," Brewster said. "Stormy is pleased that the justice system worked." Avenatti had downplayed the dispute as a disagreement over legal fees. He said his contract with Daniels, 42, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, entitled him to a reasonable share of her book and media proceeds.
Avenatti called no witnesses https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/avenatti-does-not-plan-testify-his-defense-stormy-daniels-us-fraud-case-2022-01-31 and did not testify in his own defense. Asked after the verdict whether he regretted his decision to represent himself, he said, "No. Not at all." The highlight of the trial was Avenatti's five-hour cross-examination of Daniels, where he sought to undermine his former client's credibility by exposing her interest in paranormal activities https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michael-avenatti-cross-examines-ex-client-stormy-daniels-his-fraud-trial-2022-01-28.
Daniels, who is producing a documentary-style TV show on ghost hunting called "Spooky Babes," testified that she believed she could speak with the dead. The spectacle of Avenatti questioning Daniels capped a public falling-out for a pair who became cable TV mainstays in 2018 for cases they brought against Trump.
Daniels is known for receiving $130,000 in hush money from Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for remaining quiet ahead of the 2016 election about sexual encounters she says she had with Trump, which he has denied. Avenatti was successful in freeing Daniels from her nondisclosure agreement with Trump.
He gained widespread recognition through frequent television appearances that made him a hero to some Trump opponents, prompting him to flirt with running for the White House as a Democrat in 2020 against the Republican president. But Avenatti was hit with dozens of criminal charges in March and April 2019 accusing him of cheating Daniels, defrauding several other clients, trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Inc, and other crimes.
He is appealing his conviction and 2-1/2-year prison sentence in the Nike case in New York. A federal court trial in California over the other alleged client frauds, in which Avenatti also represented himself, ended in a mistrial. The remaining charges have yet to be tried.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1910962-avenatti-convicted-of-defrauding-ex-client-stormy-daniels-sealing-us-lawyers-fall
| 2022-02-04T23:12:59
|
en
| 0.982991
|
Palestine: Nutrition campaign targets pregnant and nursing women
To combat malnutrition and iron deficiency in Gaza and the West Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday, launched a campaign to provide support to hundreds of pregnant and nursing women.
Through community-based and online initiatives, the campaign will accelerate and support “a knowledge-sharing process”, according to Samer AbdelJaber, WFP Representative and Country Director.
At individual, household, and community levels, activities such as cooking classes, home-garden kits, and training – on growing vegetables and fruits for example – are being rolled out via social media platforms and through on-site awareness sessions.
Dietary boosts
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), iron deficiency has become a significant public health problem in Palestine, especially among children under five.
Sessions designed for mothers with young children, pregnant and nursing women, provide information on iron-rich foods and anaemia prevention.
They also include ‘edutainment’ activities, discussions with nutritionists and cooking sessions on preparing healthy, iron-fortified meals.
Through this campaign, WFP will support mothers and families in improving their nutrition while also boosting iron intake .
Combining health with fun
Social and Behaviour Change Communication, or SBCC, combines elements of interpersonal communication, social change, advocacy, and community engagement, to support individuals and families, adopt and maintain more nutritious eating patterns.
Using the SBCC approach, WFP is conducting a “grow your own garden” initiative, which will include more iron-rich vegetables.
“These activities will encourage participants to make healthy food and lifestyle choices for themselves and their families, contributing to improving their overall nutritional status”, according to the UN agency.
Inspiring people
In Palestine, WFP provides food assistance to the most vulnerable people through in-kind food and cash-based transfers.
It also supports long-term resilience via targeted training, and skills-focused job opportunities.
“Through hands-on initiatives and harnessing the power of technology, we work together to build a process that ultimately aims not just to share information but to inspire people to apply it to their everyday activities”, said Mr. AbdelJaber.
Visit UN News for more.
- READ MORE ON:
- World Food Programme
- SBCC
- West Bank
- Gaza
- World Health Organisation
- Palestine
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910952-palestine-nutrition-campaign-targets-pregnant-and-nursing-women
| 2022-02-04T23:13:06
|
en
| 0.936689
|
Biden administration restores sanctions waiver to Iran as talks in final phase
- Country:
- United States
Biden administration on Friday has restored a sanctions waiver to Iran, a senior State Department official said, as indirect talks between the United States and Iran on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement has entered the final stretch.
The technical discussions facilitated by the waiver are necessary in the final weeks of the talks, the official said but added that it was not a signal that Washington was about to reach an understanding to return to the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Iran
- Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- United
- Washington
- State Department
ALSO READ
EXCLUSIVE-China puts 4 mln barrels of Iranian oil into state reserves -source, Vortexa
Iran, China and Russia hold naval drills in north Indian Ocean
Iran, Russia and China begin joint naval drill
Nuclear talks with Iran on right track for a final agreement, EU official says
Amit Shah to hit campaign trail in western Uttar Pradesh with visit to Kairana, Meerut
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910955-biden-administration-restores-sanctions-waiver-to-iran-as-talks-in-final-phase
| 2022-02-04T23:13:14
|
en
| 0.946273
|
Exploded Nigerian oil storage vessel was 'old, badly maintained' -sources
An industry source with knowledge of operations of the Trinity Spirit FPSO said until five years ago, other companies, including large oil traders stored their crude on the vessel, which had capacity to produce 22,000 barrels per day and could store 2 million barrels. A trading source who used to occasionally store oil on the vessel but stopped because of "too many technical issues.
An oil vessel used for storage that exploded off the coast of Nigeria this week had not been maintained for sometime and had technical issues, two sources and an environmental group said on Friday, as its wreckage lay in the sea after the fire was put out.
The 10 crew members who were on board at the time of explosion early on Wednesday remained unaccounted for, according to witnesses, amid fears they may have been caught in the fire. A Reuters witness saw the burnt out remains of the Trinity Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which broke into two and partially submerged but there was no evidence of spilled crude.
It was not immediately clear who had put out the fire but vessel owner Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd said on Thursday it had received help from surrounding communities and Chevron Corp, which has a facility nearby. Nnimmo Bassey, from Health of Mother Foundation, which tracks oil spills in Nigeria said the vessel, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, had outlived its lifespan of 20 years, should have been decommissioned and was not supposed to carry any crude.
The owner of the vessel was not available for comment. An industry source with knowledge of operations of the Trinity Spirit FPSO said until five years ago, other companies, including large oil traders stored their crude on the vessel, which had capacity to produce 22,000 barrels per day and could store 2 million barrels.
A trading source who used to occasionally store oil on the vessel but stopped because of "too many technical issues. Old and badly maintained." The industry source added that there could have been problems with the vessel's boilers and that it kept no more than 20,000 barrels of crude.
"Most, if not all of the big trading companies stopped using it several years ago," the source told Reuters. A team of government investigators who were set to tour the site of the incident on Friday would now travel on Saturday, officials said.
Eric Omare, executive director of Niger Delta Good Governance and Environmental Initiative said high tidal waves could have washed away the oil and that the full impact would be felt soon. "This is a high tidal area and so it moves onshore and go offshore very fast. So by now the surrounding communities from Escravos and Forcados would have been feeling the impact of what has happened," Omare said. (Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Marguerita Choy)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Nigeria calls for patent waivers to allow Africa to make its own vaccines
Nigeria extremists still ‘very dangerous', says UN official
2 Nigerians held in TN without valid documents
UN relief chief pledges support for Nigeria
NCLAT directs NCLT to decide over SREI’s plea against rights issue of Trinity Alternative Investment
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910964-exploded-nigerian-oil-storage-vessel-was-old-badly-maintained--sources
| 2022-02-04T23:13:21
|
en
| 0.981066
|
US STOCKS-Nasdaq regains ground after choppy week driven by big tech earnings
Results from megacap growth stocks have dictated market moves this week, as investors seek out tangible data to support sky-high valuations. Amazon.com Inc jumped 13.5% after reporting robust earnings in the holiday quarter.
Another bumpy ride on Wall Street ended on Friday as Amazon's positive earnings capped a run of mixed big-tech numbers, with the Nasdaq recovering much of its losses from the previous session and all three benchmarks ending the week in positive territory. Results from megacap growth stocks have dictated market moves this week, as investors seek out tangible data to support sky-high valuations.
Amazon.com Inc jumped 13.5% after reporting robust earnings in the holiday quarter. The gain expanded its market capitalization by around $190 billion, the largest ever single-day increase in value of a U.S. company. This came a day after Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc's disappointing results shook markets and wiped more than $200 billion off its valuation, the deepest loss of stock market value in history by a U.S. company.
"These are eye-watering, stomach churning moves normally associated with penny stocks, and yet they are happening in companies with billion-dollar market caps," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. Despite the earnings-driven whiplash in technology stocks, all three major stock indexes ended their first week of February higher, with the indexes posting their second week of gains in a row.
While Meta lost another 0.3% on Friday, other social media companies which had been dragged down with the Facebook owner rebounded strongly as they posted estimate-beating earnings of their own. Among them was Snap Inc, surging 58.8% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter user growth and outlook.
Pinterest Inc also jumped 11.2% after its quarterly revenue beat estimates as retailers splurged on advertising during the holiday quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.42 points, or 0.06%, to 35,089.74, the S&P 500 gained 23.09 points, or 0.52%, to 4,500.53 and the Nasdaq Composite added 219.19 points, or 1.58%, to 14,098.01.
Among the major S&P 500 sectors which advanced, energy stocks hit their highest since 2018 as crude prices touched a seven-year peak. Hess Corp was the largest gainer in the sector, jumping 4% to its highest close since September 2014. Occidental Petroleum Corp gained 2%, with its shares ending at levels last seen in February 2020.
Consumer discretionary was the leading sector though, up 3.7% as it was bolstered by Amazon's performance. The tech behemoth's gains helped alleviate the drag of Ford Motor Co , which slumped 9.7% after the automaker posted disappointing quarterly numbers. The Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 467,000 jobs last month, compared with the 150,000 jobs addition forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
The data for December was revised higher to show 510,000 jobs created, instead of the previously reported 199,000. Fears of faster-than-expected rate hikes to curb a surge in inflation have haunted markets since the beginning of the year, with growth stocks such as technology feeling the brunt of that as investors pivot towards current cash flow from betting on future expectations.
"A lot of the high-valuation stuff is going to continue to have trouble and it's already gotten smacked down a lot," said Louis Ricci, head of trading at Emles Advisors. "To us, this jobs report was affirmation that, yes, stocks are going to be jittery and there's going to be a lot of volatility."
However, the rate hike prospect has boosted U.S. Treasuries, with yields on the 10-year benchmark hitting their highest levels since December 2019, in the wake of the payrolls data. This is regarded as positive for financials, with Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co all gaining between 1.8% and 4% on Friday. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.07 billion shares, compared with the 12.37 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 196 new lows.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
FRL's independent directors ask Amazon to confirm Rs 3,500-cr infusion by Saturday
S.African court postpones ruling on objection to Amazon HQ on sacred land
Amazon confirms Samara Capital ready to invest Rs 7,000 cr in FRL to acquire assets
Samara ready to invest Rs 7,000 cr to avert loan default, Amazon tells Future Retail
Future Retail in SC to avert defaulter tag; independent directors reject Amazon brought offer
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910969-us-stocks-nasdaq-regains-ground-after-choppy-week-driven-by-big-tech-earnings
| 2022-02-04T23:13:29
|
en
| 0.966995
|
Xi had opportunity to urge Putin to pursue Ukraine diplomacy in meeting -U.S. official
A meeting https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-china-tell-nato-stop-expansion-moscow-backs-beijing-taiwan-2022-02-04 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing should have been an opportunity for China to encourage Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, the U.S. State Department's top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said on Friday. Such an approach is what the world expects from "responsible powers," Kritenbrink told reporters of the meeting that led to China and Russia proclaiming a deep strategic partnership.
A meeting https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-china-tell-nato-stop-expansion-moscow-backs-beijing-taiwan-2022-02-04 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing should have been an opportunity for China to encourage Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, the U.S. State Department's top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, said on Friday.
Such an approach is what the world expects from "responsible powers," Kritenbrink told reporters of the meeting that led to China and Russia proclaiming a deep strategic partnership. Kritenbrink said the meeting and joint statement that followed reflected an approach that China and Russia had taken for some time, "namely to move closer together."
"The meeting should have provided China the opportunity to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation in Ukraine." Kritenbrink said. "If Russia further invades Ukraine and China looks the other way, it suggests that China is willing to tolerate or tacitly support Russia’s efforts to coerce Ukraine, even when they embarrass Beijing, harm European security and risk global peace and economic stability."
The China-Russia agreement marked the most detailed and assertive statement of Russian and Chinese resolve to work together - and against the United States - to build a new international order based on their own interpretations of human rights and democracy. They pledged mutual protection of core interests - an apparent reference to Russia and Ukraine and Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.
The joint statement is also strongly critical of U.S. moves to stand up to China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region through the AUKUS pact, under which the United States and Britain plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. It came as China's Xi hosted Putin on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Washington announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games to protest what it describes as China's ongoing genocide against Muslim minorities.
On Thursday, the U.S. State Department warned Russia that a closer relationship with Beijing would not make up for consequences imposed in response to an invasion of Ukraine and that Chinese firms would face consequences if they sought to evade export controls imposed on Moscow in that event.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Cricket-Australia to launch World Cup defence against New Zealand
HIGHLIGHTS-Tennis-Australian Open day five
A divided nation: Western Australia stays shut as COVID deaths mount in east
HIGHLIGHTS-Tennis-Australian Open day five
U.S. charges Belarus officials with aircraft piracy over diverted Ryanair flight
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910970-xi-had-opportunity-to-urge-putin-to-pursue-ukraine-diplomacy-in-meeting--us-official
| 2022-02-04T23:13:37
|
en
| 0.940749
|
Kerala CM hopes companies in UAE would take advantage of business-friendly environment in state
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday while inaugurating the Kerala pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 said he hopes companies and businesses in the UAE would be able to take advantage of the present business-friendly environment in Kerala to make the partnership stronger.
- Country:
- India
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday while inaugurating the Kerala pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 said he hopes companies and businesses in the UAE would be able to take advantage of the present business-friendly environment in Kerala to make the partnership stronger. "I certainly hope that companies and businesses in the UAE would be able to take advantage of the present business-friendly environment in Kerala to make our partnership stronger," said Vijayan.
"We have always strived to provide maximum support to investors and would make concerted efforts to further help industry and the government of Kerala to bridge gaps and work together in the true spirit of collaboration and partnership, so as to chart a new growth story," he added. He added that over the years, Kerala has invested heavily in connectivity, communication networks, skill development and infrastructure, giving the State an intrinsic advantage for growth in the industry.
On the industrial front, through a series of legislations and rules, the process of industrial licensing has been moved to online platforms and made automatic and transparent," he stated. "The Government of Kerala is committed to improving the Ease of Doing Business in the State via a number of initiatives including the simplification of procedures, enablement of digital engagement channels such as Kerala - Single Window Interface for Fast and Transparent Clearance (K-SWIFT), Kerala-Central Inspection System (K-CIS) etc," he stated.
"As far as Keralites are concerned UAE is their second home, with nearly 1.2 million Malayalis residing here. The Malayali community in UAE has played a significant role in nurturing and further strengthening the friendly relations between the two regions. They have been the backbone of many key projects implemented by the UAE. In turn, UAE has provided and cared for them during their pravasi life. It has also helped in strengthening Kerala's economy," he stated while talking about the relationship shared by the two regions. "Kerala and UAE share a unique bond of mutual trust based on our shared values and synergies. Our economic and cultural links and people-to-people ties are deep-rooted and marked by resilience and vibrancy. I am sure that Dubai Expo will enrich us with ideas and avenues that will go a long way in strengthening our ties and cementing the future of our regions," he further stated.
He added that Kerala is often regarded as the social capital of India and it is now emerging as an important destination for investments. Therefore, we are happy to showcase our State at this Dubai Expo through the Kerala Pavilion, he stated. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910972-kerala-cm-hopes-companies-in-uae-would-take-advantage-of-business-friendly-environment-in-state
| 2022-02-04T23:13:45
|
en
| 0.973753
|
The Beijing Organizing Committee kicked off the 2022 Winter Olympics with the opening ceremony on Feb. 4. Athletes from around the world will compete on snow and ice in and around Beijing for the next two weeks.
But will the athletes actually compete on real snow? Headlines in the week leading up to the start of Beijing 2022 have suggested otherwise, claiming the event will rely almost entirely on artificial snow.
THE QUESTION
Are the Beijing Olympics relying almost entirely on artificial snow?
THE SOURCES
- Sport Ecology Group
- Beijing 2022 Pre-Games Sustainability Report
- Study from Department of Geography and Environmental Management at University of Waterloo in Canada
- Noah Molotch, associate professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder
THE ANSWER
Yes, the Beijing Olympics are relying almost entirely on artificial snow.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to a report from the Sport Ecology Group, the 2022 Beijing Olympics will make history as the first Olympics on “virtually 100% artificial snow.” Noah Molotch, associate professor of geography hydrology at the University of Colorado Boulder with expertise in snow hydrology and a doctorate in hydrology, said this will be the first Winter Olympics to rely almost entirely on artificial snow and to knowingly plan to do so from the beginning.
“Many Olympic Games will rely on natural snowfall, but then hedge with artificial snow as needed to augment the natural snow,” Molotch said. “But in these particular games, they knew going in that it's a place that gets very little natural snowfall, and that they would rely exclusively on artificial snow.”
The Olympics’ use of artificial snow for the 2022 Games is confirmed in the Beijing 2022 Pre-Games Sustainability Report. The report explains strategies the Beijing Organizing Committee is attempting to reduce water consumption in the creation of artificial snow, although the report doesn’t confirm the extent to which the Beijing Games will rely on artificial snow.
The Sport Ecology Group said artificial snow has been used in the Winter Olympics since the 1980 games in Lake Placid. Molotch said the snow in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which were located in an unusually warm climate for the Winter Olympics, was 80% artificial.
“Artificial snow tends to be a lot more dense, a lot icier, a lot harder, more like concrete once it's formed on the ground; whereas natural snow can be more like powdery snow, lighter and fluffier,” Molotch said. “Natural snow can also become icy over time, but when it initially falls from the sky, it's quite light and fluffy.”
Artificial snow is good for keeping snow conditions consistent from the top to the bottom of a hill, making it good for downhill skiing and other competitions that rely on speed, Molotch said. For aerial events like the halfpipe, he said, artificial snow can be more hazardous to crashing athletes because of its firmness.
But there is no right formula of snow to eliminate hazards for the athletes. Molotch said that even a mixture of artificial snow and natural snow can become inconsistent on the surface and therefore unsafe as athletes scrape off and melt the top layer of natural snow over the course of a competitive day.
The athletes know the characteristics of the different snow mixtures and prepare appropriately to compete on the specific conditions they’ll face, Molotch said. And they likely have plenty of opportunities to practice on artificial snow.
“Ski resorts across the world rely heavily on artificial snow early in the snow season,” Molotch said. “And depending on where you are in the world, they may rely on it throughout the entire ski season.”
The Sport Ecology Group report estimates that 95% of ski resorts globally rely on snowmaking to some extent. The resorts use their artificial snow to ensure good quality conditions, prolong the ski season, or both.
One major issue with artificial snow is that it’s incredibly water-intensive to create. That’s why the Beijing Organizing Committee dedicated an entire section of their sustainability report to mitigating its impact on the local water supply. This includes its adoption of a “smart snowmaking system” that can be monitored in real-time with digital devices. The Beijing Organizing Committee believes it can save up to 20% of water in snowmaking by using this system.
The need for artificial snow might continue into future Winter Olympics because of climate change, according to the Sport Ecology Group report. A study published in Jan. 2022 led by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada predicted that in the event of high levels of fossil fuel emissions, only four of the past 21 Winter Olympic host cities, including Beijing, will make for reliable winter host locations by 2050 because of poor natural snow conditions. The researchers believe just one host city — Sapporo, Japan — will still be a reliable host of the Winter Olympics by the end of the century.
|
https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/verify/olympics-verify/winter-olympics-use-artificial-fake-snow-beijing-2022/536-cbc09c16-8105-4719-8bd7-0f00995e2c7f
| 2022-02-04T23:13:49
|
en
| 0.952539
|
Biden administration restores sanctions waiver to Iran as talks in final phase
The Biden administration has restored a sanctions waiver to Iran, a senior State Department official said on Friday, as indirect talks between the United States and Iran on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement entered the final stretch. The waiver, which was rescinded by the Trump administration in May 2020, had allowed Russian, Chinese and European companies to carry out non-proliferation work at Iranian nuclear sites.
The Biden administration has restored a sanctions waiver to Iran, a senior State Department official said on Friday, as indirect talks between the United States and Iran on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement entered the final stretch.
The waiver, which was rescinded by the Trump administration in May 2020, had allowed Russian, Chinese and European companies to carry out non-proliferation work at Iranian nuclear sites. The waiver was needed to allow for technical discussions that were key to the talks about return to the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a State Department official said.
However, the official added that restoring the waiver was not a signal Washington was about to reach an understanding to return to the deal. "Absent this sanctions waiver, detailed technical discussions with third parties regarding disposition of stockpiles and other activities of non-proliferation value cannot take place," the official said.
The waiver covered the conversion of Iran’s Arak heavy water research reactor, the provision of enriched uranium for its Tehran Research Reactor and the transfer of spent and scrap reactor fuel abroad. After then-U.S. President Donald Trump quit the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions, Iran gradually started violating the pact's nuclear curbs.
The United States and Iran have held eight rounds of indirect talks in Vienna since April aimed at reinstating the pact that lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. The latest talks in Vienna were "among the most intensive that we had to date" a U.S. official told reporters on Monday, adding that there has been some progress in narrowing down the list of differences and that now was the time for political decisions.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Global equity sell-off sends European shares sharply lower
Spain's foreign minister says Europeans are 'united' on Ukraine crisis
Global equity sell-off sends European shares sharply lower
Anti-abortion activists march in Washington, buoyed by waning U.S. abortion access
Polish PM calls for united European stance on Ukraine
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1910978-biden-administration-restores-sanctions-waiver-to-iran-as-talks-in-final-phase
| 2022-02-04T23:13:52
|
en
| 0.971059
|
U.S. CDC backs full approval of Moderna COVID vaccine
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's full approval of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine in those aged 18 and over, the agency said on Friday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Advertisement
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910963-us-cdc-backs-full-approval-of-moderna-covid-vaccine
| 2022-02-04T23:14:00
|
en
| 0.938102
|
Brazil sees 184,311 new coronavirus cases, 493 deaths
Brazil recorded 184,311 new coronavirus cases and 493 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Friday, although data was missing from the populous states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Brazil has now registered over 26 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 630,494, according to ministry data.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Brazil
- Rio de Janeiro
- Sao Paulo
- Health Ministry
Advertisement
ALSO READ
ISL: Mumbai City FC sign experienced Brazilian forward Maurício
ISL: Mumbai City FC sign Brazilian forward Diego Mauricio
Lula could win Brazil's October election in first round - poll
OVL enters development stage of Budiao discovery in Brazil
Brazil's Health Ministry approves China's Sinovac shot for some children
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910965-brazil-sees-184311-new-coronavirus-cases-493-deaths
| 2022-02-04T23:14:08
|
en
| 0.924259
|
Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said Friday that the government is open to introducing “stricter” guidelines for social media intermediaries if Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are able to build a consensus on it.
His statement in Rajya Sabha, in response to a question by Anand Sharma of the Congress, came four days after senior officials of the ministries of Information and Broadcasting as well as IT met senior executives from Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to understand the process of flagging, demoting and takedown of controversial content.
Those present at the January 31 meeting, called by the I&B ministry, said this was not a one-off meeting, and would be conducted at least once every quarter, if not more, to keep the government apprised of developments in the content takedown process.
Vaishnaw told Rajya Sabha that the government is open to even more strict social media rules to hold them accountable.
“I personally believe that for the protection of our citizens, we must make the rules stricter. At this point of time, we are working within the Constitutional framework. The role of the state and the role of the Centre, both have to be seen in perspective. We have to come forward as a society and create much more accountability for social media,” he said.
Replying to a question by BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi who wanted to know what action had been taken against sites which had put up defamatory photographs of Muslim women and tried to auction them off, Vaishnaw said that protecting the dignity of women online was a fundamental construct, and there would be no compromise on it.
The rules and the pushback
A year ago, the government notified rules to hold social media and OTT platforms more accountable for content. Monthly compliance reports on complaints, the action taken and redressal had to be published. The intermediaries have moved courts against a rule directing them to disclose the first originator of a message.
“It is our commitment. Whatever information came to us, we immediately acted upon it,” he said.
He said whenever the government tried to take steps to make social media more accountable, it was the Opposition which alleged that freedom of speech was being taken away.
On the January 31 meeting, a senior executive of a social media intermediary said: “The MeitY now has a process wherein they flag to us content which they think is controversial. We do our own internal review of the content and based on the outcome of that review, either take down the content, or go back and explain to the ministry our reasons for not taking down the content. Officials from Broadcasting (I&B) wanted to understand the process better.”
According to officials present at the meeting, the I&B ministry asked the social media intermediaries how they tackled fake news, anti-India content, nudity, porn and other controversial content on their platforms. They also wanted to know what the platforms were doing proactively to tackle such content and how much of it was removed every month.
“We explained to them the entire process of how, despite employing the available mechanisms for content review, some of it manages to escape the scrutiny of algorithms and machines. While we are always working on improving the process, some of the content will always have to be flagged for takedown,” another social media intermediary executive present at the meeting said.
Last month, the I&B and IT ministries had flagged several handles and content to social media platforms for takedown.
The IT ministry had identified 73 Twitter handles, four YouTube channels and one game on Instagram for fake and incitement content, and asked the respective social media intermediaries to suspend them.
The I&B ministry had issued orders to ban 35 more channels on YouTube after receiving intelligence inputs that these channel owners were based in Pakistan and were involved in spreading “anti-India fake news in a coordinated manner over digital media”.
Officials said that executives from all social media companies present at the meeting agreed that the content flagged by the two ministries were indeed unlawful, and therefore were taken down swiftly.
In February 2021, the MeitY had notified rules and guidelines to hold social media and over-the-top (OTT) content platforms more accountable for the “misuse and abuse” of the content hosted on their platforms.
As a part of the guidelines, the IT ministry had asked all social media companies to appoint an in-house grievance officer whose name and contact details were to be shared with the ministry, a resident grievance officer who should have an office in India and be an Indian passport-holding citizen as well as a chief compliance officer who should be present in India and ensure compliance with the platform’s compliance with the IT Act and the rules.
Monthly compliance reports on the complaints received, the action taken and the redressal for such complaints also had to be published by the intermediaries, as per the rules notified in February 2021.
While the IT ministry had then also said that social media intermediaries who were primarily in the business of providing peer-to-peer messaging service would have to disclose the first originator of any message when asked, social media intermediaries, including WhatsApp, challenged this rule before several High Courts.
The rules were notified following an intense back-and-forth between the IT ministry and Twitter in January and February, 2021.
On January 31, amidst then ongoing farmer protests on the border of Delhi, the IT ministry had sent Twitter a list of 257 accounts, asking it to block their access from the platform and from India. The IT ministry had used its emergency powers under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act.
Although Twitter had initially complied with the order, it subsequently unblocked some of the accounts, citing freedom of speech on its platform. The move did not sit well with the IT ministry which had then said that the platform should not have assumed “the role of a court and justify non-compliance”.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
|
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/open-to-stricter-social-media-rules-says-govt-7757638/
| 2022-02-04T23:14:09
|
en
| 0.976213
|
PUMPING IN adequate government resources; stricter enforcement of deterrent penalties; engaging communities in a “democratic” monitoring regime; setting up a statutory independent authority.
These are the key recommendations made by top experts, including current and former members of various panels of the Government and Supreme Court, after an investigation by The Indian Express Friday found several cases of non-compliance in six mega projects to commitments made in order to obtain environment and forest clearance.
Experts were unanimous that non-compliance is one of the biggest challenges facing environmental governance in the country.
Conservationist Valmik Thapar, who has served in various expert panels of the Environment Ministry since the early 1990s, called it the “sinkhole” in the clearance system. “What this has come to, since the laws were enacted in the 1970s and 1980s, is deplorable. Everything is taken for granted when lawmakers themselves undermine the laws. The system needs shock therapy,” he said.
Environmentalist Ashish Kothari, Thapar’s former colleague in several expert panels, pointed to how “non-compliance has been defeating the very logic of the conditional clearance” process. “If the conditions are not fulfilled, logic demands that a conditional clearance should no longer be valid. But developers have been getting away with it for over three decades,” he said.
As a remedy, M K Ranjitsinh, who drafted the Wildlife Act while serving as an IAS officer, wants a regulatory body in line with instructions from the Supreme Court to ensure implementation of green laws.
“The Supreme Court reiterated it several times since its Lafarge judgment in 2011. Last year, it mandated our committee to consider a permanent expert body. We recommended a National Forest Conservation Authority (NFCA), formed under the FC Act and headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, in our report last month,” said Ranjitsinh, who chairs an expert panel set up by the apex court in 2021.
Former IFS officer and an expert member of the ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), Anmol Kumar, however, feels effective monitoring boils down to adequate manpower as even a statutory authority will need “ears and eyes” on the ground.
“We need better monitoring and deterrent penalties. If the Ministry’s staff strength at the regional level cannot be improved immediately, third-party audits are an alternative. But these auditors cannot depend on the developers they audit for funds. The Government has to pay and that will require higher resource allocation.” Kumar said.
Ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who chaired the Environment Ministry’s Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, emphasised the importance of people’s participation to make the monitoring process reliable.
“While government officers may have various motives and third-party auditors are mostly interested in their fees, engaging communities not only democratises the process but makes monitoring more effective. They have a direct stake and often are better informed about local conditions,” Gadgil said.
Kothari pointed to the “inherent contradiction” in one arm of the government playing regulator to other arms implementing development projects.
“We need a National Environment Commission, a Constitutional authority like the Election Commission, independent of government pulls and pressures. Our task force recommended it for the Eleventh Plan (2007-2012). We need such an authority with state-level sub-commissions to examine whether the central and state governments are actually carrying out their environmental responsibilities as laid out in law and policy,” he said.
Thapar agreed. “We have reached this stage because of sarkari (ex-officio) experts, backed by a few pliable ones handpicked from outside. What we need is an independent authority where 70 per cent of members are reputed experts in their fields,” he said.
Ranjitsinh said he expected more from the judiciary in holding governments accountable for not carrying out court orders. “Though overburdened, the courts may have to devise a way to track the fate of their orders, at least in certain types of cases, to ensure those are implemented,” he said.
Ecologist Raman Sukumar, a member of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), recommended random field visits by trained officials and experts to monitor big projects. “We certainly need more accountability. This issue of non-compliance has been taken up repeatedly in the standing committee meetings. The primary responsibility should lie with the state governments and the field officers,” he said.
The six projects investigated by The Indian Express include: Ken-Betwa River Link, the flagship river-linking project in Madhya Pradesh; Dibang multipurpose project, the largest hydel plant proposed as part of the government’s Act East Policy in Arunachal; Lower Subansiri hydel project on the Arunachal-Assam border; the proposed international airport in Goa; the Kulda mine in Odisha run by the world’s largest coal producer; and the country’s first private mega thermal plant in Tamnar, Chhattisgarh.
The Indian Express found that in each project, stringent conditions to compensate for the project’s high environmental impact have been sidestepped, ignored or, in some cases, met only on paper.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
|
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/short-shrift-to-green-nod-experts-seek-sc-push-revamp-in-compliance-7757655/
| 2022-02-04T23:14:15
|
en
| 0.962253
|
U.S. CDC backs full approval of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's full approval of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine in those aged 18 and over, the agency said on Friday. The vaccine has been in use under the U.S Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization since December 2020, and is now the second fully approved vaccine for COVID-19 in the United States.
The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's full approval of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine in those aged 18 and over, the agency said on Friday.
The vaccine has been in use under the U.S Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization since December 2020, and is now the second fully approved vaccine for COVID-19 in the United States. Earlier on Friday, a CDC panel voted unanimously to recommend the vaccine's use, after the FDA granted full approval https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-receives-full-us-approval-covid-19-vaccine-2022-01-31 of the shot on Monday.
While the FDA approves vaccines, the CDC needs to sign off on how they will be implemented in the United States. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky's green light is the final formality of the approval process. The vaccine will now be sold under the brand name as Spikevax.
The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE received full approval for those aged 16 and over in August. Roughly 75 million people in the United States have been fully-vaccinated with Moderna's shot.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Chile to purchase 2 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses
COVID SCIENCE-Pfizer, Moderna shots safe during in vitro fertilization; healthy gut bacteria may help prevent long COVID
Science News Roundup: Wanted: Volunteers to catch COVID in the name of science; Pfizer, Moderna shots safe during in vitro fertilization; healthy gut bacteria may help prevent long COVID and more
Moderna says it has begun trial of Omicron-specific vaccine booster
Science News Roundup: Wanted: Volunteers to catch COVID in the name of science; Pfizer, Moderna shots safe during in vitro fertilization; healthy gut bacteria may help prevent long COVID and more
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910966-us-cdc-backs-full-approval-of-modernas-covid-19-vaccine
| 2022-02-04T23:14:16
|
en
| 0.938595
|
U.S. considers lengthening gap between first 2 COVID shots to 8 weeks
U.S. health officials on Friday said they are considering lengthening the recommended interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines to eight weeks to lower the risk of heart inflammation and improve their effectiveness. Dr. Sara Oliver, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the agency was considering making the recommendation for Moderna and Pfizer /BioNTech shots during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of outside advisers to the CDC.
U.S. health officials on Friday said they are considering lengthening the recommended interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines to eight weeks to lower the risk of heart inflammation and improve their effectiveness.
Dr. Sara Oliver, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the agency was considering making the recommendation for Moderna and Pfizer /BioNTech shots during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of outside advisers to the CDC. In the United States, the recommended interval between the first two shots of Pfizer's vaccine is three weeks and for Moderna's, four.
In her presentation https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2022-02-04/12-COVID-Oliver-508.pdf, Dr. Oliver said an extended interval appears to reduce the risk of already rare cases of myocarditis, and that the lowest rates of heart inflammation following vaccination occur if the vaccines are given eight weeks apart. Myocarditis is a rare side effect seen with mRNA vaccines - the technology behind both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots. It appears to be more common among young men.
Oliver also said the extended interval appears to increase vaccine efficacy. Canadian health officials had presented data to the group earlier in the day about why they had settled on a recommended eight-week interval between shots of the two vaccines.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910967-us-considers-lengthening-gap-between-first-2-covid-shots-to-8-weeks
| 2022-02-04T23:14:23
|
en
| 0.95448
|
New WHO platform promotes global cancer prevention
With one in five people worldwide developing cancer during their lifetimes, prevention of the disease has become one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century.
To mark World Cancer Day, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC) launched on Friday the World Code Against Cancer Framework, an online platform that will promote prevention globally and the development of Regional Codes to help fight the disease.
Based on current scientific evidence, at least 40 per cent of all cancer cases could be prevented with effective primary prevention measures, and further mortality can be reduced through early detection of tumours.
Regional differences
Dr. Carolina Espina, the IARC scientist who leads the project, explains that some risk factors are common worldwide, but some patterns are specific to certain regions and socioeconomic and cultural conditions.
Today is #WorldCancerDay!
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) February 4, 2022
In the last 20 years, new #cancer cases have more than doubled in the African Region 🌍. Yet 40% of cancer deaths are preventable with simple interventions.👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/WMn72mkW7P
Because of that, the new framework provides a common strategy and methodology to develop recommendations tailored to the context and needs of local populations.
The framework builds on the success of the fourth edition of the European Code Against Cancer.
“This new platform will host existing Regional Codes Against Cancer, such as the European Code...as well as Regional Codes that are currently under development, such as the Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer, and other future Regional Codes”,Dr.Espina explained.
The Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer is expected to be launched in 2023. It will be the first regional adaptation of the European Code Against Cancer.
Rays of Hope Initiative
Also on Friday, The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced a new initiative, called Rays of Hope, to support Member States with diagnosis and treatment using radiation technologies, beginning with African countries most in need.
In a joint statement, the World Health Organization (WHO)Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the IAEA Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi,explained how low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected.
By 2040, over 70 per cent of cancer deaths are expected to occur in LMICs.
According to the two officials, recommended interventions for preventing cancer and other noncommunicable diseases have not been adequately implemented, and treatment remains inaccessible in many parts of the world.
“Globally, an estimated half of people diagnosed with cancer may require radiotherapy as part of their care, yet many countries do not have a single radiotherapy machine”, they say.
The disparity is particularly acute in Africa where nearly 70 per cent of countries reported that radiotherapy is generally unavailable.
The IAEA and WHO have a long-standing collaboration to support Member States to address their cancer burdens.
The organizations have successfully supported more than 90 governments through imPACT review missions, and through WHO cancer initiatives in cervical, childhood and breast cancers.
Visit UN News for more.
ALSO READ
Entertainment News Roundup: Jon Stewart to receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; NBCUniversal says coverage during Beijing Olympics to include 'geopolitical' issues and more
American actress-singer Mary Millben marks exodus of Kashmiri Pandits
Tennis-Champion Osaka crashes out to big-hitting American Anisimova
Entertainment News Roundup: Jon Stewart to receive Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; French actor Gaspard Ulliel dies at 37 after ski accident and more
Latin America and Asia latest to get hit with omicron surge
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910973-new-who-platform-promotes-global-cancer-prevention
| 2022-02-04T23:14:31
|
en
| 0.926249
|
U.S. considers lengthening gap between first 2 COVID shots to 8 weeks
In her presentation https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2022-02-04/12-COVID-Oliver-508.pdf, Dr. Oliver said an extended interval appears to reduce the risk of already rare cases of myocarditis, and that the lowest rates of heart inflammation following vaccination occur if the vaccines are given eight weeks apart. Myocarditis is a rare side effect seen with mRNA vaccines - the technology behind both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots.
U.S. health officials on Friday said they are considering lengthening the recommended interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines to eight weeks to lower the risk of heart inflammation and improve their effectiveness. Dr. Sara Oliver, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the agency was considering making the recommendation for Moderna and Pfizer /BioNTech shots during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of outside advisers to the CDC.
In the United States, the recommended interval between the first two shots of Pfizer's vaccine is three weeks and for Moderna's, four. In her presentation https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2022-02-04/12-COVID-Oliver-508.pdf, Dr. Oliver said an extended interval appears to reduce the risk of already rare cases of myocarditis, and that the lowest rates of heart inflammation following vaccination occur if the vaccines are given eight weeks apart.
Myocarditis is a rare side effect seen with mRNA vaccines - the technology behind both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots. It appears to be more common among young men. Oliver also said the extended interval appears to increase vaccine efficacy.
If the agency does change the recommended interval, there may be some populations for which the shorter gap is still preferred, Oliver said, particularly groups where the benefits of earlier protection against COVID-19 outweigh the risk of myocarditis. The move would come late in the U.S. vaccination campaign, as more than 212 million people in the country are fully vaccinated, according to government data.
But there are still around 33 million unvaccinated people in the United States between ages of 12 and 39, Oliver said, the age range that puts them at higher risk of myocarditis after the shots. Canadian health officials had presented data to the group earlier in the day about why they had settled on a recommended eight-week interval between shots of the two vaccines.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910984-us-considers-lengthening-gap-between-first-2-covid-shots-to-8-weeks
| 2022-02-04T23:14:39
|
en
| 0.949767
|
Omicron-specific booster may not be needed, U.S. monkey study finds
"Monkey data are generally pretty predictive, but you are going to need the human data." One key advantage of the monkey study is that researchers can boost the animals and then infect them with the virus and measure the immune response, something that could not be done in human trials, Moore said.
A study in monkeys pitting the current Moderna Inc COVID-19 booster against an Omicron-specific booster showed no significant differences in protection, suggesting an Omicron-specific booster may not be needed, U.S. government researchers reported on Friday.
The study involved monkeys vaccinated with two doses of Moderna's vaccine who were dosed nine months later with either the conventional Moderna booster or one specifically targeting the Omicron variant. The researchers tested various aspects of the animals' immune responses and exposed them to the virus. They found both boosters produced "comparable and significant increases in neutralizing antibody responses" against all of the variants of concern, including Omicron, according to the study, posted on bioRxiv ahead of peer review.
Both Moderna Inc and BioNTech/Pfizer Inc have started testing Omicron-specific boosters of their vaccines in human clinical trials. "This is very, very good news," Daniel Douek, a vaccine researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who co-lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
"It means we don't need to radically redesign the vaccine to make it an Omicron vaccine." Douek said he believes the reason is that both the original and the Omicron-specific vaccines are "cross-reactive," meaning they can recognize lots of different variants.
The results are similar to studies testing a Moderna booster targeting the Beta variant, said Dr. John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College who was not involved in the study. "Let's see what the human data show," Moore said. "Monkey data are generally pretty predictive, but you are going to need the human data."
One key advantage of the monkey study is that researchers can boost the animals and then infect them with the virus and measure the immune response, something that could not be done in human trials, Moore said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/1910989-omicron-specific-booster-may-not-be-needed-us-monkey-study-finds
| 2022-02-04T23:14:46
|
en
| 0.954081
|
Blinken to hold bilateral meeting with Jaishankar in Melbourne during Quad foreign ministers meet
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Melbourne next week during the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting.
- Country:
- United States
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Melbourne next week during the Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting. "In Australia on February 9-12, Secretary Blinken will attend the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers Ministerial Meeting, hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne," said the US State Department in a statement on Thursday (local time).
"Secretary Blinken will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Payne, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and other senior officials to discuss a range of bilateral and global priorities. The Secretary will also engage with students, scholars, and technology leaders in Melbourne," added the State Department. Further, it said that "with our Quad partners, we are delivering results for our populations and the region, including by advancing cooperation on COVID-19 vaccination delivery, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, countering disinformation, climate change, and critical and emerging technologies."
Blinken will travel to Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii from February 7-13 to engage with Indo-Pacific allies and partners to advance peace, resilience, and prosperity across the region and demonstrate that these partnerships deliver. In Fiji on February 12, Secretary Blinken will meet with Pacific Island leaders to discuss the climate crisis, ending the COVID-19 pandemic, disaster assistance, and ways to further our shared commitment to democracy, regional solidarity, and prosperity in the Pacific. The Secretary also will meet with Fiji Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama to discuss deepening bilateral engagement and ways to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific. This will be the first visit by a Secretary of State to Fiji since 1985. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1910960-blinken-to-hold-bilateral-meeting-with-jaishankar-in-melbourne-during-quad-foreign-ministers-meet
| 2022-02-04T23:14:54
|
en
| 0.935735
|
China had chance to encourage Russia to de-escalate Ukraine crisis, says US official
The US on Friday said China had a chance to encourage Russia to de-escalate tensions regarding the situation with Ukraine and that is what the world community expects from responsible world powers, reported Sputnik.
- Country:
- United States
The US on Friday said China had a chance to encourage Russia to de-escalate tensions regarding the situation with Ukraine and that is what the world community expects from responsible world powers, reported Sputnik. Senior US State Department official Daniel Kritenbrink conveyed on Friday that Beijing could have played a role to de-escalate mounting tensions along the Ukraine border as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The meeting should have provided China the opportunity to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation in Ukraine, that is what the world expects from responsible powers," said Kritenbrink on Friday with respect to the meeting between Putin and Xi. The officials also said the joint Russia-China statement announced earlier in the day reflects the approach both countries have taken for some time to work more closely together.
"I think it is fair to say the meeting between President Putin and President Xi and the joint Russia-China statement reflects an approach that both countries have already taken for some time, mainly to move closer together," said Kritenbrink during a telephone briefing on Friday. In a joint statement earlier in the day, Russia and China said they oppose further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and called on the alliance to abandon its ideologically-charged Cold War approach, according to Sputnik. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/1910976-china-had-chance-to-encourage-russia-to-de-escalate-ukraine-crisis-says-us-official
| 2022-02-04T23:15:01
|
en
| 0.964443
|
Over half of U.N. Security Council condemns N.Korea's 'significant escalation'
More than half the United Nations Security Council condemned on Friday North Korea's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile, warning in a joint statement that ongoing silence by the 15-member body would only embolden Pyongyang.
The eight council members - the United States, Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Britain - and Japan described Sunday's launch as a "significant escalation" that "seeks to further destabilize the region."
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Advertisement
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910956-over-half-of-un-security-council-condemns-nkoreas-significant-escalation
| 2022-02-04T23:15:09
|
en
| 0.911718
|
MP Nick Gibb calls on Boris Johnson to resign in a Telegraph op-ed
- Country:
- United Kingdom
Conservative Member of Parliament and former schools minister Nick Gibb has asked Boris Johnson to resign, in an op-ed in The Telegraph on Friday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Parliament
- Boris Johnson
- Telegraph
Advertisement
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910958-mp-nick-gibb-calls-on-boris-johnson-to-resign-in-a-telegraph-op-ed
| 2022-02-04T23:15:16
|
en
| 0.953202
|
French, German leaders to visit Russia, Ukraine amid tension
- Country:
- France
The French president and the German chancellor will head to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks, adding to diplomatic efforts to try to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching an invasion of Ukraine and find a way out of the growing tensions.
France's Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Moscow on Monday and Kyiv on Tuesday, while Germany's Olaf Scholz will travel to Kyiv on Feb. 14 and Moscow on Feb. 15.
The high-level visits come as China has backed Russia's demand that NATO be precluded from expanding to Ukraine, and after the U.S. accused the Kremlin on Thursday of an elaborate plot to fabricate an attack by Ukrainian forces that Russia could use as a pretext to take military action.
The U.S. has not provided detailed information backing up the claims, which Moscow has vehemently denied.
While France is a major player in NATO and is moving troops to Romania as part of the alliance's preparation for possible Russian action, Macron has also been actively pushing for dialogue with Putin and has spoken to him several times in recent weeks.
The two will hold a one-on-one meeting Monday, Macron's office said Friday.
Macron is following a French tradition of striking a separate path from the United States in geopolitics, as well as trying to make his own mark on this crisis and defend Europe's interests.
Germany has emphasized the importance of various diplomatic formats in tackling the tensions and has refused to send weapons to Ukraine, irking some allies. Scholz also has faced criticism at home lately for keeping a low public profile in the crisis.
After weeks of talks in various diplomatic formats have led to no major concessions by Russia and the U.S., it's unclear how much impact the trips will have. But Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday that “top-level visits seriously reduce challenges in the sphere of security and upset the Kremlin's plans.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a call with Kuleba Friday to discuss the Russian military buildup and steps “to encourage Russia to pursue diplomacy over war and ensure security and stability.” Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. and its allies' willingness to “impose swift and severe consequences on Russia if it chooses to escalate,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
In a call Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Macron filled him in on his diplomatic efforts. In talks with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders Thursday night, Macron's office said they discussed ways to “identify elements that could lead to de-escalation,” and “conditions for strategic balance in Europe, which should allow for the reduction of risks on the ground and guarantee security on the continent.” Scholz has a previously planned meeting with Biden in Washington on Monday.
Moscow has been signaling an apparent readiness for more talks with Washington and NATO in recent days. Some experts say that as long as Russia and the West keep talking, that's a reason for cautious optimism.
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's northern and eastern borders, raising concern that Moscow might invade again, as it did in 2014. The troop presence and uncertainty have unnerved Ukrainians and hurt the country's economy.
The Kremlin has denied that an invasion is planned and has demanded guarantees from the West that Ukraine will never join the bloc, deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders will be halted and the alliance's forces will be rolled back from Eastern Europe.
China lent its support to the demands Friday after Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jingping in Beijing before the opening of the Winter Olympics. After the talks, the two leaders issued an elaborate joint statement, declaring their opposition to any expansion of NATO.
“The Chinese side is sympathetic to and supports the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation to create long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe,” the statement read.
Separately from Macron and Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine. Erdogan visited Kyiv this week and upon returning to Turkey charged that Western leaders have failed to make a positive contribution toward the resolution of tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Erdogan also said that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy strongly supports a Turkish proposal for mediation to reduce tensions between the two nations.
“Unfortunately, the West has not contributed anything toward a solution of this issue,” Erdogan said. “They are just creating obstacles.” Meanwhile in Washington, U.S. officials said a plan for a fake attack on Russian territory or Russian-speaking people was described in declassified intelligence shared with Ukrainian officials and European allies in recent days. It was the latest example of the Biden administration divulging intelligence findings as a tactic to stop Russian disinformation efforts and foil what it says is Putin's attempt to lay the groundwork for military action.
Russian officials have rejected the allegations. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday spoke about the “absurdity” of the claims, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recommended reporters “not to take anyone's word for it, especially the (U.S.) State Department's, when it comes to these issues.” Ukraine's foreign minister said Friday that Washington shared the information with Kyiv and that it did not surprise Ukrainian authorities. “Since 2014, we have seen many insidious actions by Russia. We have seen that nothing stops them from fabricating something and accusing Ukraine of something,” Kuleba told reporters.
In recent weeks, the White House has said that U.S. intelligence shows Russia has launched a malign social media disinformation campaign against Ukraine and has dispatched operatives trained in explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces. Britain has divulged intelligence findings that it says show Russia plotting to install a pro-Russian puppet government in Ukraine.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Russia's Lavrov expects no breakthrough from talks with Blinken
Kremlin says it wants to avoid raising tensions over Ukraine breakaway regions
Blinken says not anticipating big breakthroughs during meeting with Lavrov in Geneva
Blinken talks Iran with Lavrov, sees only brief window to reach nuclear deal
Ukraine crisis: what next after the Blinken-Lavrov talks?
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910959-french-german-leaders-to-visit-russia-ukraine-amid-tension
| 2022-02-04T23:15:24
|
en
| 0.963704
|
Lebanon received letter from Luxembourg asking for information on central bank chief -source
- Country:
- Lebanon
Lebanon received a letter from Luxembourg authorities asking for information relating to Lebanon Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh's bank accounts and assets, a senior Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Reuters.
The source did not elaborate.
A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary and Lebanon's justice minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Luxembourg
- Lebanese
- Lebanon
- Riad Salameh
Advertisement
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910961-lebanon-received-letter-from-luxembourg-asking-for-information-on-central-bank-chief--source
| 2022-02-04T23:15:32
|
en
| 0.931509
|
___
US economy defies omicron and adds 467,000 jobs in January
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising burst of hiring, America’s employers added 467,000 jobs in January in a sign of the economy’s resilience even in the face of a wave of omicron infections last month. The government’s report also drastically revised up its estimate of job gains for November and December by a combined 709,000. It also said the unemployment rate ticked up from 3.9% to a still-low 4%, mainly because more people began looking for work and not all of them found jobs right away. The strong hiring gain for January, which defied expectations for only a slight gain, demonstrates the eagerness of many employers to hire even as the pandemic raged.
___
Amazon workers try new tactics to unionize in Alabama
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon workers and organizers in Bessemer, Alabama, are making door-to-door house calls, sporting pro-union T-shirts and challenging anti-union messaging by Amazon-hired consultants as they try to convince their peers for the second time to unionize their warehouse. The union election starts Friday by secret ballot. The new organizing tactics come two months after the National Labor Relations Board ordered a do-over election upon determining that Amazon unfairly influenced the first election last year. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union estimates more than half of the 6,000 workers who voted last time around remain eligible this time. But the RWDSU still faces an uphill battle from Amazon, which doesn’t seem to have let up its aggressive anti-union stance.
___
Stocks mixed, yields fly as jobs data raises rate outlook
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes ended mixed and Treasury yields jumped Friday as Wall Street’s expectations rise that the Federal Reserve may soon start raising interest rates sharply. The Labor Department said employers added 467,000 jobs last month, triple economists’ expectations. The stronger-than-expected data seems to lock in the Fed’s pivot toward fighting inflation by making moves that would ultimately act as a drag on markets. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, even though more stocks fell than rose in the index. The index got a boost from Amazon, which leaped 13.5% following a strong earnings report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. ___
EU, US to resume trading oysters, mussels after long dispute
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and the United States have agreed to resume trade in oysters, clams, mussels and scallops from the end of February. The deal announced Friday settles a 10-year trade dispute. Trade in live mollusks between the EU and the U.S. had stopped in 2011 due to a divide in regulatory standards. Under the deal, Spain and the Netherlands will be allowed to export mollusks to the U.S., while Massachusetts and Washington can now trade to the EU. Both sides praised the deal as another positive step in their trade relationship since U.S. President Joe Biden took over from Donald Trump.
___
Kohl’s: Buyout offers undermine value of business
NEW YORK (AP) — Kohl’s says that recent offers to purchase the department store chain undervalue its business, and it is adopting a shareholder rights plan to head off any hostile takeovers. The shareholder rights plan is effective immediately and expires in a year. The move comes as Kohl’s has received multiple buyout offers in recent weeks. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners had reportedly approached Kohl’s about a potential deal last month. A group called Acacia Research, backed by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP, bid $64 per share, or about $9 billion. At the time the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based retailer said that its board was reviewing the offers.
___
Treasury urges closer watch on money laundering in fine art
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fine art isn’t just nice to look at. It’s also attractive to criminals trying to launder money, finance terrorism and trade illegal drugs and arms. And the Treasury Department wants art dealers and financiers to do something about that. The agency issued a report Friday recommending that financial firms and art dealers set up an information-sharing database to track how sales of fine art are linked to bad actors who make anonymous purchases. The need to monitor art sales has become more complicated and necessary with the recent rise in sales of digital assets known as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
___
News Corp. hacked, reporters targeted; believed China-linked
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Wall Street Journal’s publisher, News Corp., says it has been hacked, with data stolen from journalists and other employees. The cybersecurity firm investigating the intrusion, Mandiant, says Chinese intelligence-gathering is believed to be behind the operation. The Journal reported that people briefed on the intrusion said it appeared to date back to February 2020 and that scores of employees were impacted. It quoted them as saying the hackers were able to access reporters’ emails and Google Docs, including drafts of articles. News Corp. says customer and financial data were so far not affected, nor were company operations interrupted.
___
Biden solicitor swings mineral rights title back to tribes
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The interior solicitor in the Biden administration says the mineral rights under the original Missouri River riverbed belong to a North Dakota tribal nation. The 68-page memorandum posted Friday by the U.S. Department of Interior is contrary to a May 2020 Trump administration opinion concluding that the state is legal owner of submerged lands beneath the river where it flows through the Fort Berthold Reservation. That memo rolled back an Obama administration opinion favoring the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. At stake is an estimated $100 million in unpaid royalties and future payments certain to come from oil drilling beneath the river.
___
The S&P 500 gained 23.09 points, or 0.5%, to 4,500.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.42 points, or 0.1%, to 35,089.74. The Nasdaq advanced 219.19 points, or 1.6%, to 14,098.01. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 11.33 points, or 0.6%, to 2,002.36.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/Business-Highlights-January-jobs-gain-jump-in-16832994.php
| 2022-02-04T23:15:38
|
en
| 0.954919
|
There was a manhunt for Moenell Coleman after police say he shot two people last week.
Surveillance video from inside Coatesville market shows altercation that led to shooting
The incident began when one of the victims, a woman in her 20s, accidentally bumped into Coleman inside of a Coatesville market on East Lincoln Highway before 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Police say he followed the woman home, knocked on her door, and fired several shots into her home.
The woman and her brother were both injured.
Coleman has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and other crimes.
|
https://6abc.com/coatesville-shooting-gunman-follows-woman-home-market-surveillance-video/11538395/
| 2022-02-04T23:15:39
|
en
| 0.984078
|
WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (AP) _ Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (PZG) on Friday reported a loss of $2.7 million in its fiscal second quarter.
The Winnemucca, Nevada-based company said it had a loss of 7 cents per share.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PZG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PZG
|
https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/Paramount-Gold-Fiscal-Q2-Earnings-Snapshot-16832928.php
| 2022-02-04T23:15:39
|
en
| 0.94254
|
Guterres: 'Let us build bridges between the faiths'
Marking the International Day of Human Fraternity on Friday, the United Nations’ Secretary-General issued a stark warning over rising hate speech, intolerance, discrimination and physical violence.
According to António Guterres, the hateful attacks are being directed at some, “simply because of their religion or belief, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.”
The UN chief’s message was broadcast during a virtual panel discussion with Member States, religious leaders, faith actors and civil society representatives, organized by the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The designation of 4 February as the International Day of Human Fraternity is the result of a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December 2020, as a way to promote greater cultural and religious tolerance.
Baptism Ceremony at the Tigris River, under the framework of UNAMI’s Interfaith Dialogue initiative., by UNAMIOpportunity
Celebrating the date for the second time, the UN chief said it should be an opportunity to reflect on the importance of cultural and religious understanding, and mutual respect.
“I am grateful to religious leaders across the world who are joining hands to promote dialogue and interfaith harmony”, Mr. Guterres said.
The Secretary-General also highlighted the declaration, Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, co-authored by the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Egyptian Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, calling it “a model for compassion and human solidarity.”
“We need this spirit more than ever”, he declared.
Appeal
From deepening poverty and widening inequalities, to conflict, division, and mistrust, Mr. Guterres said that “our human family faces a cascade of challenges.”
“To confront them, we need to challenge those who exploit differences, traffic in hate, and instill fear of ‘the other’ in anxious hearts”, he continued.
Mr. Guterres believes “these heinous acts are violations of human rights and affronts to the values of the United Nations.”
The UN chief concluded with an appeal to stand firm against bigotry wherever and whenever we see it.
“Let us recognize our diversity as a richness that strengthens us all. Let us build bridges between the faiths, inspired by our common humanity.
“And let us come together in solidarity to create a more inclusive, peaceful and just world for all”, he said.
Besides Mr. Guterres, the discussion included the High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Secretary-General of Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, leading New York Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the Secretary-General of Religions for Peace, Adama Dieng, as well as the Permanent Observer of the Holy See, and representatives of Morocco, India, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia.
Visit UN News for more.
ALSO READ
Bitcoin pyramid schemes wreak havoc on Brazil's 'New Egypt'
'Pardes mein Swades' says Amul's latest topical as SRK's gesture for Egyptian fan wins internet
Egypt plans privatisations every month or two - planning minister
Egypt targets $7 bln in FDI for oil and gas in 2022-2023 -minister tells Sky News Arabia
State-run news agency says United Arab Emirates intercepted ballistic missiles targeting capital, Abu Dhabi.
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910974-guterres-let-us-build-bridges-between-the-faiths
| 2022-02-04T23:15:39
|
en
| 0.914951
|
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville Waffle House shooter is found guilty of 4 counts of first-degree murder; jury rejects insanity defense.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville Waffle House shooter is found guilty of 4 counts of first-degree murder; jury rejects insanity defense.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Alert-Nashville-Waffle-House-shooter-is-found-16833053.php
| 2022-02-04T23:15:46
|
en
| 0.902961
|
2 charged in fatal shooting at suburban Minneapolis school
Two men have been charged in a shooting outside a suburban Minneapolis school that left one student dead and another critically injured, the Hennepin County attorney announced Friday.Alfredo Rosario Solis, 19, and Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 18, both of Minneapolis, each face one count of intentional second-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Jahmari Rice, prosecutor Mike Freeman said.Rice was found shot outside South Education Center in Richfield Tuesday and a 17-year-old student was found wounded in the schools main entrance.
- Country:
- United States
Two men have been charged in a shooting outside a suburban Minneapolis school that left one student dead and another critically injured, the Hennepin County attorney announced Friday.
Alfredo Rosario Solis, 19, and Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 18, both of Minneapolis, each face one count of intentional second-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Jahmari Rice, prosecutor Mike Freeman said.
Rice was found shot outside South Education Center in Richfield Tuesday and a 17-year-old student was found wounded in the school's main entrance. The 17-year-old remains in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to criminal complaints.
Solis and Valdez-Alvarez, who are both students at South, are also charged with two counts of attempted intentional second-degree murder, the complaints said. Those charges involve the 17-year-old's injuries and another male who was with Rice. The third male was not injured in the shooting, the county attorney said.
Solis and Valdez-Alvarez are jailed on $1 million bail. Solis appeared in court Friday afternoon without an attorney, and Judge Lyonel Norris sent him back to jail and urged him to find a lawyer by Monday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Valdez-Alvarez has yet to make his first court appearance.
According to the complaint, officers learned from the third male victim that a confrontation involving him and the defendants, Rice and the 17-year-old male victim, occurred in the school parking lot where Solis was punched once by the 17-year-old.
In return, Valdez-Alvarez fired numerous shots at the three male victims, according to charges against him. After he shot at the victims, Solis and Valdez-Alvarez ran to their SUV, where shots continued to be fired once they got inside and eventually drove off, the complaint said. It's not clear who fired the shots from the SUV.
Court documents said Rice was shot while running away from the two shooters.
The suspects were arrested later on Tuesday and police said they recovered two handguns, one in Minneapolis and one at a residence in suburban Crystal.
South Education Center has about 200 students, according to its website, which describes it as a school that offers special education programs and an alternative high school, with students as young as prekindergarten. It is part of District 287, which provides services to 11 school districts across the Minneapolis area as well as some students from other districts.
Some students returned to school Friday amid greetings from staff outside the building and increased security. Students were screened with hand-held metal detectors before entering the building. Attendance was optional, the Star Tribune reported.
A makeshift memorial with cards, photographs and a heart-shaped balloon sat outside the building in memory of Rice, who transferred to the school from Richfield High two days before he was fatally shot.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910977-2-charged-in-fatal-shooting-at-suburban-minneapolis-school
| 2022-02-04T23:15:47
|
en
| 0.980065
|
NEW YORK (AP) — US death toll from COVID-19 tops 900,000, propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Alert-US-death-toll-from-COVID-19-tops-900-000-16832832.php
| 2022-02-04T23:15:52
|
en
| 0.878042
|
Want North Korea breakthrough? China tells U.S. to show flexibility
After the meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters: "We have to keep up the pressure." She also read a joint statement by more than half the U.N. Security Council condemning North Korea's latest missile launch and warning that continued silence by the 15-member body would only embolden Pyongyang.
The key to solving the issue of North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs is in the United States' hands, China's U.N. envoy said on Friday, urging Washington to show "more sincerity and flexibility" if it wants a breakthrough. "They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions in accommodating concerns" of North Korea, Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters. "The key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States.
He spoke ahead of a closed U.N. Security Council meeting, which was requested by the United States to discuss North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile last Sunday. After the meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters: "We have to keep up the pressure."
She also read a joint statement by more than half the U.N. Security Council condemning North Korea's latest missile launch and warning that continued silence by the 15-member body would only embolden Pyongyang. The eight council members - the United States, Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Britain - and Japan described Sunday's launch as a "significant escalation" that "seeks to further destabilize the region."
They said North Korea had carried out nine ballistic missiles launches in January, describing it as the largest number in a single month in the history of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. TESTS BANNED
Nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches by North Korea are banned by the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats said the United States has proposed the council issue a statement. "We call on all council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts," the eight council members and Japan said in the statement. "The cost of the council's ongoing silence is too high. It will embolden the DPRK to further defy the international community."
Zhang said the council should only issue a statement if it is "helpful for the de-escalation of the tensions." Such statements by the council have to be agreed by consensus. North Korea confirmed on Monday https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-says-tested-hwasong-12-missile-sunday-2022-01-30 it had launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, the same weapon it had once threatened to target the U.S. territory of Guam with, sparking fears the nuclear-armed state could resume long-range testing.
It was the first time North Korea had tested a nuclear-capable missile of that size since 2017. Pyongyang had put nuclear weapons tests and long-range ballistic missile launches on hold while leader Kim Jong Un met with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019.
Zhang cited those meetings and the suspension of tests, asking: "What has been done by the U.S.?" Thomas-Greenfield said launches of other ballistic missiles had continued over the past few years and that U.S. President Joe Biden could not commit to a meeting with Kim until Washington had "a better sense of what there is to achieve."
Diplomacy with North Korea has stalled since the summits between Trump and Kim, which failed to produce a deal. Pyongyang wants U.S. and U.N. sanctions to be removed. There has been no easing of any U.S. or U.N. measures, but China and Russia have said the Security Council should consider such a move. Thomas-Greenfield said there was no reason for the council to "reward" Pyongyang for its ballistic missile tests.
"We continue to urge (North Korea) to respond positively to the offers from the United States and others to meet without preconditions," the eight council members and Japan said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
U.S. charges Belarus officials with aircraft piracy over diverted Ryanair flight
Mexico power bill in U.S. sights as Granholm makes case for renewables
Japan and U.S. to start new '2 plus 2' dialogue for economic issues -Kyodo
Top diplomats for U.S., Russia meet in Geneva on soaring Ukraine tensions
U.S. House panel turns to oil major boards in next climate probe
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910981-want-north-korea-breakthrough-china-tells-us-to-show-flexibility
| 2022-02-04T23:15:55
|
en
| 0.961361
|
DALLAS (AP) — The family of a Dallas man who died in police custody five years ago can proceed with their lawsuit against four officers, a federal appeals court ruled in an opinion filed Friday that overturned a lower court's ruling.
Qualified immunity shields conduct that “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known," Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement wrote for the three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in sending the case back to U.S. District Judge David Godbey in Dallas.
Godbey had thrown out the lawsuit brought by the family of tony Timpa, ruling that the officers were protected from liability in Timpa's 2016 death by the qualified immunity doctrine. The doctrine shields officers from liability for the legal performance of their duties.
The family accused Officer Dustin Dillard of using excessive force on Timpa by pressing his knee into Timpa's upper back for about 14 minutes. They also accused Sgt. Kevin Mansell, Senior Cpl. Raymond Dominquez and Officers Danny Vasquez and Domingo Rivera of failing to intervene to save Timpa, who was 32 when he died.
According to court documents, Timpa called 911 on Aug. 10, 2016, from a Dallas parking lot and said he was afraid and needed help, telling a dispatcher he suffered from schizophrenia and depression and was off his medication. Officers arrived to find him walking in traffic.
In police body camera videos, officers could be seen forcefully pinning Timpa to the ground for more than 14 minutes and cracking jokes even as the screaming, handcuffed man went still and fell silent. Shaking his limp body, the officers can be heard laughing and comparing Timpa to a child who doesn’t want to wake up for school. Not long after, a paramedic informed them he was dead.
Medical examiners ruled Timpa's death a homicide and said it was caused by cardiac arrest brought on by cocaine and the stress of physical restraint.
In 2017, a grand jury indicted Mansell, Vasquez and Dillard for misdemeanor deadly conduct in Timpa’s death, finding they had acted recklessly. Prosecutors dismissed the charges in March 2019 and the officers returned to active duty the next month.
Godbey threw out the family's lawsuit, which seeks almost $30 million in actual and exemplary damages.
But the three judges on the appeals court panel disagreed with Godbey's rationale and restored the lawsuit.
“Dillard’s continued use of force was not justified by a criminal investigatory function," Clement wrote. "The officers concede that Timpa’s criminal liability was ‘minor’ — no more than a traffic violation.” In fact, “the officers did not intend to charge him with any crimes.”
While overturning the summary judgment for Dillard, Hansell, Dominguez and Vasquez, the appeals court affirmed a summary judgment releasing Rivera from liability.
Dallas city officials do not comment on pending litigation, a city spokeswoman said. Attorneys for the family did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Appeals-court-Suit-may-proceed-over-Dallas-death-16832865.php
| 2022-02-04T23:15:58
|
en
| 0.979154
|
Luxembourg asks Lebanon for information on central bank chief's finances - Lebanese source
The Swiss attorney general’s office last year said it had requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of a probe into "aggravated money laundering" and possible embezzlement of more than $300 million under Salameh at the central bank.
Lebanon received a letter from Luxembourg authorities asking for information relating to Lebanon Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh's bank accounts and assets, a senior Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Reuters.
The source did not elaborate. A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary confirmed to Reuters in November https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/luxembourg-judicial-authorities-open-criminal-case-related-lebanon-central-bank-2021-11-15 it had opened "a criminal case" in relation to Salameh and his companies and assets, declining to provide further information at the time.
A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary and Lebanon's justice minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. When asked for comment, Salameh told Reuters the request for cooperation was a "normal procedure" not not a "legal suit."
"If they had filed a legal suit they don't need help in the investigation," he said. The Swiss attorney general’s office last year said it had requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of a probe into "aggravated money laundering" and possible embezzlement of more than $300 million under Salameh at the central bank.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Salameh
- Luxembourg
- Lebanese
- Lebanon
- Swiss
- Riad Salameh
ALSO READ
U.S. Treasury imposes more sanctions on Lebanese individuals -website
U.S. Treasury imposes more sanctions on Hezbollah-linked Lebanese individuals
Lebanese cabinet meets after hiatus, amid friction over budget
Lebanese govt revenues fell by nearly half in 2021, World Bank says
Lebanese gov't says country "will not be launchpad for activities that violate Arab countries - sources
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910982-luxembourg-asks-lebanon-for-information-on-central-bank-chiefs-finances---lebanese-source
| 2022-02-04T23:16:03
|
en
| 0.942919
|
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A Los Angeles judge on Friday appeared strongly inclined to allow Bill Cosby to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege and avoid giving a deposition in the lawsuit of a woman who alleges he sexually abused her when she was 15 in the mid-1970s.
At a hearing to argue the issue, Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan agreed with Cosby's attorney that the 84-year-old has a reasonable fear of again facing criminal charges for one or more of the many sexual assault allegations that have been publicly aired against him, and has a right to avoid saying anything under oath that might lead to such charges.
“It does appear he has a reasonable fear of prosecution, and if new information came out, that could cause a prosecutor to change their mind,” Karlan said. “I don’t see how one could find to the contrary, other than concluding that he has a reasonable fear.”
Attorneys for Judy Huth, who alleges Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him at the Playboy Mansion around 1974, are seeking to compel Cosby to give a second deposition. Cosby's attorneys denied the allegation. He gave an initial deposition soon after the lawsuit was filed in 2014, before his two criminal trials and a later-overturned conviction in Pennsylvania.
Huth's attorney John Steven West argued that accusations against Cosby have been aired for years, and that all the alleged incidents date back decades. He said that any criminal charges would already have been filed.
“The facts that are known overwhelmingly show that Mr. Cosby does not have a realistic fear of prosecution,” West said. “Despite the fact that for 16 years his name has been at the forefront of accusations of sexual misconduct, there has been exactly one prosecution.”
West pointed out that Los Angeles police investigated Huth's allegations seven years ago, that the district attorney declined to file charges, and that other prosecutors have done the same with other Cosby accusers.
The judge didn't buy the argument.
“The fact that prosecutors decline to prosecute, doesn’t mean that a newly elected prosecutor won’t take a different view,” Karlan said, “nor would any future district attorney be bound by a decision not to prosecute.”
The judge planned to issue a written ruling later, but left little doubt that it would favor Cosby.
Cosby's lawyer Jennifer Bonjean argued, and the judge agreed, that the Pennsylvania case was a cautionary tale that applied here. Cosby, believing he had assurance from a prosecutor that he would not face charges, then was prosecuted after making damaging revelations in a 2005 civil lawsuit.
“They told him they weren’t going to prosecute him,” Bonjean said, "then 10 years later, they revoked it, after what? After he gave a deposition.”
That reversal is what led a Pennsylvania appeals court to throw out Cosby's conviction in June, after he had served nearly three years in prison.
Cosby had become the first celebrity convicted of sexual assault in the #MeToo era when the jury at his 2018 retrial found him guilty of drugging and molesting college sports administrator Andrea Constand in 2004.
Earlier this week, Bonjean asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a bid by prosecutors to revive the case.
Cosby was already a groundbreaking Black actor and standup comedian when he created the top-ranked “Cosby Show” in the 1980s. A barrage of sexual assault allegations later destroyed his image as “America’s Dad” and led to multimillion-dollar court settlements with at least eight women.
Huth's is among the few lawsuits that he is still facing.
Karlan agreed to one more postponement, from April to May, of trial in the long-delayed case, but said Friday that he was determined to see the May date stick and have the jury trial begin.
The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault unless they speak publicly, as Huth and Constand have done.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Bill-Cosby-likely-to-avoid-testifying-in-sex-16833001.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:10
|
en
| 0.982331
|
SPECIAL REPORT-Inside J&J’s secret plan to cap litigation payouts to cancer victims
“Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc has not decided on any particular course of action in this litigation other than to continue to defend the safety of talc and litigate these cases in the tort system, as the pending trials demonstrate,” the company told Reuters at the time. A few days later, in a California courtroom, a lawyer defending J&J against talc plaintiffs told a judge that news of the bankruptcy strategy amounted to unsubstantiated “rumors.” J&J executed the bankruptcy plan starting on Oct. 11, taking the first steps to create the new subsidiary.
Johnson & Johnson created a plan last year to limit the financial bleeding from billions of dollars in jury awards to plaintiffs who alleged the company’s Baby Powder and other talc products caused deadly cancers. The healthcare and consumer-goods giant assigned more than 30 staffers to “Project Plato.” In a memo on the project in July, a company lawyer warned the team: Tell no one, not even your spouse. “It is critical that any activities related to Project Plato, including the mere fact the project exists, be kept in strict confidence,” Chris Andrew, a J&J lawyer, wrote in an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.
The covert team would go on to evaluate a strategy to shift all the liability from about 38,000 pending talc cases onto a newly created subsidiary, which would immediately declare bankruptcy. The goal, as a lawyer for the subsidiary said in a court filing: To halt all the litigation and transfer the cases to bankruptcy court, where plaintiffs would compete for compensation from a limited pool of money. In court and in public statements last July, Johnson & Johnson said it intended to keep fighting the allegations that its products were unsafe in trial courts. The company was actively defending itself in talc trials, including one that would result in a $27 million jury award that could be nullified by the bankruptcy maneuver. The plaintiff in that case now may have to instead seek compensation through a bankruptcy process.
Privately, J&J took concrete steps starting as early as April to consider and plan the bankruptcy maneuver, according to internal company documents, depositions and other court records reviewed by Reuters. The strategy seeks to ensure the pending cases never reach a jury and instead be handled in a bankruptcy court. The documents provide the most detailed account to date of how the New Jersey-based conglomerate strategized to limit compensation to tens of thousands of talc plaintiffs.
Reuters exclusively reported https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/exclusive-jj-exploring-putting-talc-liabilities-into-bankruptcy-sources-2021-07-18 the broad outlines of the bankruptcy strategy being explored by J&J in July. The company went ahead with the plan in October, offloading responsibility for the cases to the new subsidiary, which then filed for bankruptcy. Before the filing, the company faced costs from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion, according to bankruptcy-court records. Now, J&J proposes to give the subsidiary in bankruptcy $2 billion to put into a trust to compensate all 38,000 current plaintiffs, as well as all future claimants. J&J has said in court filings and in public statements that the subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, could also tap a stream of royalty revenues valued at more than $350 million at the time of the bankruptcy filing.
J&J did not answer detailed written questions from Reuters about its planning of the bankruptcy maneuver. In a statement, J&J defended the LTL bankruptcy as a way to resolve the talc claims. “This filing follows established process, and courts have uniformly acknowledged that equitably resolving these types of claims through Chapter 11 is a legitimate use of the restructuring process,” the statement said. “LTL’s objective is to reach a fair and equitable resolution for claimants through a plan of reorganization and create a reasonable framework to address the unprecedented number of existing and future talc-related claims.”
It continued: “We stand behind the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, which is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer. We continue to believe resolving this matter as quickly and efficiently as possible is in the best interests of claimants and all stakeholders. We will continue to follow the process and put forth our position in the court.” On Thursday, a lawyer for the J&J subsidiary appeared at a bankruptcy hearing and accused attorneys for people who have sued Johnson & Johnson over its talc products of sharing confidential documents with Reuters in a "calculated" effort to try the case "in the press."
Later Thursday, lawyers for J&J and its subsidiary sought a temporary restraining order from the bankruptcy judge to block Reuters from publishing information that, the company claims, comes from confidential documents. A Reuters spokesperson called J&J’s claims without merit.
"We reject the factually-unfounded and legally-meritless claims made by J&J's lawyers and will continue to report without fear or favor on matters of public interest," the spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday. BANKRUPTCY BENEFITS WITHOUT BURDENS
J&J started secretly considering and planning the maneuver to redirect plaintiffs to bankruptcy court as early as April, when company attorneys were briefed on the strategy by lawyers at Jones Day, a firm with experience in the tactic, according to deposition testimony from an LTL lawyer. On July 19, the day after Reuters broke the news of the strategy, a J&J official contacted Moody’s, the Wall Street ratings firm, to ask if the subsidiary bankruptcy would harm the company’s pristine credit, according to emails reviewed by Reuters. She was told it likely wouldn’t because the agency would only consider the maneuver’s impact on the finances of J&J, and not those of the subsidiary in bankruptcy.
The exchange underscores why the strategy was so attractive: J&J could create a related-party bankruptcy to limit liability, while avoiding “the burdens” of declaring bankruptcy itself, seven legal experts argued in an amicus brief filed with the court. Moody’s declined to comment.
In court papers, a lawyer for the J&J subsidiary said the bankruptcy filing was a "prudent and necessary" step that "offered the only alternative for equitably and permanently resolving" all the talc litigation. Last July, Reuters reported that one of J&J’s attorneys told plaintiffs’ lawyers that the company could pursue the bankruptcy plan, according to people familiar with the matter. At the time, J&J publicly downplayed concerns about the strategy and did not confirm that it was exploring the option. “Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc has not decided on any particular course of action in this litigation other than to continue to defend the safety of talc and litigate these cases in the tort system, as the pending trials demonstrate,” the company told Reuters at the time.
A few days later, in a California courtroom, a lawyer defending J&J against talc plaintiffs told a judge that news of the bankruptcy strategy amounted to unsubstantiated “rumors.” J&J executed the bankruptcy plan starting on Oct. 11, taking the first steps to create the new subsidiary. The new company swiftly filed for Chapter 11, on Oct. 14. 'ALTERNATIVE JUSTICE SYSTEM'
The strategy, while rare, could be adopted more widely by big companies facing liability crises if Johnson & Johnson gets bankruptcy-court approval, according to lawyers for talc plaintiffs and some legal experts. If J&J succeeds, they argue, it could provide a blueprint for Corporate America on how to circumvent jury trials involving allegations of defective products or misconduct. Such a precedent could allow companies to routinely pursue related-party bankruptcies to escape accountability from juries, said Melissa Jacoby, a University of North Carolina law professor.
“That's one step closer to making bankruptcy an alternative justice system for big corporations,” Jacoby said. “If a company as deeply pocketed as J&J can do this, where does it stop?” In testimony last November, a lawyer for the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary said the company pursued the strategy in reaction to an onslaught of litigation with the potential for outsized jury awards. A bankruptcy court, the lawyer argued, could provide a more consistent and equitable process for compensating claimants. Johnson & Johnson has said it would provide a fair amount of money to the subsidiary to pay claims.
Johnson & Johnson, valued at more than $450 billion, had about $31 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand at the end of the third quarter, securities filings show. The New Jersey judge overseeing the subsidiary’s bankruptcy is scheduled on Feb. 14 to begin hearing arguments on plaintiff-creditors’ contention that the bankruptcy should be dismissed because it was filed in bad faith.
The October bankruptcy temporarily halted the litigation against Johnson & Johnson. LTL has said it will seek to “permanently” resolve the talc litigation through a reorganization plan that would prohibit current and future plaintiffs from seeking redress in a trial court. Instead, their claims would be directed to a trust, which would divvy up a limited amount of money through an administrative process approved by the bankruptcy court. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PLAINTIFFS
J&J’s bankruptcy strategy is the latest example of the company’s efforts to manage liability amid mounting allegations that asbestos lurks in its iconic Baby Powder and other talc products. A December 2018 Reuters investigation https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer revealed that the company knew for decades about tests showing its talc sometimes contained carcinogenic asbestos but kept that information from regulators and the public. Tens of thousands of plaintiffs, many with mesothelioma or ovarian cancer, have filed lawsuits alleging that exposure to talc in J&J’s Baby Powder and other company products made them sick. Records J&J produced in response to those lawsuits led plaintiff lawyers to refine their argument: The culprit wasn’t necessarily talc itself, but also asbestos in the talc.
That assertion, backed by decades of science showing that asbestos causes mesothelioma and is associated with ovarian and other cancers, has had mixed success in court. The company has insisted in lawsuits and public-relations campaigns that the product was safe and asbestos-free. One plaintiff is Thomas McHattie, 78 years old, who traveled the world as an obstetrician-gynecologist before receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis in March 2020. McHattie said he recommended Baby Powder to “countless pregnant women” while also using it himself. McHattie said he endured five courses of chemotherapy to treat tumors in his abdomen, and has suffered from pronounced fatigue and shortness of breath.
He sued J&J in New York in July, a few months after receiving his diagnosis. His case had not yet gone to trial when LTL Management filed for bankruptcy. In a 2020 court filing, J&J said it denied “each and every allegation, statement, matter and thing” asserted by McHattie in his lawsuit.
McHattie told Reuters in an interview that he was “disappointed they’ve chosen to do what is expedient and not what is right.” “There is no excuse for them filing a bankruptcy,” McHattie said. “Why? This is a solvent company.”
RELEASED FROM LIABILITY J&J’s subsidiary bankruptcy is one variation of a longstanding and increasingly controversial tactic of limiting liability through so-called nondebtor releases granted to companies, owners or executives. The releases can allow companies or executives to piggyback on the bankruptcies of other entities to obtain broad protection from lawsuits and restrict litigation payouts. The party receiving the release typically agrees to contribute a lump sum to the company in bankruptcy to pay off plaintiffs in exchange for an exemption from all future liability.
That was the case with members of the Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma LP, which filed for bankruptcy as a hail of lawsuits alleged it had contributed to a deadly addiction epidemic with its opioid painkiller, OxyContin. In a landmark decision in December, a U.S. district judge in New York invalidated Purdue’s bankruptcy reorganization plan on the grounds that it improperly insulated the Sackler family from liability through nondebtor releases. Purdue has appealed the ruling. The company pleaded guilty in November 2020 to three felonies covering misconduct regarding its handling of opioids. Sackler family members, who also faced litigation, have denied allegations they contributed to the opioid crisis.
J&J’s bankruptcy takes the approach a step further. Instead of seeking releases from liability in an existing bankruptcy proceeding, the company created a bankruptcy by forming a company that plaintiff-creditors allege has no business purpose other than to limit J&J’s legal exposure. Lawyers for talc plaintiffs contend that the J&J maneuver amounts to an abuse of the bankruptcy system, which is intended to help a struggling business reorganize – and not to help a well-capitalized conglomerate limit legal liability for alleged wrongdoing.
“This case is all about litigation advantage” for J&J, said Robert Stark, a Brown Rudnick LLP lawyer representing a creditors’ committee of talc plaintiffs during a December hearing of the subsidiary’s bankruptcy. J&J successfully halted the claims by tens of thousands of plaintiffs “while people are dying of cancer” and trying to prepare their families financially for their deaths, Stark said at the hearing. “It does not get more inhumane than that,” he said. The Purdue and J&J bankruptcy strategies have sparked efforts in the U.S. Congress to stop such tactics. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois is co-sponsoring legislation with other Democrats that would all but outlaw the strategy J&J is using and restrict the ability of companies to obtain liability releases without declaring bankruptcy themselves.
“Our bankruptcy code and civil procedure has to be explored to make sure that this exploitation does not take place,” Durbin said in an interview. Business groups and some bankruptcy lawyers say that nondebtor releases can be an effective tool to resolve litigation to the benefit of both plaintiffs and the companies they sue. While limited amounts for compensation are often criticized, they offer plaintiffs better odds of getting paid than if they take their chances in trial courts, said Donald Workman, a Baker & Hostetler restructuring lawyer who isn’t involved in the J&J subsidiary’s case.
“You have an elegant solution to resolve burdensome if not crushing obligations,” Workman said, that “provides funding for constituencies that might otherwise receive nothing.” TEXAS TWO-STEP
J&J turned to the bankruptcy plan following a series of setbacks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found trace amounts of asbestos in a bottle of Baby Powder purchased online, forcing the company to issue a recall in October 2019. In May 2020, the company stopped selling talc-based Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada, citing “misinformation” and “unfounded allegations” regarding the product's safety.
In April, J&J attorneys consulted with Jones Day lawyers, who explained how the company could use a Texas law to split the company’s consumer-product business into two parts. One would absorb all the talc liability; the other would carry on the business free from the threat of billion-dollar judgments. Texas pioneered the so-called divisional merger, which allows companies to break apart and more easily divvy up assets and liabilities among the resulting companies. Jones Day helped Georgia-Pacific, a company owned by conglomerate Koch Industries, execute the maneuver in 2017 to offload mounting asbestos litigation. Georgia-Pacific faced allegations regarding asbestos exposure from building products that spanned decades.
Georgia-Pacific used the Texas law to create a new subsidiary called Bestwall to shoulder asbestos liability. As the subsidiary declared bankruptcy, the “new” Georgia-Pacific continued to produce Brawny paper towels and other lucrative brands. The maneuver came to be known in legal circles as a “Texas two-step.” Georgia-Pacific paid nearly $3 billion in dividends to Koch over the next several years, according to a court filing, that it might have been unable to dole out had it filed for bankruptcy itself. Georgia-Pacific has proposed giving Bestwall $1 billion to settle all asbestos claims, an amount plaintiff-creditors are still challenging in bankruptcy court.
Koch Industries and Georgia-Pacific declined to comment; Jones Day did not respond to a request for comment. When J&J needed help last year, it hired Dallas-based Jones Day partner Greg Gordon and other members of the firm’s Georgia-Pacific legal team.
As the bankruptcy planning moved forward, a major court defeat heightened the urgency. In June of last year, J&J lost a bid to reverse a watershed verdict in favor of 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on Baby Powder and other talc products. The women had initially won a verdict of $4.69 billion from a Missouri jury. A state appeals court reduced the award to more than $2 billion. PROJECT PLATO
By July 12, the company had secretly set up the Project Plato team. The more than 30 employees staffing it came from J&J’s finance, risk management, tax and business development operations, according to the internal J&J memo and deposition testimony. A week later, J&J treasurer Michelle Ryan reached out to Moody’s to get guidance on the impact to J&J’s credit rating.
“We are looking at a number of ways of capping our talc liability,” Ryan said in a July 19 email to Michael Levesque, a senior vice president at the credit-ratings firm focused on pharmaceutical companies. One scenario under consideration, Ryan said, would be to “capture the liability in one subsidiary” and then “basically bankrupt that subsidiary.” Ryan asked whether the bankruptcy would hurt the company’s credit rating. J&J at the time was one of just two U.S. companies with a triple-A rating, the other being Microsoft.
Levesque replied that the “technical aspect” of the subsidiary bankruptcy wasn’t likely to cause concern about J&J’s creditworthiness. Rather, he said, Moody’s was “highly likely” to focus on how the subsidiary’s Chapter 11 filing affected J&J’s finances, which the maneuver intended to help. Ryan did not respond to a request for comment.
To execute the plan, J&J created a limited liability company on Oct. 11 in Texas through a series of transactions. That company then merged with J&J’s existing consumer products business. The merged company then divided itself under the state’s divisional merger law, creating the subsidiary that would take on all the talc liability. The consumer business could then go on as if the lawsuits had never been filed.
GREEN LIGHT Early on the morning of Oct. 11, Andrew, the in-house J&J lawyer who initially sent the internal memo to the Project Plato team, sent an email to eight J&J colleagues, including several senior executives. He asked them to approve the Texas two-step bankruptcy plan “as soon as possible” and no later than that day, according to Andrews’ email to his colleagues, which was reviewed by Reuters.
He attached a detailed memo outlining the impending bankruptcy’s purported benefits. It would allow, the memo said, the bankruptcy court to determine the final amount of money for resolving all of the litigation, in a process enabling claims to be settled in an “equitable and efficient manner, without the waste and abuses experienced in the state court tort system.” The memo warned of risks. The plan would be consummated under a tight time frame and would be scrutinized by the media. “Appropriate messaging (internally and externally) will be required to avoid or mitigate misunderstandings about the nature of the restructuring and negative publicity,” the memo said.
Andrew quickly received the green light, within hours of the request, internal emails reviewed by Reuters show. LTL, the new subsidiary, held its first board meeting on Oct. 14.
The board members and lawyers discussed that LTL faced what they viewed as “exorbitant” costs if the current talc litigation barrage continued, which included 12,000 lawsuits alone through the first nine-and-a-half months of 2021, according to meeting minutes and deposition testimony Reuters reviewed. The group noted that J&J faced a total of about $5 billion in costs from judgments, settlements and legal fees. The board voted to pursue a Chapter 11 filing. J&J disclosed the move in a news release that evening as one that would “equitably” resolve the litigation.
A plaintiffs’ lawyer grilled Robert Wuesthoff – a J&J manager appointed president of LTL Management – on that point in a Dec. 22 deposition. “One of the considerations was to treat claimants equitably; it was for their benefit? Is that what you're saying?” asked Jeffrey Jonas, a Brown Rudnick lawyer representing a creditors committee comprising talc plaintiffs.
“Yes, it would be more equitable to the claimant. Yes, we believe that,” Wuesthoff responded. “But the real reason we filed for bankruptcy,” the LTL executive said, was that the large and growing amount of talc cases – some with “lottery-size” awards – put J&J’s consumer products business in “financial distress.”
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910985-special-report-inside-jjs-secret-plan-to-cap-litigation-payouts-to-cancer-victims
| 2022-02-04T23:16:10
|
en
| 0.963593
|
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago organizers vowed Friday to continue protests calling for federal charges against Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago police officer released from a state prison Thursday after serving less than half of his nearly seven-year sentence for killing Black teenager Laquan McDonald.
The group speaking at a church on the city's South Side included eight people arrested Thursday inside the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago for violating the chief judge's order for demonstrations. Their arrests followed a larger protest outside the building.
William Calloway, a community organizer among those arrested Thursday, said the group linked arms, chanted and refused to leave as a planned act of civil disobedience before U.S. Marshals took them into custody.
“We are willing to sacrifice our freedom in the name of justice. And whatever we have to do to continue this message, whatever we have to do peaceably to get our message heard and to get justice for Laquan McDonald, that’s what we are willing to do,” Calloway said.
Calloway said the group of nine people arrested together were in custody for several hours, appeared before a federal judge and were released Thursday.
Van Dyke's conviction made him the first Chicago officer in about half a century to be found guilty of murder for an on-duty killing. But local organizations argued that his sentence and subsequent early release for good behavior was another sign of inequity in the criminal justice system.
“We have to set the standard,” said Ja'Mal Green, a former mayoral candidate who was among those arrested. “We need federal charges so that other officers understand that if you be like Jason Van Dyke, you will be prosecuted on a state level and a federal level.”
The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, on Tuesday also urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke in McDonald's death.
The Department of Justice did not comment this week on the written request addressed to Garland. Messages seeking comment from the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago on Friday weren’t immediately returned.
Civil rights charges filed against law enforcement officers are rare, largely because prosecutors must prove that they willfully violated an alleged victim's civil rights. That's a higher bar than an accident, negligence or poor judgment.
One high-profile example began last month in Minnesota, where three former Minneapolis officers who were with Derek Chauvin during the arrest that led to George Floyd’s killing are accused of violating Floyd's civil rights by failing to step in.
Kina Collins, who is running for the Illinois congressional seat long held by Democrat Rep. Danny Davis, was among those arrested Thursday. On Friday, Collins referenced national Democrats' public shows of support for Black Lives Matter and other protest movements and said Van Dyke's release was an opportunity for them to take genuine action.
“Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden ... Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, we want y'all all to come out,” Collins said. "Because in 2020, Black folks in this country did not make an excuse. We showed up to the polls. Now we're asking you to show up for us.”
___
Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Michael Tarm contributed.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Chicago-activists-want-federal-charges-for-Jason-16832821.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:16
|
en
| 0.971449
|
Luxembourg asks Lebanon for information on central bank chief's finances -Lebanese source
A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary confirmed to Reuters in November https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/luxembourg-judicial-authorities-open-criminal-case-related-lebanon-central-bank-2021-11-15 it had opened "a criminal case" in relation to Salameh and his companies and assets, declining to provide further information at the time. A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary and Lebanon's justice minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Lebanon received a letter from Luxembourg authorities asking for information relating to Lebanon Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh's bank accounts and assets, a senior Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Reuters.
The source did not elaborate. A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary confirmed to Reuters in November https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/luxembourg-judicial-authorities-open-criminal-case-related-lebanon-central-bank-2021-11-15 it had opened "a criminal case" in relation to Salameh and his companies and assets, declining to provide further information at the time.
A spokesperson for Luxembourg's judiciary and Lebanon's justice minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. When asked for comment, Salameh told Reuters the request for cooperation was a "normal procedure" not a "legal suit."
"If they had filed a legal suit they don't need help in the investigation," he said. Salameh denied reports that he had been charged by Luxembourg authorities, and said both Switzerland and France had previously requested similar cooperation from Lebanon.
A spokesperson for the French embassy in Lebanon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Swiss attorney general’s office last year said it had requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of a probe into "aggravated money laundering" and possible embezzlement of more than $300 million under Salameh at the central bank.
France and Liechtenstein have also opened probes into alleged money laundering in relation to Salameh.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- France
- Switzerland
- Salameh
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Lebanese
- Lebanon
- French
- Swiss
- Riad Salameh
ALSO READ
U.S. Treasury imposes more sanctions on Lebanese individuals -website
U.S. Treasury imposes more sanctions on Hezbollah-linked Lebanese individuals
Lebanon draft budget applies range of FX rates, official source says
Penny pinching and power cuts; Lebanon's middle class squeezed by crisis
FACTBOX-How bad is Lebanon's economic meltdown?
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1910988-luxembourg-asks-lebanon-for-information-on-central-bank-chiefs-finances--lebanese-source
| 2022-02-04T23:16:18
|
en
| 0.950945
|
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bipartisan group of two dozen former South Carolina federal prosecutors are offering their “wholehearted support” for Judge Michelle Childs’ nomination to an appellate court, an elevation that's on hold due to Childs' consideration for an even higher post — the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Not only is Judge Childs fair to all lawyers, but she treats criminal defendants and victims with the utmost respect,” the attorneys wrote in a letter, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Sen. Chuck Grassley, the panel's ranking Republican.
“Her professionalism and kindness have been a model for several recent federal judicial appointments in South Carolina, and she is admired throughout the state bar.”
President Joe Biden has nominated Childs, currently a judge on South Carolina's federal court, for a post on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, an appellate court often seen as a springboard to the U.S. Supreme Court.
She had been slated to appear before senators earlier this week, but the confirmation hearing was put off indefinitely following the White House’s confirmation that Childs was under consideration for a coming U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, due to the impending retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
Childs has been a federal judge in South Carolina for more than a decade. In December 2020, just a month after Biden's victory, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn recommended her for the D.C. appellate court. Last week, Clyburn told reporters the move had been an intentional one, so as to position Childs for the highest court.
The White House has said it intends to name a pick by the end of this month. Potential nominees are defined by Biden’s election-year pledge that he would nominate a Black woman, with early discussions centering on a handful of names. Those include California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer clerk now on the D.C. appellate court.
But there has been focus on Childs due to advocacy from Clyburn, the highest ranking Black leader in Congress. The top Biden ally suggested the then-candidate promise to nominate a Black woman as his campaign struggled heading into South Carolina’s 2020 primary. Biden made the pledge at a debate in Charleston, and Clyburn endorsed him shortly thereafter.
Childs also shown the potential for bipartisan appeal in a closely divided Senate. On Sunday, she drew praise from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former Judiciary Committee chairman, who called her a “fair-minded, highly gifted jurist.”
The potential nomination has drawn criticism from the left, mainly over Childs' defense work on employment cases while in private practice before becoming a judge. Childs' defenders have rebutted that critique, saying Childs also represented plaintiffs against employers, doing that and defense work evenhandedly.
Signatories to the letter include Bart Daniel, who served as South Carolina’s top federal prosecutor during the George H.W. Bush administration, and Peter McCoy, who left the post last year after an appointment by Donald Trump. It was also signed by Pete Strom, a Bill Clinton appointee, as well as Bill Nettles, South Carolina’s U.S. Attorney under Barack Obama.
“What we have observed is an unflappable demeanor and a willingness to consider each party’s position fully and fairly before reaching a decision,” the attorneys wrote of Childs’ courtroom manner. “We sign this bipartisan letter because we know these qualities will be brought to bear as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Childs-gets-prosecutors-wholehearted-backing-16833019.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:22
|
en
| 0.964087
|
CPM to support Samajwadi Party in UP polls: Sitaram Yechury
Former Rajya Sabha MP and leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury on Friday said that the CPI (M) will support Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh and will work to mobilise secular forces against the Hindutva agenda.
- Country:
- India
Former Rajya Sabha MP and leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury on Friday said that the CPI (M) will support Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh and will work to mobilise secular forces against the Hindutva agenda. "We will support Samajwadi Party in UP elections. We're only contesting from only four seats in UP. In Punjab, we will support the party that can defeat BJP," Yechury said in a press conference in Delhi.
"...The primary task before us is to defeat BJP. The party will also support joint platforms of united actions of the class and mass organization," he added. "The party shall work for the broadest possible mobilisation of secular forces against Hindutva agenda," he stated.
In Uttar Pradesh, the first phase polling will be held on February 10, the second phase on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3, and the seventh phase on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1910951-cpm-to-support-samajwadi-party-in-up-polls-sitaram-yechury
| 2022-02-04T23:16:26
|
en
| 0.968097
|
Republicans censure Cheney, Kinzinger, call Jan. 6 probe attack on 'legitimate political discourse'
The Republican Party on Friday censured U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for joining Congress' investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat, calling the probe an attack on "legitimate political discourse." Cheney and Kinzinger are the only Republicans on the House of Representatives Jan. 6 select committee. The panel is investigating who -- including people in Trump's circle -- had any role in planning or enabling the worst assault on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812.
The resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger, approved at a Republican National Committee meeting in Salt Lake City, accused them of "participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse." Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol that day, smashing windows, assaulting police officers and sending lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for their lives after Trump made a fiery speech repeating his false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud.
Friday's vote was dramatically different in tone from a statement the Republican National Committee released the day of the attack, when it said "these violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles." RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Friday's resolution targeted the Jan. 6 committee probe, which has subpoenaed a range of politicians and Trump White House aides as it tries to piece together their role in events leading to the assault.
"Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol," she said. She said she "condemned violence on both sides of the aisle." The resolution passed on a voice vote as 168 members of the RNC gathered for their winter meeting. The yes votes were overwhelming, with a handful of nays, according to reporters at the meeting.
Cheney and Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection, and joined the seven Democrats on the panel investigating the attack. The resolution said Cheney and Kinzinger have damaged Republican efforts to win back majorities in Congress.
The measure said the RNC will "immediately cease any and all support of them" as party members, but stops short of calling for their ouster from the party, as initially proposed. The committee uses some of its funds to help support Republican candidates in their campaigns. Trump, who retains a strong grip over his party as the Nov. 8 midterm congressional elections draw closer, has been on the warpath against Republicans who have taken a stand against him. Republicans are trying to take control of both the House and the Senate from President Joe Biden's Democrats.
'PERSONS OF CONSCIENCE' Both lawmakers issued statements in anticipation of Friday's vote.
"The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy," Cheney said, referring to the hundreds of Trump supporters accused of various crimes in the violent attack. Four people died on Jan. 6, and a Capitol Police officer died the next day. About 140 police officers were injured, and four later died by suicide.
Cheney said she does not recognize those in her party who "abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump, who has endorsed her challenger in the Wyoming Republican primary. Kinzinger, who is not seeking re-election, said he has been a conservative Republican since before Trump entered politics. He vowed to continue "working to fight the political matrix that's led us to this point."
Not all Republicans are lining up against the two. Republican Senator Mitt Romney praised Cheney and Kinzinger as honorable in a Twitter post on Friday. "Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol," he wrote.
At least 71 Republican members of Congress transferred money https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/republican-us-lawmakers-funnel-money-colleagues-who-crossed-trump-2022-02-01 last year to the campaigns of congressional Republicans, including Cheney's, that supported booting Trump from office, a Reuters analysis found. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy came to their defense late Thursday, writing on Twitter, "The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?"
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy did not return a request for comment on the measure. House Republicans in May ejected Cheney from their leadership ranks as punishment for repudiating Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Congress demands all-party delegation led by PM Modi should visit LAC
Congress consulted youth of Uttar Pradesh & their views are reflected in party's 'youth manifesto':Rahul Gandhi.
Youth in Uttar Pradesh need a new vision, only Congress can give that vision to the state: Rahul Gandhi.
Daughter-in-law of Congress leader questions 'party's double standards towards women's rights'
Congress constructed new things for families, this govt builds monuments of national importance: PM Modi
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1910954-republicans-censure-cheney-kinzinger-call-jan-6-probe-attack-on-legitimate-political-discourse
| 2022-02-04T23:16:33
|
en
| 0.964345
|
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The FBI is reviewing the death of a Black teenager who was restrained for more than 30 minutes at a Kansas juvenile detention center, a county official said Friday.
Sedgwick County Commission Chairman David Dennis said he was told by county Sheriff Jeff Easter that the FBI requested all information regarding the death of 17-year-old Cedric Lofton, The Wichita Eagle reported.
“Sedgwick County provided everything that they asked for and will continue to do that,” Dennis said.
Dennis made his comments at a commission meeting that was called after a community task force recommended Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice be asked to review Lofton's death. The FBI is part of the Justice Department.
Lofton died two days after being taken to Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center in Wichita on Sept. 24 after his foster father called authorities seeking help because the teenager was hallucinating.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said last month that the 5-foot-10, 135-pound Lofton assaulted at least one police officer before being taken to the intake center. Lofton walked out of a cell there and struggled with several staff members before he was shackled, put on his stomach and handcuffed, Bennett said.
Staff members eventually realized Lofton had no pulse. They attempted chest compressions and called for emergency personnel to take him to a hospital, where he died two days later.
An autopsy ruled that Lofton's death was a homicide.
Bennett has said the county employees involved in Lofton's death could not be prosecuted under Kansas' self-defense laws because they were protecting themselves. That decision has prompted some state lawmakers to consider revising the law.
County Counselor Mike Pepoon said Friday the federal investigation would not involve any discussion of the state law Bennett cited.
“The FBI and the DOJ could look into civil rights criminal violations, hate crimes, that sort of thing, like they’ve done in other cases,” Pepoon said. “They will not be looking at whether or not anybody violated any of the statues that Marc Bennett was looking at."
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/FBI-reviewing-in-custody-death-of-restrained-16832906.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:35
|
en
| 0.98146
|
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem died from cardiac arrest and “associated effects,” his wife said Friday.
Stenehjem, a former legislator and the state’s longest-serving attorney general, died last week at age 68, just hours after he was found unresponsive taken to a hospital.
“I am deeply grateful for all those who worked tirelessly in Wayne’s time of need, supporting me and the rest of his family throughout the day,” his wife, Beth Bakke Stenehjem, said in a release.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Bismarck Event Center on Thursday to pay tribute to Stenehjem. He was eulogized as a man of integrity, honesty and strong moral principles.
“Wayne devoted his life in service to the State of North Dakota, and I am touched by the number of people who have let me know how much he meant to them,” Bakke Stenehjem said.
Stenehjem had announced last month that he would not seek another term, saying he wanted to spend more time traveling and with his family.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Family-State-attorney-general-died-from-cardiac-16833041.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:41
|
en
| 0.989226
|
China says US should do more to reduce North Korea tensions
China's U.N. ambassador said Friday the United States should come up with “more attractive and more practical” policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to the “vicious circle” of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.
Zhang Jun said the solution lies in direct dialogue, and if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough “they should show more sincerity and flexibility.” He told reporters before heading into closed consultations of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States following North Korea's most recent test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam that “what I see is the key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States.” Asked what else the United States should do since it has already said it is prepared to talk with North Korea, the Chinese ambassador pointed to talks between former U.S. president Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore and Hanoi.
“We have seen the suspension of the nuclear test, we have seen the suspension of the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles” by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name, he said. “And then what has been done by the U.S.?” Zhang said the Biden administration should be asked “in what way they can accommodate the concerns of DPRK ... to really bring tension down and then to put things under control.” The Chinese ambassador called this “a critical moment” and said all concerned parties, including Security Council members, “should stay prudent in words and actions'' and avoid further escalation of tensions.
“We have seen a vicious circle -- confrontation, condemnation, sanctions, and then coming back to condemnation, confrontation and sanctions again,” Zhang said. “So, what will be the end?” He said that's why China and Russia tabled a draft U.N. Security Council resolution in November that would lift some sanctions against North Korea.
“We do not think that draft resolution will solve all the problems,” Zhang said. “But then, at least we are doing something in facilitating the further improvement and avoiding the escalation of the tension.” Asked whether the Security Council should respond to the nine missile launches by the DPRK in January -- the most ever -- the Chinese ambassador said council members are still consulting.
“The question is in what way we can keep the situation under control and avoiding the escalation, the further escalation, the out-of-control of the situation and avoiding going back to a vicious circle,” he said. “That's the point.” Zhang said the answer lies in the hands of the United States.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
Malaysia resumes ticket sales for quarantine-free travel to Singapore
U.S. charges Belarus officials with aircraft piracy over diverted Ryanair flight
Mexico power bill in U.S. sights as Granholm makes case for renewables
Japan and U.S. to start new '2 plus 2' dialogue for economic issues -Kyodo
Top diplomats for U.S., Russia meet in Geneva on soaring Ukraine tensions
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1910957-china-says-us-should-do-more-to-reduce-north-korea-tensions
| 2022-02-04T23:16:41
|
en
| 0.95489
|
ATLANTA (AP) — Tax collections continue to roll into Georgia's state coffers, supporting Gov. Brian Kemp's plan for a big boost in spending and a possible tax cut.
Figures released Friday show Georgia's general fund collected $17.8 billion through Jan. 31. That's $2.7 billion, or 18%, ahead of last year's pace. Through the first seven months of the 2022 budget year, the state is on pace to collect $30.5 billion, more than $3 billion above the $27.3 billion that lawmakers designated for spending.
Individual income taxes are running 16% ahead of last year through seven months, while corporate income taxes are running 32% ahead. Sales taxes are running 18% ahead. The state economist warned last month that big year-over-year increases are likely to abate in coming months, as revenue begins to be compared to months in which the state economy was more robust than in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kemp has proposed boosting spending for the current budget year, which ends June 30, by more than $4 billion. That includes using $1.6 billion from last year's surplus to give state income tax rebates — $250 to every single person filing state income taxes, $375 to every single person heading a household and $500 to married people filing jointly. Kemp also wants to make one-time payments of $2,000 to teachers, $5,000 to state employees and $1,000 to other K-12 workers including school bus drivers, part-time employees and cafeteria workers. Finally, Kemp wants to restore full funding to the state's K-12 and university funding formulas.
The governor proposes converting those one-time payments to annual raises and continuing the funding restorations in the budget year beginning July 1, when he wants to spend more than $30 billion in state revenue.
Republicans are also eyeing plans to cut state taxes. Republican state senators contending for higher office have proposed eliminating Georgia's income tax entirely. Republican House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge has rejected that plan, but has said he wants to make a more incremental tax cut. Kemp has said he wants to work with Ralston on a tax cut.
The state finished the 2021 budget year with a $2.35 billion surplus even after the state’s rainy day fund was filled to the legal limit of $4.3 billion.
Georgia’s budget pays to educate 1.7 million K-12 students and 435,000 college students, house 45,000 state prisoners, pave 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) of highways and care for more than 200,000 people who are mentally ill, developmentally disabled or addicted to drugs or alcohol.
|
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Georgia-state-tax-revenue-bonanza-continues-16833008.php
| 2022-02-04T23:16:47
|
en
| 0.964954
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.