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###CLAIM: the teenager inside the car, who was later arrested by police along with two others, fled the scene shortly afterwards, the allegations said.
###DOCS: Two families have been left distraught after a toddler died when she was hit by a four wheel drive outside a townhouse complex in Sydney's west. The one-year-old girl was struck on a driveway on Kent Street in Blacktown at about 7.30pm on Tuesday. She was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to Westmead Children's hospital where she was pronounced dead. The 40-year-old man driving the car, who is neighbours with the victim and her family, was treated for shock and later taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing. A one-year-old girl has died after she was struck by a four wheel drive in the driveway of a townhouse complex on Kent Street in Blacktown (pictured)The victim's family have pleaded to the public to show the driver compassion after the terrible accident. 'We are close family friends and he parked his car here and drove around the hedge and that is where it happened,' the victims grandmother told The Daily Telegraph. 'He was in the drivers seat just paused and chatting to (the little girls mother) and I dont know where she came from but she was at the front of the car and neither of them knew. 'He thought he ran over a toy.' The young girl's grandmother said the family are very close with the driver and his family, holding regular games nights and celebrating Father's Day together in September. She had the driver has been left devastated by the incident. The victim's grandmother said the driver of the car has been left distraught after the accident. Pictured: a toy bike at the scene'He is absolutely distraught. His whole world is over. His little girl is two weeks older than one of our grandchildren. Most weekends they are sitting here playing Play Doh and chalk drawing,' she said. The victim's grandmother remembered the little girl as a happy and cheeky child who loved to dance. She said her daughter was broken after the accident and was yet to share the horrible news with the extended family. A crime scene was established at the scene and police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. A report will be prepared for the coroner. A toddler has died after she was hit by a car outside a townhouse complex in Sydney's west. The one-year-old girl was struck on a driveway on Kent Street, Blacktown, at about 7.30pm on Tuesday. She was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to Westmead Children's hospital where she was pronounced dead. The one-year-old girl was allegedly struck and killed when she was hit in the building's driveway on Kent Street, Blacktown (pictured) in Sydney's western suburbsThe 40-year-old man driving the car was treated for shock and later taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing. A crime scene was established and police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. A report will be prepared for Coroner. | 2 |
###CLAIM: christman said the challenge comes when you ban plastic, but because of this not much really accomplishes. the alternative may be re-useable.
###DOCS: (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a rush for plastic. From Wuhan to New York, demand for face shields, gloves, takeaway food containers and bubble wrap for online shopping has surged. Since most of that cannot be recycled, so has the waste. But there is another consequence. The pandemic has intensified a price war between recycled and new plastic, made by the oil industry. Its a war recyclers worldwide are losing, price data and interviews with more than two dozen businesses across five continents show. I really see a lot of people struggling, Steve Wong, CEO of Hong-Kong based Fukutomi Recycling and chairman of the China Scrap Plastics Association told Reuters in an interview. They dont see a light at the end of the tunnel.The reason: Nearly every piece of plastic begins life as a fossil fuel. The economic slowdown has punctured demand for oil. In turn, that has cut the price of new plastic. Already since 1950, the world has created 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste, 91% of which has never been recycled, according to a 2017 study published in the journal Science. Most is hard to recycle, and many recyclers have long depended on government support. New plastic, known to the industry as virgin material, can be half the price of the most common recycled plastic. Since COVID-19, even drinks bottles made of recycled plastic the most commonly recycled plastic item have become less viable. The recycled plastic to make them is 83% to 93% more expensive than new bottle-grade plastic, according to market analysts at the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS). The pandemic hit as politicians in many countries promised to wage war on waste from single-use plastics. China, which used to import more than half the worlds traded plastic waste, banned imports of most of it in 2018. The European Union plans to ban many single-use plastic items from 2021. The U.S. Senate is considering a ban on single-use plastic and may introduce legal recycling targets. Plastic, most of which does not decompose, is a significant driver of climate change. The manufacture of four plastic bottles alone releases the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of driving one mile in a car, according to the World Economic Forum, based on a study by the drinks industry. The United States burns six times more plastic than it recycles, according to research in April 2019 by Jan Dell, a chemical engineer and former vice chair of the U.S. Federal climate committee. But the coronavirus has accentuated a trend to create more, not less, plastic trash. The oil and gas industry plans to spend around $400 billion over the next five years on plants to make raw materials for virgin plastic, according to a study in September by Carbon Tracker, an energy think tank. This is because, as a growing fleet of electric vehicles and improved engine efficiency reduce fuel demand, the industry hopes rising demand for new plastic can assure future growth in demand for oil and gas. It is counting on soaring use of plastic-based consumer goods by millions of new middle-class consumers in Asia and elsewhere. Over the next few decades, population and income growth are expected to create more demand for plastics, which help support safety, convenience and improved living standards, ExxonMobil spokeswoman Sarah Nordin told Reuters. Most companies say they share concerns about plastic waste and are supporting efforts to reduce it. However, their investments in these efforts are a fraction of those going into making new plastic, Reuters found. Reuters surveyed 12 of the largest oil and chemicals firms globally BASF, Chevron, Dow, Exxon, Formosa Plastics, INEOS, LG Chem, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical, SABIC, Shell and Sinopec. Only a handful gave details of how much they are investing in waste reduction. Three declined to comment in detail or did not respond. Most said they channel their efforts through a group called the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which is also backed by consumer goods companies, and which has pledged $1.5 billion over the next five years on that effort. Its 47 members, most of whom are in the plastics industry, had combined annual revenue of almost $2.5 trillion last year, according to a Reuters tally of company results. In total, commitments by the Alliance and the companies surveyed amounted to less than $2 billion over five years, or $400 million a year, the Reuters survey found. Thats a fraction of their sales. Plans to invest so heavily in new plastic are quite a concerning move, said Lisa Beauvilain, Head of Sustainability at Impax Asset Management, a fund with $18.5 billion under management. Countries with often undeveloped waste management and recycling infrastructure will be ill-equipped to handle even larger volumes of plastic waste, she said. We are literally drowning in plastics.Since the coronavirus struck, recyclers worldwide told Reuters, their businesses have shrunk, by more than 20% in Europe, by 50% in parts of Asia and as much as 60% for some firms in the United States. Greg Janson, whose St. Louis, Missouri, recycling company QRS has been in business for 46 years, says his position would have been unimaginable a decade ago: The United States has become one of the cheapest places to make virgin plastic, so more is coming onto the market. The pandemic exacerbated this tsunami, he said. The oil and chemicals companies that Reuters surveyed said plastic can be part of the solution to global challenges related to a growing population. Six said they were also developing new technologies to reuse waste plastic. Some said other packaging products can cause more emissions than plastics; because plastic is light, it is indispensable for the worlds consumers and can help reduce emissions. A few called on governments to improve waste management infrastructure. Higher production capacities do not necessarily mean more plastic waste pollution, said a spokesman at BASF SE of Germany, the worlds biggest chemicals producer, adding that it has been innovating for many years in packaging materials to reduce the resources required. The new plastic wave is breaking on shores across the globe. MAKE PLASTICRichard Pontillas, 33, runs a family-owned sari-sari or sundries store in Quezon City, the most populous metropolis in the Philippines. The liquid goods he sells used to be packaged in glass. Many customers, in fact, brought in their own bottles to be refilled. Merchants like him are among key targets for the plastic industry, looking to extend a trend established after 1907, when Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite. Since World War Two, mass-produced plastic has fuelled economic growth and spawned a new era of consumerism and convenience packaging. Many years ago ... we relied on goods repackaged in bottles and plastic bags, said Pontillas, whose store sells rice, condiments and sachets of coffee, chocolate drink and seasonings. Today, thousands of small-scale vendors in the developing world stock daily goods in plastic pouches, or sachets, which hang in strips from the roofs of roadside shacks and cost a few cents a go. Already, 164 million such sachets are used every day in the Philippines, according to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, an NGO. Thats nearly 60 billion a year. Consumer goods firms including Nestle and P&G say they are working hard to make their packaging either recyclable or reusable. For example, P&G said it has a project in schools in the Manila region which aims to collect one million sachets for upcycling.But sachets are very difficult to recycle. They are just one form of pollution that the pandemic is adding to, clogging drains, polluting water, suffocating marine life and attracting rodents and disease-carrying insects. So are face masks, which are made partly from plastic. In March, China used 116 million of them 12 times more than in February, official data show. Total production of masks in China is expected to exceed 100 billion in 2020, according to a report by Chinese consultancy iiMedia Research. The United States generated an entire years worth of medical waste in two months at the height of the pandemic, according to another consultancy, Frost & Sullivan. Even as the waste mounts, much is at stake for the oil industry. Exxon forecasts that demand for petrochemicals will rise by 4% a year over the next few decades, the company said in an investor presentation in March. And oils share of energy for transport will fall from more than 90% in 2018 to just under 80% or as low as 20% by 2050, BP Plc said in its annual market report in September. Slideshow ( 5 images )Oil companies worry that environmental concerns may blunt petrochemical growth. The U.N. said last year that 127 countries have adopted bans or other laws to manage plastic bags. BPs chief economist Spencer Dale said in 2018 that global plastic bans could result in 2 million barrels per day of lower oil demand growth by 2040 around 2% of current daily demand. The company declined further comment. USE PLASTICThis year alone, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BASF have announced petrochemical plant investments in China worth a combined $25 billion, tapping into rising demand for consumer goods in the worlds most populous country. An additional 176 new petrochemical plants are planned in the next five years, of which nearly 80% will be in Asia, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie says. In the United States since 2010, energy companies have invested more than $200 billion in 333 plastic and other chemical projects, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), an industry body. Those investments have come as the U.S. industry sought to capitalise on a sudden abundance of cheap natural gas released by the shale revolution. The industry says disposable plastics have saved lives. Single-use plastics have been the difference between life and death during this pandemic, Tony Radoszewski, president and CEO of the Plastic Industry Association (PLASTICS), the industrys lobbying group in the United States, told Reuters. Bags for intravenous solutions and ventilators require single-use plastics, he said. Hospital gowns, gloves and masks are made from safe, sanitary plastic.Slideshow ( 5 images )In March, PLASTICS wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, calling for a rollback of plastic bag bans on health grounds. It said plastic bags are safer because germs live on reusable bags and other substances. Researchers led by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a U.S. government agency, found later that month that the coronavirus was still active on plastic after 72 hours, compared with up to 24 hours on cardboard and copper. The industrys letter was part of a long-standing campaign for single-use material. The ACCs managing director for plastics, Keith Christman, said the chemicals lobby is opposed to plastic bans because it believes consumers would switch to using other disposable materials like glass and paper, rather than reusing bags and bottles. The challenge comes when you ban plastic but the alternative might not be a reusable product ... so it really wouldnt accomplish much, Christman said. Plastic makes up 80% of marine debris, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global alliance backed by governments, NGOs and companies including Shell, which is also a member of the ACC. Plastic pollution has been shown to be deadly to turtles, whales and baby seals and releases chemicals that we inhale, ingest or touch that cause a wide range of harms including hormonal disruption and cancer, the United Nations says. RECYCLE? Plastic recyclers have faced new problems in the pandemic. Demand for recycled material from packaging businesses fell by 20% to 30% in Europe in the second quarter compared with the previous year, ICIS says. At the same time, people who stayed at home created more recycling waste, said Sandra Castro, CEO of Extruplas, a Portuguese recycling firm which transforms recycled plastics into outdoor furniture. There are many recycling companies that may not be able to cope, she said. We need the industry to be able to provide a solution to the waste we produce.In the United States, QRSs Janson said that for two months after the pandemic lockdowns, his orders were down 60% and he dropped his prices by 15%. And the pandemic has added to costs for big consumer companies that use recycled plastic. The Coca-Cola Co told Reuters in September it missed a target to get recycled plastic into half its UK packaging by early 2020 due to COVID-19 delays. The company said it hopes now to meet that by November. Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo have been the worlds top three plastic polluters for two years running, according to a yearly brand audit by Break Free From Plastic, an NGO. These companies have for decades made voluntary goals to increase recycled plastic in their products. They have largely failed to meet them. Coke and Nestle said it can be hard to get the plastic they need from recycled sources. We often pay more for recycled plastic than we would if we purchased virgin plastic, a Nestle spokesperson said, adding that investment in recycled material was a company priority. Asked how much they were investing in recycling and waste cleanup programmes, the three companies named initiatives totalling $215 million over a seven-year period. At current investment levels in recycling, brands will not meet their targets, analysts at ICIS and Wood Mackenzie say. TOSSEven if existing recycling pledges are met, the plastic going into the oceans is on course to rise from 11 million tonnes now to 29 million by 2040, according to a study published in June by Pew Trusts, an independent public interest group. Cumulatively, this would reach 600 million tonnes the weight of 3 million blue whales. In response to mounting public concerns, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste says it will partner existing small-scale NGOs that clean up waste in developing countries. One venture, which helps women earn money from selling plastic scrap in Ghana, says it has successfully diverted 35 tonnes of plastic from becoming litter since March 2017. Thats less than 0.01% of the annual plastic waste generated in Ghana, or 2% of the plastic waste that the United States exported to Ghana last year, according to World Bank and U.S. trade data. We do realise change wont happen overnight, said Alliance president and CEO Jacob Duer. What is important for us is that our projects are not seen as the end, but the beginning.In the Philippines, Vietnam and India, as much as 80% of the recycling industry was not operating during the height of the pandemic. And there was a 50% drop in demand for recycled plastic on average across South and Southeast Asia, according to Circulate Capital, a Singapore-based investor in Asian recycling operations. The combination of the impact of COVID-19 and low oil prices is like a double whammy for plastic recycling, said Circulates CEO, Rob Kaplan. Were seeing massive disruption. | 0 |
###CLAIM: he said the real consequence of the shift in sentiment was that workers from myanmar -- previously known as burma -- were blocked from buses, motorcycle meters and offices.
###DOCS: BANGKOK (Reuters) - Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down, read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar. FILE PHOTO: Migrant workers stand in front of a closed shrimp market, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Samut Sakhon province, in Thailand, December 20, 2020. REUTERS/Athit PerawongmethaThe outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a flare-up in such online hate speech as well as questions over the treatment of millions of migrant workers in traditionally tolerant Thailand. Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesnt discriminate, said Sompong Srakaew of the Labor Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers. Shifting sentiment had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices. One of the many incendiary comments on social media seen by Reuters called for infected migrant workers to remain untreated and punishment for people that brought them into Thailand. The rhetoric reflects a global pattern since the start of the pandemic of foreigners being blamed for spreading the virus. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha this week said illegal immigration was behind the outbreak in a country that had brought COVID-19 under control, although Thailands virus task force appealed for sympathy for immigrants. The independent Social Media Monitoring for Peace group told Reuters it found hundreds of comments classified as hate speech on YouTube with others on Facebook and Twitter. The comments included racist language aimed at triggering discrimination and promoting nationalism, said the groups Saijai Liangpunsakul. Were concerned that online discrimination could translate into further discrimination and even lead to real-world violence.After Reuters flagged some posts, Facebook said it had removed several for violating hate speech policies. We know that hate speech targeted towards vulnerable communities can be the most harmful, a Facebook spokesperson said, saying its technology detected 95% of hate speech. Facebook came under heavy criticism for the role it played in spreading hate speech that fuelled violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2017 and has since invested in systems that can rapidly detect and remove such content. Twitter said it was looking into the issue. YouTube did not respond to requests for comment. Not all the social media traffic has been negative, with some Thais defending the Myanmar workers. Government spokespeople in Thailand and Myanmar did not respond immediately to requests for comment on hate speech. REALLY SADThe outbreak was first detected last week at a shrimp market at Samut Sakhon, barely 35 km (20 miles) from central Bangkok. Since then nearly 1,300 infections linked to the market have been found while thousands of people have been quarantined. We feel really sad that we Myanmar workers are being blamed, said Nay Lin Thu, a 35-year-old worker from Myanmar who has now volunteered to help others. We are told this happened because of you Myanmar. Mostly we do not respond but some of us couldnt contain their anger.Officially, Thailand has nearly 1.6 million workers from Myanmar, almost two-thirds of all migrant workers, but the real figure is higher because of illegal immigration. Most migrants are labourers or work in service industries. Thai people wont take the jobs they are doing, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, of Thailands COVID-19 taskforce said as he pleaded for tolerance in a televised broadcast. Today they are our family... Both Myanmar and Thai people are Buddhists.Thailand has traditionally been seen as tolerant of foreigners, but a historic enmity has been revived on social media with references to the 18th century destruction by Burmese forces of Ayutthaya, capital of what was then known as Siam. Myanmar has suffered a much more severe outbreak of coronavirus, with over 2,500 dead from nearly 120,000 confirmed cases compared with 60 fatalities from over 5,800 cases in Thailand. How the new cases first appeared in Thailand is unclear. Similar outbreaks among migrant workers living close together in Malaysia and Singapore showed how the virus can spread undetected among healthy young people who show few symptoms. It was first detected in a 67-year-old woman. Although Thailand reported few local transmissions in recent months, Myanmar had detected cases in citizens returning form Thailand. Our judgement is that silent carriers have been present in Thailand, said Sein Htay of the Yangon-based Migrant Worker Rights Network. Living conditions for Myanmar workers are difficult for social distancing with three or four to a room.Despite the accusations against Myanmar workers of crossing the border illegally, Thais have done so too. A previous coronavirus scare flared recently when several Thai women returned home, some using illegal border crossings, after an outbreak at the nightlife spot where they worked in Myanmar. | 0 |
###CLAIM: andi and robertson, race spokesman, said the 36-year-old vendee - globe rookie clearly has what it takes.
###DOCS: 3 Months And 24,000 Miles Later, Vendee Globe Competitors Complete RaceAfter sailing 24,000 miles nonstop in a nearly three-month journey, competitors in the Vendee Globe an around-the-world solo yacht race are expected to finish at a French port on Wednesday. AILSA CHANG, HOST:An exciting end tonight to the world's toughest sailing race as the leading boats cross the line in an unusually close finish. The solo nonstop race around the world is ending where it began, on the western coast of France, 80 days and more than 24,000 miles ago. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports. ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: French sailor Charlie Dalin was the first to arrive in the port of Les Sables-d'Olonne on France's Atlantic coast. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Charlie. Charlie. BEARDSLEY: As he took his first steps on land in 2 1/2 months, fans screamed out his name, and cameras snapped away. His arrival into the Bay of Biscay in the dark was broadcast on the French nightly news and streamed online. Dalin crossed the finish line in 80 days, six hours, 15 minutes and 47 seconds. Andi Robertson, a spokesman for the race, said the 36-year-old Vendee Globe rookie clearly has what it takes. ANDI ROBERTSON: I think self-reliance is the primary requirement and obviously substantial ocean racing experience. And it tends to be the absolute pinnacle of a solo ocean racer's career. BEARDSLEY: The grueling conditions of the race took their toll. Eight skippers were forced to drop out after their yachts were damaged. One sailor's boat was split in half during a storm off the Cape of Good Hope. Andi Robertson. ROBERTSON: It's about avoiding the worst of the big winds with - in this race, we've seen 50 to 60 knots at times and use the best of the systems to go fast. BEARDSLEY: This is the most competitive race since the Vendee Globe began in 1989. Nine of the top boats are racing to the finish within 600 miles of each other. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: (Speaking French). BEARDSLEY: French commentators said the sailors were arriving in a pack as if they'd been out on a little excursion, not 80 days around the planet. Just because Dalin crossed the line first doesn't mean he'll win. Three other skippers close behind him have time bonuses after rescuing that sailor whose boat split in two. So the winner won't be known until their final times are in. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. Copyright 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | 0 |
###CLAIM: the entire home was transformed into a terrifying spiderweb complete with giant cobwebs covering the property entrance.
###DOCS: Kanye West has unveiled a new promotional video for his Yeezy Christian Academy. The 43-year-old rapper launched the school last week after announcing in September that its five 'founding pillars' were 'faith, music, communication, collaboration, and creativity.' The post discusses what is expected of faculty and students at the school. West has also shared clips from what appears to be inside the academy, telling fans he was 'food tasting the new menu there'. The blue walls of the school look to be covered in graffiti. Details about how the academy will run are vague, however, and there is no information about whether it is a fully certified institution. It is also not clear if the school will be open to the public or where it is based; any costs have also not been disclosed. A press release for the academy simply calls it Kanye's 'latest initiative for education,' Page Six reports. Kanye West has released a promotional video for his Yeezy Christian Academy which opened last week. The clip features daughter North, son Saint, nephew Mason Disick and niece Penelope DisickThe 43-year-old rapper launched the school last week after announcing in September that its five 'founding pillars' were 'faith, music, communication, collaboration, and creativity'Despite the lack of information surrounding how the academy will work Kanye marked his announcement by sharing a video starring some of the youngest members of his family wearing the school's blue uniform. The clip shows a group of children, including Kanye's daughter North, seven, son Saint, four, nephew Mason Disick, 10, and niece Penelope Disick, eight, wearing outfits with the letters 'YCA' on the front of their T-shirts. In a montage the kids repeat the academy's mantra 'Dear Future, I still believe in you.' Looking into the camera, the children say the words 'Dear Future, I still believe in you. We still believe in you. We believe in our families,'In our future, we will heal. Our future has homes for everyone. Our future has food for everyone. Our future has love. Jesus loves everyone. Let's lead with love! Our future is waiting on us!' Project: Details about the academy are vague, however, there is no information about whether it is a fully certified institution and it's not clear if the school will be open to the publicThe Future: The clip shows a group of children wearing blue outfits with the letters 'YCA' on the front of their T-shirtsTogether: In a montage the kids repeat the academy's mantra 'Dear Future, I still believe in you.' Kanye had already teased the academy with earlier tweets showing a kitchen set up. He wrote: 'Food tasting at YCA new menu going yaezeeeeeeeer.' Sharing the five founding pillars of the school in September Kanye said 'everything in the school exudes Christianity, all faculty share the faith.' His post also said: 'Students will learn how to create and sing.' They will also 'learn how to communicate in the 21st century' and how to 'collaborate' with one another on projects. It also quotes Walt Disney: 'Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.' Hopeful: The children say the words 'Dear Future, I still believe in you. We still believe in you. We believe in our families,'Joining in: Saint, four, is also seen saying the words 'Jesus loves everyone'Kanye had already teased the academy with earlier tweets showing a kitchen set up. He wrote: 'Food tasting at YCA new menu going yaezeeeeeeeer'A press release for the academy simply calls it Kanye's 'latest initiative for education'The blue walls of the school look to be covered in graffiti, left; Artwork shared by Kanye and thought to have been created at the school, rightMeanwhile, Kanye, who is a write-in presidential candidate, will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on the night following the election. The rapper, who launched his own presidential bid in July, will appear on Wednesdays episode of the late night talk show. Over the weekend, Kanye and wife Kim Kardashian turned their home into a giant spider to celebrate Halloween on Saturday. The 40-year-old reality star opted transformed her entire home into a terrifying spider, complete with a giant cobweb that covered the entrance to her property. In a video posted to her Instagram Reels, Kim explained: 'So since Halloween was canceled and theres no trick-or-treating or parties, I wanted my house to be really festive for the kids so we ... its actually kind of my biggest nightmare to have a huge tarantula in my house, but wait until you see inside. 'How we transformed it into a full spider web experience ...'Kim went on to show off the impressive decoration, which saw a portion of her sprawling estate have every inch covered in cobwebs to make it look like a spooky spider's lair. Scary: Meanwhile, Kanye and wife Kim Kardashian turned their home into a giant spider to celebrate Halloween on SaturdayYikes! The 40-year-old reality star opted transformed her entire home into a terrifying spider, complete with a giant cobweb that covered the entrance to her property Kanye West released the first trailer showcasing his Yeezy Christian Academy (YCA) last week. The video features his daughter North, 7, and son Saint, 4, as well as his nephew Mason Disick, 10, and niece Penelope Disick, 8, wearing blue YCA T-shirts. In the trailer, the children said, Dear Future, I still believe in you. We still believe in you. We believe in our families.In our future, we will heal. Our future has homes for everyone. Our future has food for everyone. Our future has love. Jesus loves everyone. Let's lead with love! Our future is waiting on us! the kids say at the end of the video. KANYE WEST REACTS TO JENNIFER ANISTON TELLING VOTERS NOT TO VOTE FOR HIMIn the video, there appeared to be a blue graffiti wall, a piano, toys and a skate ramp for the children. In September, West, 43, said he would start a school based on the founding pillars of faith, music, communication, collaboration and creativity. Its unclear if the YCA is a certified educational program or how enrollment works. KANYE WEST TELLS JOE ROGAN THAT HE WAS INSPIRED BY GOD TO BE THE 'LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD'A press release obtained by Page Six called it Wests latest initiative for education.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHis YCA announcement comes on the heels of West's final pleas for fans to write him on the ballot as a 2020 presidential candidate. | 3 |
###CLAIM: an imminent meeting of the executive board with klain is expected and will be followed by a larger meeting of transition officials.
###DOCS: New Biden Covid czar got a Wikipedia makeover Presented by InstagramWelcome to POLITICOs 2020 Transition Playbook, your guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. JEFF ZIENTS, the man tapped to lead the Biden administrations Covid-19 response, fell in love with the culture at the management consulting firm Bain & Company. He later founded his own private equity firm, Portfolio Logic. He joined the board of Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. One chief executive on Obamas Jobs Council remarked that he thought Zients, then a top Obama aide, was a Republican. That was the Jeff Zients people read about on Wikipedia. At least, until a few months ago. The Democratic consulting firm Saguaro Strategies scrubbed those details from Zients page this summer and fall as he became a more important figure on Bidens team and was tapped to co-chair the transition. The firm which made the edits using the easily decipherable username Saguarostrat corrected some inaccuracies but its overall goal was to portray Zients as more progressive and remove or massage anything that could be politically damaging. The transition team has declined several of POLITICO requests for interviews with Zients about why he left Facebook. A Saguaro Strategies staffer confirmed the Wikipedia account was linked to the firm but declined to comment further. Asked whether Zients had any knowledge of the changes and if he or someone connected to the Biden campaign hired Saguaro, the Biden transition did not respond. After Transition Playbook reached out, the username was changed to Cactus78910. One user later deleted the TPP section altogether but it didnt appear to be politically motivated. The changes to Zients Wikipedia page are hardly the first example of incoming Biden administration officials attempting to scrub or refurbish their online images, although it is one of the more clumsy. WestExec Advisors, the firm co-founded by Bidens nominee for secretary of State, ANTHONY BLINKEN, that has also employed other incoming administration officials, also deleted mentions of some of their China-related work from their website this summer, just before Biden became the Democratic nominee, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Free Beacon found. The deletions come as both parties have become more hawkish on China. NEERA TANDEN, whom Biden tapped this week as his Office of Management and Budget director, appears to have cleaned up her Twitter feed in advance of her confirmation hearing, deleting more than 1,000 tweets last month, the Daily Beast reported. Apparently a lot of people think #MoscowMitch is a threat, she wrote in a now-deleted tweet using the epithet Democrats threw at Senate Majority Leader MITCH McCONNELL. The rule, as ever: never tweet. (except about Transition Playbook. :-D ). MORE ABOUT THAT COVID CZAR ROLE ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and TYLER PAGER had the scoop on Zients new job as Bidens Covid-19 coordinator. VIVEK MURTHY, will reprise his role as U.S. surgeon general -- but with a broader portfolio that will include acting as the top medical expert and public face of the effort. MARCELLA NUNEZ-SMITH, a co-chair of Bidens Covid-19 advisory board, will also take a key role in the administrations response, focused on health disparities. Are you in touch with Bidens transition team? Do you work in an agency preparing (or not preparing) for the transfer of power? Are you WALLY ADEYEMO? We want to hear from you and well keep you anonymous: [email protected]. You can also reach Alex, Theo, Megan, Alice, Tyler and Daniel individually if you prefer. Dont make us edit your Wikipedia, WALLY! A message from Instagram: Explore 30+ Instagram tools helping teens have positive experiences. Instagrams tools can help parents keep their teens safe on social media, help teens see less sensitive content and help them spend less time on our platform. Because teens' experiences on Instagram should be positive and supportive. Explore our tools and set them up today. Where's JoeAt the Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Del., where he taped an interview with CNN. Where's KamalaWith Biden at the Queen. Pro ExclusiveTRUMP ADMIN ANNOUNCES ANWR OIL LEASE SALE DATE The Trump administration has set a date of Jan. 6 to hold a virtual oil and gas lease sale for acreage in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, BEN LEFEBVRE reports. The remaining articles and infographics in this section are exclusively available to POLITICO Pro subscribers. Pro is a smart, personalized policy intelligence platform from POLITICO. If you are interested in learning more about how POLITICO Pro can support your team through the 2020 transition and beyond, visit this webpage. A message from Instagram:Cabinet RouletteNew Window President-elect Joe Biden formally announces Brian Deese to be the National Economic Council director in a YouTube video. | Screenshot from the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition YouTube channelWatch Biden formally announce Brian Deese as the director of the National Economic Council, as POLITICO reported last week. ITS STILL NOT CLEAR WHO WILL LEAD HHS Just a day after she was deemed the frontrunner to lead the Health and Human Services Department, Rhode Island Gov. GINA RAIMONDO took herself out of contention, ADAM CANCRYN and Alice report. I am not going to be President-elect Bidens nominee for HHS secretary, she said Thursday at a press conference. My focus is right here in Rhode Island.BUT a person in Raimondos orbit tells Alex that she hasnt ruled out non-HHS posts. Raimondos decision further scrambles Bidens search for an HHS secretary. People close to the transition told POLITICO on Wednesday that they viewed Raimondo as a leading contender after New Mexico Gov. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM fell out of favor with Bidens camp. That leak from the transition has not gone over well with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who met with Bidens incoming chief of staff RON KLAIN and transition co-chairs TED KAUFMAN and Zients virtually today, officials tell LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ. Sen.-elect BEN RAY LUJAN (D-N.M.) told transition leaders that public disclosure of Lujan Grishams decision to reject the Interior secretary position and subsequent fall from grace were hurtful. "That's not how family looks after each other," Lujan said. Klain apologized and said he understood and would clamp down on leaks. CHC members have been pushing for a Latino, in particular California Attorney General XAVIER BECERRA, to become attorney general, one of what is considered the Big Four Cabinet posts, along with the Treasury, State, and Defense departments. We dont see it as a Big Four but a Big Six, Klain told them, saying the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services Departments will have equal stature. Rep. NORMA TORRES (D-Calif.) told Laura she saw it as a positive sign that DHS and HHS would be given as much weight and responsibility during a critical time, though it could also be interpreted as an attempt to ease the pressure on Biden as he fills his Cabinet. MORE MEETINGS WITH LAWMAKERS IN THE WORKS: Klain, Zients and Kaufman also plan to meet Monday with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which has expressed similar frustrations to their Latino and Black colleagues. And newly-elected chairwoman of Congressional Black Caucus JOYCE BEATTY (D-Ohio) said members of the CBCs executive board are expecting an imminent meeting with Klain, followed by a larger meeting between transition officials and the full Black Caucus. WALLY ADEYEMO, Bidens pick for deputy Treasury secretary, who is Black, joined the CBCs weekly virtual meeting Thursday to introduce himself to members after many expressed frustration with the Biden teams selections so far. During the meeting, Rep. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-Nev.), the CBCs liaison to the transition team, said theyve compiled a list of more than 100 Day One professionals for lower level posts they will send, according to people on the call. Are we at the end? Definitely not. That would not be acceptable, Beatty told Laura. Near [Bidens] 100 days, we're going to hold him accountable, but Im not going to come in right now saying that we are not pleased with what hes done. Im pleased with his start.WORKING THE PHONES, REACHING ACROSS THE AISLE LILY ESKELSEN GARCIA, the former president of the powerful teachers union National Education Association, has been trying to lock up Republican support in the Senate as she vies to secure the secretary of Education nomination. Over forty Hispanic groups, meanwhile are finalizing a letter to Biden endorsing her for the position, officials tell MICHAEL STRATFORD and Alex. Weve talked with her and gave her advice on how to get bipartisan support, said DAVID CLEARY, chief of staff to Sen. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-Tenn.), the retiring chair of the Senate committee overseeing education. Theres a good argument to be made for Lily, said Cleary, himself a veteran of education policymaking on Capitol Hill. A large swath of GOP lawmakers will likely have reflexive opposition to the head of a teachers union taking over as top education policymaker. But supporters of Eskelsen Garcia see potential votes within reach, including from Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska), who was endorsed by the NEA in each of her last two elections, and Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine). Both broke with Republicans in 2017 to oppose President DONALD TRUMPs pick for Education secretary, BETSY DeVOS. Eskelsen Garcia supporters are also playing up her Utah roots where she was teacher of the year in 1989 as a way to woo potential support from Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah). A transition aide familiar with the process said that Eskelsen Garcias chances have gone up because the rival teachers union leader RANDI WEINGARTEN personally endorsed Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) just ahead of the Super Tuesday presidential primaries and the House Democrats tight majority has made it less likely that someone like Rep. JAHANA HAYES (D-Conn.) would get the nod. Another plus for Eskelsen Garcia: Future First Lady JILL BIDEN is a longstanding member of the NEA, as well. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, the collection of more than 40 Hispanic groups who have coalesced around Eskelsen Garcia, are set to deliver their letter to the Biden team later today or tomorrow. Agenda SettingSome green activists no-compromise stance vis-a-vis Biden and his personnel is causing splits inside the climate movement, ZACK COLMAN reports. What We're ReadingProgressives warn Biden not to pick Flournoy for Defense secretary (The Associated Press)Rep.-elect Jamaal Bowman: Biden hiring Rahm Emanuel would be an affront to the memories of all those who have been murdered by police (The Appeal)Biden wants to move beyond the Trump era. But the Justice Department and New York state might not be so ready to play along (Business Insider)A message from Instagram: Set up supervision on Instagram to help keep your teen safe online. Parents have support when it comes to keeping their teens safe on Instagram. They can see who their teen follows, who follows them and any reports their teen shares once supervision on Family Center is set up. Explore Family Center and set it up today. Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThompEli Stokols @EliStokolsAllie Bice @alliebice | 1 |
###CLAIM: let's take the time to acknowledge that this is a photo from the newcastle police page currently not acknowledging that they published the decision in 2015.
###DOCS: A woman who went viral for an unflattering mugshot ran a bushfire scam worth tens of thousands of dollars. Tiffany-Anne Brislane-Brown slammed police for their choice of photo when issuing a warrant for her arrest in Newcastle, 160km north of Sydney, in January. The 23-year-old has admitted to defrauding a government agency out of $60,000, which was designated for victims impacted by the black summer bushfires. The mother-of-two is awaiting sentencing over the scam at Silverwater Women's Prison and will return to court later this month. A woman who went viral for an unflattering 'trailer trash' mugshot ran a bushfire scam worth tens of thousands of dollarsShe pleaded guilty to six counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception at Belmont Local Court on Wednesday, reported the Daily Telegraph. The court heard her elaborate scam involved registering for financial aid through Service New South Wales using a series of emails and phone numbers. Brislane-Brown manipulated the government to hand over money by claiming she was a small business owner who had been impacted by the bushfires. Between May and April she lodged 24 applications through the bushfire-COVID-19 $10,000 grant scheme. The program was designed to help small businesses across the state experiencing declining revenue connected to the fires and coronavirus restrictions. Tiffany-Anne Brislane-Brown, 23, called out police for their choice of photo when issuing a warrant for her arrest in Newcastle, 160km north of Sydney in JanuaryBut an investigation into fraud offences by New South Wales police exposed the 23-year-old's scam earlier this year. She was arrested on April 30 and charged over unrelated matters before being questioned over the fraud offences. The court heard a later investigation of her phone records proved she was responsible. Receipts were also found showing payment to bank accounts of another ten people. She has now has pleaded guilty to six counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception by scamming money designated for small businesses impacted by the NSW budshfiresThe 23-year-old became famous online after calling out police for posting an unflattering mugshot of her on Facebook. Officers shared the 'most recent image' they had of Tiffany-Anne Brislane, 23, in January as part of a call out by Newcastle City Police for alleged stealing offences. The image from 2015 shows Brislane with her hair up in a bun, a confused look on her face and a tattoo on her collarbone which reads: 'We don't remember days, we remember moments.' Police posted the image in the hope it garner information on her whereabouts. The mother-of-two came across the Facebook post and fired back in the comment section. The mother-of-two came across the police's Facebook post and fired back at some of the comments (pictured)'Loving the photo taken how many years ago. Let's calm down on the comments guys it's not everyday I look like trailer trash. Let's just say it wasn't a good angle,' she commented. Newcastle Police responded: 'Probably time you walk into a police station before we find you.' 'Thanks for the advice like I said youse [sic] will be seeing me bright and early Monday morning with my solicitor. Thanks guys,' she fired back. She then took to her personal Facebook page where she uploaded an 'actual pic of me'. 'Here's an actual pic of me. Let's take the time to acknowledge this is not my current Newcastle police page photo they've decided to upload from 2015,' she wrote. 'Thanks for the advice like I said youse [sic] will be seeing me bright and early Monday morning with my solicitor. Thanks guys,' she once again respondedSome social media users lashed out at others for their comments. 'For Christ's sake I pray none of you ever have a family member or friend in this situation because most of you are just plain downright nasty,' one person wrote. 'This is someones daughter, sister, loved one. Have a heart please.' | 0 |
###CLAIM: reports said tottenham joined the race by signing barcelona 's full-back emerson this summer, facing competition from psg and the milan club.
###DOCS: Tottenham remain interested in signing Emerson, but face competition from a host of sides for the Real Betis defender according to reports in Spain. The right back is part-owned by Barcelona and they are said to be eager to sell him to boost funds for their own summer business. As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen are also monitoring the situation. Tottenham are 'keen on securing a deal for Real Betis right back Emerson this summer'Tottenham are determined to improve their options at right back this summer, with Matt Doherty having struggled since joining from Wolves. Jose Mourinho can still call upon Serge Aurier, but 22-year-old Emerson, who was capped by Brazil at senior level in 2019, would provide some extra competition for places. Mourinho has made secret of his desire to bolster his defensive options ready for next season. Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho faces competition from Paris Saint-Germain for the defenderMatt Doherty has struggled to make the desired impact since joining Tottenham from WolvesTottenham were interested in Emerson last summer but a deal didn't materialise due to the financial restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Barcelona and Real Betis secured the joint signing of Emerson from Atletico Mineiro in January 2019. Emerson has been on loan at Betis for the past two and a half seasons, and it is possible that he could depart permanently this summer, with Barcelona and Betis sharing the percentage of a sale before January 2022. | 0 |
###CLAIM: tommy, together since 2014, and china and the people who expect a baby in the emotional scenes filmed for towie's christmas special.
###DOCS: They welcomed their first child into the world on Wednesday. And Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet have since shared a peek into her son Brody's gorgeous nursery, sharing before and after photos of the room. The former TOWIE star, 29, created an album on Instagram titled 'the baby's room', explaining: 'We didn't have to do much in here,' while panning the camera over the space, which featured bright blue carpets and white wardrobes built into the wall. Gorgeous! Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet have shared a peek into her son Brody's gorgeous nursery, sharing before and after photos of the roomLater photos reveal that the TV personality had totally transformed the space, kitting it out with a plush off-white carpet, a magical hot air balloon light and high-tech, remote controlled blinds. Documenting the room's modification on her home renovation-themed Instagram account Georgia K Home, the blonde beauty explained: '[All we had to do was] change the door, skirting, carpet, paint and wardrobe doors.' The mother-of-one later shared a series of snaps of the updated space on both her personal Instagram and decor account. Having painted the walls a neutral shade of off-white, Georgia has decorated one corner of Brody's room with a hot air balloon light, in which she'd sweetly placed a teddy bear, and also added a framed poster that read: 'Dream big little one.' Brody also has his own little wardrobe, which is already full of baby grows. Georgia announced she had welcomed a baby boy with her boyfriend Tommy, 28, on Friday with a sweet Instagram post, and gushed it was the 'greatest experience of [her] life.' Sharing a family snap, Georgia revealed the couple have named their son Brody Fordham and welcomed him into the world on Wednesday. Proud dad Tommy also shared the same image with his own followers, adding that Georgia and their newborn son are doing 'well'. In a second snap uploaded shortly afterwards Georgia cuddled with her little one and wrote in the caption: 'Thank you for all your messages I feel so blessed, the best experience of my life '@tommy_malletI didn't think I could love you more than I did already .. you are the best x'Tommy took to Instagram on Friday and gushed over his newborn son as he declares his 'life is full'. Little Brody sported a Burberry baby grow and slept peacefully while covered with a checked blanket covered with the letter B. Clearly proud of his new baby boy, Tommy penned: 'Now my life is full! Welcome to the world young.' Amazing: Georgia announced she had welcomed a baby boy with her boyfriend Tommy Mallet, 28, on Friday with a sweet Instagram postDoting new mother Georgia replied to the comment, and said: 'The best thing that's ever happened to us.' Georgia's 1.3million followers were quick to congratulate the couple, with many of their reality star pals also sending love. Georgia and Tommy, who have been together since 2014, revealed they were expecting a baby in emotional scenes filmed for the TOWIE Christmas special. Georgia admitted that 'no one knew' she was expecting and insisted she wanted to film genuine 'real-life' reactions to the news on TOWIE, adding that 'it just felt so right' given that she and Tommy met on the reality show. Proud dad: Tommy took to Instagram on Friday and gushed over his newborn son as he declares his 'life is full'In December, Georgia revealed the couple already know the gender of their baby after having a private Harmony blood test. The reality star candidly chatted about her pregnancy in an Instagram Q&A where she said she was 'petrified' of giving birth and has never changed a nappy. When asked if she knew the sex, Georgia said: 'We already know the gender, we did a private blood test. Glowing: Georgia has been sharing regular updates throughout her first pregnancy (pictured at her baby shower in April)'I'm going to do a reveal, probably the beginning of next year.' Georgia and Tommy have also bagged their own ITVBe spin-off series that will give fans the chance to watch them as they become parents for the first time. Georgia and Tommy will follow in the footsteps of former TOWIE cast members Ferne McCann, 30, who has show First Time Mum, and Sam, 29, and Billie Faiers, 30, who star with their young children in The Mummy Diaries. | 0 |
###CLAIM: georgia finished the outfit with a maroon handbag featuring gold chains and a pair of semi-transparent shoes.
###DOCS: Victoria's Secret model Georgia Fowler is known for strutting down the catwalk in skimpy lingerie. But the 28-year-old looked just as dazzling as she slipped her famous figure into a tailored white suit for Melbourne Cup day. Georgia looked sensational while posing in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the G.H. Mumm party at the exclusive Pier One venue. Sophisticated: Georgia Fowler, 28, oozed glamour in a tailored white suit and matching wide brim hat while attending a Melbourne Cup event in Sydney on TuesdayThe New Zealander highlighted her figure by going braless under the snug-fitting blazer, which was stylishly belted at the waist. Her matching pants were tailored but featured a stylish flare at the bottom. Georgia finished off her outfit with a maroon handbag featuring a gold chain, as well as a pair of semi-transparent heels. White on the mark! The New Zealander highlighted her figure by going braless under the snug-fitting blazer, which was stylishly belted at the waistThe brunette accessorised with gold hoop earrings, and limited the rest of her jewellery to just a few simple rings. Georgia opted for a classy makeup look by pairing light blue eyeshadow with deep red lipstick. The catwalk queen revealed her excitement about the Melbourne Cup last week, especially in light of the coronavirus lockdown. All about the details: Georgia finished off her outfit with a maroon handbag featuring a gold chain, as well as a pair of semi-transparent heels'I think we are all excited to be dressing up a little bit. We have been in our trackies for too long,' she said. Georgia has spent the pandemic living with her boyfriend, Nathan Dalah, who is the founder of the Fishbowl restaurant chain. Speaking to Stellar magazine in April, Georgia spoke about how the publicity-shy restaurateur handles her being in the public eye. 'He's pretty low-key, but he knows it's part of my job. He does well,' she said. Style starter: Georgia posed in front of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge She modelled for Victoria's Secret, and now Georgia Fowler is lending her killer body to the latest Seafolly campaign. The 28-year-old New Zealand-born model appears in the newest campaign for the Australian swimwear brand. Georgia models a variety of bikinis from the label's latest range, showing off her impressively toned physique. Beach babe: She modelled for Victoria's Secret, and now Georgia Fowler is lending her killer body to the latest Seafolly campaignOne photo shows her running through the surf in a yellow bikini, her enviable abs on full display as she smiled brightly at the camera. Others show Georgia modelling a blue high-waisted bikini with a matching one-shoulder bikini top. Leaning back on the wet sand, Georgia's toned limbs and six-pack abs are on display as she gazes over her shoulder. Seas the day: In the shoot, Georgia models a blue high-waisted bikini with a matching one-shoulder bikini topStretch it out: Stretching one arm over her head, Georgia smiles up at the sky as she poses playfully on the beachShe also models the same bikini in green, posing alongside another model, who wears a strapless leopard-print green one-piece. Stretching one arm over her head, Georgia smiles up at the sky as she poses playfully on the beach. Another photo shows her running along the shoreline, her long legs stretched out. She added: 'Humbled to be a part of their Summer Campaign #LOVEAUSTRALIA'. In an interview with InStyle Australia in November 2018, Georgia spoke about her intense workout regimen and revealed she exercises every day, even when travelling. On the run: Another photo shows her running along the shoreline, her long legs stretched out. 'Doing my best slow motion run on Bondi Beach,' she wrote on InstagramShell yeah: The 28-year-old New Zealand-born model appears in the newest campaign for the Australian swimwear brand'No one else is going to do it for you!' she said of forcing herself into the gym. She added: 'I just want to be my absolute best, I want to show that I deserve to be up there and ultimately, it's me being a perfectionist and wanting to do my best.' Speaking about her diet, Georgia admitted there's no one-size-fits-all rule for everyone, and said she tries to eat lots of 'protein', 'leafy greens' and 'healthy fats'. | 2 |
###CLAIM: only two months earlier, the palace website released scores of photographs of the prince and king, some in a formal setting, some in markedly casual poses such as taking part in a flight, shooting and flying.
###DOCS: Thailand's king has been seen sweeping the floors of the notorious Bangkok Hilton prison in a publicity stunt for a new documentary. King Maha Vajiralongkorn, known as Rama X, joined his royal consort Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 35, for the ThaiPBS show at the prison in the country's capital. In 2019, the concubine was stripped of all her titles and imprisoned in the same Lard Yao prison she was now cleaning with the king after she was accused of trying to undermine the king's official wife, Queen Suditha. Thailand's king has been seen sweeping the floors of the notorious Bangkok Hilton prison with his royal consort in a publicity stunt for a new documentaryThe couple spoke to prisoners and guards at the Lard Yao prison where Sineenat was previously jailedBut in August, it was reported that Sineenat was freed and was no longer tainted by any wrongdoing, and the record should show she never lost her privileges. Lard Yao is part of the maximum security Klong Prem Central Prison which houses 20,000 inmates. It is known as the Bangkok Hilton, named after the fictional TV series which shows the brutal horrors of a Thai prison, and is considered one of the toughest prisons in the world because of its overcrowding and tough conditions. In the new documentary the king is seen cleaning and helping the prisoners who are being released early and rehabilitated through hard work. Sineenat was previously stripped of all her titles and imprisoned after she was accused of trying to undermine the king's official wife, Queen Suditha (pictured)A critic of the Thai monarchy shared leaked photos in December purporting to show Sineenat, consort to the Thai King. Several of the images show the woman baring her unshaven armpits (left and right), though it is unclear whyMany of the prisoners ended up in jail in the first place because of strict laws about being loyal to the king. Sineenat's appearance in the show comes after she was dramatically welcomed back into the royal fold in recent months. But she made headlines over Christmas after a Thai activist released 1,400 leaked images of her, including nudes. Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a prominent royal critic based in Japan, told MailOnline he was anonymously sent the images on an SD card in August along with a letter claiming they were hacked from Sineenat's phone while she was in prison. Pavin Chachavalpongpun said these images (left and right) were among 1,400 he was sent anonymously back in August. He suspects the images were leaked by one of Sineenat's rivals within the royal palace to try and thwart her return to courtSuspecting they were sent by Sineenat's rivals, possibly allies of the King's official wife Queen Suthida trying to 'sabotage' her return to the royal court, Pavin says he has shared some of the photos in order to 'show the other side of the monarchy'. Some of the images purport to show the consort completely nude, but Pavin has chosen not to publish these photos. Several of the photos show her baring her unshaven armpits - though it is not clear why. The same photos, apparently taken between 2012 and 2014, were also sent to other royal critics outside Thailand. The former royal bodyguard was gifted the title of royal consort to mark the king's 67th birthday last July. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn poses with royal noble consort Sineenat Bilaskalayani, also known as Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, in his Royal Office on August 26, 2019Experience: Sineenat had trained as a pilot in Thailand and abroad, served in the King's royal bodyguard unit, and in 2019 was awarded the rank of a major-generalIt was the first time in nearly a century that a Thai monarch had taken a consort, after the king married his fourth wife Queen Suthida earlier in 2019. Both Queen Suthida, 42, and Ms Sineenat have served as senior officers in palace security units. But last October, less than three months after making Sineenat his royal consort, the King issued a command rescinding the appointment. In a statement, he accused her of misbehaving by actively seeking to block Suthida's appointment as queen in order to take the position herself, and saying that when she failed to block Suthida, her 'ambitions and aspirations' led her to continue to seek ways to promote herself. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn talks to Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol (second left) as they sit with Queen Suthida (right) and royal noble consort Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi (left) in a golf buggy in Bangkok earlier this monthIt came in a tense political period in which Thailand has seen an unprecedented number of demonstrations demanding reform of the monarchy. Since her return from prison, Sineenat has been seen as a 'PR tool' for the King to regain popularity recently and often meets royalist supporters alone. Her fall had been particularly stunning because only two months earlier, a palace website released scores of photos of her and the king, some in formal settings and others in markedly casual poses, such as taking part in flying, shooting and skydiving. Others showed her and the king holding hands, unusually intimate photos for members of the royal family. Suthida was previously a flight attendant with Thai Airways, while Sineenat was an army nurse. The 68-year-old king has seven children by three previous marriages, all of which ended in divorce. | 0 |
###CLAIM: a second shell also sealed off the exit, trapping the 10th and 11th companies of the german regiment inside.
###DOCS: A tunnel in which 270 German First World War soldiers were buried alive has been found after more than 100 years with the men's bodies still lying inside. The Winterberg tunnel, built near the town of Craonne in Northern France, is where men of Germany's 111st Reserve Infantry Regiment, from the Baden region, met their horrendous deaths. The men were killed in May 1917 after a French shell detonated during the Second Battle of the Aisne exploded munitions in the tunnel, trapping them inside. As oxygen ran out over the next six days, the men either suffocated, took their own lives, or asked comrades to kill them. Although French authorities were said to be reluctant to help find the tunnel, it has now been discovered thanks to the work of father and son amateur historians Alain and Pierre Malinowski. Risking criminal charges, Pierre used a mechanical digger at a site his father had identified and found items including gas mask canisters and machine guns, as well as the remains of two soldiers, confirming it was the entrance to the tunnel. Speaking to the BBC, Pierre said on Monday that every soldier in the tunnel would 'have a story'. 'It will be the biggest ever reserve of human material from the First World War,' he added. Scroll down for video. The Winterberg tunnel, built near the town of Craonne in Northern France, is where men of Germany's 111st Reserve Infantry Regiment, from the Baden region, met their horrendous deaths. Pictured: Members of the regiment sit outside the tunnelThe Winterberg tunnel, built near the town of Craonne in Northern France, is where men of Germany's 111st Reserve Infantry Regiment, from the Baden region, met their horrendous deaths. The men were killed in May 1917 after a French shell detonated during the Second Battle of the Aisne exploded munitions in the tunnel, trapping them inside. Pictured: The site of the tunnel after heavy bombardmentThe men's fate was sealed when an artillery bombardment targeted at two ends of the tunnel was launched by the French on May 4, 1917. One shell hit the entrance, exploding ammunition stored inside the tunnel and sending toxic fumes down its shaft. A second shell also sealed off the exit, trapping the 10th and 11th companies of the German regiment inside. However, three men did survive long enough to be brought out alive before the Germans abandoned their position to the French forces. One soldier, Karl Fisser, recalled how the men were 'calling for water' while another soldier asked him to 'load his pistol' for him. Once the ridge above the tunnel was taken by the French, the men's bodies lay forgotten. German troops travel the famous route Chemin des Dames, from Soissons to Craonne, on their way to the Aisne battlefields. The first Battle of the Aisne occured in September 1914 in which German forces withstood an Allied offensive. In April 1917 the second Battle of the Aisne began with a French offensive, halted with heavy losses. Only in September 1918 was the Aisne finally taken by French troops. By October 1918 Germany had lost Laon, its final foothold in FranceThe tunnel was discovered by amateur historian Pierre Malinowski after he excavated the site last year. He spoke of his discovery this week. Pictured: Mr Malinowski during his digThe men were killed in May 1917 after a French shell detonated during the Second Battle of the Aisne exploded munitions in the tunnel, trapping them inside. Pictured: Some of the men who died in the tunnelBecause the men were not French, it was decided after the war to leave them be and knowledge of the exact location of the tunnel was lost. The site today is a wooded area popular with dog walkers. However, local man Alain Malinowski worked for 15 years to find the tunnel and in 2009 chanced upon a map showing both its original location and two paths which still existed. Although French authorities are said to have refused to follow it up, Pierre decided in January 2020 to use a mechanical digger to search the spot his father had identified. After digging down four metres, Mr Malinowski and his team found the treasure trove of remains. Mr Malinowski then covered up the hole to prevent looting and contacted the authorities. Although French authorities refused to help find the tunnel, it has now been discovered thanks to the work of amateur father and son amateur historians Alain and Pierre Malinowski (pictured)A German WW1 map shows the location of the tunnel, just outside the northern French town of CraonneBut, frustrated by their response, he told his story first to Le Monde and then the BBC, on Monday. However, Pierre's actions have also upset the archaeological establishment. According to the BBC, they claim he has broken the law and, through his actions, forced the French government to either open the tunnel fully or protect the site. A spokeswoman for the German War Graves Commission (VDK) said the find was 'most unfortunate'But Pierre said he has returned the human remains he found to the ground. Speaking of those which are still trapped in the tunnel, he said they will have been preserved 'like mummies', with 'skin and hair and uniforms',It is now hoped that the descendants of the trapped men can be identified. A separate official search of the site was under way in February, according to The Times. The German War Graves Commission were preparing to use a remote camera to explore the tunnel before a decision was made over whether to conduct a dig. They believe he has not only broken the law. Without any authority of his own, and overriding the argument that the dead are best off resting where they are, he has also twisted the arm of government, forcing it either to open the tunnel or at least protect it. Battle of Chemin-des-Dames, France. Getty ImagesThey were always thought to be lostthe 270 German soldiers trapped inside a 1,000-foot tunnel, whose entrances were sealed off by bombs from the French infantry in May 1917. For the next six days, as reported by historynet, oxygen thinned and the men who didnt die, asked others to kill them. According to the BBC, three men were rescued and one, Karl Fisser, left an account of what had happened inside the Winterberg tunnel. Everyone was calling for water, but it was in vain. Death laughed at its harvest and Death stood guard on the barricade, so nobody could escape. Some raved about rescue, others for water. One comrade lay on the ground next to me and croaked with a breaking voice for someone to load his pistol for him.These bodies were recently discovered, as reported by the BBC, after a father and son team, Alain and Pierre Malinowski, found one of the entrances after a painstaking search. The tunnel sits under the Chemin des Dames (Ladies Path) battlefront, once an idyllic rural part of France, used by the daughters of King Louis XV in the 18th century to travel between the Ailette river valley to the north and the Aisne river valley to the south. The road runs east to west and is nearly 20 miles long. A line of prisoners is marched along the Chemin des Dames on 11 November 1917. Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesDuring World War 1, in 1914, the Allies chased the retreating Germans across the Chemin des Dames after the First Battle of the Marne. The German troops dug in on the northern high ground and kept their position for two years. On May 14, 1917, after sustaining 120,000 casualties in fighting, the French were forced to leave but not before they had sealed off both sides of the tunnel, trapping the soldiers inside. Alain Malinowski used to work on the Paris underground and started combing through maps at the military archives in the Chateau de Vincennes in the 1990s to find where the entrance might be. After finding a contemporary map, he combed through the actual woodland measuring out the spot. Malinowski told Le Monde that I felt it. I knew I was near. I knew the tunnel was there somewhere beneath my feet.However, after alerting the authorities, no action was taken, and it was only when Alains son (Pierre, a former soldier) hired a bulldozer and began to dig into the earth, that the duo realised they were in the right placehis team found gas canisters, rails for transporting munitions, rifles and the remains of two soldiers. When the French authorities still did not respond, Malinowski reported the news to Le Monde. As the soldiers were not French, the French government had never decided to open the tunnel and whilst some of the response has been positive from historians and archaeologists, others believe it forces the government to protect the site from looters. There have been calls that it dishonours the dead. There is also a view that more people might be encouraged to undertake similar discoveries but for more mercenary reasons. The tunnels story is not uncommon in this part of France. Jean-Pierre Laparra is the mayor of a small village, with exactly zero inhabitants. The village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont, 90 minutes by car from the city of Reims (128 km/80 miles), was completely wiped out between 23 June and 18 August, 1916 when bombs razed the houses and killed 80,000 soldiers. Walking through the craters in the nearby woods, Laparra still has the same job as any other French mayor (although he is elected by regional representatives rather than local voters) to look after and preserve the history of the village which his ancestors helped to build. Visitors today might marvel at how many unexploded shells still lie beneath their feet or at the idea of walking above the remains of 10,000 men who lost their lives while sheltering amongst the trees. Pierre Malinowski excavated the entrance to the tunnel with his team TASS via Getty ImagesFor the Winterberg tunnel, the question remains about what to do with the soldiers remains. Should the bodies be brought up and buried in a German war cemetery? Should there be a full archaeological dig? Should there be a museum, something to commemorate the lives lost? There are efforts underway to trace the remains to identify the soldiers. This regiment (the 11th) recruited men in the Baden region of the Swabian Alpsnine men have so far been identified. For Pierre Malinowski, he considers it the duty of everyone to pay honor to the menhe has not let them been photographed and nothing has left the site. He said, "these were farmers, hairdressers, bank-clerks who came willingly to fight this war, and then died in a way that we cannot begin to comprehend. | 3 |
###CLAIM: in a projected note based on current enacted law, the congressional budget office said the deficit would grow to an average of 7. 9 percent of gross domestic product in fiscal year 2002-03, then to 11. 5 percent in fiscal year 2005-06.
###DOCS: WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal debt burden will double over the next 30 years, reaching 202% of economic output in 2051, as deficits grow and interest rates eventually rise, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday in its latest long-term budget projections. The CBO projected that federal debt will reach 102% of gross domestic product in 2021 due to massive spending associated with the coronavirus pandemic. This spending is expected to fade over the next decade, shrinking annual deficits to an average of 4.4% of GDP in the 2022-2031 period, from 10.3% in 2021. But deficits then grow to average 7.9% of GDP in the 2032-2041 period and 11.5% of GDP in the 2042-2051 period, the CBO said in its projections, which it noted are based on currently enacted laws. (Reporting by David Lawder Editing by Paul Simao) | 1 |
###CLAIM: the terrapins and nittany lions, who lost two leading players to season-ending injuries, face state.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareOne Sunday morning, Shawn Pettys teammates joked with him while working out in the Maryland football weight room. Petty had no intention of playing as a freshman during the 2012 season. He felt content with his role as a scout-team linebacker. But that morning, after the Terrapins faced N.C. State and lost two quarterbacks to season-ending injuries, Pettys friends jokingly presented a hypothetical: Maybe Petty would need to play quarterback. Of course, you don't think another quarterback is going to get hurt, said Petty, who also played that position in high school. You think our luck is already bad enough.Six days later, Caleb Rowe led Marylands offense in a narrow loss at Boston College. The team returned to College Park by dinnertime. Later that evening, coach Randy Edsall called offensive coordinator Michael Locksley and asked whether he was seated before sharing the news. Rowe tore his ACL during the games final drive. The Terps had run out of quarterbacks. AdvertisementThe rash of injuries began in the preseason, with incumbent starter C.J. Brown tearing his ACL. Rowe eventually became the fourth lost quarterback. Locksley, hired before the 2012 season, scoured the roster for players with high school experience at that position. He landed on two freshmen: Petty and tight end Brian McMahon. Petty remembers Locksley ending film sessions early to walk through plays outside. Locksley packed Pettys wristbands with all the offensive plays, including notes printed in red, such as, Read the defensive end to the right. Petty and McMahon asked to change their jersey numbers, but Locksley had them stick with 31 and 87 the absurdity of the situation on full display. Wed be in pregame warmup, it was almost like the circus, Locksley said. People from the other team, coaches included, would always come watch us warm up watch these quarterbacks warm up to be like, Man, this is really happening? AdvertisementThose final four games of 2012, when a scout-team linebacker became the starting quarterback, encapsulate Marylands struggle of the past decade the one the program hopes to soon amend. Since 2010, only one season featured the same quarterback starter in every game. Injuries and attrition have plagued the position, and the program will now add another player to this carousel of starters. Either Taulia Tagovailoa or Lance LeGendre will take the first snap when Maryland opens its 2020 campaign Saturday at Northwestern. Tagovailoa, a sophomore transfer from Alabama, has little experience at the college level, but hes talented and carries a last name that indelibly links him to his brother, Tua, who had a record-setting career for the Crimson Tide. LeGendre, a redshirt freshman, played sparingly last season but arrived at Maryland after a standout high school career. Both players have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining, introducing the possibility that maybe the next few years will bring something new to the Maryland quarterbacks group consistency. When you have stability a quarterback thats been in your system, that knows the system, thats familiar with the players on the field with him those things help, said Locksley, now the Terps head coach. We havent had a franchise guy around here for a lot of years and not because we didnt have the talent in the room." Most recent Maryland quarterbacks have cycled in and out of the program, often dealing with injuries during their time in College Park. Tyler DeSue arrived on campus in the spring of 2018, and during his freshman season, he shared a quarterbacks room with Kasim Hill (torn ACL in 2017 and 2018), Tyrrell Pigrome (torn ACL in 2017) and Max Bortenschlager (season-ending ankle injuries in 2018 and 2019). Those three players have since transferred. AdvertisementEverybody was always on edge, said DeSue, who appeared in nine games as a reserve. Anytime any one of us did anything other than sit in the pocket or throw or hand the ball off, we were like, Please dont get hurt. . . . It was definitely something that was always in the back of our heads because it happened so often.Virginia Tech transfer Josh Jackson joined the group in 2019, healthy after breaking his fibula while playing for the Hokies. When asked a year ago about Marylands quarterback injury woes, Jackson joked that the team didnt mention those issues in its recruiting materials. Jackson laughed and said he wasnt superstitious. He ultimately missed two games with an ankle injury but avoided another serious setback. DeSue and LeGendre stayed relatively healthy. But late in the season, LeGendre dislocated his shoulder while playing as a reserve. DeSue medically retired this offseason and had surgery for nerve damage in his elbow. During the past decade, Maryland has had 25 in-season starting quarterback changes. (For comparison, Penn State had only seven changes during the same span.) Of the 11 different Maryland starters, seven left the program prematurely. The injuries have varied some nagging issues and others abrupt, including ankles, elbows and particularly knees. Maryland quarterbacks have combined to tear their ACLs seven times in the past decade Brown (2012), Perry Hills (2012), Rowe (2012 and 2014), Hill (2017 and 2018) and Pigrome (2017). That has become the positions defining characteristic. AdvertisementWhen I hear Maryland quarterback, said Caleb Henderson, part of that position group in 2016 and 2017, I think of people going down, tearing ACLs and linebackers are in playing quarterback.The former players dont have much of an explanation for this trend. Some call it bad luck, and DeSue said, We couldn't play cautious because we were worried about getting hurt or some type of curse that Maryland quarterbacks have.The Terps highlight this decade came in 2010, when redshirt freshman Danny OBrien started the final 10 games and threw for 2,438 yards. He won ACC rookie of the year honors, and Maryland finished 9-4. But that offseason, Maryland fired Coach Ralph Friedgen, and the following year, the starting job bounced between OBrien and Brown. OBrien broke a bone in his arm late that season and then transferred. AdvertisementIn recent years, Brown is the closest the program has come to developing a multi-season, stable quarterback. Brown started 29 games despite multiple injuries during his six-year Maryland career. Brown led Maryland to back-to-back bowl games, and he started every game in 2014, passing for 2,288 yards. No Maryland quarterback since has matched his success. As a program, Marylands leading passer each year in the past decade has fallen short of the average across the top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision. The gap is massive between the Terps quarterbacks and those of the nations best teams. Jackson, who opted out of the 2020 season, led Maryland last year with 1,274 passing yards. The four quarterbacks in the College Football Playoff each finished the season with more than 3,200 yards. Obviously injuries are freak things, especially ACLs, said OBrien, now the running backs coach for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League. But in general, its hard to build and form an identity as an offense without having the same guy behind center the majority of the time.In recruiting, Locksley sells that as an opportunity. Quarterbacks committing to Maryland could step in to become the face of the program. A Maryland quarterback hasnt been selected in the NFL draft since 1991. Its a position packed with pressure, praise and criticism, swinging dramatically in any direction depending on the day. Locksley thinks both Tagovailoa and LeGendre have the skill set and mental fortitude to handle the role. AdvertisementLocksley has spent much of his career working with quarterbacks. He says no quarterback-coaching job will ever seem tricky compared with the chaos of 2012. Each experience, whether that was coaching a linebacker-turned-quarterback or a Heisman Trophy finalist, improved his ability to teach. And the 2020 group, Locksley said, is the most talented quarterback room, even though its small in terms of scholarship players, that weve had around here in a long time.Tagovailoa has only thrown 12 passes in his collegiate career. LeGendre has attempted three. Neither option guarantees success. But they, along with the quarterbacks Locksley recruits next, have the potential to make this dreary trend part of the past a piece of Marylands history better off left in that decade. GiftOutline Gift Article Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney walks near the sideline during an NCAA college football game against Syracuse in Syracuse, S.C., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Ken Ruinard/Pool Photo via AP)Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney walks near the sideline during an NCAA college football game against Syracuse in Syracuse, S.C., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Ken Ruinard/Pool Photo via AP)Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence stopped short of calling an audible on his plans to head to the NFL next year, though the likely No. 1 pick in next years draft did not rule out returning to school. My mindset has been that Im going to move on, said the 6-foot-6 QB with the flowing hair. But who knows? Theres a lot of things that could happen.Lawrence had laid publicly laid out his plans before Clemsons opener at Wake Forest last month: play this college season, graduate in December with his bachelors degree in marketing and get ready for the NFL. ADVERTISEMENTThats led to reports about which NFL teams might win the Lawrence sweepstakes and the frontrunner right now is the offensively challenged New York Jets. At 0-7 , the Jets are the NFLs only winless team. Former NFL receiver Roddy White created a social media stir last week when he suggested that if the Jets held the top pick and he were Lawrence, Id just go back to school. White said he is related to Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and suggested he might call Elliott and suggest the coach tell Lawrence if the Jets get the first pick, dont go. Just stay one more year in college and just enjoy your time because it would be awful for you to get drafted by the New York Jets.Whites not the only voice thats anti-Lawrence to the Big Apple. Former NFL receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick with the Jets in 1996 turned ESPN broadcaster, said his former team has a done poor job surrounding current quarterback Sam Darnold with players to improve the offense. You drafted a guy three years ago with the third pick in the draft because he was your Trevor Lawrence. He has nothing around him. Nothing, Johnson said last week on his ESPN morning show. Whenever Lawrence leaves for the NFL, hes expected to change a franchises fortunes. Hes thrown for 1,833 yards and 17 touchdowns (tied for second nationally in FBS) this season as Clemson has started 6-0. Lawrence is 31-1 as a starter in college and has the Tigers pointed toward a sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference title and trip to the College Football Playoff. ADVERTISEMENTLawrence and the Tigers face Boston College (4-2, 3-2) on Saturday. Eagles coach Jeff Hafley was Ohio States co-defensive coordinator when the Tigers defeated the Buckeyes 29-23 in the CFP semifinals last December and sees a player who put in the work to get even better this season. Hafley said Lawrence is better in the pocket and with his decisions. Definitely coming back and improving, it says a lot about him, Hafley said. While the Jets have the inside track, there are plenty of other NFL teams that could benefit from having Lawrence on the roster. That includes the 1-6 Atlanta Falcons, who are less than an hours drive from Lawrences hometown of Cartersville, Georgia. Lawrence said he wasnt a huge NFL fan growing up, although he did pull for the Falcons. He largely laughs off the Twitter posts pushing teams to lose simply to get him in their locker room. I try to ignore it as much as possible, Lawrence said earlier this month. Obviously, if youre on social media at all, you cant help but see some of it. Its just funny.His focus, Lawrence said, remains on Clemsons success this season and is not worried at the moment about what happens after that. No matter where I go, he said, whether thats across the country, whether thats close to home, whether I stay another year, no matter what it is, well work it out.___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | 2 |
###CLAIM: stanton said it could have worked out better, especially on sundays and mondays night football.
###DOCS: The last time Freddie Kitchens took over another coachs offense, his career began to skyrocket. Drew Stanton was there in October 2018 as the Browns third-string quarterback when a shake-up elevated Kitchens from running backs coach to first-time play-caller. Kitchens faces a similar task Sunday for the Giants as the fill-in offensive coordinator for Jason Garrett, who tested positive this week for COVID-19. Freddie is the perfect man to fill in for this kind of a role, Stanton told The Post. When Todd Haley got fired, it wasnt Freddies offense, but he adapted it to the players around him. This little bit of adversity wont be anything new. I know without a shadow of doubt Freddie will be prepared to put his best foot forward.There isnt a quarterback anywhere with a better read on Kitchens than Stanton, who retired this offseason after a 13-year career. Kitchens was the Cardinals quarterbacks coach for four of Stantons five seasons in Arizona, including when they teamed to upset the Giants in 2014 with Carson Palmer sidelined. Freddie Kitchens (l.) and Jason Garrett Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostThe Giants could be forced to pair a backup quarterback Colt McCoy would start if Daniel Jones multiple leg injuries restrict his mobility with their backup play-caller. The Giants offense ranks second-to-last in yards and points per game but, as is the way the NFL works, most of the game plan already was installed by the time Kitchens was elevated Thursday morning. Kitchens is the tight ends coach on Garretts offensive staff, but has a 15-year relationship with head coach Joe Judge. We still want to stick to what our offense has really worked on this season, Judge said. Make sure were not throwing too many curveballs at the guys that are out there in the huddle. That being said, you can work on certain elements. Ultimately, when the time comes, the play-caller has to call the plays.Stanton recalled how Kitchens kept Haleys verbiage to make the transition smoother for the Browns, who led the NFL in yards per play with Kitchens calling plays. Quarterback Baker Mayfields completion percentage jumped from 58 to 68 and two of their five wins in the final eight games came after a halftime tie. Freddie understands personalities and how to manage people, Stanton said. Freddie is going to call a game the way he is comfortable, but ultimately the way the quarterback who is playing is most comfortable whether its Colt or Daniel because he wants them having confidence to execute. Everything stems from that. If the quarterback doesnt believe in a play, Freddie will take the play out. He isnt afraid to push the limits on some things in the run game or the play-action.The Browns offense did not repeat the same success last season, with Kitchens calling plays as head coach. When you become a head coach, there is so much on your plate, Stanton said. Freddie really thrived in that role in 2018 when he got the opportunity to put his thumbprint on it. He was so good at adapting. We would go into halftime and make adjustments. It was a clearly outlined roadmap on how we were going to win the second half.Will the extra twist of coaching the Giants against the suddenly thriving Browns a revenge game just 11 months after his firing distract from the team objective? It couldnt have worked out better, especially on Sunday Night Football, Stanton said. For him to unfortunately get one season, hes a class act. When he says hes happy for the city of Cleveland, he truly is. He stands by what he says. | 0 |
###CLAIM: indianapolis mayor joe hogsett also said that ethan and williams are charter members of the people's, youth and councils of indianapolis which has explored such issues as homelessness, hunger and gun violence.
###DOCS: Ethan Wiliams had wanted to visit New York since seeing Spider-Man as a child. A 20-year-old Indiana college student was struck and killed by a stray bullet on a trip to New York City, a place he had dreamed of visiting since seeing Spider-Man as a child, his parents said. Ethan Williams, a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, died early Saturday morning when he was hit by the errant bullet while sitting on a stoop of a home he and his traveling companions had rented, police said. "He has a massive massive heart, he loved people a lot. There's [an] irony to me that that was the life that was taken. You know, the life of someone that wanted to give his life back to helping people," his father, Jason Williams, told ABC station WABC-TV in New York. The shooting unfolded about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday as Ethan Williams was sitting on the front stoop of the Airbnb rental home in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, police said. Witnesses told police they heard at least seven shots and Jason Williams said his son was hit once in the chest. Ethan Williams was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Scene in Brooklyn, New York where an Indiana University student was killed by a stray bullet while sitting on the stoop, Oct. 24, 2020. WABCNew York Police Department officials said they do not believe Williams was the intended target. He was pretty much killed instantly from the stray bullet that went down the street," Jason Williams said. Police said Sunday that no one has been arrested in the killing and that investigators are interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance video in an effort to identify the person responsible. They need to understand that their actions have consequences beyond the moment," Susan Williams told WABC of the person who killed her son. "Turn yourself in, do whats right. Let our family have peace." Williams was a sophomore at Indiana University and was studying to become a filmmaker, his parents said. They said Ethan Williams was in New York to work on on a short documentary with a film crew. The Williams said it was their son's first trip to New York City and that he had worked over the summer and saved up money to pay for the trip. When Ethan was a little guy, 3 or 4 years old, he saw Spider-Man and he fell in love with New York, Jason Williams said. Susan Williams added, "His hope was always to go to graduate school in New York. That was the dream." The parents said their son graduated from high school with four honors diplomas and traveled to Africa to do missionary work. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said Ethan Williams was also a charter member of the Mayor's Youth Council of Indianapolis, a group of students that explore critical issues such as homelessness, hunger and gun violence. "The news that Ethan was killed ... in New York City is a tragic reminder that the scourge of gun violence is a national crisis, cutting short the promising future of far too many of our young people," Hogsett said in a statement. "These are issues that Ethan was passionate about, and we owe it to him to continue these important conversations. My thoughts are with his family and friends during this heartbreaking time.'' | 0 |
###CLAIM: understand that there are precise reasons for feeling a given way or behaving a certain way in work.
###DOCS: Award-winning diversity, talent, and learning rockstar and Vice President of Global Diversity Intelligence and Strategy at IPG. gettyIt's no secret that 21st-century business requires a diverse workforce. Speaking purely from a pragmatic standpoint, companies need employees who can visualize problems from any number of different possible angles and perspectives and be able to solve those problems. If a company lacks a diversity of minds and perspectives, it lacks the ability to find new solutions and stays mired in the same-old problems it's always faced. The time-honored perspective of a chosen handful of white males, most of them hailing from a small economic subset, can no longer meet modern consumer demands. For the sake of consumer and company alike, the time for diversity in the workplace can no longer be delayed or denied. In order to remain afloat, nimble and relevant in today's world, companies need to find room in their ranks for people of color, women, LGBTQ+, neurodivergents and multigenerational employees. There simply isn't any wiggle room or workaround for doing otherwise. Many businesses nowadays find themselves struggling when it comes to learning how to retain a diversity of top talent. It isn't enough anymore for companies to have a diverse or inclusive workforce. They also need to understand this workforce and what factors can keep it loyal and productive. And that's where the importance of things like stay interviews comes into play. What Is A Stay Interview? Stay interviews are programs designed to gauge employees' deep-set attitudes toward their jobs and their responsibilities at work and determine whether they feel satisfied in performing those roles. By having honest, frank, heartfelt and safe discussions about the nature of their work, managers can learn whether the people who work directly under them feel as if their voices are heard, or whether they see themselves having a long-term future at the company. By finding out what makes their employees "tick" as individuals, managers can learn how to keep their employees motivated and excited, even when handling day-to-day work tasks. Furthermore, one can loosely divide stay interviews into two main categories: preventive stay interviews and reengagement stay interviews. Managers conduct preventive stay interviews to ensure team members who are already content with their jobs remain so. The best medicine, as they always say, is preventive. Meanwhile, reengagement stay interviews can be used for employees who already feel adrift, unheard or ignored by their peers and managers. On The Need To Be Aware Of DifferencesEven if a manager feels like they've done everything in their power to make a particular employee feel empowered to do their work, there's often much that remains unseen and unaddressed. Any good manager can sense almost immediately when an employee's work output isn't up to par but a great manager should always want to understand why. By bridging that inevitable, yawning interpersonal communication gap, by understanding the precise reasons why an employee feels a given way or behaves in a certain fashion when it comes to their work, stay interviews helps a manager understand how to best help their employee achieve their goals at work. Not only that, it lets the employee know they are valued, that they are more than just a living, breathing KPI or a means to a business end that in fact, the employee is a full-blooded human with their own unique (and equally valid) manner of perceiving the world. Despite their best efforts, a manager might not be able to grasp their employee's racial, gender, sexual, cultural, religious or ethnic background and the lifetime of experiences and perspectives that go hand-in-hand with that background. It's a fact of life that men don't always understand women and vice-versa. It's also a fact of life that cisgender white people don't always understand the experience of people of color or people who identify as LGBTQ+. What It Takes To Have A Great Stay InterviewAs a general rule, a manager should conduct a stay interview within three months of an employee's onboarding. They should follow up at minimum with additional, annual stay interviews or as many interviews as they feel are needed. Before conducting the actual stay interview, the manager should make it clear to the employee that the stay interview is meant to be an honest conversation between human peers and equals. It's about understanding where the employee is coming from in terms of their background or in terms of what they're going through currently. In other words, a manager must emphasize the stay interview isn't about an employee's job performance. Doing so negates the whole purpose of the exercise and puts the employee on their guard in what should be a forthright discussion. A good stay interview shouldn't contain any surprises. The manager should prepare a list of five or six general questions they want to ask their employee and send that list to the employee beforehand. The questions should be general enough that conversation can unfold naturally between manager and employee (no "yes-no" questions), but they should be specific enough that the employee understands the questions are relevant to their particular perspective, background or personal situation. As a further show of good faith, a stay interview should always be hosted in private. If this is going to be a serious discussion and reveal serious, personal details about an employee, it's on the manager to make sure it stays that way. To put it briefly, one shouldn't conduct a stay interview in a crowded cafeteria jostling with other people and within their earshot. In SummaryIf conducted well, regularly and thoroughly, stay interviews can set the table for an honest, one-on-one discussion between people who don't otherwise feel they share a lot in common at least not on the shiny, corporate surface of things. They can provide an environment that establishes trust, empathy and appreciation between people who might not be able to have it otherwise. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify? | 0 |
###CLAIM: the flag was taken down soon after the november elections, but it was recently put up again, johnson said.
###DOCS: A Minnesota business owner says he is willing to pay a fine or even "go to jail" over a 50-by-30-foot "Trump 2020" flag he has on his property that city officials say is violating a local ordinance. "It looks small because its 150 feet in the air, but its a pretty big flag," Jay Johnson, who is flying the Trump flag on top of a crane at his construction business in Buffalo, Minnesota, near Minneapolis, said, according to WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Johnson said he took down the flag soon after the November election but decided to put it up again recently. He said soon afterward, a few of his construction vehicles windows were shot out, which the police are investigating. A store that sells Trump merchandise in the same town also reportedly had its windows shot out on the same night but no one has been arrested. City officials in Buffalo say Johnson has also run afoul of the law because a flag as large as his must be licensed, according to WCCO. The city has reportedly gotten around 100 formal comments over the flag half positive, half negative. TRUMP, OTHER POTENTIAL 2024 CONTENDERS, GATHERING A MAJOR RETREAT"It doesnt really bother me much, its just weird seeing it up again," neighbor Patrick Cayanan said, according to the station. "Like, are they campaigning again for 2024?" But none of it has deterred Johnson, who said hell simply move the flag if hes asked to take it down or even fly a larger flag. "I am prepared to get the fines, ultimately get cuffed, go to jail, whatever," Johnson said. He added that the flag cost him $1,000 and the crane cost about $50,000. Johnson reportedly hasn't applied for a permit for the flag and it wasn't reported if he considered that an option. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPCity officials will decide what action to take on the flag, WCCO reported. | 1 |
###CLAIM: james said facebook uses its power to suppress competition so that it can take advantage of the user and make billions, converting personal data into a cash cow.
###DOCS: A coalition of 48 state attorneys general, led by New York's Letitia James, announced a new lawsuit against Wednesday, alleging the company stifles competition to protect its "monopoly power." The lawsuit comes the same day that the Federal Trade Commission announced a separate suit against the social media giant, also accusing it of anti-competitive practices. "For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users," Attorney General James said in a statement. "Today, we are taking action to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebooks illegal behavior." James said Facebook "used its power to suppress competition so it could take advantage of users and make billions by converting personal data into a cash cow." Signage is displayed outside Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Oct. 30, 2018. Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILEShe added that almost every state in the nation has joined the bipartisan lawsuit, "because Facebooks efforts to dominate the market were as illegal as they were harmful." The separate FTC lawsuit alleged that the company illegally maintained its "monopoly" through years of anticompetitive practices. "Personal social networking is central to the lives of millions of Americans," Ian Conner, the director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. "Facebooks actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our aim is to roll back Facebooks anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive." Facebook tweeted from its official communications account that it is reviewing the complaints. "We're reviewing the complaints & will have more to say soon," the company said. "Years after the FTC cleared our acquisitions, the government now wants a do-over with no regard for the impact that precedent would have on the broader business community or the people who choose our products every day." The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken Dec. 2, 2019. Johanna Geron/Reuters, FileThe suit filed by the attorneys general in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, alleges Facebook uses a variety of methods to maintain its dominance -- specifically including acquiring smaller or potential rivals and quashing third-party developers on its platform. Consumers suffer with fewer options online, and Facebook's power only grows as it collects users' private information and uses it for its business interests, according to a statement from James' office. The attorneys generals' lawsuit accused Facebook of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act and multiple violations of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. It is seeking the court to halt Facebook's allegedly anticompetitive conduct and prevent it from doing so in the future. In addition, the coalition asks that Facebook be prohibited from making further acquisitions valued at or over $10 million without advance notice to the states. Lastly, it seeks unspecified additional relief. The FTC lawsuit delves into Facebook's 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp as examples of it wielding its monopoly power, and also accuses the company of allegedly anticompetitive conditions for software developers. The FTC suit seeks a permanent injunction in federal court that could require Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. It is also seeks Facebook giving notice and gaining approval for future mergers and acquisitions as well as end its alleged anticompetitive conditions for software developers. Jennifer Newstead, Facebook's vice president and general counsel, told ABC News in a statement that, "This is revisionist history." "Antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful businesses," Newstead added. "Instagram and WhatsApp became the incredible products they are today because Facebook invested billions of dollars, and years of innovation and expertise, to develop new features and better experiences for the millions who enjoy those products." She continued: "The most important fact in this case, which the Commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago. The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final. People and small businesses dont choose to use Facebooks free services and advertising because they have to, they use them because our apps and services deliver the most value. We are going to vigorously defend peoples ability to continue making that choice." | 0 |
###CLAIM: with demarcus robinson and wide receivers daniel and kilgore placed on the covid list on monday, chiefs coach andy reid said of the center :
###DOCS: The COVID-19 issues that have pockmarked the NFL season have popped up just before Super Bowl 2021. The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and center Daniel Kilgore on the COVID-19/reserve list on Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. Both players reportedly were placed on the list for being close contacts to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Theyll work through it, Reid said. The Chiefs placed Demarcus Robinson (l.) and Daniel Kilgore (r.) on the COVID-19/reserve list today. AP; Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesBoth players can play in Super Bowl 2021 on Sunday if they continue to test negative for COVID-19 throughout the rest of the week, according to NFL Network. Robinson, 26, had 45 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns during the regular season. He has just one catch for 14 yards in two playoff games this year. Kilgore, 33, is a backup but made four starts during the 2020 season. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among 20 people slated to receive a haircut from the barber who tested positive for COVID on Sunday, ESPNs Adam Schefter reported Wednesday. The barber was removed as soon as his rapid positive test result came back, but he had already started shaving Kansas City center Daniel Kilgore and had cut wide receiver Demarcus Robinsons hair on Saturday, forcing both players onto the reserve/COVID-19 list because they were considered high-risk close contacts. The barber was in the middle of Kilgores haircut, but Schefter clarified that Kilgore had the barber finish the job because he was already a close contact. Kilgore posted a picture of himself with his head half-shaved on Twitter, captioning the photo: #Newprofilepic. Neither player has since tested positive for COVID and if they continue to test negative, both players will be active for Super Bowl 2021 on Sunday, when the Chiefs face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla. The barber reportedly had tested negative on five consecutive days before he entered the facility Sunday. Robinson caught 45 passes for 466 yards and three touchdowns during the regular season, but he has caught just one pass for 14 yards during two playoff games. Kilgore started four games during the regular season and served as a backup lineman in the Chiefs victory over the Bills in the AFC Championship game. | 2 |
###CLAIM: in 2017, binitie, who cut her teeth as a design assistant with stella and mccartney, began using fabric, infusing the signature yellowing into the clothes, the skin, giving them a post modern feel.
###DOCS: LAGOS, March 19 (Reuters) - Weaving contemporary designs into a traditional West African fabric, Nigerian Tsemaye Binitie is creating fashion he hopes can also bridge the gap between luxury and the everyday. His material of choice is Aso-oke, a hand-woven cloth indigenous to the Yoruba people and historically used on special occasions. Binitie, who cut his teeth as a design assistant with Stella McCartney in 2005, began using the fabric in 2017, and he infuses the yellow dresses that are his signature creations with cottons and silks to give them a post-modern feel. "We started to use contemporary African art and culture within the threads of the collection so you see hints of it or very ... obvious (signs)," said Binitie, who divides his time between Lagos and London. [1/4] Fashion designer Lisa Folawiyo talks about her Batkara collection, a Batik blend on Ankara fabric, in Lagos, Nigeria December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Nneka Chile 1 2 3 4"It's sort of informed fabric, informed colour, informed styling." Priced at between $300 and $4,000, his TB12 custom collection features Aso-oke which means "top cloth" in Yoruba - in seven different shades. "We are sort of preserving the culture, you know, that we've watched all our lives in front of us ... and teaching the younger generation that it is something to be proud of, something to want to wear," he told Reuters. Fellow Lagos designer Lisa Folawiyo specialises in a different traditional cloth, the West African wax prints known as Ankara, and her hybrid collection, called Batkara, incorporates Batik designs embellished with needle-work beadings and sequin trimmings. That same synthesis informs the aesthetic of Alara, a Lagos store dedicated to showcasing contemporary African fashion for the Nigerian and the diaspora markets. reporting by Nneka Chile, Writing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | 1 |
###CLAIM: four more islamic nations have started diplomatic relations with israel without resolving the palestinian issue.
###DOCS: The sage advice that If it aint broke, dont fix it is older than Joe Biden, but apparently he never heard of it. Or doesnt think much of it. The president is on a tear, as in tearing up arrangements that were achieving their objectives. His early results are disastrous. In an act of astonishing foolishness, Biden created a humanitarian and public safety crisis on our southern border by dismantling a successful policy structure that took years to achieve. In the Mideast, he looks determined to undo the Arab-Israeli alliance Donald Trump forged by returning to the failed policies Biden helped to implement in the Obama-Biden administration. If that were all, it would be more than enough. But its not all. Biden also wants to end the Senate filibuster and took the first step toward packing the Supreme Court. Those two moves are so destructive that even Sen. Mitt Romney, who usually saves his criticism for fellow Republicans, drew the line. My Democrat friends decry the last president for weakening our institutions with his words and behavior but they now cheer the effort to pack the Supreme Court and end the Senate filibuster, which would forever diminish institutions at our Republics foundation, Romney wrote on Twitter. The easy description of what Biden is up to, assuming hes really calling the shots, is that he is simply the anti-Trump president. Whatever Trump did, Biden will undo it. While that approach tugs at the heartstrings of the hate-Trumpers, its hardly a path to success. Instead, its more like a child throwing a tantrum and breaking all his favorite toys. Whats he going to play with tomorrow? Tomorrow has arrived, and how well Bidens approach is working can best be seen at the border. The chaos in the migrant facilities overflowing with minors is mirrored in chaos at the White House. The aide Biden tapped to be his border czar, Roberta Jacobson, announced Friday she is leaving at the end of the month. Although her appointment was to last only 100 days, the fact that someone in the White House believed this was a 100-day problem demonstrates magical thinking at best and sheer idiocy at worst. Even the Biden bootlicking New York Times called her departure striking given the problems. It quoted Jacobson as claiming the system is moving toward an immigration system that is humane, orderly and safe.Good grief. Only a committed virtue signaler could call it humane, orderly and safe when coyotes and sex traffickers brought nearly 30,000 unaccompanied minors to the border in just February and March. Caring for them is costing taxpayers $60 million a week. Although the White House has kept the media in the dark, little snippets of the harsh reality reveal the daily depravity. Bidens border czar Roberta Jackson plans on stepping down from her post at the end of April. Andrew Harnik/APA 10-year-old Nicaraguan boy, crying and cold, was found wandering alone near the border in Texas, abandoned by human-trafficking coyotes. A video captured heartless fiends dropping two toddler girls off 14-foot fences into the US, where border guards rescued them. Forbes reports that officials caught 172,000 migrants at the border last month, a 71 percent increase from February. Reports say as many as 1,000 others escape capture and enter illegally every day. This is all on Joe Biden and his arrogant decision to break what Trump fixed, without a workable plan of his own. First he ended the Remain in Mexico compact that kept asylum-seekers in Mexico, he stopped wall construction and said children traveling alone would be exempt from rules blocking most families and childless adults. His implicit invitation to come was accepted by tens of thousands of migrants from Central American hellholes. The result is a new generation of illegal residents and Dreamer children that will make it impossible for any president to achieve a bipartisan solution. Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to work with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries to stem the tide, but Harris has disappeared. She is keeping her distance from the problem and the media, a sign she doesnt see any solutions and doesnt want to be responsible for the failure. Biden is doing something similar in the Mideast, including restoring hundreds of millions of dollars in annual subsidies to the Palestinians that Trump canceled. No doubt some American money again will pay the families of terrorists who kill or attack Israelis, and some will disappear into the secret bank accounts of corrupt Arab leaders. The United Nations relief agency, riddled with anti-Semites, will also get funded so it can continue the fiction that Palestinians remain refugees nearly 75 years after Israeli independence. All this is prelude to Biden returning to the tired formula of land for peace even as four more Muslim nations started diplomatic relations with Israel without a resolution of the Palestinian issue. There is kosher food in Dubai, but instead of embracing a future built on new political realities, Biden is turning back the clock to a failed era. That includes courting Iran, a theocracy committed to exporting terrorism. Already the president is offering to lift sanctions Trump imposed on oil exports if only the mullahs would make promises about nuclear enrichment they never intend to keep. In Washington, Biden is using his wrecking ball to demolish institutions he served and defended for 40 years. The filibuster he once said is essential he now calls a legacy of Jim Crow. He revered the Supreme Court but now reviles it. Republicans have called for Vice President Kamala Harris to visit the US border. Jacquelyn MartinOne of his talking points is that radical change is needed because America is systemically racist. In the next breath he will say Americans are fundamentally good people. Which is it? Because his moves are so confusing, Washington chin strokers are searching for a Biden Doctrine to explain it all. Let me save them time. There is no doctrine because what Joe Biden is doing doesnt make a whit of sense. Harmful, spiteful rich taxA friend hit by the states tax hikes on high earners warns that Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers are harming New York. A Democrat, he wonders if there are any moderates who are not afraid of progressives. Here are highlights of his argument:Florida has no state income tax, so if he moved there his after-tax income would be 33 percent higher. Because people can now work remotely, private equity firms and hedge funds are moving south and investment banks are establishing beachheads in Miami and Palm Beach. The exodus puts big-ticket philanthropy at risk, which would be a blow to New Yorks cultural, educational and medical institutions. My friend is angry because he believes the tax hikes were passed only out of spite toward the rich. But hes also sad, saying: Ive lived here for six decades and Ive never felt more unwanted and despised.Racist burden for excludedReader Stan Yellin notes the $2 billion excluded workers fund Albany created requires applicants to prove their identity. But wait, he asks, Isnt it racist to require an ID to receive payments? | 0 |
###CLAIM: spadoni is said to have signed a contract with his clients saying they must return the full amount of the funds if the money is refused.
###DOCS: A Louisiana woman experienced what for many would have been a dream come true: Over $1.2m randomly appeared in her bank account one day in February. Kelyn Spadoni used the fast-acting skills she developed as a 911 dispatcher and quickly purchased a house and a car within a day of the money appearing in her account. Now Spadonis brokerage firm, Charles Schwab, wants the money back, arguing the cash was put into her account accidentally, the result of a software glitch. The company said it meant to transfer $82.56 into Spadonis account with Fidelity Brokerage Services. Instead, they ended up transferring $1,205,619. Charles Schwab is taking Spadoni to court for refusing to return the money to the company saying that Spadoni signed their client contract that says clients must return an overpayment of funds in full. The company says Spadoni ignored multiple calls, texts and emails from the company requesting the moneys return. The brokerage firm went to the local sheriffs office to file a criminal complaint against Spadoni. Spadoni was arrested on 7 April for theft greater than $25,000, bank fraud and illegal transmission of monetary funds, the sheriffs office announced. Spadoni is currently out on a $150,000 bond, according to the New York Times, and has also been fired from her job as a dispatcher. She has no legal claim to that money even if it was put in there by mistake. It was an accounting error, captain Jason Rivarde, spokesperson for the Jefferson parish sheriffs office, told local news site Nola.com. The sheriffs office, through an investigation, determined that Spadoni used some of the money to buy a new house and car, specifically a 2021 Hyundai Genesis sports utility vehicle, which can cost up to $70,000. Rivarde said that their office and Charles Schwab were able to reclaim all but a quarter of the money. While accidental bank transfers are extremely rare, they can happen. In 2015, a teen in Georgia who was mistakenly wired $30,000 by his bank was sentenced to 10 years on probation for spending the money on a BMW. | 0 |
###CLAIM: the tier 2 and tier 3 move was called `` illogical '' by ukhospitality, which said the government 's system of tackling m was unfair.
###DOCS: AdvertisementWhat are the Tier 3 rules? Indoor entertainment venues such as cinemas, theatres and bowling alleys must close;Pubs, restaurants and cafes must close except for takeaway;Shops and hairdressers and salons will be allowed to remain open;Groups of six will be allowed to meet outdoors only;Crowds at live events will be banned;People should avoid travelling out of, or into, Tier 3 areas unless it is unavoidable;People from separate households cannot meet indoors and the rule of six applies outside. AdvertisementMatt Hancock today plunged around 10million people in the South East into a Tier 3 shutdown with just 30 hours' notice - as he warned a new strain of coronavirus could be driving a surge in cases. The Health Secretary told the Commons that the tough new rules will come into effect in London just after midnight on Wednesday morning, sparking fury that he is sending thousands of businesses to the wall. Large areas of Hertfordshire and Essex will also go into Tier 3 after seeing 'sharp and exponential' growth. It means around 60 per cent of the population of England will be under the highest level of restrictions - although extraordinarily No10 has insisted that all the curbs will still be relaxed on December 23 as part of the Christmas 'bubbles' plan. Britain today recorded a further 20,263 coronavirus cases, in a rise of more than a third on last Monday's total. Official figures released today also revealed 232 people died after testing positive for the virus - in a 22.8 per cent spike on the 189 deaths seen last Monday. Addressing the nation at a televised press conference, Mr Hancock added: 'We know from experience that the best thing to do in the face of this virus is to act fast, not to wait to see its growth continue - and we do not rule out further action.' But he faced down questions over the wisdom of relaxing some restrictions on family gatherings at Christmas. In response he said: 'If you want to see elderly relatives at Christmas the best thing to do is be extremely careful now about who you see.' Professor Chris Whitty reiterated that people need to be cautious at Christmas and should not meet just because they can. 'The point of this (relaxation of rules) is for, under certain circumstances, families who wish to, to get together, but they really have to be very, very careful. 'And in particular, incredibly careful if they're around people who are vulnerable, who are at very high risk of this virus.' In another bombshell announcement Mr Hancock said that scientists had identified a 'new variant' of the virus that appeared to be influencing the spread in the south of England. He said initial evidence was that it is growing much faster than the previous strains, although he tried to cool fears by stressing that it did not seem to be more deadly, and there was low risk that it will not respond to vaccines. 'We have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the fastest spread in the south-east of England,' Mr Hancock told MPs this afternoon. The new Tier 3 areas As well as London, Matt Hancock outlined parts of Essex and Hertfordshire would also be placed in Tier 3. Essex: BasildonBrentwoodHarlowEpping ForestCastle PointRochfordMaldonBraintreeChelmsfordThurrockSouthend-on-Sea Hertfordshire BroxbourneHertsmereWatfordThree Rivers Advertisement'Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants. We've currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas, and numbers are increasing rapidly.' Mr Hancock said the strain had also been identified in other countries and the World Health Organisation had been notified, with tests still being carried out at the government's Porton Down lab. The Tier 3 move drew a furious reaction from local MPs and firms who warned it will devastate businesses. London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey branded it a 'mistake' and said individual boroughs should be treated differently. Pubs, restaurants and culture venues will be closed, while shoppers from Tier 2 zones will be barred from shopping in major retail hubs like Oxford Street. West End theatres are also readying themselves to close after tomorrow night's performances. Meanwhile there is anxiety that Kent, already in Tier 3, could face a further tightening of restrictions with a surge in cases that has yet to fall. In an apparent attempt to assuage anger, Mr Hancock indicated that the next review will be on December 23 - rather than December 30 as had been expected. However, in a grim statement to the House on the epidemiological situation he said: 'Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants. 'We've currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas. 'And numbers are increasing rapidly.' The Government agreed to review the tier levels every two weeks at the latest after they were introduced on December 2, in order to pass the legislation needed in the face of a backbench rebellion. But the decision was brought forward from Wednesday to today because of the spike in numbers, with a key cabinet committee having met this morning. It comes as:Millions of London parents faced an anxious wait to see if schools are shut early after Labour's Greenwich Council asked headteachers to shut their gates at the end of today. Islington Council has today advised schools to move to online learning from the end of Tuesday because of a rise in coronavirus cases across the capital. Tens of thousands of residents in low-infection towns and villages had their hopes of 'decoupling' from the tiers of surrounding coronavirus hotspots dashed. GP surgeries in England will begin offering coronavirus vaccinations from today, with practices in more than 100 locations having the approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine delivered. Addressing the nation at a televised press conference, Mr Hancock added: 'We know from experience that the best thing to do in the face of this virus is to act fast, not to wait to see its growth continue - and we do not rule out further action'Introducing the restrictions sooner means they have more time to take effect before the nationwide loosening of restrictions from December 23 - 27, with up to three families allowed to meet without social distancing. Earlier, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned Tier 3 would be 'catastrophic' without extra help for the city's businesses, coming in what should be a 'golden quarter' of the year before Christmas. He told Sky News: 'If the government decides to do that they must provide additional support over and above what has been offered to make sure these businesses go bust,' he told Sky News. 'If they go bust not only will it lead to hundreds of thousands of Londoners being made unemployed, but our ability to recover from this pandemic will be made much harder. It is in nobody's interest for these businesses to go bust, December is a crucial month for many of these business.' In his statement this afternoon Mr Hancock said: 'I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease and the latest clinical advice is that it's highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine, but it shows we've got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus.' He added: 'I need to tell the House that over the last week, we've seen very sharp, exponential rises in the virus across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. 'We do not know the extent to which this is because of the new variant but no matter its cause we have to take swift and decisive action which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is rolled out.' Greenwich's council leader Danny Thorpe has told all schools in the south-east London borough to close from Monday evening as he warned its Covid-19 situation was 'escalating extremely quickly'. The infection rate per 100,000 people in the capital stood at 191.8 on December 6, up from 158.1 the previous week. When will the tiers be reviewed? The government has brought forward the date for the review of London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, which will now go into Tier 3 from Wednesday. Legally ministers must look again at the arrangements every 14 days, but it now appears they will do so far more regularly. Wednesday, December 16 The rest of England is still set to learn its fate, with the new brackets expected to take effect from Saturday. Wednesday, December 23 Matt Hancock has pledged another review of the tiers will take place on the same day as the Christmas 'bubbles' relaxation begins. Monday, December 28 The Christmas 'bubbles' are due to end, with areas going into the tiers they were allocated at the review a week earlier. Wednesday, December 30 Another review of the tiers could take place. AdvertisementThe parts of Essex are: Basildon, Brentwood, Harlow Epping Forest, Castle Point, Rochford, Malden, Braintree and Chelmsford, Thurrock and Southend on Sea. In Hertfordshire the areas being upgraded are: Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Watford and the Three Rivers. 'This means that people can only see friends and family they don't live with, or are in a support bubble with, in outdoor public places,' he said. 'And of course, in line, with the rule of six, hospitality settings must close, except takeaway delivery. And people should avoid travelling outside their area and reduce the number of journeys they make wherever possible.' The Health Secretary made clear that people should not be coming to London for Christmas shopping as a result of the new restrictions. But his Labour shadow Jon Ashworth said the government's slow response was partly to blame for the severity of the situation. 'Across London health cases have increased 30 per cent, across the east of England 36 per cent, so none of us are surprised at the action he is taking today,' Mr Ashworth said. 'Indeed, he was warned Tier 2 would not be enough to contain the spread of the virus in many places. 'Indeed it looks like in some areas, such as Kent, tier 3 isn't enough to contain the spread either.' Professor Kevin Fenton, London regional director for Public Health England, said now is a 'pivotal moment' for London and the South East. He told the Downing Street briefing tonight: 'As we've heard from the chief medical officer numbers and rates of infection are now increasing exponentially in parts of the South East. 'And this means that quick and decisive action is needed. 'There is a strong connection between increases that we're seeing in London with parts of the south of Essex, as well as the South East region and it really is important that we are working together, coordinating carefully across the regions to ensure that we act to control the infection now.' He said Londoners should expect to see more messaging about coronavirus in the coming days urging people to 'take heed, to follow the rules, and to follow the guidance for Tier 3 and to prepare for the holiday season ahead.' Mr Khan said the Government's decision to impose Tier 3 restrictions on the capital was 'incredibly disappointing' for businesses. But, in a statement, the Labour mayor urged Londoners to follow the measures to 'avoid even tougher restrictions, for longer, further down the road'. 'This is incredibly disappointing for our businesses who have suffered so much already this year,' he said. 'The worst thing for London's businesses and our economy would be yet another full lockdown in the new year. That's why I urge Londoners to follow the Tier 3 rules that the Government is putting in place very closely so that we can drive down infection rates as much as possible. Chaos at the school gates as millions of London children head to classes with no idea when they will finish the week Millions of London parents face an anxious wait to see if schools are shut early after a Labour council backed by Sadiq Khan asked headteachers to shut their gates at the end of today because of rising coronavirus cases in the capital. Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe has been accused of 'an appalling lack of leadership' after announcing his decision on Twitter last night amid fears London's 20 other Labour councils could follow suit. But Cllr Thorpe, a former teacher supported by Britain's teaching unions, did not specify on what scientific basis officials had reached the decision, leading to accusations he was putting scoring political points above the education of children. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants all London secondary schools and colleges to shut before the end of term on Friday - in defiance of the government's instruction to keep them open - blaming rising Covid-19 cases. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer came out against Mr Khan this morning and told LBC: 'I am very reluctant to close our schools'. One senior government source told MailOnline that the intervention from Sadiq Khan and the Greenwich Labour leader had more than a 'whiff of political opportunism'. Business Secretary Alok Sharma today blasted the Labour-led calls and said: 'We want to keep schools open'. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson warned yesterday that schools who do not stay open face legal action - but has not used the clause inserted in the Coronavirus Act that can compel schools to stay open. Instead London's Regional Schools Commissioner has written to Greenwich Council urging them to reserve their decision. Panicked parents scrambling to find childcare with just 24 hours notice amid growing concerns schools could remain closed in January. Some families said the decision had left their children in tears. Advertisement'We now urgently need much more Government support for the sectors of our economy that are being hit the hardest, including hospitality, culture and leisure.' Eddie Curzon, London director of the CBI warned many firms now face disaster, having been allowed to open for just two weeks after the blanket lockdown ended. 'Businesses - particularly those in sectors like retail and hospitality - will have been counting on a festive fillip to help mitigate months of hardship, and further restrictions now will come as a devastating blow,' he said. 'Thousands of jobs and livelihoods could be at risk. It's vital that any tightening of measures anywhere across England is shaped by clear evidence, consistently applied, and accompanied by increased support for businesses in the worst-hit sectors. 'Vaccinations are now under way and offer tangible reasons for optimism in 2021 - the government must do everything possible to help businesses survive until risks recede and trade returns.' The British Beer & Pub Association said in London alone the restrictions will force 1,250 pubs that remained open in Tier 2 to close, putting nearly 8,000 more jobs at risk. In total, 56,000 jobs in the sector are now at risk with all of the capital's 3,680 pubs forced to close except for takeaways, according to the trade association, which is calling for more financial support for pubs and brewers across the country. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: 'Moving into Tier 3 is another nail in the coffin for London's pubs, as well as those affected in parts of Hertfordshire and Essex. 'It could completely destroy many pubs in London and parts of Hertfordshire and Essex who have taken bookings for the lead-up to Christmas and New Year's Eve if the tiers don't change before then. 'It is cruel on hardworking publicans doing all they can to support their communities and invest in implementing all the required safety measures. Especially as the Government's own evidence shows pubs are safe. 'It is also cruel in stopping friends, families and loved-ones from using their local this Christmas as a safe space to socialise in, with all the evidence showing that pubs are ranked amongst the lowest places for transmission.' UKHospitality called the Tier 3 move 'illogical' and said the Government's system puts an unfair burden on hospitality businesses without effectively tackling Covid-19. The trade association's chief executive Kate Nicholls said: 'The Government is cracking down on hospitality for an increase in the infection rates that occurred during a period when hospitality was forcibly closed. It makes no sense.' Will Bowlby, who runs the Kricket Indian restaurant chain in London, was also critical of the Government's handling of the crisis. 'I understand that things change but I feel like there's just been mixed messages,' he said. 'Whether it's applied to businesses or to people in general, it's made it a lot more difficult to adapt. 'You would have thought over time their messaging might have got a bit clearer but it hasn't.' Clover Eziashi, who has run Lounge Brixton, in south London for around 20 years, said her 'heart bleeds' at having to shut down again after preparing for Christmas. 'The lockdown of this last month and then opening up, people just went into a frenzy,' she said. 'It's just not working, obviously it hasn't worked shutting us down again when we've already put so much money into restocking, that's where my heart bleeds a little bit. 'We've geared up for Christmas, what are we going to do with all of this stock?' The director of the Theatres Trust, Jon Morgan, branded the move announced on Monday a 'disaster' for London's theatres, adding: 'Theatres have worked incredibly hard to create safe environments for audiences and through no fault of their own will now face enormous financial losses.' Jace Tyrrell, chief executive at New West End Company, said: 'However well telegraphed, today's announcement comes as a hammer blow to the West End's restaurants and hotels. 'Advising against travel will heap further pressure on retailers that have invested millions in enhanced safety measures and staff training to support trade.' In the Commons, Mr Hancock was asked whether it would be against the rules for people to come into the capital to do Christmas shopping. Jeremy Hunt, Conservative chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: 'From Wednesday, if you live outside London will it be against the regulations to come into Oxford Street to do your Christmas shopping? 'If you live inside London, will it be against the regulations to do your Christmas shopping and is the only way to do your Christmas shopping legally now to go online?' Mr Hancock replied: 'The question he asks about Christmas shopping is important. 'It is recommended that people should minimise travel unless it is necessary in a Tier 3 area and should minimise travel where it is necessary to a Tier 3 area. 'And so we have taken this action to try to protect people and to try to slow the spread of this virus and that is absolutely the right thing to do.' Under Tier 3 restrictions, non-essential shops will remain open though the guidance on travel could deprive many of the capital's retailers of much-needed custom ahead of Christmas. After a call with Mr Hancock earlier, Ealing Central Labour MP Rupa Huq tweeted: 'Worst kept secret ever confirmed London and Essex (except Tendring) and Herts (Watford/ Hertsmere/ Broxbourne) from 1 min past midnight Weds. 'London and bits of Essex and Hertfordshire to enter ''standard tier 3'' from Wednesday confirmed by Matt Hancock on call for MPs from London and South East Next review on 23rd Dec - to be weekly.' The mayor told Sky News: 'My understanding is that Covid-O is meeting as we speak - that's the sub-committee of the Cabinet that makes the recommendations. 'We will have to wait and see what the Government decides - it's a Government decision, not my decision or London leaders' decision.' Shoppers out and about in Regents Street in central London tonight as the news of the Tier 3 move emergedPeople sat outside a pub in the West End of London. London is expected to go into Tier Three today amid surging infections a week before Christmas, while a fortnightly review could see the already-tough rules in the North relaxed later this week. Official figures reveal that there are now only two parts of the North of England that rank among the country's worst-affected areas, after the list was almost entirely populated by the North and Midlands just weeks ago. Data shows that the local lockdown rules do appear to work and Government decisions to go easy on the South has led to a devastating spike in infections just a week before Christmas. Just four days before the old tiers came into force on October 14, as many as 29 of England's 50 most infected councils were in the North West, and 16 in the North East and Yorkshire. But two months later the tables had turned with the latest data from Public Health England for the seven days to December 9 revealing London has the highest number of councils in the list, at 14, followed by the South East and East of England with 13 councils each. AdvertisementHe said 'it's possible' that a decision will be made today 'because we have seen over the last few days a big increase in the virus'. But he added: 'It's worth looking where the virus is spreading faster and it's worth looking at the areas where we have seen the biggest increase. 'It's worth them asking themself the question whether a move to Tier 3 is a blunt instrument that doesn't really address in a laser-like fashion where we are seeing the biggest problems.' Downing Street said this afternoon there are no plans to shorten the period over Christmas in which social distancing will be relaxed nationwide amid concerns over increasing coronavirus rates. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No. We've set out the details of the Christmas guidelines. 'There are no plans to review the Christmas guidance. What we've said alongside that is that the public should continue to be cautious. 'I think the Prime Minister said it's the season to be jolly careful and we would emphasise that we should continue to do that. 'We've been clear that it's a limited easement to allow families to bubble over the Christmas period after what has been a very difficult year for many people. 'But it remains important for the public to follow the guidance.' It came as millions of London parents faced an anxious wait to see if schools are shut early after a Labour council backed by Sadiq Khan asked headteachers to shut their gates at the end of today because of rising coronavirus cases in the capital. Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe has been accused of 'an appalling lack of leadership' after announcing his decision on Twitter last night amid fears London's 20 other Labour councils could follow suit. But Cllr Thorpe, a former teacher supported by Britain's teaching unions, did not specify on what scientific basis officials had reached the decision, leading to accusations he was putting scoring political points above the education of children. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants all London secondary schools and colleges to shut before the end of term on Friday - in defiance of the government's instruction to keep them open - blaming rising Covid-19 cases. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer came out against Mr Khan this morning and told LBC: 'I am very reluctant to close our schools'. No10 refuses to cancel Christmas Covid rule break Downing Street has insisted the Christmas relaxation of social distancing rules will go ahead despite increasing warnings that it will lead to a rise in coronavirus cases. Number 10 stressed that the public should remain 'jolly careful' over the festive period but said there are no plans to review the guidance after a 'very difficult year for many people'. Concerns were mounting, however, of a fresh spike in Covid-19 cases from the UK-wide relaxation to allow bubbles of up to three households between December 23 and 27. Chief medical officer for Wales Dr Frank Atherton issued a stark warning 'to save lives now, don't mix with other people'. 'Don't put yourself and your family at risk for the sake of tradition,' he said on Monday. But the Prime Minister's official spokesman said No 10 was not reconsidering the relaxation. 'There are no plans to review the Christmas guidance. What we've said alongside that is that the public should continue to be cautious,' he said. 'We've been clear that it's a limited easement to allow families to bubble over the Christmas period after what has been a very difficult year for many people. But it remains important for the public to follow the guidance.' AdvertisementLondon Tory MPs in the briefing with health minister Helen Whately this morning urged the PM to avoid a blanket Tier 3 move for the city. Harrow East Tory Bob Blackman said that the only people who would benefit from the move would be Amazon and other online retailers, with shoppers from Tier 2 areas effectively barred from entering the capital. He and other Tory MPs wrote to Boris Johnson at the weekend urging him not to inflict 'untold damage' on the capital by moving it into Tier 3. They warned many London Tory MPs could vote against the Government's Covid approach when it is reviewed next month if the city is plunged into tier 3. Mr Blackman told MailOnline today that the briefing today involved 'lots of questions and not many answers'. 'They are in the position I think of softening everyone up to say ''not only are you going to go into tier 3 but we are going to have to strengthen tier 3 and possibly have a tier 4 doing something else'', which none of us know yet,' he said. He suggested that closing secondary schools - one of the main sources of growth in cases - may help to act as a fire-break before restrictions are lifted for five days across Christmas. Labour's Bermondsey MP Neil Coyle added: 'Very grim figures. So angry at repeat failures to properly test and trace, a year after WHO sounded the pandemic alarm. People, especially children, and businesses have been let down so badly.' Another MP in the capital said there was a 'lot of frustration' with no real answers to their questions. It was the 'same gloomy outlook as last week's meeting except all the data is even worse, almost back to the levels pre-lockdown'. The MP suggested that the message over Christmas would be 'do not mix if you don't need to'. In a letter to the Prime Minister, which was jointly signed by London Councils chairwoman Georgia Gould, Mr Khan said the seven-day case rate had risen in 32 local authority areas in the capital compared to the previous week. There were also 17 boroughs where the seven-day rate exceeded 200 cases per 100,000 people. According to the latest figures, the borough of Havering has the highest coronavirus rate in London, with 1,314 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 9 - the equivalent of 506.3 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from a rate of 321.3 in the seven days to December 2. The figures have been calculated by the PA news agency, based on Public Health England data published on December 13 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard. Covid cases rising in every part of London, figures show The rate of new coronavirus cases has increased across every area of London, while the number of Covid-19 hospital admissions in the capital has risen to the highest level since April, new data shows. The latest data, published on Sunday, shows that coronavirus rates rose across every local authority area in London in the seven days to December 9 compared with the previous week. Havering has the highest rate in London, with 1,314 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 9 - the equivalent of 506.3 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from 321.3 in the seven days to December 2. Redbridge has the second highest rate, up from 296.5 to 398.1, with 1,215 new cases. Waltham Forest is in third place, where the rate has risen from 258.9 to 385.2, with 1,067 new cases. The figures, for the seven days to December 9, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two). The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people. Data for the most recent four days (December 10-13) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases. Meanwhile, the most recent data also shows that there were 248 people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in London on December 9, the highest number since April 28 when there were also 248 Covid admissions. The data, updated on Sunday, includes people admitted to hospital who tested positive for Covid-19 in the 14 days prior to admission, and those who tested positive in hospital after admission. Inpatients diagnosed with Covid-19 after admission are reported as being admitted on the day prior to their diagnosis. AdvertisementHow England's North-South divide REVERSED: Tier Three and lockdown forced coronavirus cases down in the North West but infection rates have rocketed in new hotspots in London and the South EastEngland's North-South divide of coronavirus cases has reversed in the past month, with outbreaks in the North brought under control by Tier Three rules and lockdown while cases spiralled out of control in the South. London is expected to go into Tier Three today amid surging infections a week before Christmas, while a fortnightly review could see the already-tough rules in the North relaxed later this week. Official figures reveal that there are now only two parts of the North of England that rank among the country's worst-affected areas, after the list was almost entirely populated by the North and Midlands just weeks ago. Data shows that the local lockdown rules do appear to work and Government decisions to go easy on the South has led to a devastating spike in infections just a week before Christmas. On October 14 only four days before the old tiers came into force, 29 of England's 50 most infected councils were in the North West, and 16 in the North East and Yorkshire. But two months later the tables had turned with the latest data from Public Health England for the seven days to December 9 revealing London has the highest number of councils in the list, at 14, followed by the South East and East of England with 13 councils each. Health Secretary Matt Hancock will speak in the House of Commons at 3.30pm this afternoon before a TV briefing later, when he is expected to announce that the capital must go into shutdown this week. The city is beginning to close itself, piece by piece, with schools now planning to shut early for Christmas and mayor Sadiq Khan saying pupils should stay home until mid-January in a bid to stop the virus in its tracks. MPs were warned this morning that there was 'exponential growth' in cases in London's boroughs and some of the major commuter areas like Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Meanwhile Kent, already in Tier 3, could face a further tightening of restrictions with a surge in cases that has yet to fall. Slide me North-South divide: The above graph shows infection rates in England a day before the old tier system came into force on October 13 (left) and infection rates across the UK nation on December 8 (right)The above map shows percentage change in Covid-19 infections up to December 6. Former hotspots Liverpool, Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton have dropped out of the most infected areas. Hospitalisations with Covid-19 also reveals the second wave has shifted decidedly south, with admissions rising in the East of England, London, the Midlands and South East comparing December 6 to last week. Although they were declining in the North, the most recent data from the NHS shows they are rising again. The upending of England's outbreak comes after the capital was declared the nation's outbreak hotspot last week with the highest number of infections per 100,000 residents. Greenwich, in the south east of the city, became the first council to switch its schools to online learning only in the final week of term yesterday, with others expected to follow suit after the Health Secretary's announcement today. Official data reveals that London's outbreak over lockdown - when cases actually rose - has been largely driven by infections in schools which were not bolted shut like in March 2020. There are fears of a 'third wave' of infections after Christmas, when up to three households are allowed to mix between December 23 and 27. Boris Johnson warned last night that grandparents should think hard about whether to visit their families over Christmas, especially as their vaccination against Covid-19 could be barely months away. The latest infections data from a week after the second lockdown ended shows Kent, Essex and London were seeing the highest numbers of infections. Swale, in Kent, was the Covid-19 hotspot after recording 633.7 cases per 100,000. It was followed by Medway, also in Kent, at 613.9, and Basildon, in Essex, at 613.8. Havering was the capital's most infected borough at 506.3 per 100,000, although many other boroughs also registered high on the infection charts. Of the two councils in the North of England Burnley was 33rd in the list, after recording 287.9 per 100,000, and South Tyneside was 38th, after testers identified 272.2 per 100,000. It is a stark switch from when the old tier system was introduced, when Nottingham in the Midlands had the highest infection rate per 100,000 residents at 880.4. It was followed by the Liverpool borough of Knowsley, in the North West, at 667.5 per 100,000, and Liverpool city centre, at 635.3 per 100,000. There were no southern councils in the top 50 most infected councils list. The highest infection rate in London was in Ealing, which was 83 out of 315 local areas in the country at 127.3 per 100,000. And in the South - including the South East, South West and East of England - it was recorded in Bristol at 120 per 100,000. Millions in the North have been forced to endure tough restrictions for months to drive down the number of coronavirus cases. Large swathes were forced into Tier Three under the old system - forcing restaurants and pubs to ask customers to have a 'substantial meal' with any drinks they are ordering. England was then shoved into a four-week lockdown from November 5, with shops, restaurants and pubs forced to pull down the shutters, after Boris Johnson hit the panic button. And when the draconian restrictions were lifted most of the North of England was placed into a tightened Tier Three - which saw restaurants and pubs still forced to still only offer takeaway only. Public Health England data has revealed infections were already falling in the region before lockdown, and have continued to fall under the suped up Tier Three measures imposed afterwards. AdvertisementSome 61 per cent of England's population will be under Tier 3 after vast swathes of the South East are thrust into the harshest set of Covid restrictions from midnight tonight. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that the tough new rules will come into effect in London just after midnight on Wednesday morning, sparking fury that he is sending thousands of businesses to the wall. Large areas of Hertfordshire and Essex will also go into Tier 3 after seeing a 'sharp and exponential' growth in cases. The change will leave 34 million people in England under the top-tier of Covid rules, which force all restaurants, pubs, bars and theatres to close their doors. Extraordinarily, No. 10 has insisted that all the curbs will still be relaxed on December 23 as part of the Christmas 'bubbles' plan. But scientists fear this could fuel the new faster-spreading Covid variant that may be behind the surge of cases in southern England. Britain yesterday recorded a further 20,263 coronavirus cases, in a rise of more than a third on last Monday's total. Official figures released on Monday also revealed 232 people died after testing positive for the virus - in a 22.8 per cent spike on the 189 deaths seen on the same day last week. Some 61 per cent of England's population will be under Tier 3 after vast swathes of the South East are thrust into the harshest set of Covid restrictions from midnight tonight. Pictured: Revellers enjoying their last few days of Tier 2 freedom in London on Monday eveningHealth Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that the tough new rules will come into effect in London just after midnight on Wednesday morning, sparking fury that he is sending thousands of businesses to the wall. Pictured: Revellers out in London on Monday eveningThe change will leave 34 million people in England under the top-tier of Covid rules, which force all restaurants, pubs, bars and theatres to close their doors. Pictured: Revellers out in London on Monday eveningWhat are the Tier 3 rules? Indoor entertainment venues such as cinemas, theatres and bowling alleys must close;Pubs, restaurants and cafes must close except for takeaway;Shops and hairdressers and salons will be allowed to remain open;Groups of six will be allowed to meet outdoors only;Crowds at live events will be banned;People should avoid travelling out of, or into, Tier 3 areas unless it is unavoidable;People from separate households cannot meet indoors and the rule of six applies outside. AdvertisementAddressing the nation at a televised press conference, Mr Hancock said yesterday: 'We know from experience that the best thing to do in the face of this virus is to act fast, not to wait to see its growth continue - and we do not rule out further action.' But he faced down questions over the wisdom of relaxing some restrictions on family gatherings at Christmas. In response he said: 'If you want to see elderly relatives at Christmas the best thing to do is be extremely careful now about who you see.' Professor Chris Whitty reiterated that people need to be cautious at Christmas and should not meet just because they can. 'The point of this (relaxation of rules) is for, under certain circumstances, families who wish to, to get together, but they really have to be very, very careful. 'And in particular, incredibly careful if they're around people who are vulnerable, who are at very high risk of this virus.' In another bombshell announcement Mr Hancock said that scientists had identified a 'new variant' of the virus that appeared to be influencing the spread in the south of England. He said initial evidence was that it is growing much faster than the previous strains, although he tried to cool fears by stressing that it did not seem to be more deadly, and there was low risk that it will not respond to vaccines. 'We have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the fastest spread in the south-east of England,' Mr Hancock told MPs. The new Tier 3 areas As well as London, Matt Hancock outlined parts of Essex and Hertfordshire would also be placed in Tier 3. Essex: BasildonBrentwoodHarlowEpping ForestCastle PointRochfordMaldonBraintreeChelmsfordThurrockSouthend-on-Sea Hertfordshire BroxbourneHertsmereWatfordThree Rivers Advertisement'Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants. We've currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas, and numbers are increasing rapidly.' Mr Hancock said the strain had also been identified in other countries and the World Health Organisation had been notified, with tests still being carried out at the government's Porton Down lab. The Tier 3 move drew a furious reaction from local MPs and firms who warned it will devastate businesses. London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey branded it a 'mistake' and said individual boroughs should be treated differently. Pubs, restaurants and culture venues will be closed, while shoppers from Tier 2 zones will be barred from shopping in major retail hubs like Oxford Street. West End theatres are also readying themselves to close after tomorrow night's performances. Meanwhile there is anxiety that Kent, already in Tier 3, could face a further tightening of restrictions with a surge in cases that has yet to fall. In an apparent attempt to assuage anger, Mr Hancock indicated that the next review will be on December 23 - rather than December 30 as had been expected. However, in a grim statement to the House on the epidemiological situation he said: 'Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants. 'We've currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas. 'And numbers are increasing rapidly.' The Government agreed to review the tier levels every two weeks at the latest after they were introduced on December 2, in order to pass the legislation needed in the face of a backbench rebellion. But the decision was brought forward from Wednesday to Monday because of the spike in numbers, with a key cabinet committee having met this morning. Addressing the nation at a televised press conference, Mr Hancock added: 'We know from experience that the best thing to do in the face of this virus is to act fast, not to wait to see its growth continue - and we do not rule out further action'Introducing the restrictions sooner means they have more time to take effect before the nationwide loosening of restrictions from December 23 - 27, with up to three families allowed to meet without social distancing. Earlier, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned Tier 3 would be 'catastrophic' without extra help for the city's businesses, coming in what should be a 'golden quarter' of the year before Christmas. He told Sky News: 'If the government decides to do that they must provide additional support over and above what has been offered to make sure these businesses go bust,' he told Sky News. 'If they go bust not only will it lead to hundreds of thousands of Londoners being made unemployed, but our ability to recover from this pandemic will be made much harder. It is in nobody's interest for these businesses to go bust, December is a crucial month for many of these business.' In his statement yesterday Mr Hancock said: 'I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease and the latest clinical advice is that it's highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine, but it shows we've got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus.' He added: 'I need to tell the House that over the last week, we've seen very sharp, exponential rises in the virus across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. 'We do not know the extent to which this is because of the new variant but no matter its cause we have to take swift and decisive action which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is rolled out.' Greenwich's council leader Danny Thorpe has told all schools in the south-east London borough to close from Monday evening as he warned its Covid-19 situation was 'escalating extremely quickly'. The infection rate per 100,000 people in the capital stood at 191.8 on December 6, up from 158.1 the previous week. When will the tiers be reviewed? The government has brought forward the date for the review of London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, which will now go into Tier 3 from Wednesday. Legally ministers must look again at the arrangements every 14 days, but it now appears they will do so far more regularly. Wednesday, December 16 The rest of England is still set to learn its fate, with the new brackets expected to take effect from Saturday. Wednesday, December 23 Matt Hancock has pledged another review of the tiers will take place on the same day as the Christmas 'bubbles' relaxation begins. Monday, December 28 The Christmas 'bubbles' are due to end, with areas going into the tiers they were allocated at the review a week earlier. Wednesday, December 30 Another review of the tiers could take place. AdvertisementThe parts of Essex are: Basildon, Brentwood, Harlow Epping Forest, Castle Point, Rochford, Malden, Braintree and Chelmsford, Thurrock and Southend on Sea. In Hertfordshire the areas being upgraded are: Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Watford and the Three Rivers. 'This means that people can only see friends and family they don't live with, or are in a support bubble with, in outdoor public places,' he said. 'And of course, in line, with the rule of six, hospitality settings must close, except takeaway delivery. And people should avoid travelling outside their area and reduce the number of journeys they make wherever possible.' The Health Secretary made clear that people should not be coming to London for Christmas shopping as a result of the new restrictions. But his Labour shadow Jon Ashworth yesterday said the government's slow response was partly to blame for the severity of the situation. 'Across London health cases have increased 30 per cent, across the east of England 36 per cent, so none of us are surprised at the action he is taking today,' Mr Ashworth said on Monday. 'Indeed, he was warned Tier 2 would not be enough to contain the spread of the virus in many places. 'Indeed it looks like in some areas, such as Kent, tier 3 isn't enough to contain the spread either.' Professor Kevin Fenton, London regional director for Public Health England, said now is a 'pivotal moment' for London and the South East. He told the Downing Street briefing yesterday: 'As we've heard from the chief medical officer numbers and rates of infection are now increasing exponentially in parts of the South East. 'And this means that quick and decisive action is needed. 'There is a strong connection between increases that we're seeing in London with parts of the south of Essex, as well as the South East region and it really is important that we are working together, coordinating carefully across the regions to ensure that we act to control the infection now.' He said Londoners should expect to see more messaging about coronavirus in the coming days urging people to 'take heed, to follow the rules, and to follow the guidance for Tier 3 and to prepare for the holiday season ahead.' Mr Khan said the Government's decision to impose Tier 3 restrictions on the capital was 'incredibly disappointing' for businesses. But, in a statement, the Labour mayor urged Londoners to follow the measures to 'avoid even tougher restrictions, for longer, further down the road'. 'This is incredibly disappointing for our businesses who have suffered so much already this year,' he said. 'The worst thing for London's businesses and our economy would be yet another full lockdown in the new year. That's why I urge Londoners to follow the Tier 3 rules that the Government is putting in place very closely so that we can drive down infection rates as much as possible. 'We now urgently need much more Government support for the sectors of our economy that are being hit the hardest, including hospitality, culture and leisure.' Eddie Curzon, London director of the CBI warned many firms now face disaster, having been allowed to open for just two weeks after the blanket lockdown ended. 'Businesses - particularly those in sectors like retail and hospitality - will have been counting on a festive fillip to help mitigate months of hardship, and further restrictions now will come as a devastating blow,' he said. 'Thousands of jobs and livelihoods could be at risk. It's vital that any tightening of measures anywhere across England is shaped by clear evidence, consistently applied, and accompanied by increased support for businesses in the worst-hit sectors. 'Vaccinations are now under way and offer tangible reasons for optimism in 2021 - the government must do everything possible to help businesses survive until risks recede and trade returns.' The British Beer & Pub Association said in London alone the restrictions will force 1,250 pubs that remained open in Tier 2 to close, putting nearly 8,000 more jobs at risk. In total, 56,000 jobs in the sector are now at risk with all of the capital's 3,680 pubs forced to close except for takeaways, according to the trade association, which is calling for more financial support for pubs and brewers across the country. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: 'Moving into Tier 3 is another nail in the coffin for London's pubs, as well as those affected in parts of Hertfordshire and Essex. 'It could completely destroy many pubs in London and parts of Hertfordshire and Essex who have taken bookings for the lead-up to Christmas and New Year's Eve if the tiers don't change before then. 'It is cruel on hardworking publicans doing all they can to support their communities and invest in implementing all the required safety measures. Especially as the Government's own evidence shows pubs are safe. 'It is also cruel in stopping friends, families and loved-ones from using their local this Christmas as a safe space to socialise in, with all the evidence showing that pubs are ranked amongst the lowest places for transmission.' UKHospitality called the Tier 3 move 'illogical' and said the Government's system puts an unfair burden on hospitality businesses without effectively tackling Covid-19. The trade association's chief executive Kate Nicholls said: 'The Government is cracking down on hospitality for an increase in the infection rates that occurred during a period when hospitality was forcibly closed. It makes no sense.' Will Bowlby, who runs the Kricket Indian restaurant chain in London, was also critical of the Government's handling of the crisis. 'I understand that things change but I feel like there's just been mixed messages,' he said. 'Whether it's applied to businesses or to people in general, it's made it a lot more difficult to adapt. 'You would have thought over time their messaging might have got a bit clearer but it hasn't.' Clover Eziashi, who has run Lounge Brixton, in south London for around 20 years, said her 'heart bleeds' at having to shut down again after preparing for Christmas. 'The lockdown of this last month and then opening up, people just went into a frenzy,' she said. 'It's just not working, obviously it hasn't worked shutting us down again when we've already put so much money into restocking, that's where my heart bleeds a little bit. 'We've geared up for Christmas, what are we going to do with all of this stock?' The director of the Theatres Trust, Jon Morgan, branded the move announced on Monday a 'disaster' for London's theatres, adding: 'Theatres have worked incredibly hard to create safe environments for audiences and through no fault of their own will now face enormous financial losses.' Jace Tyrrell, chief executive at New West End Company, yesterday said: 'However well telegraphed, today's announcement comes as a hammer blow to the West End's restaurants and hotels. 'Advising against travel will heap further pressure on retailers that have invested millions in enhanced safety measures and staff training to support trade.' In the Commons, Mr Hancock was asked whether it would be against the rules for people to come into the capital to do Christmas shopping. Jeremy Hunt, Conservative chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: 'From Wednesday, if you live outside London will it be against the regulations to come into Oxford Street to do your Christmas shopping? 'If you live inside London, will it be against the regulations to do your Christmas shopping and is the only way to do your Christmas shopping legally now to go online?' Mr Hancock replied: 'The question he asks about Christmas shopping is important. 'It is recommended that people should minimise travel unless it is necessary in a Tier 3 area and should minimise travel where it is necessary to a Tier 3 area. 'And so we have taken this action to try to protect people and to try to slow the spread of this virus and that is absolutely the right thing to do.' Under Tier 3 restrictions, non-essential shops will remain open though the guidance on travel could deprive many of the capital's retailers of much-needed custom ahead of Christmas. After a call with Mr Hancock earlier, Ealing Central Labour MP Rupa Huq tweeted: 'Worst kept secret ever confirmed London and Essex (except Tendring) and Herts (Watford/ Hertsmere/ Broxbourne) from 1 min past midnight Weds. 'London and bits of Essex and Hertfordshire to enter ''standard tier 3'' from Wednesday confirmed by Matt Hancock on call for MPs from London and South East Next review on 23rd Dec - to be weekly.' The mayor told Sky News: 'My understanding is that Covid-O is meeting as we speak - that's the sub-committee of the Cabinet that makes the recommendations. 'We will have to wait and see what the Government decides - it's a Government decision, not my decision or London leaders' decision.' Shoppers out and about in Regents Street in central London yesterday as the news of the Tier 3 move emergedPeople sat outside a pub in the West End of London. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No. We've set out the details of the Christmas guidelines. 'There are no plans to review the Christmas guidance. What we've said alongside that is that the public should continue to be cautious. 'I think the Prime Minister said it's the season to be jolly careful and we would emphasise that we should continue to do that. 'We've been clear that it's a limited easement to allow families to bubble over the Christmas period after what has been a very difficult year for many people. 'But it remains important for the public to follow the guidance.' It came as millions of London parents faced an anxious wait to see if schools are shut early after a Labour council backed by Sadiq Khan asked headteachers to shut their gates because of rising coronavirus cases in the capital. Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe has been accused of 'an appalling lack of leadership' after announcing his decision on Twitter last night amid fears London's 20 other Labour councils could follow suit. But Cllr Thorpe, a former teacher supported by Britain's teaching unions, did not specify on what scientific basis officials had reached the decision, leading to accusations he was putting scoring political points above the education of children. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants all London secondary schools and colleges to shut before the end of term on Friday - in defiance of the government's instruction to keep them open - blaming rising Covid-19 cases. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer came out against Mr Khan yesterday morning and told LBC: 'I am very reluctant to close our schools'. No10 refuses to cancel Christmas Covid rule break Downing Street has insisted the Christmas relaxation of social distancing rules will go ahead despite increasing warnings that it will lead to a rise in coronavirus cases. Number 10 stressed that the public should remain 'jolly careful' over the festive period but said there are no plans to review the guidance after a 'very difficult year for many people'. Concerns were mounting, however, of a fresh spike in Covid-19 cases from the UK-wide relaxation to allow bubbles of up to three households between December 23 and 27. Chief medical officer for Wales Dr Frank Atherton issued a stark warning 'to save lives now, don't mix with other people'. 'Don't put yourself and your family at risk for the sake of tradition,' he said on Monday. But the Prime Minister's official spokesman said No 10 was not reconsidering the relaxation. 'There are no plans to review the Christmas guidance. What we've said alongside that is that the public should continue to be cautious,' he said. 'We've been clear that it's a limited easement to allow families to bubble over the Christmas period after what has been a very difficult year for many people. But it remains important for the public to follow the guidance.' AdvertisementLondon Tory MPs in yesterday's briefing with health minister Helen Whately urged the PM to avoid a blanket Tier 3 move for the city. Harrow East Tory Bob Blackman said that the only people who would benefit from the move would be Amazon and other online retailers, with shoppers from Tier 2 areas effectively barred from entering the capital. He and other Tory MPs wrote to Boris Johnson at the weekend urging him not to inflict 'untold damage' on the capital by moving it into Tier 3. They warned many London Tory MPs could vote against the Government's Covid approach when it is reviewed next month if the city is plunged into tier 3. Mr Blackman told MailOnline on Monday that the briefing yesterday involved 'lots of questions and not many answers'. 'They are in the position I think of softening everyone up to say ''not only are you going to go into tier 3 but we are going to have to strengthen tier 3 and possibly have a tier 4 doing something else'', which none of us know yet,' he said. He suggested that closing secondary schools - one of the main sources of growth in cases - may help to act as a fire-break before restrictions are lifted for five days across Christmas. Labour's Bermondsey MP Neil Coyle added: 'Very grim figures. So angry at repeat failures to properly test and trace, a year after WHO sounded the pandemic alarm. People, especially children, and businesses have been let down so badly.' Another MP in the capital said there was a 'lot of frustration' with no real answers to their questions. It was the 'same gloomy outlook as last week's meeting except all the data is even worse, almost back to the levels pre-lockdown'. The MP suggested that the message over Christmas would be 'do not mix if you don't need to'. In a letter to the Prime Minister, which was jointly signed by London Councils chairwoman Georgia Gould, Mr Khan said the seven-day case rate had risen in 32 local authority areas in the capital compared to the previous week. There were also 17 boroughs where the seven-day rate exceeded 200 cases per 100,000 people. According to the latest figures, the borough of Havering has the highest coronavirus rate in London, with 1,314 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 9 - the equivalent of 506.3 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from a rate of 321.3 in the seven days to December 2. The figures have been calculated by the PA news agency, based on Public Health England data published on December 13 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard. | 3 |
###CLAIM: on the final day of the constitutional convention, delegates will debate whether or not to convey to congress a draft that seeks and has each delegate attach their signature.
###DOCS: The document counted my great-great-grandfather as three-fifths of a free person. But the Framers dont own the version we live by today. We do. The document is our responsibility now. Updated at 11:50 a.m. ET on October 5, 2020. Why do I love the U.S. Constitution? This instrument formally converted the worth of my great-great-grandfather Sidiphus into three-fifths that of a free person. Living in the East Indies as a free man, Sidiphus had been tricked into enslavementrecruited to a Georgia farm just before the Civil War by the promise of a foremanship. Had he managed to escape Georgia and bondage prior to the onset of the war, the Constitution would not have protected his God-given natural rights. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution determined that representation in Congress and direct taxation would be apportioned to the states by adding up the whole number of free people, plus three-fifths of all other personsmeaning enslaved personsexcluding Indians not taxed. These words carried into the Constitution a compromise first formulated in 1783 in a proposed amendment to the Articles of Confederation. That compromise was later adopted in the Constitution to resolve the conundrum of how to tax the plantation wealth of the South without giving white landowners outsize power in Congress by including enslaved people in the official count of the population. Given the crime against humanity written into the Constitution because compromise was necessary to form a unionand given the sharp and unabating attention that the nations Founders and their writings have received in recent monthsI had better have a rock-solid explanation for my love of that document. Simple love of country, land of my mothers milk, wont do. My love must be sighted, not blind. Special project: The battle for the ConstitutionAs it happens, Sidiphuss God-given natural rights had been much earlier asserted by none other than Thomas Jefferson and fellow members of the drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence. They took the trouble to make this assertion in the original draft of the Declaration, when they castigated the King of England for violatingthrough his protection of the trade in enslaved peoplethe sacred rights of life and liberty of Africans who had never done him any harm. We will never know if it was Jefferson who thought up those wordswords that would take many Americans today by surpriseor another committee member, perhaps John Adams or Benjamin Franklin. Adams, from Massachusetts, never enslaved anyone and thought enslavement was wrong. Franklin, from Pennsylvania, who himself had been an indentured servant, did enslave African Americans early in his life, but he eventually abandoned the practice and became a full-throated abolitionist. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts would be the first states to abolish enslavement, in 1780 and 1783, respectively (and gradually in the case of Pennsylvania)years before the U.S. Constitution was adopted, and even before the Revolution was formally over. The Continental Congress, of course, in its revisions to the draft of the Declaration of Independence, struck out any explicit recognition of Africans human rights, postponing their protection until 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. Already in 1776, Benjamin Franklin could make cutting jokes about the so-called slave interest and its influence on American politics. In the July 1776 debates over the Articles of Confederation, this exchange occurred between Franklin and Thomas Lynch Jr., of South Carolina, as recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress:lynch: If it is debated, whether their slaves are their property, there is an end of the confederation. Our slaves being our property, why should they be taxed more than the land, sheep, cattle, horses, &c.? Freemen cannot be got to work in our Colonies; it is not in the ability or inclination of freemen to do the work that the negroes do. franklin: Slaves rather weaken than strengthen the State, and there is therefore some difference between them and sheep; sheep will never make any insurrections. Franklin knew that enslaved men, women, and children were fully his equal, as capable of insurrection and revolution as he and his colleagues had been that hot July day in Philadelphia when they resolved to break away from Britain. Franklin recognized that a society built on a foundation of domination would be as unstable as the foundation itself. Eleven years later, though, Franklin was helping shore up the Great Compromise, including its buttress, the three-fifths clause, which underestimated my great-great-grandfathers worth. * In the final days of the Constitutional Convention, delegates debated whether they would convey their draft to Congress without individual endorsements or seek to have each delegate affix his signature to the document. The latter approach, which in fact played out, would amount to a pledge of commitment and ensure that dissent would die in the Conventionsworn secrets of the debates long concealed until James Madisons unofficial notes surfaced decades later. Franklin was in favor of consensus and for burying reservations. In a statement he said:Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. With these words, Franklin articulated the deepest, hardest truth of free self-government. People can have the chance of self-government through the institutions of constitutional democracy if and only if they prioritize the preservation of those institutions over wins in substantive domains of policy. For this lesson, Abraham Lincoln is our foremost teacher. When union and policy commitments come into conflict, those who wish to preserve free self-government must choose union. In that spirit, Franklin chose freedom for some over freedom for none. Franklin knew that enslaved men, women, and children were fully his equal. And yet he helped shore up the Great Compromise. Yet not all compromises are good ones. And not all are necessary. To understand and embrace the centrality of compromise to the sustainability of constitutional democracy and the self-government of free and equal citizens, one needs to be able to distinguish between good and bad compromises. Both the Declaration and the Constitution (via the Bill of Rights) include another important compromise, this one not about enslavement but about religion. The Declaration simultaneously uses the languages of rationalism and of faith to establish the grounds for its moral commitment, as when it invokes the Laws of Nature and of Natures God. While the text refers to a Creator, to divine Providence, and to a Supreme Judge, it studiously avoids using the vocabulary of any specific religion or doctrine. The text is capacious. Believers and nonbelievers alike are given reason to sign on; no specific form of belief takes precedence. Similarly, the Constitutions inclusion of the protection of religious freedom and the separation of Church and state formed the structure for a profoundly valuable and durable compromise. James Madison led the argument for the provision, responding to efforts in Virginia to pass a law requiring all taxpayers to make an annual contribution or pay a moderate tax in support of churches. (Advocates of the law included some of the old lions of the Revolution, such as Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, and Richard Henry Lee.) What made the compromises around religion morally legitimate and sound was that they took into account the perspectives of all those in the new country who would be affected by them. Every religious point of view present in the colonies in 1776 was conceivably embraced by the language, including those of the disenfranchised. The compromise about enslavement did not, in contrast, consider the perspective of all those affected by that decision. Standing on partial ground, it lacked moral legitimacy and would ultimately prove destabilizing for the country. From the October 2015 issue: How the Constitution caused our dysfunctional governmentYet the compromise was made, and Franklin was not the only one who understood himself to have been complicit in it. So too did James Wilson. Wilson, like Franklin, was from Philadelphia. At the Constitutional Convention, he was one of the few elder statesmen who had also signed the Declaration of Independence. (Wilson was 44; Madison was 36.) He repeatedly asserted that the work of creating the Constitution was but an extension of foundations laid by the Declaration. Wilson was Madisons equal at the Convention in terms of learning and influence. Although he was a member of the first Supreme Court, we have nonetheless all but forgotten him, presumably because he was also the first and only Supreme Court justice to go to debtors prison (as a result of failed land speculations). He died of a stroke while fleeing the reach of the law. Whereas Franklin was an enslaver in the earlier parts of his life, Wilson was an enslaver for much of his life. Even while publicly writing and speaking against enslavement, he owned a man named Thomas Purcell for 26 years. However, two months after marrying a Quaker woman, Hannah Gray, he emancipated Purcell, an act often attributed to Grays influence. Like Franklin, Wilson fully understood the nature of the compromise in the Constitution, and was prepared to accept it. No such thing was intended ... Under the present Confederation, the states may admit the importation of slaves as long as they please; but by this article, after the year 1808, the Congress will have power to prohibit such importation, notwithstanding the disposition of any state to the contrary. I consider this as laying the foundation for banishing slavery out of this country; and though the period is more distant than I could wish, yet it will produce the same kind, gradual change, which was pursued in Pennsylvania ... A tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person; and this, sir, operates as a partial prohibition; it was all that could be obtained. I am sorry it was no more; but from this I think there is reason to hope, that yet a few years, and it will be prohibited altogether. The best, then, that can be said about the compromises regarding slavery that also helped the Constitutional Convention achieve unanimity is this: Those who knew enslavement was wrong but nonetheless accepted the compromises believed they were choosing a path that would lead inexorably, if incrementally, to freedom for all. We cannot, however, assume with Wilson and Franklin and others like them that incrementalism was the only available path to freedom for all. It is also not clear that the Constitutions compromises even accelerated the march of freedom, whether for enslaved people or for people more generally. Britain offers a natural experiment with which to make judgments about alternative paths. Revolutionary ideas were afoot there too in the 1770s and 80s. Universal suffrage for men was proposed in Parliament for the first time in 1780 by Charles Lennox, the third Duke of Richmond, an ardent supporter both of the American revolutionaries and of radicals in Britain. Yet at home, in the British Isles, the Crown managed to fend off the revolution it could not defeat in 13 of its colonies. This, however, did not result in the permanent nonfreedom of British subjects. A British legal judgment in 1772 introduced a doctrine against selling enslaved people abroad, a doctrine that was commonly though erroneously thought to mean that no one could be held as a slave on English soil. In de facto fashion it reduced enslavement in Britain and redirected the attention of abolitionists to enslavement in the British colonies. In 1793, Upper Canadain essence, the region just north of the Great Lakespassed the Act to Limit Slavery, the first law of its kind in the remaining British colonies. Britain itself in 1833 passed the Slavery Abolition Act, dismantling enslavement throughout its Caribbean colonies and making Canada a free land for African Americans who escaped slavery in the U.S. The law helped make possible the Underground Railroad, the fights about the Fugitive Slave Act, and the dynamics that eventually led to the Civil War. As to universal manhood suffrage, there the United Kingdom moved slowly. In 1832, Britain introduced the first of what would eventually be three 19th-century Reform Acts. This act had different rules for those living in counties versus towns. In towns, men who occupied property with an annual rent of at least 10 pounds could vote. That still left six out of seven men without voting rights. Britain adopted another reform measure in 1867 and one more in 1884. The third Reform Act gave the vote to all male house owners and all males paying rent of 10 pounds or more a yearleaving out 40 percent of men and of course 100 percent of women. These changes were accomplished without a bloody internal war. The U.S. gave the vote to all male citizens regardless of skin color or former condition of servitude only with the Fifteenth Amendment, in 1870. Until that point, African Americans as well as some white men in states that made tax payment a prerequisite had been denied the right to vote. These changes required a bloody civil war, and even they were still partial. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island maintained tax-paying qualifications into the 20th century; women and Native Americans did not yet have suffrage. In both Britain and the United States, true universal suffrage was not adopted until well into the 20th century, and fights for voting rights persist. In other words, the Constitution did not earn an earlier release from bondage or promote universal suffrage for men much faster than was accomplished under Britains constitutional monarchy. Nor much faster than was achieved in Canada, a country we can look to for an answer to the question of what might have happened had the North American colonies that came to form the United States failed in their bid for freedom. What did accelerate the march of freedom for all was abolitionism, a social movement that crystallized in both the United States and the United Kingdom in the years immediately following the revolutionary break between the two. Moral leadership made this difference. Freedom flows from the tireless efforts of those who proclaim and pursue protection of the equal human dignity of all. So why, then, do I love the Constitution? I love it for its practical leadership. I love it because it is the worlds greatest teaching document for one part of the story of freedom: the question of how free and equal citizens check and channel power both to protect themselves from domination by one another and to secure their mutual protection from external forces that might seek their domination. Why do we have three distinct aspects of powerlegislative, executive, and judicialand why is it best to keep them separate and yet intermingled? A typical civics lesson skates over the deep philosophical basis for what we glibly call separation of powers and checks and balances. Those concepts rest on a profound reckoning with the nature of power. The exercise of power originates with the expression of a will or an intention. The legislature, the first branch, expresses the will of the people. Only after the will is expressed can there be execution of the desired action. The executive branch, the second branch, is responsible for this. The judiciary comes third as a necessary mediator for addressing conflicts between the first and second branches. The three elements of powerwill, execution, and adjudicationare separated to improve accountability. It is easier to hold officials accountable if they are limited in what they are permitted to do. In addition, the separation of powers provides a mechanism by which those who are responsible for using power are also always engaged in holding one another accountable. James Madison, in The Federalist Papers, a series of newspaper opinion pieces written by Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in 1787 and 1788 in support of the proposed Constitution, put it this way:If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is no doubt the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. To ensure that power could be held accountable, the designers of the Constitution broke power into its component parts. They assigned one power to each of three branches. Then they developed rules and procedures that would make it possible for officers in each branch to not only exercise their own powers but also, to some extent, check and counterbalance the use of power by others. The point of giving each branch ways of slowing down the other branches was to ensure that no branch would be able to dominate and consolidate complete power. The rules and procedures they devised can also be called mechanismsprocedures that in themselves organize incentives and requirements for officeholders so that power flows in good and fair ways. We all use mechanisms to limit power and achieve fairness in our ordinary lives. A good example is the kind of rule parents use for helping children share desserts. If Ive got a cake, and I need to divide it up between two children, the easiest way for me to achieve a fair outcome is if I let one child slice while the other child gets first pick. The child who slices has an incentive to slice as fairly as possible, knowing that the second child will surely choose the bigger slice if the slices are not equal. Parenting books do not generally cite Federalist No. 51, in which Madison advised, Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.I muck the stalls. I find a diamond. I clean it off and keep it. I do not abandon it because of where I found it. The U.S. Constitution is full of mechanisms like this to structure the incentives of officeholders to make sure power operates in fair ways. Here is a smattering of my favorite examples, courtesy of the identification in The Federalist Papers of the highest and best features of the Constitution:Each branch should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the other, which means no branch can surreptitiously come to control another by populating its personnel and staff. Each branch should be as little dependent as possible on the others for emoluments annexed to their offices, which means no branch falls under the sway of another by virtue of hoping for a raise. No double-office holding is permitted, which means that trying to play a role in more than one branch at the same time is strictly off-limits. The executive has a veto over legislation, but it can be overruled by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress, which means that an executive decision (on legislation) emanating from support of a bare majority of the people cannot overrule a view emanating from a supermajority of the country. **The executive can propose the draft of treaties, but ratification requires senatorial advice and consent, which prevents treaties from being struck as personal deals with benefits to the executive and thereby hinders corruption. The Senate must approve Supreme Court appointments made by the president, but the Court has the power of review over laws passed by Congress, which means Congress can be overruled by justices to whose appointment the legislative branch has itself consented. The Constitution is the law of the land and establishes powers of enforcement, but it can be changed through a carefully articulated amendment process, by the peoples standing legislative representatives or by representatives to conventions especially elected for the purposewhich means the final power always rests with the people. I delight in the cleverness of these mechanisms. There are many more. Instituting a bicameral legislaturehaving a Senate and a House of Representativesis itself a check on monolithic legislative power. I marvel at the Constitutions insight into the operations of power. I respect the ambition of the people who sought to design institutions and organize the government with the goal of ensuring the safety and happiness of the people. I see its limits, but I love its avowalby stipulating the process for amendment, to date exercised 27 timesof its own mutability. Remarkably, the Constitutions slow, steady change has regularly been in the direction of moral improvement. In that regard, it has served well as a device for securing and stabilizing genuine human progress not only in politics but also in moral understanding. This is what figures like Franklin and Wilson anticipated (or at least hoped for). It would be a mistake to think that Britains own slow march toward the expansion of freedom was in no way prodded along by the example across the Atlantic and domestic pressures flowing from that example, just as Britains earlier abolition of enslavement generated pressures that drove the march of freedom forward here at home. The Constitution is a work of practical genius. It is morally flawed. The story of the expansion of human freedom is one of shining moral ideals besmirched by the ordure of ongoing domination. I muck the stalls. I find a diamond. I clean it off and keep it. I do not abandon it because of where I found it. Instead, I own it. Because of its mutability and the changes made from generation to generation, none but the living can own the Constitution. Those who wrote the version ratified centuries ago do not own the version we live by today. We do. Its ours, an adaptable instrument used to define self-government among free and equal citizensand to secure our ongoing moral education about that most important human endeavor. We are all responsible for our Constitution, and that fact is empowering. That hard-won empowerment is why I love the Constitution. And it shapes my native land, which I love also simply because it is my home. The second love is instinctual. The first comes with open eyes. * This article originally implied that the adoption of the three-fifths clause constituted the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise was a broader agreement. ** The article also stated that the executive veto of legislation can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. An override requires a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress. | 0 |
###CLAIM: now his battered box of memories and letters reminds him of the night the princess died.
###DOCS: A picture of Diana's two sons, which was in her handbag, was placed in her handsNow, it is late afternoon. The corridor outside Diana's room has been secured. Aside from the police guards, there is a permanent presence of just Colin Tebbutt, the Consul-General, the nursing sister, Paul Burrell and the priest. The priest, Father Yves-Marie Clochard-Bossuet, recalls that he could tell that butler Burrell was genuinely devastated by Diana's death, unlike some of the 'hypocritical' officials who had paid their respects. 'He felt the need to tell me how much she meant to him.' But then 'suddenly down the corridor comes this tall man and his wife and they just walked into Diana's room with the policeman saluting,' recalls Tebbutt. 'I'm like, 'What the hell's happening now?' I went to call him back when I suddenly realised it was President and Mrs Chirac [again]. Mr Chirac bowed at the end of the bed and walked out. After that, we sat in the office and waited. They knew that the VIP party from Britain was close. Devoted: The Princess of Wales with Prince Harry and William in 1995. A picture of Diana's two sons, which was in her handbag, was placed in her hands following her death'I knew little about the Royal Family tree,' recalls the priest to the Mail. 'I knew Diana's husband was called Charles . . . I had no idea that the whole world would be talking about this for years to come.' He is bemused by the deferential anticipation of his British companions. 'The people of the embassy warned me an hour before he arrived that Charles was coming. We French and English are different. They were asking me if I felt OK, was I prepared in order to meet His Royal Highness [their attitude]? It was absolutely as if Christ Himself was about to descend [on us].' First to arrive are the royal undertakers' party. 'The coffin was carried shoulder-high by these four big guys accompanied by Mr Leverton himself, all in morning suits, marching down the corridor as if it were a military parade,' recalls Tebbutt. 'I told Mr Leverton that the French undertakers had been and hoped that everything was OK. And he went in and looked at her and came out and said: 'Mr Tebbutt, they've done a fine job, thank you,' which was a huge relief to me.' Now Prince Charles arrives, accompanied by Diana's sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes. President Chirac is at the hospital entrance with a 12-strong guard of honour. 'I had known [the Prince] since 1978. He said to me, 'Colin, thank you very much for coming,' ' says Tebbutt. 'I explained to him what had been happening and he asked, 'Are there any members of the clergy here?' I said there were and he replied, 'I would like to go into the [Diana's] room with the clergy and her sisters. Is that alright?' I said, 'By all means, Sir.' 'An Anglican clergyman is also on hand, at last. 'He arrived five minutes before Charles,' recalls Father Clochard-Bossuet. 'A nice man named Martin Draper (the serving Anglican Archdeacon of France). And it was he who told Prince Charles, 'This is the Catholic priest who has been watching over Diana for ten hours.' 'And Prince Charles was very amiable, very simple, very nice. He thanked me and invited me to come and pray with them. And so there was a prayer, the Anglican prayer for the dead, with Prince Charles, the two sisters, maybe a nurse, and the two priests, me and the Anglican. There was no one else in the room.' The prayers last a quarter of an hour. The priest notices that Diana's appearance has changed since he last saw her. Diana has been prepared and dressed in Lady Jay's outfit. 'They had put on eye-shadow and make-up,' he recalls. 'She didn't have the naturalness she had before. She looked like a doll, whereas before she was just a very beautiful woman.' A picture of Diana's two sons, which was in her handbag, has been placed in her hands together with rosary beads given to her by Mother Teresa. She is wearing the jewellery that has been recovered from the Mercedes, although one earring is missing. (It will be recovered from the wreckage.) Afterwards, 'Charles thanked me,' recalls the priest. 'He was very, very moved. Yes, I saw tears.' Yves-Marie Clochard-Bossuet, pictured above. The catholic priest was the chaplain at the hospital where Princess Diana died'But [when the royal party was praying in the room] someone from Charles's entourage, a gentleman who I didn't know, asked me, 'How are you getting back then?' Tebbutt recalls. 'And I said, 'I haven't given it a thought, Sir. I haven't got a shilling in my pocket.' And he said, 'Well, you won't be going on the royal plane, of course.' And I thought that was a little strange. They're taking over. But the boss is mine. She's still mine. Are they going to shove me on [the Eurostar] or something? But then the Prince came out and thanked me again and said, 'You and Mr Burrell will be coming back with me on the plane.' '6.35pm: Draped in the Royal Standard and led by Archdeacon Draper, Diana's coffin is carried to a dark blue hearse. The royal cortege departs the hospital for Villacoublay military airfield, where the coffin is transferred to an aircraft from the Royal Flight. 'As we drove through the streets of Paris, everyone was applauding,' Tebbutt recalls. 'It was amazing. Very, very moving. When we got to the plane the two sisters decided they wanted to sit with Paul and me.' The Prince and his staff sit in a different compartment. 6.51pm BST: A TV audience of 19 million watches the plane's arrival at Northolt in West London. Six RAF pallbearers from the Queen's Colour Squadron lift Diana's coffin on to their shoulders. Prime Minister Tony Blair is there to meet the royal party, along with the Lord Chamberlain and Diana's private secretary Michael Gibbins. Police outriders from the Special Escort Group now lead the hearse out on to the A40. Too late, Diana is getting the police protection she had disastrously rejected. As the hearse passes under bridges, bystanders drop flowers on to the road. Back at Northolt, Prince Charles re-boards the RAF plane to return to Balmoral and his heartbroken sons. The hearse continues on to Bagley's Lane mortuary, in Fulham. There Diana's body is formally identified by her sisters and a post-mortem examination takes place. The royal doctor also examines Tebbutt. The bodyguard is 57, physically exhausted and mentally overwrought. His longest, most challenging duty is at an end. But his attention now turns to Diana's sisters. 'How were they to get home? Everyone else was a stranger, save for the royal doctor,' he recalls. 'We were still the household of the Princess of Wales. No one was going to help us. So I got my driver to take Sarah home to Lincolnshire that night.' 3am BST: Tebbutt is finally able to return to his bed in Botany Bay, from which he was roused by a call from Balmoral in the early hours of the previous morning. His day of days has lasted 26 hours. Monday & Tuesday September 1 & 2Diana's body has remained under police guard overnight at the Fulham mortuary. It is now lying in a closed casket in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. By chance the royal residential protection officer tasked to guard her this morning is Garry Smith, whose charitable event she had offered to sponsor a week before she was killed. 'All the windows in the chapel had been thrown open and I could hear people outside talking about what had happened,' Smith [not his real name owing to his sensitive current occupation], recalls to the Mail. 'They didn't know they were only a few feet away from the Princess herself. '[Her death] affected me afterwards more than it did on the night it took place, when I just couldn't believe it was happening. Forget about all the 'Queen of Hearts' nonsense. She was a normal woman who had faults like we all do. She was tricky, but I very much liked Diana as a human being.' In preparation for the funeral, the casket will later be moved to her apartment in Kensington Palace. MidweekDiana's Paris luggage has ended up at Mohamed Al Fayed's office in Harrods department store. Tebbutt goes there to retrieve it on behalf of Diana's sisters. 'But they [Al Fayed's office] would not let me have it just like that,' he recalls. 'I was told a member of his staff must go with me and the luggage to Lady Sarah's home in Lincolnshire. So we drove up there in convoy and when we arrived the Harrods man wanted to go inside and be present when we checked the contents of the bags. But Lady Sarah would not have him in her house. He was made to wait outside.' The funeral: Saturday, September 6Garry Smith is on plain-clothes duty, surveying the dense crowds from the 'wedding cake' statue of Queen Victoria outside Buckingham Palace. Colin Tebbutt and his partner Liz are not only inside Westminster Abbey, but right at the front of the VIP congregation, next to Diana's 'blood family'. Diana's coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, is carried out of the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris on August 31, 1997'We were treated fantastically well by Earl Spencer,' he recalls. 'The doors of the abbey were open and I said to Liz, 'Listen to the rain, everyone outside will get soaked.' But in fact it was clapping and then the applause entered the abbey and moved up through into the choir. That showed what people thought of the most beautiful woman in the world.' He accompanies the family mourners to Euston station and boards the Royal Train to Long Buckby, the nearest stop to Althorp. Diana's coffin is driven to Northamptonshire in a hearse. 'I was helping direct operations outside the station when to my horror I realised everyone was driving off without me. But then one of the cars stopped and Prince William said 'Get in, Colin' and I was taken to Althorp House.' There is a lunch before the interment. Then the mourners make their way to the shore of the Round Oval, a small lake in the grounds. Diana is to be buried on the island in the middle. Tebbutt is one of the privileged few beside the close family to be allowed to the graveside. 'No police protection officers; Earl Spencer didn't want anyone else down there,' he recalls. 'The Army had put a bridge across to the island and I walked over it with [Diana's mother] Mrs Shand Kydd. She held my hand the whole time and we walked across to the island and stood there together. The coffin was lowered and the whole family went forward. I kept my distance. 'I was just amazed to be there and very emotional. Then we walked back across the bridge and I went with Mrs Shand Kydd to sit on a bench. She had a cigarette. That's what she wanted. We sat in deep silence as the Army was taking the bridge away. Then we walked back to the house, had coffee and went our separate ways.' Special research: Simon Trump and Rory Mulholland in Paris. Picture research: Sue Connolly | 0 |
###CLAIM: nolan said that mr. and higgs were the model parents of imprisonment, an active parent essential to the well-being of a son, and that despite their own early lives of hardship and hardship, mr. and mrs. higgs deserve clemency because the sentencing disparity was unfair.
###DOCS: The Justice Department has scheduled three more federal executions before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. The announcement was made in a court filing Friday night - just one day after the Bureau of Prisons carried out the eighth federal execution this year following a 17-year hiatus. The Justice Department - which is headed up by Attorney General Bill Barr - says it is scheduling the executions of Alfred Bourgeois for December 11, Cory Johnson for January 14, and Dustin Higgs for January 15. According to The New York Times, Biden 'has pledged to eliminate the death penalty. His campaign promised to work to pass legislation to end capital punishment on the federal level and incentivize states to follow suit.' The Justice Department, headed up by AG Bill Barr (pictured), has scheduled three more federal executions before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20Some advocacy groups have called on the Trump administration to pause all executions until Biden takes office. All three men who are scheduled to be executed have been convicted of heinous crimes. Prosecutors say Bourgeois tortured, sexually molested his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, before beating her to death at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in Texas in July 2002. Court records say Bourgeois repeatedly beat the young girl and punched her in the face, whipped her with an electrical cord and beat her with a belt so hard that it broke. He also allegedly burned her feet with a cigarette lighter and hit her in the head with a baseball bat until her head swelled. Alfred Bourgeois (left) is scheduled to be executed on December 11, while Cory Johnson (right_ will face a lethal injection on January 14Meanwhile, Johnson was one of three crack cocaine dealers convicted over a string of murders which took place in 1992. Prosecutors said he killed seven people in in an attempt to expand the territory of a Richmond, Virginia, gang and silence informants. His co-defendants James H. Roane Jr. and Richard Tipton, members of same drug gang, are also on death row. Johnson's lawyers argue their client is intellectually disabled, and thus it would be unconstitutional to put him to death. The Supreme Court has held that it is unlawful to execute a person who is of such a low intelligence that they can t function in society. Johnson's lawyers claim that 'no jury or court has ever listened to the evidence at a hearing to decide if he has intellectual disability.' 'We are not aware of any other federal death penalty prisoner who has never had a single evidentiary hearing at which he could present his intellectual disability evidence. The government should not proceed with Mr. Johnson s execution in the absence of a thorough and fair opportunity for him to present this evidence,' the lawyers, Ronald J. Tabak and Donald P. Salzman, said in a statement. Barr is seen standing alongside President Trump in a photograph taken back in MayMeanwhile, Higgs was convicted of ordering the 1996 murders of three women at a federal wildlife center near Beltsville, Maryland. Prosecutors say Higgs and two others abducted the women after Higgs became enraged because one of the women rebuffed his advances at party. Higgs' attorney, Sean Nolan, said his client didn't kill anyone, had ineffective attorneys and didn't deserve the death penalty. Higgs' co-defendant, who prosecutors said carried out the killings, was not sentenced to death and Nolan said it is 'arbitrary and inequitable to punish Mr. Higgs more severely than the person who committed the murders.' 'Mr. Higgs deserves clemency because of the unfair sentencing disparity ... and because, despite the tragedy and hardship of his early life, he has been a model prisoner and is an active parent who is essential to the well-being of his son,' Nolan said. Dustin Higgs is scheduled for execution on January 15 | 0 |
###CLAIM: gazprom mandated gazbank, credit and ubs to arrange a series of six-year issues which if market conditions allow would be followed by fixed-income investors ' calls.
###DOCS: MOSCOW, June 21 (Reuters) - Russian state gas company Gazprom (GAZP.MM) plans to tap the market with six-year Eurobond denominated in Swiss francs and investor calls are due to start as soon as on Monday, IFR, the financial markets analytical service run by Refinitiv, said. Gazprom has mandated Gazprombank, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and UBS to arrange a series of fixed-income investor calls, IFR said, to be followed by the six-year issue if market conditions allow. Gazprom said last week it was planning a Eurobond issue, looking at the euro, U.S. dollar and Swiss franc, also considering a perpetual bond of 150 billion roubles ($2 billion). Its borrowing plan stands at 411 billion roubles this year. read more($1 = 73.2143 roubles)Reporting by Katya Golubkova, editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. MOSCOW, June 16 (Reuters) - Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) on Wednesday said it was planning a perpetual bond placement of 150 billion roubles ($2.08 billion) before the end of this year. Gazprom said it is also planning a Eurobond issue in various currencies, looking at the euro, U.S. dollar and Swiss franc. ($1 = 71.9875 roubles)Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Maria KiselyovaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | 3 |
###CLAIM: he's terrified of your emotions, he feels totally inadequate and steps back because he can't cope with them.
###DOCS: Dear Bel,Just after New Year I was told I had terminal cancer. Now in my mid-60s, I have taken quite a philosophical view that Ill be gone before I can collect my state pension. Thought of the day The lost are never really lost. Theyve gone before us, as we say, marked with a sign of faith. And theyre never silent. In the laughter of memory, in the sigh of grief, they speak to us. They say, youll never walk alone. And one day soon we will like this wonderful room breathe easy again. From Eulogy For The Lost by Frank Cottrell Boyce (performed in St Georges Hall, Liverpool, March 23, 2021) AdvertisementThe problem is my husband he is acting like the proverbial ostrich. Its a second marriage for both of us. I was divorced, his first wife died suddenly and tragically. I know he still misses her dreadfully, but Im at an age when that doesnt bother me. When I do go, Id be happy if he met someone else to keep him company, and, more importantly, organise him. Hes a good man, happy to do the cooking, washing etc but ask him to do anything technical/practical and he has no idea. So it all falls on me, as well as the household accounts. I spent more than 25 years working in a High Street bank so that comes quite naturally. Back to my problem . . . I keep trying to talk to my husband about my funeral arrangements and so on, but as far as he is concerned I dont look ill and Im not in any pain (yet) and so therefore I cant be that bad. I really need some advice on how to convince him that in a few months, or however long my particular piece of string is, I will be gone. SUZANNEThis week Bel advises a reader who doesn't know how to make her husband accept that she is going to die of cancerThe quiet, wise courage of this letter has taken my breath away. You show no self-pity (let alone bitterness) but simply wish a good life for your husband after your death, knowing he will need somebody to look after him, as you do now. Always a practical person, you know it is important to look ahead and make arrangements, but feel sad that he refuses to engage with the subject. You say (so admirably) that you can take a philosophical view and yet how terribly lonely all this must make you feel. You are the one who needs tenderness and care at the moment and it is absolutely heart-breaking that your man is in denial. Of course, I am sure he is suffering inside and wondering why death should visit women he loves twice. He is probably terrified, feeling totally inadequate and stepping back because he cant cope with his own emotions, let alone yours. People are like that: they flee from reality because they know they lack the strength to deal with it. But understanding all that (and you sound so generous) doesnt help you, does it? You dont mention children or other family members, but I hope you have good friends who can give you some support. Talk to people as much as you can, and if your husband has a sympathetic friend or relative, you could get that person on side and ask for help. I suggest you write out very clearly what kind of funeral you want, with suggestions for readings, poems etc. You certainly sound strong enough to do this. Then you have no alternative but to corner him one evening, when he is relaxed, and show him the document. Refuse to let him leave the room on a pretext and tell him how much you need him. I suspect youve grown so used to being the strong one who takes charge of everything that you find it hard to hold out a hand to anybody and say: Please help me.Having endured one divorce, you have developed the habit of protecting this husband to your own detriment. But now fate requires him to find inner strength and he must be made aware of it in no uncertain terms. Medieval poets and clerics knew the refrain, Timor mortis conturbat me and indeed the fear of death does disturb most people. Thats why its so hard to stop and think about it. Yet we must, each one of us, because how we contemplate the prospect of our own deaths has a direct influence on how we live our lives. You are there right now, showing grace and strength, and I pray he can support you. The anti-vaxxers next door scare meDear BelI am 79, vulnerable and have shielded with COPD and chronic asthma. My husband and I have obeyed the lockdown rules and have had our first vaccinations. We are looking forward to the future. We have neighbours (whom we like very much) who belong to a religious group called SOZO. All through lockdown they have been having supermarket deliveries and then people come to collect food from them. So far so good, and I have no problems with this type of charity. Recently, we were talking in the front garden and I asked if they had had the vaccine, but they said they were not going to on moral grounds. She asked if she could explain why, but I was a bit angry and said dont bother. Their attitude has made me frightened of my neighbours. I dont want to see them. Is their attitude widespread? And, if so, how can we be sure that we are all safe? My question is how can I talk to my neighbours without showing how angry I am with their moral stance, which I think is immoral? BRENDASince I am awaiting my second Covid jab with eagerness, I am wholly on your side about vaccination. Ive had letters from readers who arent, but if you remember that more than 29 million of us have had their first jabs and three million have had two then I reckon they are totals to be proud of. But there is that anti-vaxxer minority and, like you, I disapprove because theyre doing nothing to help us climb out of this pit. (Dont write in protest, anti-vaxxers, because you will only waste your time!) As for your neighbours moral grounds, well, I presume its a tenet of their particular religious group and so theres nothing to be said or done. Whatever . . . Im with you. You refused to hear an explanation (and I can understand why you were frustrated), but the question is now how to go on living amicably next to neighbours you always liked. They are people who believe in helping others and I suspect theyd always be ready to help you and would be distressed to know how much their view upset you. Honestly, I see no reason for you to be frightened of them, when social distancing gives you every excuse to keep them at more than arms length, while still enabling you to smile, wave and be polite. Deal with anger by taking deep breaths and reminding yourself that anger is pointless because it harms you, not them. So step back (literally) and value all that you liked about them before this happened, and reflect that the goodness has not changed because of this one disagreement. I hope we all get our second vaccinations soon! What can I do to beat my demons? Dear Bel,I wonder if you can help me. Ever since I was younger (Im nearly 50), Ive taken everything very personally really taking things to heart. I want to feel different, be a different woman. It gets me down. Its dwelling on things, brooding and always thinking about the past and how people have treated me. I had an abusive childhood and find it hard to move on from that. Im hyper-sensitive and wish I could have a thick skin and be able to say: It is just water off a ducks back.Im an insecure woman, not living my best life, and wish I could have high self-esteem, but feel there is nothing in my locker to conquer my demons. I know I should have therapy, but what do you suggest? JANEPlease dont wish to be a different person, because that is fruitless, doomed to frustration and therefore a permanent drag on your spirits. No, lets look at ways you could change your mindset instead. Of course, youre right that counselling could help and online sessions are an option. There are many different types of therapy and so I suggest you visit welldoing.org/counselling/online and perhaps choose a cognitive behavioural therapist who can help shift your mind to a new way of looking at the present and lifting your anxiety. Of course, the pain in your childhood will emerge and I believe it will do you much good to talk it through with somebody trained to understand. Meanwhile, get hold of a straightforward book on mindfulness to help you live in the present. The Little Book Of Mindfulness by Dr Patrizia Collard offers exercises to help you relax. But when you talk about taking things to heart, I want you to know you are not alone. Many people will recognise your torments, but you do not have to be imprisoned by them. Try the trick of writing a hateful, unhappy, worrisome thought on a piece of paper, crumpling it up, then grasping it tight in your fist. Ask yourself if you could let it go and the answer must be Yes, because you could. Relax your fist. Ask again. Finally say aloud, Will I let this go? and open your fist. It can be such a relief when the paper falls and you put it in the bin. But beyond such exercises, please assure yourself that you are valuable enough to share your thoughts with an experienced, sympathetic listener. And yes its true you can kick-start a new you. And finally...I can imagine loss because Ive known itASKED the hardest things Ive ever done, Id pick officiating at candle services for bereaved parents, one in Liverpools Anglican Cathedral, and one in Southwark. After my address, I read out hundreds of names of dead children, given in by their parents. It was deeply moving and uplifting to talk to the families. Contact Bel Bel answers readers' questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email [email protected]. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. AdvertisementThose events came about because Id been closely involved in the establishing of the national Child Death Helpline (childdeathhelpline.org.uk) in 1995, and talked to groups belonging to a wonderful charity for bereaved parents called The Compassionate Friends (tcf.org). In those years, it was my mission to give meaning to the stillbirth of my second son (at full term after a very long labour), by writing and broadcasting about bereavement. A 1976 article led directly to the founding of the Stillbirth Association (now SANDS, sands.org.uk) and Im proud to be founder-patron. I was also honoured with a citation (presented by the Queen) in 1984 by the bereavement charity Cruse (cruse.org.uk). Why do I tell you? Last weeks letter from Cynthia asked what to do with her dead childs belongings. I suggested she keep treasures, donate clothes, books, toys etc, and maybe make a ritual of burning papers. Some sympathetic emails came from readers, two with the lovely suggestion that the clothes of a loved one can be made into a keepsake (lovekeepcreate.co.uk). Sadly, some bereaved parents were shocked and angry I should dare suggest Cynthia actually tackles her problem. Accusing me of ignorance, they objected to me saying I could easily imagine her feelings. Fair enough; they wrote out of permanent grief. Yet the truth is, I can, for the reasons above. And what is empathy but reaching out? Im happy Cynthia was grateful: I want to thank you for showing us a way forward and I will let you know how we get on. The news that we might be facing a lethal new virus had just broken and the atmosphere in the hotel suite where I was chairing a conference was strange. A few people were bumping elbows and avoiding handshakes but most of us thought it was rather silly. When the conference ended I descended into the jaws of hell otherwise known as a London Tube station at rush hour. I could have lifted my feet off the ground and been carried along with the mass of people. Or possibly trampled underfoot. And this was normal. Within a few short weeks it had become unimaginable. We weren't allowed to have a friend around for a cuppa let alone make the daily commute to the office. The centres of our towns and cities were as silent as a Quaker gathering. We were told to work from home. And now, after 15 long months, we are beginning to return to the old normal. Or are we? By the time I was 25 I was working for the BBC (my fifth job) and starting to get sent on foreign reporting assignmentsNot if it means we'll all be trudging off to our offices five days a week. Even those big employers who had been adamant that home working was a strictly temporary crisis measure are now acknowledging that for many of their workers it's here to stay. The boss of Citi Bank, which has 9,000 staff in the UK, has said he expects staff to come in 'at least three days a week'. Not five days, you'll notice. That's becoming commonplace. The boss of Channel 4 said three days provided a 'good balance'. The boss of the sandwich chain Pret a Manger is aiming lower. 'At least two days' for his office workers. Some companies are reluctantly accepting this as inevitable. Others are positively encouraging it. Fewer office workers means fewer expensive offices. But there's something else going on that may prove even more significant. It's summed up in that age-old question: do we work to live or live to work? The world of work has changed massively just in my lifetime. When I was a youngster you could set your watch by the sound of the factory hooter signalling the end of a shift. The pattern was rigid: five eight-hour days plus Saturday mornings. The switch from a manufacturing economy to a service economy gradually changed all that. Working hours had to be more flexible when the shops started opening on Sundays. Mothers rightly demanded more parental leave. And then so did fathers. Zero-hour contracts gave bosses the power to hire staff when it suited them. Mothers rightly demanded more parental leave. And then so did fathers. Zero-hour contracts gave bosses the power to hire staff when it suited them (file photo)But through it all the belief in the five-day week survived. Now that, too, is being challenged. Peter Cheese, the chairman of the Government's Flexible Working Taskforce, says the last 15 months have provided a 'generational opportunity' to alter our traditional working patterns. 'Going to work' might no longer be the norm but the exception and a four-day working week might ultimately become standard. There are many companies, of course, whose productivity would be hit by a four-day working week and which could not afford it. And working from home has in a number of instances led to worse customer service. But it's worth looking across the Atlantic. Four million Americans quit their jobs in April. That's the highest figure since records began and American firms are taking extraordinary steps to keep their staff. The tech firms are setting the pace. Bumble, the dating app site, has just told its workers they can take an extra week off. Fully paid, of course. Facebook and LinkedIn have done something similar. The justification is what's called 'burnout'. We hadn't heard of 'burnout' when I was a youngster. It was called 'hard work'. But maybe that's too cynical and we should resist sneering at the overpaid and over-privileged denizens of Silicon Valley for wanting more pay and more privileges for less work. Maybe Peter Cheese is on to something when he suggests that we've had enough of the five- day week. Even as I write that I feel a touch hypocritical. The expression 'physician heal thyself' comes to mind. If anyone has put his work before everything else it's yours truly. My defence is that I didn't really have much choice when I was young. The money I earned from my jobs as a paper boy and delivery boy when I was in school helped boost the fragile family finances and kids like me had never heard of 'gap years' for the very good reason that university wasn't an option. We left school at 15 and started work the next week. But I did have plenty of options as I grew older and my career started picking up apace. By the time I was 25 I was working for the BBC (my fifth job) and starting to get sent on foreign reporting assignments. A couple of years later a life-changing offer came. Would I move to New York and set up a TV news bureau? I'd be away for about three months. The answer should have been thanks but no thanks. We'd just had our second child and moved to an old house badly in need of renovation. My wife was completely supportive. She always was. She clearly needed me at home but she didn't want to stand in the way of my career. So I said yes. Three months was to become six years and my family came out to join me. But for all I saw of them they might almost have stayed in Britain. My 'patch' was not just the States but the entire Americas, north and south, and I spent more time on planes and in hotels than I did with my family. Eventually I told my boss I'd had enough and wanted to come home. He agreed. But then the government in South Africa announced that they would let the BBC set up a TV news bureau in Johannesburg for the first time. He asked me to go there instead. My wife's reaction this time was a little cooler, but I talked her into it. After all, that was where the really big news was happening: not just apartheid in South Africa but the war in Rhodesia. No self-respecting journalist could possibly turn down such an offer. But what about a self-respecting husband and father? I tried to persuade myself that the family were thoroughly enjoying their lives abroad and it was me who was missing out. I recall in sharp detail going off on one trip when my daughter was a baby. When I returned she had learned to walk. She was a toddler. I had missed that wonderful transition. That's something you never get back. And anyway the boss had promised me that when we did finally come home I'd have limitless time with my family because he wanted me to read the news. No foreign travel. No panic phone call on Christmas Eve because of an earthquake in Nicaragua. But again he changed his mind. He asked me to stay on the road and become 'world correspondent'. All the big stories would be mine. So yet again I agreed. I stuck with it for a year, during which I was away from home for about eight months, and then finally the boss made good on his promise. I became presenter of the Nine O'Clock News. But by then it was too late. My marriage was in ruins and my children were no longer children. They had effectively grown up without their father. Do I regret that? It's a question I've asked myself a thousand times and in one important respect, I do. In the early days my motivation was the financial security for my family that I'd never had as a child. But then the job had taken over. I chose to put my work first. I wasn't working to live. I was living to work. Obviously I recognise how phenomenally lucky I've been and I know I'm not typical. Then again, nobody is except that we all need both work and leisure. It's finding the balance. Nearly a century ago the great economist, John Maynard Keynes, predicted that by now we would all be so rich we'd only need to work about 15 per cent of the time and could devote the rest to 'living'. He was dead right about us getting richer. In fact, we've exceeded his expectations. He was dead wrong about the balance between work and 'living'. But perhaps it's just a question of time. | 3 |
###CLAIM: hahn said in a statement that the agency has maintained and will remain open to dialogue with hhs on policy issues based on good science.
###DOCS: The flurry of changes imposed by HHS this week which implement industry requests for less oversight has left FDA officials angry and confused, and bracing for more surprise directives before Jan. 20, said seven current and former officials and people familiar with the situation. Agency leaders fear the HHS intrusion is eroding the FDAs authority and distracting from its pandemic response even as the health department struggles with a slow and uneven coronavirus vaccine rollout and FDA is consumed by a slew of Covid-19 drug, vaccine and equipment reviews. We are in the middle of a pandemic, we need to get vaccines in peoples arms, they are not doing a good job at it. Why are they distracting everyone? said one person with knowledge of the situation. FDA is digging in its heels, despite having little recourse against Azar because the secretary last fall decreed that all agency rules needed his sign-off, virtually ending independent rule-making at FDA. This is a full frontal assault on public health, said a person familiar with Hahns thinking. An HHS spokesperson said deliberations over the regulation of gene-edited animals are still ongoing, and involve the White House and USDA in addition to the two health agencies. One senior administration official told POLITICO that the White House was primarily behind the sudden push for approval. The pressure to get this MoU done is being driven by the White House, the official said. The White House and USDA did not respond to requests for comment. HHS separately said that it notified senior FDA officials before announcing the drug and device policies. HHS is furthering our commitment to transparency by requiring the publication of key information on drug approval timelines, which can help hold us accountable to congressional requirements as well as to the American people, HHS Chief of Staff Brian Harrison said in a statement. In a statement, Hahn said the agency has maintained its commitment to protecting the public health based upon good science, and that it remains open to having dialogues with HHS about important public health policy issues.The dash to push through FDA policies without senior officials buy-in comes after Azar consolidated rule-making power under his authority last September. Since then, HHS has peeled back the agencys fees for over-the-counter products, stripped its authority over lab-developed tests and dictated that all rules sunset after 10 years if they are not renewed. Hours after the surprise drug and device rules Monday, HHS installed a surrogate in FDAs top legal position, even though the agency had already named a career official to the post. A senior HHS official told POLITICO that the FDA did not have the power to appoint its chief counsel, since all of the departments lawyers report to the HHS general counsel. The string of HHS moves left current and former health officials renewing calls for FDA to become an independent agency outside of the health departments jurisdiction, an approach that previous commissioners and other health experts have floated for years. Hahn himself told reporters last week that it was a timely question and [I] really believe we shouldnt run away from having that conversation in the future.Weve faced unprecedented challenges this year, and we have worked really hard ... to maintain the regulatory independence and science-based approach to our decisions, Hahn said on Friday. Former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, a Trump appointee, tweeted that HHS is infringing on FDAs public health prerogatives in the closing days of the administration. The way theyre pursuing these unilateral actions will have long-term consequences at a time when FDAs stature is critical to seeing us through this crisis.And Joe Grogan, Trumps former domestic policy chief, warned that it would only bolster Democrats arguments in favor of making FDA a standalone entity. Alex Azar may be the last HHS secretary to have FDA underneath him, he told POLITICO. Asked about the potential for the FDA to be made independent, an HHS spokesperson called the inclusion of various health agencies under one umbrella one of the strengths of the department. The impasse over genetically modified animal products has particularly alarmed the FDA, after months of what officials described as collegial negotiations between the agency and the USDA. FDA officials working on the issue had pushed to give the Agriculture Department authority over certain genetically altered products deemed low or medium-risk to public health, people familiar with the discussion said. The FDA would retain authority over high-risk situations that could directly affect humans such as gene edits aimed at improving a products nutritional value or reducing the potential for allergic reactions. Yet top HHS officials this week abruptly urged the FDA to agree to a memorandum of understanding that would transfer nearly all power over such animals to the USDA, three people with knowledge of the situation said. That approach has been backed by the livestock industry and other big businesses, who contend the FDAs oversight process is too slow and cumbersome. The proposal prompted objections from career FDA lawyers who warned it would violate the agencys public health mission. FDA is adamantly opposed to it, said one person familiar with Hahns thinking. Its pulling decision-making authority away from the agency at exactly the wrong time.Several current and former officials have since voiced worries that Azar will override the agencys opposition and unilaterally approve the sweeping new policy just days before Trump leaves office. Its got real implications, said Grogan. The USDA is the regulator, but theyre also a promoter of the product. So youre going to have the promoter of the product also regulating it.The agriculture fight is the latest battle between HHS and FDA. Twin drug and device approval policies announced by Azars team Monday left senior FDA officials scrambling to understand memos that suddenly curbed their authority and added new requirements. The officials said they had no chance to give input and that HHS misrepresented how long it takes the agency to approve new drugs. That policy requires an annual report noting when FDA takes more than 180 days to approve new medicines, a move HHS says will boost transparency. The device announcement exempts seven types of products from masks, gowns and gloves to infusion pumps and fetal monitors from FDA review permanently. The agency had temporarily exempted them during the public health emergency. I had no idea these policies were in development, said one senior official working on drug policy. Some FDA staff have since gone as far as to push the agency to put out a counter-statement disputing the drug and device policies, though no decision has been made, three officials said. An HHS spokesperson disputed the account, saying the FDA was notified prior to Mondays announcement and that the agency raised no objections or concerns. The spokesperson added that the drug directive was part of a broader transparency effort across HHS. President-elect Joe Bidens incoming administration could roll back the policies and Azars move to bar FDAs independent rule-making. But in the meantime, FDA staff are bracing for more deregulatory moves this week that could throw their authority over certain products into question. Its a continuation of the anti-science agenda that has defined the political leadership of HHS, said a former senior official. | 0 |
###CLAIM: jakarta, june 26 ( afp ) - indonesia and the united states broke ground on a 3. 3 million dollar new sea training center in the strategic batam area of the riau and islands
###DOCS: Indonesia and the United States have broken ground on a new $3.5 million maritime training center in the strategic area of Batam, in the Riau Islands, Indonesias maritime security agency said. Attending the ceremony virtually on Friday, the US ambassador to Indonesia, Sung Kim, said the maritime center would be part of ongoing efforts between the two countries to bolster security in the region. As a friend and partner to Indonesia, the United States remains committed to supporting Indonesias important role in maintaining regional peace and security by fighting domestic and transnational crimes, he said, according to a statement from Bakamla, Indonesias maritime security agency. The training center, located at the strategic meeting point of the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, will be run by Bakamla and houses classrooms, barracks and a launch pad, the agency said. The US collaboration with the worlds largest archipelagic nation comes amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, with the Philippines protesting the presence of hundreds of Chinese vessels in the Spratly islands this May. Earlier this month the foreign ministers of Southeast Asia and China agreed during a meeting to exercise restraint in the South China Sea and avoid actions that could escalate tensions. | 0 |
###CLAIM: `` it 's a time when the volume of threats is getting so high that we do n't even know whether we will live through the next term, '' she said.
###DOCS: Democrat firebrand Alexandria Ocasio Cortez appears on the cover of Vanity Fair this month and in lengthy photo-shoot and interview, wearing an array of high-priced clothes and comparing herself to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, claiming they have both been made the 'boogeyman' of their party by Republicans. The congresswoman- who is regularly branded a socialist for her far-left views - is photographed in current season silk suits from Aliette, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, and teeters on Christian Louboutin heels, all of which come with hefty price tags, in an array of poses which include playing with children in her native Bronx. DailyMail.com can reveal that she was gifted at least one of the looks - a $2,850 suit from Loewe. The total estimated retail cost of her outfits is more than $14,000. In one portion of the interview, she said 'dressing the part has been an unexpected struggle, but its also a way to connect with constituents' while wearing an $800 dress and $1,450 earrings. In her interview, she reveals that her family call her 'Sandy', complains that she and other women have been vilified by Republicans, talks about losing her father when she was a sophomore in college and says he'd be the 'first to call her a Communist' if he were alive. She also calls Trump a 'motherf****r' for paying only $750 in federal income tax in 2018 and labels him a 'visionary racist'. 'These are the same people saying that we cant have tuition-free public colleges because theres no money when these motherf*****s are only paying $750 a year in taxes,' she said. 'Trump is the racist visionary but [Mitch] McConnell gets the job done. He doesnt do anything without Trumps blessing. Trump says, "Jump." McConnell says, "How high?" 'Trump never does what McConnell says,' she fumes. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair in an Aliette silk suit worth around $1,000 that is not yet for saleThe 31-year-old in another image from the shoot in $2,850 Loewe suit and Christian Louboutin heels which run for at least $500The 31-year-old also says she has contemplated freezing her eggs. She and partner Riley Roberts have been together for eight years. She is coy about her political ambitions, saying she'd rather be a 'mirror than a savior', but compares herself to Pelosi and Clinton. 'Its not an accident that, every cycle, the boogeyman of the Democrats is a woman. A couple of cycles ago, it was Pelosi. Then it was Hillary, and now its me,' she says. She also shares photos of her childhood in the Bronx, and denies that she and Pelosi have any problems despite the latter regularly slapping her and the rest of the 'squad' - a handful of progressive Demorat congresswomen - down. AOC says that Pelosi's dislike of her is a construct of the media. 'Two powerful women coming from different perspectives, and there has to be a catfight,' she said. AOC'S VANITY FAIR WARDROBE $2,850 Loewe suit $1,000 Aliette suit (approx) $3,000 Carolina Herrera suit $2,500 Christopher John Rogers suit $815 Wales Bonner dress $695 Christian Louboutin slingbacks $1,450 Diamond, gold and floating pearl Mateo earrings $2,000 Bulgari earrings (approx) TOTAL: $14,310 AdvertisementShe did admit that House leaders are 'a little wary' of her, saying: 'I think a lot of people, including my Democratic colleagues, believe the Fox News version of me.' She also said she has endured periods of receiving death threats 'every day'. 'I used to wake up in the morning and literally get a stack of pictures that were forwarded by Capitol police or FBI. Like, "These are the people who want to kill you today." 'Its the epitome of being shaken to your core. Getting a phone call from the FBI saying, "Hey, dont open your mail. Theyre mailing out bombs."' They became so intense that she questioned if she should run for re-election. 'There have been many times, especially in the first six months, where I felt like I couldnt do this, like I didnt know if I was going to be able to run for reelection. 'There was a time where the volume of threats had gotten so high that I didnt even know if I was going to live to my next term,' she said. She poked fun at the 'neo-Nazis' who threaten her life, saying: 'All these dudes look the same. I got to a point where I was like, This isnt even helpful because its all these neo-Nazis....'I shouldnt say thattheres great diversity in the neo-Nazis.' What gave her the boost she needed to continue, she said, were the other members of the squad - lhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. The squad: Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC calls them a 'gift from God'AOC talks about losing her father, Sergio, in 2008 when she was in college. She said she couldn't 'overstate' how close they were and that she felt like she was losing 'herself' when he diedAOC with her mother Blanca, brother Gabriel and grandmother in 2015'Their sisterhood and their friendship, its not some political alliance. Its a very deep, unconditional human bond,' she said, calling them a 'gift from God'. She and Pressley revealed in the interview that their signal of warfare is to wear a red lip whenever they go to do political battle, and often share lipstick before giving press conferences. When asked what her political aspirations are, she was coy, saying: 'I dont want to be a savior, I want to be a mirror. The 31-year-old pictured in Queens on Tuesday'I dont know if Im really going to be staying in the House forever, or if I do stay in the House, what that would look like. 'I dont see myself really staying where Im at for the rest of my life. 'I dont want to aspire to a quote-unquote higher position just for the sake of that title or just for the sake of having a different or higher position. I truly make an assessment to see if I can be more effective. 'And so, you know, I dont know if I could necessarily be more effective in an administration, but, for me thats always what the question comes down to,' she said. Speaking of her father Sergio, who died in 2008 from lung cancer, she said: 'I dont think theres any way to overstate how close I was with my dad. 'That sense of ambition to try things when the odds seem so unfavorable, that very, very much comes from my father. 'It felt like...I didnt just lose my dad, I also lost myself.' Among those who sing her praises in the interview is her brother Gabriel and filed presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. | 0 |
###CLAIM: rights groups say the men were jailed in the sunni-ruled island state where the u. s. fifth fleet is headquartered.
###DOCS: The forces that unleashed uprisings across the Middle East remain as potent as everThe forces that unleashed uprisings across the Middle East remain as potent as everBEIRUT Ten years ago, much of the Arab world erupted in jubilant revolt against the dictatorial regimes whose corruption, cruelty and mismanagement had mired the Middle East in poverty and backwardness for decades. Ten years on, the hopes awakened by the protests have vanished but the underlying conditions that drove the unrest are as acute as ever. Autocrats rule with an even tighter grip. Wars unleashed by leaders whose control was threatened have killed hundreds of thousands of people. The rise of the Islamic State amid the resulting wreckage ravaged large parts of Syria and Iraq and drew the United States into another costly Middle East war. Millions of people were driven from their homes to become refugees, many converging on the shores of Europe and beyond. The influx fueled a tide of nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment that brought populist leaders to power in Europe and the United States, as fears of terrorism eclipsed concerns for human rights as a Western priority. Tunis, Tunisia Jan. 18, 2021 Even in those countries that didnt descend into war, more Arabs are now living in poverty, more are unemployed and more are imprisoned for their political beliefs than a decade ago. (Reuters)Only in Tunisia, where the protests began, did anything resembling a democracy emerge from the upheaval. The fall of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after a month of street protests in Tunis inspired demonstrations across the Middle East, including the mass protest on Jan. 25, 2011, in Cairos Tahrir Square that fixated world attention on what was prematurely labeled the Arab Spring. On the face of it, the Arab Spring failed, and spectacularly so not only by failing to deliver political freedom but by further entrenching the rule of corrupt leaders more intent on their own survival than delivering reforms. Its been a lost decade, said Tarik Yousef, director of the Brookings Doha Center, recalling the euphoria he initially felt when the fall of Libyas Moammar Gaddafi in August 2011 enabled him to return home for the first time in years. "Now, we have the return of fear and intimidation. The region has experienced setbacks at every turn.For many of those who participated in the uprisings, the costs have been immeasurable. Esraa Eltaweel, 28, was partially paralyzed after a bullet fired by security forces sliced through her abdomen and chipped her spine during a protest in Cairo in 2014. Some of her friends were killed. Others were imprisoned, including her husband, who is still incarcerated. Eltaweel, who spent seven months in detention, has struggled to find work because of the stigma attached to political prisoners. We didnt achieve anything we aimed for. Things got worse, she said. We believed we could change the system. But it is so rotten that it cant be changed.Yet as long as the conditions that provoked the original uprisings persist, the possibility of more unrest cannot be ruled out, analysts say. For many in the region, the Arab Spring is seen less as a failure than an ongoing process. Demonstrations that toppled the longtime presidents of Algeria and Sudan in 2019 and subsequent protest movements in Iraq and Lebanon have been hailed as a second Arab Spring, a reminder that the momentum that drove the revolts of a decade ago has not gone away. Even in Tunisia, frustration over unemployment and a stagnant economy has prompted a series of often violent demonstrations in recent days, with young protesters and security forces clashing in cities around the country. Dictators have prevailed, mainly through coercion, said Lina Khatib, who heads the Middle East and North Africa program at London-based Chatham House. However, coercion seeds further grievances that will ultimately force citizens to seek political change." Others fear worse instability and violence as the collapse of oil prices the mainstay of economies across the region for decades and the fallout from coronavirus shutdowns take a toll. We have a huge economic challenge coupled with a young generation rising and asking for a role. This puts us on the path to an explosion, said Bachar el-Halabi, a Lebanese political analyst and activist who relocated to Turkey last year because of anonymous threats to his safety. The region is in a worse situation than ever before." Rapidly growing populationsTripoli, Lebanon Jan. 3, 2021 Across the Arab world, countries are facing the same perilous dynamic: Their populations are rapidly expanding, but their leadership is stifling economic growth. Millions of young people are being propelled into the job market each year with little hope of finding work. (Getty Images)The Middle East has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, as it has for decades. The population of the region has grown by 70 million since the Arab Spring, and it is expected to increase by an additional 120 million by 2030, before stabilizing in the decades after that, according to World Bank figures and United Nations forecasts. High population-growth rates dont necessarily result in growing impoverishment, economists note. In Southeast Asia at the end of the last century and in Europe a century before, rapid population growth fueled unprecedented economic expansion. But in the Middle East, jobs have not kept pace with the rising numbers of people. Youth unemployment has worsened over the past 10 years increasing from 32.9 percent in 2012 to 36.5 percent in 2020, according to the International Labor Organization. The private sector remains small, constrained by layers of bureaucracy, corruption and a lack of government incentives, said Yousef. Foreign and domestic investors are deterred also by the political risks, according to surveys by the International Monetary Fund, trapping the region in a vicious cycle of decline and instability. Jobs in the regions bloated public sector the worlds largest as a proportion of total employment have traditionally served as the main source of employment, particularly for educated people. But the public sector has failed to keep pace both with the rising population and expanded access to higher education. In the 1970s, a male Egyptian graduate had a 70 percent chance of securing a government job. By 2016, that had fallen to less than 25 percent, according to calculations by Ragui Assaad, a professor at the University of Minnesota and research fellow at the Cairo-based Economic Research Forum. Even in Tunisia, where political reforms have brought new freedoms, jobs are scarce, a source of continued frustration for young Tunisians. We gained democracy thats a very important thing. We can do anything we want now, without limitations, said Mohammed Aissa, 25, who graduated with a degree in financial engineering two years ago but has since been unable to find work. Democracy is a great gain for us. But unfortunately, the economic situation is very grave.A steep descent into povertyCairo, Egypt 2018 Poverty has also increased over the past decade, making the Middle East the only region in the world where people have become poorer, both in terms of total numbers and as a proportion of the population. In 2018, for the first time, the Middle East surpassed Latin America in terms of the number of people classified as poor, according to the World Bank. (Getty Images)In 1960, the economies of Egypt and South Korea were roughly the same size, said Yousef. Today, South Koreas economy is more than four times as large, and its population is only half the size of Egypts. In the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, immense oil wealth has funded the rise of glittering cities dotted with skyscrapers, shopping malls and art galleries. But these countries too have been confronted with falling incomes, investment and employment since the price of oil began to decline in 2015. The double whammy of the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil prices will only accelerate the economic regression across a region where many Arab governments have relied on gulf aid and many citizens on work in gulf countries, economists say. LEFT: Fountains at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) RIGHT: The King Abdullah Financial District, a development being built in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as seen last May. (Tasneem Alsultan for The Washington Post) TOP: Fountains at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) BOTTOM: The King Abdullah Financial District, a development being built in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as seen last May. (Tasneem Alsultan for The Washington Post)While the IMF projected an overall 4.1 percent decline in 2020 for economies in the Middle East and Central Asia, in line with the rest of the world, the figures mask far deeper hits to some countries. These include Iraq, where falling oil revenue was expected to lead to a 9.5 percent contraction of the economy, and Lebanon, where the setback due to coronavirus restrictions pales in comparison with that due to the collapse of the countrys financial system. The Lebanese economy was projected by the IMF to shrink by at least 19.2 percent in 2020, compounding the impact of a 9 percent contraction in 2019. Both countries have experienced unrest over the past year, linked to the deteriorating conditions. In an echo of the first wave of Arab Spring protests almost a decade earlier, huge crowds took to the streets in Baghdad and Beirut in October 2019 to demand an overhaul of political systems that are ostensibly democratic but have entrenched the power of ruling elites. Those protests have fizzled, in part because of the impact of coronavirus restrictions and the brutal tactics deployed by security forces, particularly in Iraq, where more than 500 protesters were shot dead and dozens of activists have been assassinated in recent months by shadowy militias. Frustrations remain high in Iraq, and the economy continues to deteriorate after a sharp depreciation of the currency in November. Yet there is little appetite for further action because fear is so high, said a Baghdad restaurant owner who joined in the protests. What the security forces and militias did was horrific, said the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. We lost a lot of young people and nothing changed.LEFT: A man waves the Iraqi flag in Baghdad in January 2020 during a symbolic "funeral" for a protester killed in clashes with security forces. (Emilienne Malfatto for The Washington Post) RIGHT: A protester takes part in the occupation of a key intersection in Beirut during unrest in April 2020 over Lebanon's dire economic situation. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post) TOP: A man waves the Iraqi flag in Baghdad in January 2020 during a symbolic "funeral" for a protester killed in clashes with security forces. (Emilienne Malfatto for The Washington Post) BOTTOM: A protester takes part in the occupation of a key intersection in Beirut during unrest in April 2020 over Lebanon's dire economic situation. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post)In Lebanon, economic collapse and the trauma from last summers huge explosion at Beiruts port have muted the enthusiasm of those who initially took to the streets. "Theyre too broken to face what happened, Lama Jamaleddine, a student organizer, said as she surveyed the handful of people at a recent protest commemorating victims of the explosion. But she said she believes that younger Lebanese have become aware of the damage wrought upon their country by the aging warlords who make up the ruling elite. In the fall, student union elections at Beiruts major universities were swept by independents and activists, dealing a blow to the traditional sectarian political parties. The younger generation is breaking away," she said. Its quite difficult to break away from it, but after the explosion they have seen for themselves how damaging the system is.Authoritarianism ascendantIf there is one overriding lesson from the Arab Spring, it is that tyranny can quell dissent as long as leaders exert enough force or offer enough incentives. Darayya, Syria Oct. 28, 2015 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has survived the popular uprising against his rule, with Russian and Iranian support, and by bombarding towns and cities into submission. (Darayya Media Center via Storyful)But his strategy has left a destroyed, depopulated and impoverished country where conditions have continued to deteriorate even after it was clear his forces had won militarily, according to Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institutions Center for Middle East Policy, who as a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department helped coordinate the Obama administrations response to the Arab Spring uprisings. In Egypt, President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi whose military coup in 2013 ousted the elected government that had emerged out of the Arab Spring rules with a far tighter grip than longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, whose rule ended with that uprising. Today, an estimated 60,000 people are imprisoned for their political views, compared with 5,000 to 10,000 in the last years of Mubaraks tenure, according to human rights groups. Egypt still suffers from high levels of unemployment and poverty, but people are cowed into silence, said a 26-year-old photographer, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear. I lost many friends. I got injured many times. I became disillusioned and defeated, he said. LEFT: Revelers hold a flag as they stand atop a burned van in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Feb. 11, 2011, the day Mubarak stepped down. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) RIGHT: A boy sings in Tahrir Square after it was announced that Mubarak was giving up power. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) TOP: Revelers hold a flag as they stand atop a burned van in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Feb. 11, 2011, the day Mubarak stepped down. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) BOTTOM: A boy sings in Tahrir Square after it was announced that Mubarak was giving up power. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)He predicted that an Arab Spring uprising would never happen again: The first time was a kind of miracle. People were fearless and the regime was weak. But now everyone has lost hope. Everyone sees the revolution as a failure that caused more economic problems and more oppression.Throughout the Middle East, authoritarianism is ascendant, noted Halabi, the exiled Lebanese activist. The rise of Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdoms de facto ruler has brought a campaign of repression against dissenters, ranging from women who campaigned for the right to drive to rival princes in the royal family. The United Arab Emirates has championed authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere. And the chaos unleashed in Syria, Yemen and Libya has dampened the appetite for unrest in many parts of the region, while the short-lived success in Egypt of the Muslim Brotherhood, seen as a threat to established elites, has prompted many Arab countries to curtail the space for political activity. The next explosionThe Arab Spring also shattered a long-held myth that authoritarianism equals stability, said Cofman Wittes. She recalled the scramble inside the Obama administration to adjust to the 2011 toppling of Mubarak, who had been seen as a bulwark of U.S. policy aimed at securing stability in a volatile region. No one saw the Arab Spring coming, she said. Repressive states always look stable, but when a government relies on coercion as a primary means of survival, its inherently unstable.A similar fate might await the oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula, where hereditary monarchs quelled the stirrings of unrest in 2011 by distributing generous payoffs to citizens, said Assaad, the University of Minnesota professor. Over the decades, the gulf countries oil wealth has allowed these autocrats to offer their citizens generous services and government employment in return for political quiet. A crucial question is what happens in the oil-rich countries, said Assaad. They really are powder kegs in terms of the potential instability if oil prices are unable to grow and to drive the population to acquiescence, as they did in the Arab Spring.The ripple effect of falling oil prices is already being felt well beyond the gulf. Countries such as Egypt and Jordan are seeing less aid from their richer allies, which had in the past helped shore up their governments, as well as a falloff in remittances from citizens who work in gulf economies but are now being sent home as a recession bites. Further instability seems inevitable, said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. He believes the upheaval of the past 10 years represents the start of a long process of change that will eventually lead to a transformation of the Middle East. I dont think were going to see any stability as long as dictators and military intelligence agencies continue to suffocate society, he said. He also fears that the unrest could be more violent than it was a decade ago. The status quo is untenable, and the next explosion will be catastrophic," he predicted. "Were talking about starvation, were talking about state collapse, were talking about civil strife.Claire Parker in Tunis contributed to this report. A protester keeps watch from a roof at the edge of Cairo's Tahrir Square on Feb. 4, 2011, as clashes with security forces subsided. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) | 0 |
###CLAIM: the total cost of the additional vaccine will get three components : the cost of buying the vaccine, the cost of taking every part of nigeria, the cost of the facility and the cost of keeping the vaccine safe.
###DOCS: GENEVA (Reuters) - Nigeria is expecting its first 4 million doses of coronavirus vaccines next week from the global COVAX programme for poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said on Friday. FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker in this illustration taken, October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File PhotoWalter Kazadi Mulombo, head of WHOs mission in Nigeria, told a briefing by video link that Nigeria was expecting 14 million doses in total. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said the situation in Nigeria was so far much better than had been widely predicted early in the pandemic. Nigeria, Africas most populous country with some 200 million people, has reported fewer than 1,900 COVID-19 deaths so far. The whole world expected the continent of Africa, and Nigeria with our social and economic realities, to basically fall apart, Ihekweazu told the briefing. He also referred to the findings of seroprevalence studies, published on Monday, which suggested that 23% of Lagos state inhabitants - around 4 million people - may have had COVID-19 in October. He said studies in four Nigerian states had shown that serious illness appeared to be rarer than feared, possibly in part because of the young average age of the population. Getting the vaccine into Nigeria will serve the continent well, will serve the world well, he said. Nigeria plans to inoculate 40% of the population this year and 30% more in 2022. Ihekweazu said authorities recognised the need for equity in access to vaccines and was committed to pursuing multilateral deals. We will not look for bilateral deals, Ihekweazu said. We will work in a multilateral way with WHO, with COVAX with the African Union (AU) to make sure that as we get vaccines into Nigeria, the same happens ... across the continent, he said. | 0 |
###CLAIM: landmark trial to publish new cancer drugs says patients given standard chemotherapy for cancer that has spread to other areas have a three-fold longer life than those who receive medicine.
###DOCS: Thousands of Britons with incurable bladder cancer will be offered fresh hope thanks to an immune-boosting drug therapy that gives years of extra life. Patients whose cancer had spread to other areas live a third longer on the medicine than those given standard chemotherapy, according to the findings of a newly published landmark trial. Some survived over three years after they began treatment more than double the average prognosis. She had to have major surgery. The drug, avelumab, is a form of immunotherapy, meaning it helps the immune system to find and destroy cancer cells. Scientists at St Bartholomew's Hospital and Queen Mary's University in London found that the treatment, given via a drip, was able to shrink tumours and keep them microscopic for twice as long as chemotherapy. One of the 700 patients involved in the study who had five tumours, in his neck, lung, leg, abdomen and bladder, saw them shrink so much they became undetectable on scans. Bladder cancer, which is diagnosed in more than 10,000 Britons every year, has a notoriously bleak outlook when spotted after it has spread, which is often the case. Early symptoms, such as blood in the urine or burning, are often mistaken for common urinary tract infections, according to studies. Roughly two-thirds of patients with late stage bladder cancer will not survive much longer than a year. A life-changing operation can be carried out to curb the spread of the disease, which involves fully removing the bladder and surrounding organs, including part of the bowel and, for women, their womb and part of the vagina. Patients, who are then forced to use stoma bags to remove waste from the body, are often left feeling mutilated. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can target secondary tumours, slowing the progression of the disease, but eventually it stops working as cancer cells adapt and become better at fighting off the drugs. But avelumab can double the time spent in remission when tumours stop growing or continue to reduce in size. Professor Thomas Powles, oncologist, Director of the at Barts Cancer Centre and lead investigator on the trial, said: 'Such a dramatic reduction in the death rate is normally unheard of in such patients. But because this drug works by supercharging the body's natural defence system, rather than attacking the cancer itself, it still works even if the tumour itself changes. This means it keeps working for a lot longer than chemotherapy does.' A protein on the surface of most bladder cancer cells, called PD-L1, helps it to hide from the body's immune system, preventing it from being destroyed. Avelumab, a so-called PD-L1 inhibitor, attaches itself to the protein, triggering a reaction that alerts the body's fighter cells to the intruder. PD-L1 inhibitors are already in use for treatment of advanced kidney, lung and skin cancers, among others, with similarly remarkable effects. For bladder cancer patients, they are most effective when given after chemotherapy when the cancer cells are less active. In the latest trial, patients with the most common form of bladder cancer were given the drug within weeks of finishing a course of chemotherapy, and further doses each fortnight. In the US, avelumab has been granted approval for use in late-stage bladder cancer by the country's drug watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration. In the UK, late-stage bladder cancer patients can access the treatment via an early access scheme in specialist cancer centres, but experts predict it won't be long before the NHS watchdog NICE approve it for wider use. Two-thirds of patients who receive a late diagnosis of bladder cancer which has already spread are dead within a year'It is expensive but, unlike many drugs trialled in the past, we've demonstrated a clear result,' says Prof Powles. 'I expect it will get through NICE easily.' One trial participant to benefit is 70-year-old Andrew Younger, a graphic designer from North London. In March 2017, six months after chemotherapy to obliterate a tumour in his bladder, doctors delivered the devastating news that the cancer had returned and was no longer confined to one organ. Scans showed lesions in his neck, lung, leg and abdomen. 'I was told there could be more tumours too. But at that point I didn't want to know,' says the father of-two. 'The doctors told me I probably wouldn't survive the year.' Andrew's oncologist, Prof Powles, put him forward for the avelumab trial. And today more than three years on his tumours have virtually vanished. 'Every few months I'd have a scan and doctors would tell me my tumours were shrinking,' he says. 'My latest scan showed they've shrunk by nearly 100 per cent.' He continues to receive hour- long infusions of avelumab, and will do until scans show it has stopped working. He says the side effects are nothing compared to what he endured with chemotherapy, which triggered tinnitus a debilitating ringing in the ears and a permanent loss of feeling in his hands and feet. 'With avelumab, I had no sickness or anything other than slightly loose bowels. And that side effect could easily be helped by changing what I ate.' He adds: 'This drug was my last chance there was no two ways about it. And, thankfully, there's no sign that it's going to stop working any time soon.' | 1 |
###CLAIM: chuck and todd, we have to obtain these things because the white house has not released these materials in public.
###DOCS: NBC News has obtained the White House coronavirus task force report that urges state and local governments to do more. Chuck Todd says "we have to obtain these things because the White House does not publicly release this material." Dec. 9, 2020 | 0 |
###CLAIM: the three large outdoor parliaments will be installed at locations across the city including old college, the quad and edinburgh park.
###DOCS: Edinburgh international festival will take place this summer, but will be outdoors for the first time in its 74-year-old history. Organisers on Tuesday revealed plans for three large outdoor pavilions to be installed at locations across the city, including the universitys Old College Quad and Edinburgh Park. The third venue is yet to be confirmed. The festival takes place in August, when it is possible that life may be back to something approaching normality. But the festivals director, Fergus Linehan, said they could not programme along those lines. There have been so many cancellations and false dawns. We wanted to make sure we would deliver a festival that we felt was relatively bulletproof... short of everything going to hell in a handbag again. We didnt want to put together a programme that needed optimum conditions because we may not have them.That will mean shorter than normal performances of up to 75 minutes, with no intervals. Audiences will be socially distanced and ticketing contactless. Full details of the programme will be announced on 2 June. It is expected to be music-heavy rather than the traditional mix of concerts, opera, theatre and dance. It would not be a normal festival programme, said Linehan. But it is a route back to live performance based on a realistic view of where we are at. We cant do what we would normally do; however, we can still work with a lot of amazing artists.Linehan said the frustration at not being able to do what they would normally do was countered by the wild excitement at being able to do live shows. An artists impression of the planned pavilion at Old College Quad. Photograph: Edinburgh International Festival/PAThere hasnt been any meaningful live performance in Scotland since 22 March last year, so its been a long time between drinks for us. It is going to be very different but I think it will be just as charged as any other year. It will be a sign that we are coming back.The event was created in 1947 and is one of the worlds most important festivals of music, theatre and dance with, in a normal year, an international audience of more than 400,000 people in packed venues such as the Usher Hall and the Festival Theatre. This year, audiences and performers will predominantly be from the UK but organisers have promised a weekly selection of free streamed performances for people to watch at home. The international festival is just one strand of the blizzard of cultural events annually held in Edinburgh every August, attracting audiences of 4.4 million. How everything will come together this year remains to be seen. The book festival has announced its departure from Charlotte Square to a new base at Edinburgh College of Arts, on the south side of the city. It will offer an online programme which may also have socially distanced audiences. The Edinburgh Fringe, the worlds largest arts festival, is much more problematic, with venues waiting for government guidelines about what will and will not be allowed. | 1 |
###CLAIM: once all adults are vaccinated against the virus, dix said, the uk will probably protect the population from all known variants which are well-known to be safe in the coming winter.
###DOCS: Coronavirus will not be circulating in the UK by August, the outgoing chief of the countrys vaccine rollout has claimed. Dr Clive Dix, who led the programme from December until he stepped down last week, said he believed the UK population would be protected from the virus and all its known variants by the summer. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Dix said the UK was on track to meet its target of administering at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine to all adults by the end of July. When all adults have been vaccinated against the virus, Dix said the UK would have probably protected the population from all the variants that are known and well be safe over the coming winter. The departing vaccine chief said it was his personal prediction that by some time in August, we will have no circulating virus in the UK. According to government data released on Friday, more than 51m coronavirus vaccinations have been administered across the UK. As a percentage of the total UK population, 52.5% have received their first dose of a coronavirus jab and 25.1% are fully vaccinated. Earlier this week, the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said scientists were investigating options for booster vaccinations in autumn to protect against different variants of the virus and prevent a third wave. But Dix said he thought that the existing plan for the vaccine rollout would give enough protection against the virus and other known variants, so the booster jabs could be pushed back to next year. We may decide that we need to boost the immune response, and weve got the vaccine to do that. Whether well need to or not, I would think probably not, but we might still do it in case. I really dont think it should be autumn. We should be thinking about boosting in maybe January or February, because the immune response will be strong.He said it may be wise to offer booster jabs to those who are extremely vulnerable to the virus earlier, where the immune response wanes a little bit faster, but that there was no data to suggest this was definitely necessary. | 0 |
###CLAIM: then 10 students in a police car leapt into the car with pictures of the car and handed a 90-percent fine for harassment and causing distress.
###DOCS: A 20-year-old student has been slapped with a 90 fine after he was confronted by an angry parent while waiting to pick up his siblings outside a Jewish school. Samiul Islam draped a Palestinian flag over his car bonnet before parking up outside the Kantor King Solomon High School - which is a state comprehensive - in Barkingside, east London. Footage filmed on Mr Islam's phone showed the moment he told a woman 'go on, what were you saying? Public car park. She said you're going to get done. You f***ing did, you well did'. Ten officers in six police cars later swooped on the Bangladeshi student and handed him a 90 fine for causing 'harassment and distress' in breach of a Public Order Act. It comes as Jewish people across London have complained for weeks about being subjected to anti-semitism, especially from protesters voicing their anger at the Israeli bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip. Mr Islam said he was waiting in his car to pick up his siblings from the school when a man and a woman approached him and made offensive comments about Palestine. Samiul Islam parked up outside the Kantor King Solomon High School, in Barkingside, east London, while waiting for his siblingsHe described the situation as 'stupid' and 'disgusting', adding: 'How does someone with a flag on their bonnet cause the public a threat?' 'I've been harassed by three members of the public for sitting in my car and using the phone,' he claimed. 'But to them I'm a bigger threat because I have a flag on my bonnet which caused them to call for six other police cars to come. 'There were around 10 officers for what over a flag when they could be out there dealing with real criminals and crimes.' Islam discusses the incident with policeThe flag was seen on his bonnet in the wake of protests across London which saw tens of thousands of demonstrators gather in the capital for a second weekend in a row to call for an 'urgent' resolution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Mr Islam filmed the altercation in the car park. In the footage a woman can be seen recording him as she holds the hand of a young girl while standing next to a white car. The woman can be seen holding her phone up, appearing to record the young man. He asks her: 'Go on, what were you saying? Public car park. She said you're going to get done. You f***ing did, you well did.' As he speaks the woman appears to turn to the white car's driver and tell them: 'Look at him shouting at me.' Mr Islam interjects: 'If you can record, I can record, no no no listen.' She then replies: 'I didn't say anything to you, I was talking to this lady here.' In a second video, Mr Islam can be seen discussing the incident with a police officer. She tells him that he can display what he wants on his car 'as long as it's not offensive,' although the 20-year-old was later fined. Police said a verbal dispute broke out between the driver and a member of the public. Ten officers in six police cars then swooped on the Bangladeshi student (pictured with his car) and handed him a 90 fine for causing 'harassment and distress'Police said a verbal dispute broke out between the driver and a member of the public. Pictured, the fineIn a statement, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: 'At approximately 16:00hrs on Wednesday, 19 May police on a patrol were alerted to a verbal dispute that had occurred between the driver of a car bearing a Palestine flag and a member of the public. 'Officers spoke to all parties involved. No persons were detained. The driver was subsequently issued with a penalty notice. There were no arrests.' In a furious Facebook post Mr Islam slammed 'Zionists' and claims they told him Palestine was 'going to get done'. He wrote: 'Got FINE cos "Palestine Flag Was Causing Distress." What the f*** is this. What have I even done? 'This is Disgusting... Zionists. I'm picking up my sisters from school and I've got the Palestine flag on my car bonnet (sic).' He explained: 'I'm in the car park...picking up my sisters and this guy comes up to me saying that Palestine is [going to] get done. 'So you think I'm gonna be quiet if someone says something like that. 'So I'm like what do you mean, and he's like look what [you are] doing you have a flag on [your] car [you are] trying to intimidate people. I'm like I'm not doing anything. 'My car [is in a] public car park so I can have whatever I want on my car. He also vowed to fight the fine, adding: 'I most certainly am taking it to court. I'm not paying that never''Then I'm leaving the car park this woman looks dead into my eyes and says just watch how we take over Palestine and you guys will get done. (sic)'So I stop reverse back to her and was like sorry? Just repeat that again then she had a massive go at me and I'm like I [can't be a***d]. 'I'm leaving the car park next thing I know I got flashing blue lights [and I have been] pulled over for causing harassment and distress apparently. 'Six other police cars come. I'm like what's the need for this why [you] mans harassing me for, I didn't say anything bad. 'Then after four hours feds show up at my house and give me a 90 fine for harassing.' He also vowed to fight the fine, adding: 'I most certainly am taking it to court. I'm not paying that never. Disgusting behaviour that is.' A spokesperson for Kantor King Solomon High School declined to comment on the incident. | 0 |
###CLAIM: after the vote, democrats and liberal groups mounted a campaign for collins ' seat in the event that brett and kavanaugh confirm justices to the supreme court in 2018.
###DOCS: PORTLAND, Maine Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic opponent Sara Gideon sparred on health care and the nations coronavirus response during a Thursday debate that saw the two candidates heavily criticize each others records in office. Collins, a 24-year senator, and Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, are in a heated, expensive race that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate. Both candidates were on the offensive Thursday, with Collins criticizing Gideon for the Maine Legislatures failure to meet since March and Gideon portraying Collins as beholden to Republican President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "We do have a judiciary that has been politicized. President Trump had a concerted and successful effort to move the judiciary to the right," Gideon said, according to News Center Maine. "He has done that with the help of Mitch McConnell and with the help of Susan Collins. Those 181 judicial nominees that she chose to confirm, some of them were rated unqualified by the American Bar Association and some of them came with distinct social and political agendas." Gideon also charged Collins with jeopardizing the Affordable Care Act. Right now we need leadership at the federal level and we need to know that no matter what happens to the Affordable Care Act, we have a Congress that is actually going to protect and expand peoples health care, Gideon said, according to the Portland Press Herald. Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins have said there is no plan in place even as that lawsuit moves to oral arguments the week after Election Day.When Gideon touted the possibility of a public option for health coverage, Collins described that as a first step toward a government takeover of our healthcare.The Maine Republican also blasted her challenger for legislative inaction. The legislature has been out of session since March, and she has done nothing, Collins said after touting her own work in support of the Paycheck Protection Program. Gideon responded that Maine has a lower rate of coronavirus cases than most of the country and the states economy hasnt suffered as much as others. Neither of those things is an accident, Gideon said. Thats in direct contrast to the lack of leadership from the federal government. I am proud of us coming together.Independent candidates Max Linn and Lisa Savage also participated in the debate. Savage, a Maine Green Independent Party member running as an independent, advocated for Medicare For All and bold climate action during the debate. Linn, a conservative activist, portrayed himself as an outsider not beholden to political parties. His behavior attracted attention in previous debates in which he cut up a mask in protest of coronavirus-inspired facial covering requirements and used profanity on air. Maine Public hosted Thursdays debate, which was the third featuring the four candidates. The race is one of a handful of pivotal contests including others in Iowa, North Carolina, Arizona and elsewhere that are likely to decide control of the Senate. Its also the most expensive race in Maines history, with Collins and Gideon raising more than $40 million between them. The tight race with Gideon is an unfamiliar position for Collins, who has typically cruised to reelection in previous bids. Democrats and liberal groups mounted a campaign to unseat Collins after her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018. Collins, however, is the only Senate Republican to say she will not vote to confirm Trump's current Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, given the proximity to Election Day. The senator's stance prompted Trump to lash out at her on Friday. "Well, she didnt support Healthcare or my opening up 5000 square miles of Ocean to Maine, so why should this be any different. Not worth the work!" Trump tweeted. There is a nasty rumor out there that @SenatorCollins of Maine will not be supporting our great United States Supreme Court Nominee. Well, she didnt support Healthcare or my opening up 5000 square miles of Ocean to Maine, so why should this be any different. Not worth the work! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2020Linn and Savage are longshot candidates, but they could factor heavily in the outcome because of ranked choice voting. Because voters can rank all four candidates, second and third choices could come into play if no candidate cracks 50% of the total votes cast. Most polls show a close race between Collins and Gideon, so its possible the ranked votes could make a difference. Maine is the only state in the U.S. that uses the voting method to elect U.S. senators. | 0 |
###CLAIM: murphy said all `` non-essential '' interstate travel will continue to be strongly discouraged because of the increased risk of spread to residents and visitors traveling outside of 19 new jersey states on visits.
###DOCS: Three New Jersey legends have a message for all New Jerseyans: Just Wear a friggin mask!New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy tweeted Wednesday a photo of a billboard featuring rock stars Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and comedian Jon Stewart donning face masks for the #MaskUpNJ campaign. As we enter the holiday season, its important to stay vigilant about #COVID19, Murphy wrote Wednesday. The men teamed up with the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund for the cause. Teamed up with some fellow New Jerseyans to encourage everyone this holiday season to wear a friggin mask, Springsteen tweeted. Lets all come together and #MaskUpNJ so we can get back to what we do best singing along and dancing together.Many people on social media found the message inappropriate. Great language for our children to see, tweeted New Jersey resident Jessica DeCaro. Brilliant. And where exactly did they get their medical degrees from? asked resident Thomas Michaels. Who cares what the elite say, another Twitter user wrote. They are so removed from reality.Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that anyone whos traveling outside the immediate region New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware must self-quarantine for 14 days after returning. He also advised residents not to travel for the holidays. Given the increased risk of spreading COVID-19 for both residents who travel outside the state and for visitors into the state, New Jersey continues to strongly discourage all non-essential interstate travel at this time, Murphy said. NJ.com reported there were an additional 4,073 coronavirus cases and 50 deaths the day before Thanksgiving. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the infection rate and hospital admissions have declined dramatically in california, the most populous state with 40 million residents.
###DOCS: Dr Huizenga revealed celebrities from the entertainment industry were well represented in those vying for an early spot for the vaccineRich and famous are now using every trick up their sleeve to get vaccinatedBeverly Hills-based Dr Robert Huizenga said his practice has been offered in excess of $10,000 by Hollywood elite who are desperate for the jabHollywood powerbrokers are offering doctors $10,000 bribes to skip California's vaccine lines to get the coronavirus jab early. One top Beverly-Hills medical practice claimed it has received dozens of offers from individuals - including entertainment stars - desperate to be vaccinated. The situation is so bad that one senior entertainment executive described it as like the 'Hunger Games' as the rich and famous 'fight for their lives' to get the jab and bypass California's sluggish vaccination rollout. Reports say some rich and famous people have been going to great lengths to skip the queue with private and boutique physicians, concierge health services, private flights to Florida for vaccine tourism. Beverly Hills-based Dr Robert Huizenga, known for being actor Charlie Sheen's physician, told Variety his practice has been offered in excess of $10,000 by the elite who are desperate for the jab. Beverly Hills-based Dr Robert Huizenga, known for being actor Charlie Sheen's physician, said his practice has been offered in excess of $10,000 by the elite who are desperate for the jabThe rich and famous in Los Angeles, California, are now using every trick up their sleeve to get vaccinated as millions of ordinary Californians wait their turn'We've been offered bribes,' he said. 'We see people taking planes to every location. We've seen people try to transiently get into the healthcare profession or on staff at nursing homes, so they qualify for an early vaccine.' Dr Huizenga revealed celebrities from the entertainment industry were well represented in those vying for an early spot for the vaccine in a 'fight for their lives'. 'You can't really blame them for pulling out all the stops,' he added. 'The state and government have set up a system that is really horrendous.' 'It's 'The Hunger Games' out there,' said one top entertainment executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, about the rush to get the vaccine. California Governor Gavin Newsom has faced criticism over the state's slow vaccine rollout - California's stumbling blocks include sites running out of doses and an advisor to pause the use of ten per cent of its shots due to concerns over allergic reactions. Newsom is facing criticism over California's slow vaccine rollout - the state's stumbling blocks include sites running out of doses and an advisor to pause the use of ten per cent of its shots due to concerns over allergic reactions. Pictured: People queue as they wait for the vaccine at Disneyland in Anaheim, CaliforniaCalifornians aged 65 and older are now eligible for vaccines along with healthcare workers, first-responders, food and agricultural workers, teachers and school staff. After those groups, immunization eligibility will be prioritized among the general public on the basis of age, Newsom said. Newsom said California has tripled its pace of administering vaccines, reporting giving nearly 2.2 million doses out of 4.1 doses shipped to the state as of Saturday. The goal is to give 1 million more shots over the next 10 days. The governor lifted stay-at-home orders across the state on Monday after seven weeks because that state is experiencing a 'flattening of the curve' in cases. Governor Gavin Newsom said infection rates and hospital admissions have declined dramaticallyMany are angered that those in Hollywood's positions of power are using their connections as millions wait. 'Industry people in these positions should be using their power to help and heal the system, not hurt it,' said one former healthcare worker who is now a media executive. 'It's bad behaviour,' said Dr Art Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at the NYU School of Medicine. He said he had heard of hospital donors trying to use their power to seek early access to the vaccine. 'We've got 91-year-olds waiting, health care workers waiting. People who are wealthy can easily find ways to quarantine, mask, and stay isolated for another month or two, and more vaccine will become available.' But some Hollywood celebrities have been pictured waiting in queues for their vaccines. Star Trek legend Sir Patrick Stewart received the jab after waiting in a queue in his car for almost four hours at a drive-through vaccination clinic at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. Meanwhile, former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 73, armed himself against the coronavirus last week as he received his first dose of the vaccine in Los Angeles after waiting at a drive-thru. The news comes as exclusive doctors' practices in California revealed in December the elite are offering significant donations to hospitals and charities in the hope they can get vaccinated early. Wealthy Californians are hoping toget early access to a coronavirus vaccine by offering to make donations to hospitals. Pictured: a emergency medicine worker receives a vaccinePhysician Jeff Toll said one of his clients offered to make a five-figure donation to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the first hospitals in the state to receive vaccines. 'If I donate $25,000 to Cedars, would that help me get in line?' the client allegedly asked. 'We get hundreds of calls every single day,' Ehsan Ali, who runs Beverly Hills Concierge Doctor, told The Los Angeles Times. He charges between $2,000 and $10,000 a year for personalized care and counts Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber among his clients. 'This is the first time where I have not been able to get something for my patients, he added. Yet the doctors have all been forced to say 'no' despite the pestering, as the state keeps tight restrictions on who receives the first batches of its vaccine. The graph depicts the rapid increase of infections between late November through December in California. The increase is being blamed on what researchers believe is a homegrown strain of the coronavirusIn California, more than 3.1 million cases have been reported and 36,790 people have died. More than 18,000 people died in the state in less than three monthsThe federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 19.3 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine while about 3.3 million people have been fully vaccinated so far as of Monday. The United States as a whole has also seen declines in newly reported COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions over the past two weeks, following an alarming year-end spike of infections. In parts of California, Texas and other states, that surge filled hospital intensive care units, emergency rooms, ambulance bays and morgues to overflowing. The newly improved outlook for California nevertheless came as the country surpassed the ominous milestone of 25 million known infections, with nearly 419,000 American lives lost from the pandemic. California's stay-at-home restrictions, among the most stringent constraints on business and social life imposed anywhere in the country, were triggered in early December when available space in hospital ICUs reached maximum capacity. Governor Gavin Newsom said infection rates and hospital admissions in California, the most populous U.S. state with 40 million residents, have since declined dramatically, and projections show available ICU capacity climbing well above minimum thresholds over the next month. 'But we are not out of the woods,' Newsom added, urging continued adherence to mask-wearing requirements and social distancing until collective immunity can be achieved through vaccinations. The stay-at-home rules lifted on Monday had required residents to remain largely indoors and avoid travel around the clock, except as necessary for permitted activities such as grocery shopping, medical appointments, individual outdoor exercise and dog walks. Those constraints were lifted on Monday for Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area and the state's largely agricultural San Joaquin Valley. The greater Sacramento area was excused from the order two weeks ago, and the extreme northern California region was never under it. The governor stressed that lesser restrictions imposed in November remained in effect for most of the state - a nightly curfew on all indoor social gatherings and non-essential activities outside the home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. After 10 months into a global pandemic, a coronavirus vaccine is slowly being rolled out to American citizens. As the vaccine is being distributed by the government, each state has been given the authority to develop a distribution plan, deeming people of certain ages, health restrictions or professions a higher priority for vaccination. In California, home to showbiz -- which has struggled since the beginning of the pandemic -- healthcare workers and citizens over the age of 65 are eligible to be vaccinated by one of the two approved options, according to Variety. The rollout plan has widely been criticized for its slow movement, but that hasn't deterred some Hollywood titans from using their own resources -- be it money, fame, connections, or even private planes -- to obtain a vaccine for themselves. STARS WHO'VE RECEIVED THE COVID-19 VACCINESources told the outlet that music industry mogul Irving Azoff, 73 and eligible to obtain the vaccine on his own, has been facilitating the vaccinations of those close to him. "Im a 73-year-old cancer survivor. I recently had part of my intestine removed. Damn right I received the vaccine, and Im glad I did," Azoff said in a statement to Variety. "Everyone eligible should get vaccinated as soon as they can." He did not confirm whether anyone else was inoculated. Newport Beach, Calif. neurological spine surgeon Dr. Robert Bray is said to have recommended the vaccinations of several notable figures, including Azoff. The doctor is making the rounds among powerful circles via referral by the acting chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation Robert Goldstein, sources claimed. Bray told Fox News' that his practice was not operating as a concierge service and while he has been contacted by industry figures, he hasn't administered vaccines to any of them. Additionally, he said that his practice was following the state's tier system and was allocating any "extra" doses at the practice's discretion, though such a dose is "very rare." The doctor said that he knows Goldstein, but told Variety that because of HIPPA, he could not reveal whether he treated his contacts. BIDEN HOPES FOR 1.5 MILLION VACCINATIONS PER DAY, AFTER 'NOTHING WE CAN DO' COMMENTSAdditionally, Dr. Robert Huizenga in Beverly Hills told Variety that his practice has been offered in excess of $10,000 by people -- some of whom entertainment industry employees -- in exchange for a vaccination. "Weve been offered bribes. We see people taking planes to every location," he explained. "Weve seen people try to transiently get into the healthcare profession or on staff at nursing homes, so they qualify for an early vaccine." The doctor added that "You cant really blame [industry figures] for pulling out all the stops. The state and the government have set up a system that is really horrendous." Dr. Robert Ansell, program director of UCLAs executive health program has been bombarded with requests about where to get a vaccination in L.A.s Westside neighborhoods, Variety reports. "UCLA is operating extremely by the book and hasnt given a single shot to the concierge patients," said a member of the service. A spokesperson added that "philanthropic support is in no way a criterion to determine vaccine candidacy, and no program or options exist to bypass vaccination priorities at UCLA Health. We are following the direction of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and prioritizing health care workers, followed by patients 65 and older and facing the greatest risk based on their medical conditions. As supplies increase and guidelines expand, we are prepared to increase the number of people being offered an opportunity to be vaccinated." UCLAs Board of Regents members including United Talent Agency co-president Jay Sures, Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber, and former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing have reportedly received calls from friends in the industry to inquire about receiving a vaccine. Lansing told Fox News that "absolutely no one" in or out of the entertainment industry has asked her to cross the line when it comes to receiving a vaccine, and while she has discussed vaccination with contacts, it's been in more of an informal, friend-to-friend conversation rather than in an advisory or informational capacity. Beverly Hills celebrity pharmacy Mickey Fine has also reportedly told patients via an audio message that they have yet to receive vaccines for distribution. CORONAVIRUS VACCINE DISTRIBUTION: STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWNInsiders also told the outlet that some industry employees such as managers, producers, agents and even directors have turned their focus toward obtaining vaccines for stars' family members. "Its The Hunger Games out there," said an anonymous industry executive. Some have chosen to look beyond California for help. Former Dick Clark Productions CEO Allen Shapiro, 73, reportedly took a private jet to Fla. to search out a vaccine. Vaccination in the state has been a hot button topic as Gov. Ron DeSantis recently allowed patients to be vaccinated without proof of residency, but that was overturned by the state's Surgeon General Scott Rivkees. Sources said that Shapiro owns property in the state. Former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, 72, recently confirmed that he traveled from New York to Fla. to be vaccinated. Maui is reportedly another hotspot for travelers to find treatment. However, it is of note that some of Hollywood's heavyweights are doing their due diligence, as a high-power Hollywood figure was spotted waiting in line at Dodgers Stadium for so long, a witness thought the exec's Tesla might run out of battery power, per the outlet. In fact, Harrison Ford, 78, booked his own appointment to be vaccinated and waited in line for two and a half hours to be treated while Arnold Schwarzenegger, 73, Steve Martin, 75, and more stars have shared their vaccination experiences online. "Industry people in these positions should be using their power to help and heal the system, not hurt it," a media executive who once worked as a healthcare employee told Variety. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPDr. Art Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at the NYU School of Medicine, said taking such action was "bad behavior." "It should not be condoned. We should find ways to penalize it," he said. "Weve got 91-year-olds waiting, health care workers waiting. People who are wealthy can easily find ways to quarantine, mask and stay isolated for another month or two, and more [vaccines] will become available." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERSures and Goldstein did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment while Guber could not immediately be reached. | 3 |
###CLAIM: also, the whisper and zero hour missions have exotic ships that can be acquired for reward, and we just got introduced this week to a ship made by crows and traveler.
###DOCS: Destiny 2 BungieAlright, so a bunch of weird stuff has happened in Destiny 2 this week, the unveiling of two new secret areas in the EDZ sort of attached to old Crow missions wed run earlier in the season. To recap, if you re-rerun the Crows Nest mission manually from Trostland patrol, at the very end you can find a new Taken barrier to get past and see a hidden ship with some new dialogue. Past that, near the Trostland entrance for that mission, a floor down there is a fireplace that can only be broken through with Hawkmoon which leads to a bunch of narrow, lengthy tunnels and a locked door. So, whats going on here? I know that talking about when Destiny 2 is going to release its next Zero Hour style secret exotic quest is something akin to crying wolf in the community, given that it has been predicted many times, but never come. And yet I think there is some amount of evidence that this could be where we are heading in this final month of the season here when you add everything together. Heres my rundown of all the stuff to be aware of, and why things could be pointing in this direction:Zero Hour BungieIt has been a very long time since Zero Hour Once upon a time, we were getting these kinds of quests spread out about a year apart, but Zero Hour was Season of the Drifter, and we have not had one since then. We did get the Prophecy dungeon in Arrivals, which is even larger in scale, but no secret missions, so in a sense we are long past overdue for one. Hawkmoon random rolls appear to be somewhere else I dont think Hawkmoon random rolls have to do with these new discoveries. I maintain that it makes the most sense for that farm to be the original mission we ran to get the gun, but with burns and champions, which people accidentally got into weeks ago. This is an entirely different area of the map and seems like its for something else. Pretty sure Hawkmoon rolls will be tied to that original mission in the Lost Sector. This just feels like the entrance to a secret mission If youve played Zero Hour or Whisper, the secret tunnel in the fireplace just has the same vibe to it as an entrance to that type of mission. The secret discovery feels like how we first found Whisper, the narrow hallways echo parts of the sprawling Zero Hour run through the old tower. Destiny 2 BungieOut of bounds hunters are suspicious While nothing can be found out of bounds around this area (even glitching through the door does not lead anywhere), these players are suspicious because they have seen so many out of bounds-specific barriers thrown up around this region, they believe that its emblematic of a larger area and quest still to come that would have to be patched in later. The missing Warden triumphs There are two triumphs so hidden for Warden they dont even show up as secret triumphs on the page, implying Bungie is hiding something deep. Dataminers believe that they are tied to something exotic which is all they can extract from the backend. That could just be something to do with the Hawkmoon roll farm, or it could be something...else. The ship as an exotic reward Both the Whisper and Zero Hour missions also had exotic ships that could be acquired as rewards, and we were just introduced to Crows Traveler-made ship this week. It stands to reason that if there is a secret mission, this ship could be the reward for that mission. Zero Hour BungieWhat I do not have an answer to is if this is a new exotic mission, what exotic we might be chasing. Whisper was a variant of a Destiny 1 weapon, Outbreak literally was a Destiny 1 weapon. I could think of maybe Devrims No Land Beyond, as thats tied to the EDZ, but given that hes currently holding it, that would be kind of weird. Iconic weapons like Mythoclast and Touch of Malice are probably being saved for when/if those raids come back. So I really dont know. I am definitely not saying a secret mission is a guarantee here, but this is some very weird, hidden stuff that seems like it could be pointing in that direction in future weeks. Theres going to be a lot of stuff to check out next reset (a second door near the ship hangar room, the door in the fireplace tunnel) which is what I will be doing exactly at reset. See you then. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels Herokiller and Herokiller 2, and read my first series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook. | 0 |
###CLAIM: it also frowned on a defense suggestion that the defendants tried to make amends by helping to put out a fire set for personal reasons.
###DOCS: A volunteer firefighter who sought to satisfy his ego by using petrol to start a blaze that devoured 144 hectares of forest and scrubland in northern Spain has been given a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence and ordered to pay more than 158,000 (137,000) in damages. Luis Trueba, the former head of the Civil Protection volunteer service in Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, had denied deliberately setting the fire in February 2019 so that he could help put it out, insisting instead that he had rushed to the scene out of instinct. But prosecutors argued he had torched the land to satisfy his ego and play a leading role in extinguishing the fire on its frontline. Cantabrias provincial court was told that Truebas behaviour immediately before the fire was suspicious as was the fact that he returned to base afterwards and took a petrol can out of the drivers side [of his vehicle], which he tried to hide. Hours before the fire began, Trueba and a colleague were on a patrol after a fire-risk alert was declared in the area. His co-worker said Trueba had looked at the land and said: Its really dry; it just needs someone to take a match to it and see whether they crack out the hydrants.A fellow volunteer also told the court the accused liked fires and was like a junkie after his fix when it came to finding them. An investigation was launched after the fire burned through 144.3 hectares (356 acres) of eucalyptus, gorse, bramble, scrubland and pasture in the Sierra de Alcomba on 17 and 18 February 2019. Although Trueba claimed to have been delivering chairs to a cousin who lived elsewhere, the GPS in his regional government vehicle put him at the scene in the early hours of 17 February. Using petrol as an accelerant in the ditch on the left-hand side of the road from Ramales to La Alcomba, he set fire to the land in at least seven different initial points, with a distance of 65 metres between each so that the fire could spread easily, the court said in its judgment. It dismissed his alibi as an incredible excuse, adding: In the courts opinion, there is ample proof of the crime beyond any reasonable doubt [and the fire] was started directly, intentionally and voluntarily.Trueba was found guilty of starting a forest fire of considerable seriousness, sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment, and ordered to pay a fine of 3,600 and damages of 158,000. The sentence can be appealed. The court rejected the defences offer of 4,000 in compensation, saying the sum would not even cover a tenth of the costs of extinguishing the fire started by the defendant, adding that the damages caused exceeded 200,000. It also frowned on the defences suggestion that the defendant had tried to make amends by helping to put out the fire he had set for his own personal reasons. The judgment concluded: [His participation] was neither effective nor relevant given that bringing the fire under control not only required volunteers whose role was fundamentally logistical but also the involvement of four wildlife rangers, three forestry teams, an emergency services crew with four professional firefighters, three pumps, a water supply vehicle, a pickup truck and two amphibious air force planes. MADRID, April 16 (Reuters) - A Spanish court has jailed a volunteer firefighter for three and a half years and ordered him to pay 158,000 euros ($189,200) in damages for starting a blaze that burned through nearly 150 hectares of forest in the northern Cantabria region. Cantabria's provincial court found Luis Trueba, former volunteer fire brigade chief in the village of Ramales de la Victoria, used gasoline to deliberately start the forest fire in February 2019 in what it said was an apparent, and failed, attempt to show off his skills in putting out the blaze. Data from the GPS tracker in Trueba's government vehicle showed he drove directly to the spot where the blaze began, pausing for several minutes before continuing up the highway and alerting colleagues he could see flames. "Using gasoline as an accelerant he set fire to the scrub in at least seven different points," the court found. Explaining his absence from base, the firefighter said he had been delivering chairs to his cousin, an alibi the court dismissed as "unbelievable," especially as the cousin in question testified he was yet to receive any chairs. During a routine patrol of the area before the fire broke out, Trueba had told a colleague: "It's very dry, one strike of a match and we'll have to bring the hoses out", while another colleague later saw him remove a petrol can from the car. According to local newspaper El Diario Cantabria, another firefighter described Trueba as a pyromaniac who was like a "junky needing a fix" when it came to fire. The court said his role in putting out the blaze ended up being "neither efficient nor relevant", with professional firefighters and two aircraft required to intervene. Reporting by Nathan Allen, editing by Andrei Khalip and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | 3 |
###CLAIM: when he applied for bankruptcy in new jersey last summer, he cited debts of over $7 million and a lower paying video job paying only about $50, 000 a year.
###DOCS: The successful revival of sports radio personality Craig Cartons career just months after being released from prison has not gone unnoticed by at least one victim of his multimillion-dollar fraud. Dukal Corp. and its owner, Gerard LoDuka, has written to his sentencing judge to ask that a restitution order be rewritten to reflect what is almost surely an extremely lucrative job.The letter, dated Friday and entered into the court record on Monday, noted that Carton returned to the airwaves in November in a prime afternoon slot on WFAN that has achieved dramatic ratings success and he was reportedly being considered as a daily morning host on an MLB Network show. Yet, the letter maintained, Carton, 52, has not made a single restitution payment since his June release from prison after serving about a year of a 3 1/2 year sentence that was reduced after he participated in prison rehabilitation programs. The letter said an order requiring Carton to pay 15% of earnings toward nearly $5 million in restitution should be changed to reflect his career revival. Priority, it said, should be given to pay LoDuka and another person before a company with over $25 billion in assets that also lost money. It also noted that he cited over $7 million in debts and a video job in lower Manhattan that paid only about $50,000 annually when he applied for bankruptcy last summer in New Jersey. Cartons lawyer, Derrelle Janey, said the letters restitution claims were wrong. Carton has not only made payments toward restitution since his release, but he made payments before he was imprisoned even before they were required, the lawyer said. Janey said Carton has paid about $30,000 of the $435,000 owed to LoDuka. Most criminal defendants dont have the opportunity to return to a place where theyre back at the starting line, Janey said. Mr. Carton is fortunate, by the grace of God, that he is at a position where he can return to the starting line.Still, the lawyer added, Carton makes a fraction of what he previously made.Carton reportedly made about $2 million when he was paired with ex-NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason on a popular WFAN Boomer and Carton radio show before his 2017 arrest forced him out. At his 2019 sentencing, Carton said memories of sexual abuse he suffered at age 11 were triggered by revelations about sex crimes by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant Penn State football coach who was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2012. He said he turned to blackjack and became a gambling addict, oblivious to winning and losing. I didnt celebrate winning $4 million in three days ... in the Bahamas. I didnt bemoan losing $700,000 in less than 24 hours a few weeks later in Atlantic City, he said. He credited his arrest as a lightning bolt of awareness that led him to Gamblers Anonymous and therapy. Now, Janey said, Carton concentrates on his four children and his job. It sounds glamorous but its a very difficult job. Its difficult to get it right and all eyes are on him, and the moment he gets it wrong, its over, Janey said. | 0 |
###CLAIM: following months of shutdowns earlier in the year, coronavirus restrictions stopping starts and forcing door-to-door sales of non-essential items disrupted the crucial pre-christmas trading period.
###DOCS: The crucial pre-Christmas trading period for retailers was disrupted in 2020 by stop-start coronavirus restrictions, which forced shops selling non-essential items to close their doors for certain periods of time, following months of shutdown earlier in the year. As the nation stayed at home, people shopped online. Leisurewear was popular but overall consumers bought fewer items of clothing, knocking sales at fashion retailers. Meanwhile, the big supermarkets benefited from their essential retailer status, as consumers spent more money on groceries while many restaurants, cafes and pubs were forced to close. Sainsburys WinnerThe UKs second-largest supermarket reported a 9% rise in like-for-like sales during the Christmas period, from 1 November to the start of January, as shoppers filled their baskets with luxury items including champagne and steak. Sainsburys online sales also boomed over the festive period, increasing by 128% to account for almost a fifth (18%) of total sales, allowing the retailer to raise its profit expectations for 2020 by 60m. However, doing business in a pandemic also comes at a cost and, as a result, Sainsburys forecasts that its 2020 profits will be 44% lower than the period year. The chain has also pledged to pay back the 410m business rates relief which it was given by the government last spring. Tesco WinnerThe UKs biggest supermarket said booming online and sales and customers opting for luxury festive fare helped it to a record Christmas. Tesco reported sales at stores open for at least a year were 8.1% higher during the key six-week Christmas trading period to 9 January. The chain said it had experienced unprecedented demand for online groceries. The company delivered more than 7m orders containing 400m-plus items over the Christmas season. Morrisons WinnerLuxury festive treats also helped drive Morrisons sales 8.5% higher during the festive period, as shoppers splashed out on champagne and salmon to enjoy at home. Morrisons said online sales had tripled, and it also benefited from its deal with Amazon to supply wholesale products to convenience stores. The supermarket was the only one of the four largest chains in the UK to gain market share over the Christmas period, according to analysis from research group Kantar, thanks to price cuts and an increase in home deliveries. However, the retailer expects its profits to be in line with expectations, less than half the 420m to 440m it had once anticipated, after it agreed to pay back 230m received from the governments business rates relief. B&M WinnerThe fast-growing discount retailer enjoyed strong sales in the run-up to Christmas, topping off a knockout year. B&M said sales in its UK stores soared by 21% in the three months up to Boxing Day, despite not selling anything online. The chain, which supplies everything from tinned goods and pet food to wallpaper and garden sheds, has benefited from its essential retailer status. In addition, many of its stores are located on retail parks, which wary shoppers have tended to favour instead of high streets. B&Ms owners, the billionaire Arora brothers, awarded themselves a 30m payout following soaring Christmas sales, pushing their total dividends received over the last 12 months to almost 100m. As a result of the lockdown sales boom, B&M intends to open up to 45 new stores by March, a third more than it had previously planned. JD Sports WinnerJD Sports, Britains biggest sportswear group, has been able to shrug off many of the problems faced by retailers during the pandemic, and hiked its profit forecasts following robust trading. The retail chain reported that its total revenues for the past 22 weeks of 2020 were 5% higher than the previous year, leading it to forecast profits for the last year of at least 400m, well above analysts expectations of 295m. JD said that its customers had readily switched between physical and digital channels but warned that Covid restrictions were likely to keep its UK stores closed until Easter. The casual wear group, which also owns brands Size?, Blacks Leisure, Millets and Go Outdoors, said earlier in the pandemic that its athleisure products had proved popular with customers stuck at home. The sportswear chain had been in rescue talks to buy beleaguered department store chain Debenhams, but pulled out when Topshop-owner Arcadia went into administration at the end of November. Lidl WinnerThe German discounter hailed 2020 as a record Christmas in the UK, with sales up 17.9% in the four weeks to 27 December, as it grew its market share against the nations four biggest supermarkets and rival Aldi. Lidl said customers bought more items when they visited stores, and also spent more as they switched to luxury products from the retailers higher-end ranges, including panettone and pink prosecco. Just Eat Takeaway WinnerThe closure of restaurants, cafes and pubs to diners prompted consumers across Europe to order 57% more takeaways from Just Eat Takeaway.com in the final three months of 2020. This was a further acceleration in sales from the 46% jump reported by Euorpes biggest online food delivery group in the third quarter, as a rebound in coronavirus cases across the region prompted the reintroduction of strict stay-at-home rules. Delivery orders surged by 400% in the UK in the final quarter of the year, compared with a year earlier, as locked-down consumers treated themselves to takeaway meals from their favourite restaurantsAsos WinnerThe online fashion retailer has raised its full-year profit forecast after a surge in sales of makeup and leisurewear, including jogging bottoms, over the Christmas season. Sales at Asos in the UK increased by 36% in the last four months of 2020, as consumers turned to online retailers when coronavirus restrictions forced their bricks-and-mortar competitors to close their doors. Overall, the companys retail sales rose by 23% worldwide. Anticipating the closure of non-essential stores to remain in place until at least mid-February, Asos is expecting its half-year profits to be at least 40m higher than previously forecasted. This would mean its profits at the top end of City forecasts, which range from 115m to 170m. Marks & Spencer LoserChristmas trading was a mixed picture at high street stalwart Marks & Spencer, as store closures knocked its sales of clothing and homeware, while its food halls fared better during the key period. Sales of clothing and homeware dropped by a quarter during the 13 weeks to 26 December, as consumers turned to pyjamas rather than party outfits, with a near halving of in-store sales only partly balanced out by a rise in online sales. The retailers food halls traded more positively, with a 2.6% rise in sales at stores open for at least one year, although it suffered from the closure of its large network of in-store cafes. M&S warned that the trading outlook remains very challenging because the latest lockdown and store closures could last until Easter. Greggs LoserCovid heralded a reversal in fortunes for Greggs bakery chain, famous for its steak bakes and vegan sausage rolls, which predicted it will slump to its first-ever annual loss as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Newcastle-based chains sales dropped by more than 300m year on year in 2020, leading it to forecast a 15m annual loss, its first since listing on the stock market in 1984, after Covid restrictions closed its stores and consumers made lunch at home rather than buying a sandwich while out and about. Greggs, which has more than 2,000 outlets in the UK, does not expect profits to recover to pre-Covid levels until 2022. However, the retailers expansion plans remain on track and it plans to open a further 100 stores this year. Primark LoserThe fast fashion retailer expects to miss out on more than 1bn in sales during the first six months of its financial year ending February, as fresh coronavirus restrictions have closed its stores in the UK and Europe. Primark, which does not sell online, said reported a 30% decrease in sales to 2bn during the 16 weeks to 2 January, compared with sales of 2.9bn during the 2019 festive period. Its owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), said sales were strong ahead of Christmas when stores were allowed to remain open, but that it had lost sales worth 540m during November and December. UK retail sales suffered the biggest decline in 25 years last year as the closure of non-essential shops during lockdowns more than outweighed the online spending boom fuelled by Covid-19. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said total sales fell by 0.3% last year from the level in 2019 the worst performance since records began in 1995 reflecting the impact of government lockdowns and shifting consumer spending trends. However, the overall drop in spending masks an explosion in sales for some shops, and a dramatic collapse for others. Amid a decline in spending in pubs, restaurants and hotels during the crisis, sales of food bought from shops increased by 5.4% on the year. However, sales of all other products fell 5% from a year earlier. While online sales were boosted during lockdown as consumers largely stayed away from the high street, sales of non-food items in physical shops collapsed by 24%. The decline in sales volumes comes after the first annual fall since 1995 in 2019, when years of weak wage growth hurting households finances and Brexit fears led to a 0.1% drop in retail sales compared with 2018 levels. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said Christmas had offered little respite for retailers, as many shops were forced to shut during the peak trading period. Calling on the government to provide fresh financial support for the sector, she said: With shops still closed for the foreseeable future, costing stores billions in lost sales, many retailers are struggling to survive.Despite the sharp drop in non-food sales, the latest figures from the BRC showed that total retail sales rose by 1.8% in December compared with the same month a year ago. It said there was a rise in the purchase of food-based gifts at Christmas, as many shoppers bought what they could from shops that remained open. The volume of food and drink sales was the highest for festive spending on record. Separate figures from Barclaycard Britains biggest credit card provider showed that consumer spending fell by 2.3% in December as tougher government controls hampered the high street and hospitality sectors in the pivotal Christmas period. It said online retail increased by 52.2% in December as Britons shopped from home, while tighter restrictions led to in-store retail declining 8.3%. Barclaycard records almost half of UK transactions, and differs from the BRC figures because it monitors spending in shops, online and elsewhere across the economy such as in pubs, restaurants and hotels. With few opportunities to socialise before Christmas, sales in pubs and bars fell by more than 70%, while spending in restaurants plunged 65%. Physical retailers such as department stores and clothes shops also recorded declines of 15% and 7% respectively. Raheel Ahmed, head of consumer products at Barclaycard, said: With the latest government guidance to stay at home and a vaccine rollout on the horizon, we are all hopeful of a brighter and more prosperous year ahead. Yet, for now, the reality of lockdown life remains and its once more a hugely challenging time for high-street retailers as well as the hospitality, leisure and travel industries. | 2 |
###CLAIM: an unprecedented number of complaints led the bbc to set up an online dedicated form for angry viewers within hours of the philips death attempt to streamline the process.
###DOCS: The BBC has responded to complaints over its coverage of Prince Philips funeral by insisting its editorial choices reflected the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster in a moment of national significance. BBC One devoted nearly four hours of airtime to the event on 17 April. Its programming, led by Huw Edwards, was watched by an average of almost 7 million people. David Attenborough, Gyles Brandreth and Alan Titchmarsh also shared memories of the Queens husband, who died on 9 April at the age of 99. Responding to complaints about the coverage, the BBC said on its website: The funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a significant event which generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally. We acknowledge some viewers were unhappy with the level of coverage given, and impact this had on the billed BBC One schedule. We do not make such changes without careful consideration and the decisions made reflect the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster, during moments of national significance. We are grateful for all feedback, and we always listen to the response from our audiences.The BBCs latest statement came after its wall-to-wall coverage of the dukes death became the most complained-about moment in British television history. Nearly 111,000 people contacted the BBC in the following days to complain about its decision to turn most of its TV channels and radio stations over to rolling tributes. The unprecedented number of complaints led the BBC to set up a dedicated online form for angry viewers within hours of Philips death in an attempt to streamline the process. The corporation acknowledged the complaints, but in a statement similar to that circulated about the funeral coverage, said clearing the schedules reflected its role as the nations main broadcaster. The BBC also broadcast scenes from the funeral service on its news channel, but BBC Two did not air coverage, instead showing the World Snooker Championship. ITV gave the event three hours coverage, anchored by Tom Bradby and Julie Etchingham and featuring guests including the dukes goddaughter, India Hicks. Channel 4 showed episodes of the reality show Four in a Bed, and Channel 5 aired the film A Knights Tale, starring Heath Ledger. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the dallas business and news said it predicted losses as well in the third quarter and upwards of 1, 200 jobs would be cut in europe.
###DOCS: ExxonMobil is planning to increase carbon-dioxide emissions by 17 percent by 2025, according to internal documents obtained by Bloomberg News,. The amount is equal to extra 23 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, or the entire output of Greece - but it only accounts for emissions from Exxon's oil and gas production. The added emissions do not include carbon dioxide from the millions of gas-powered vehicles it fuels, which would quintuple that output to 100 million tons of additional carbon dioxide. Exxon's 'growth plans will continue to include meaningful emission mitigation efforts,' the company said, mostly via carbon capture initiatives. Leaked documents indicate ExxonMobil has been planning to increase greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by the year 2025. That's equal to extra 23 million tons of carbon dioxide, or the entire output of GreeceThose efforts are already factored into the 17 percent increase, Bloomberg reports. Unlike its competitors, Exxon hasn't made any pledges of carbon reduction or neutrality. Both BP and Shell have announced they're aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050, with the former setting a target of 30 to 35 percent reduction within the next decade. In March, Exxon CEO Darren Woods dismissed those efforts as window dressing. Exxon Mobil has misled the public on climate change for over four decades, according to a shocking study by Harvard scientists'Individual companies setting targets and then selling assets to another company so that their portfolio has a different carbon intensity has not solved the problem for the world,' Woods said. Exxon is focused on 'taking steps to solve the problem for society as a whole and not try and get into a beauty competition.' Exxon halted drilling and refining projects when prices plummeted in April, but with an intention of restarting later, rather than canceling them. The leaked internal report calls for the production of a million more barrels of oil a day, the equivalent of nearly 158 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. The emissions projections are 'an early assessment that does not include additional mitigation and abatement measures that would have been considered as the next step in the process,' Exxon said in a statement. 'The same planning document illustrates how we have been successful in mitigating emissions in the past.' A 2017 study out of Harvard claimed Exxon Mobil misled the public about climate change for over four decades, making 'explicit factual misrepresentations' in newspaper ads. Researchers said that while, as early as 1979, Exxon scientists internally acknowledged burning fossil fuels was adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise, the company's position in New York Times advertorials consistently asserted doubt about climate science. 'It's past time for Exxon Mobil to take responsibility for the harmful impacts of its oil and gas products,' said Kathy Mulvey, a campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Bloomberg. 'The world at large and its own investors would benefit from Exxon redirecting its strategy toward the energy we need in a low-carbon future.' A direct descendant of Standard Oil, ExxonMobile employs 74,000 workers across six continents. Exxon reported a $1.1 billion loss in the second quarter of 2020, its first back-to-back net loss in 36 years. On Friday, Exxon lost its title as America's largest energy company, unseated by renewable-energy concern NextEraBut oil consumption has tanked during the pandemic: Exxon reported a $1.1 billion loss in the second quarter of 2020, according to The Motley Fool, its first back-to-back net loss in 36 years. It's predicting losses for a third quarter, as well, and will be cutting upwards of 1,600 jobs in Europe, according to the Dallas Business News. The company was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average earlier this year and share prices are hovering near an 18-year low..On Friday, Exxon briefly lost its throne as America's largest energy company, unseated by renewable-energy concern NextEra. Over the last decade, Exxon investors have seen a negative 25 percent return on investment compared to NextEra, which has delivered 600 percent. While Florida-based NextEra is the largest producer of wind and solar power in the world, renewables only make about 30 percent of its business. The remaining 70 percent come from traditional utilities that are mostly powered by fossil fuels. In 2017, we published the first peer-reviewed analysis of ExxonMobils 40-year history of climate change communications. We found that the company and its parents, Exxon and Mobil, misled the public about climate change and its severity. Central to this conclusion was the contrast between what Exxon and ExxonMobil scientists said in internal reports and scientific articles versus what Exxon, Mobil, and ExxonMobil told the public in non-peer-reviewed publications and in advertorials paid advertisements dressed up to look like opinion pieces in The New York Times. Newly leaked documents, reported recently by Bloomberg News, show that ExxonMobils climate dishonesty is even worse than we thought. While the company privately has an internal plan for surging carbon emissions...by as much as the output of the entire nation of Greece, according to Bloomberg, ExxonMobil executives shield their carbon forecasts from investors. In other words, ExxonMobil drew up plans to expand fossil fuel production, internally calculated how much this would increase their carbon dioxide emissions, then failed to disclose those estimates to investors. Indeed, the company has never publicly disclosed its emissions forecasts. In response to the Bloomberg report, ExxonMobil claimed that the leaked documents were not up-to-date, but declined to provide any details on the new projections, according to Bloomberg. ExxonMobil has launched a new attack on our research, penned by ExxonMobil Vice President Vijay Swarup in the academic journal where we published our original study. In fact, ExxonMobil, in trying to dismiss our findings, has inadvertently made them stronger. They have done so in three ways, which we summarize today in a peer-reviewed rebuttal. First, ExxonMobil has not challenged any of our findings about the 187 documents analyzed in our original study. They do not deny that Exxon, Mobil, and ExxonMobil all had early knowledge that their products have the potential to cause dangerous global warming. Nor do they deny that Exxon, Mobil, and ExxonMobil all promoted doubt about climate science and its implications in order to delay action. Second, ExxonMobil accused us of analyzing less than 3% of their advertorials. This is misleading: less than 4% of their advertorials concerned climate change; most were irrelevant. Nevertheless, we have expanded our research program to include advertorials of which we were originally unaware, and found that spoiler alert the results strengthen our original finding.Third, ExxonMobil claims that our original publication obscur[ed] the separateness of Exxon and Mobil prior to their 1999 merger. This is incorrect and misleading: when Exxon and Mobil merged, ExxonMobil inherited legal and moral responsibility for both. Instead of subjecting their positions to the independent scrutiny of academic peer-review, as we (and all scientists) do, ExxonMobil found a backdoor, so that they could then claim that our work has been refuted. These Big Tobacco-style tactics doubt-mongering, character assassination, intellectual hitjobs, and undisclosed conflicts of interest are precisely the sort of product-defense maneuvers that ExxonMobil perfected while attacking climate science and climate scientists. The only difference now is that they are coming after the social sciences, too. But its hardly the first time. When we published our study, ExxonMobil immediately responded with a straw man, a falsehood, cherry picking, and ad hominem attacks. Last year, they sent a now-leaked memo to Members of European Parliament in an attempt to discredit one of us (Geoffrey Supran) who had been invited to testify to that parliament as an expert witness about the companys history of climate denial. And for the past three years, ExxonMobil has run a social media campaign accusing us of publishing manufactured science at the behest of a political campaign. It has been viewed millions of times. With ExxonMobil so evidently offering its critiques in bad faith, we hesitated whether to engage at all. They dont need to win this debate, they just need to make it seem like there is one. Personally, we dont care what ExxonMobil says about us. But their attempts to smear our research do matter, because in the face of mounting lawsuits, surging public protests and crumbling market value ExxonMobil is swinging for a way to discredit the work that demonstrates what they have done. Alas, it is a swing and a miss. ExxonMobils reaction to our work is nothing more than a case in point of the deceptive behavior we described in our original study. ExxonMobil is now misleading the public about its history of misleading the public. Indeed, as Bloombergs new report reveals, the company is hiding climate information, too. | 3 |
###CLAIM: trump has repeated the gimmick five times, including one to float a vote on paper ballots in certain states and a crazy video with colorful strobes.
###DOCS: President Donald Trump attacked Fox News and demanded the election be rerun in an early morning tweet storm that featured voter fraud allegations from actor Randy Quaid in a starring role. Trump, in the nearly dozen tweets and retweets fired off Tuesday morning, appeared to be backpedaling from Monday evening's decision by the General Services Administration to allow the transition process to begin, giving President-elect Joe Biden and his team access to the federal government to begin the transfer of power. Trump tweeted his blessing of the move, which many interpreted as a concession to Biden's win - or as close as a concession as the president would get. But the president was singing a different tune on Tuesday, vowing to keep up the fight so he could remain in the White House. 'I concede NOTHING!!!! !,' the president declared in one retweet that featured a photo of himself standing in the Oval Office next to the resolute desk. And he came into the White House briefing room to make a short statement on the stock market after the Dow hit 30,000 points for the first time in its 125-year history. The president made no mention of the election when he spoke, which was for less than a minute. 'The stock market's just broken 30,000. Never been broken, that number. That's a sacred number, 30,000. Nobody thought they'd ever see it. That's the ninth time since the beginning of 2020 and it's the 48th time that we've broken records during the Trump administration and I just want to congratulate all the people within the administration that worked so hard. And most importantly I want to congratulate the people of our country, because there are no people like you. Thank you very much everybody,' he said. He left the room without taking questions from the media. He also tweeted a series of bizarre videos from Quaid, who issued a call of arms to conservatives. 'Our day of reckoning is nigh. Wake up!' the actor said in one of them. But the president's case for victory was dealt a severe blow on Tuesday when Pennsylvania certified its 20 electoral votes for Biden. The president's legal team was fighting the certification in court but Governor Tom Wolfe, a Democrat, tweeted that he 'signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' as required by law. President Donald Trump demanded the election be rerun in an early morning tweet storm that featured voter fraud allegations from actor Randy Quaid in a starring roleTrump retweeted Randy Quaid saying Fox News 'forgot what made them successful'Trump echoed Quaid's call for another electionTrump had touted a 'big lawsuit' that would reveal a great deal of voter fraud, although he offered no specifics or evidence of his claim. 'Our big lawsuit, which spells out in great detail all of the ballot fraud and more, will soon be filled. RIGGED ELECTION!,' Trump wrote in a tweet flagged by Twitter as disputed. It's unclear what legal case the president is referring to but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals had granted his campaign's request for an expedited review of a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit over voting in Pennsylvania. A judge in the state threw out the Trump campaign's attempt to seek a legal injunction to stop the certification of Joe Biden's win there and the president's legal team is appealing. But Wolf's certification dealt a huge blow to the Trump team. 'Trump did not succeed in Pennsylvania and he will not succeed anywhere else. Trump's lawsuits will continue to fail, as they have in over 30 cases since election day, states will continue to certify their results, and Joe Biden will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2021,' said Biden adviser Bob Bauer in a statement. As part of his arguments he was the winner in November, Trump also retweeted five tweets from actor Randy Quaid, the disgraced actor who once sought asylum in Canada as he fled legal challenges in California. Quaid sent out his own series of tweets alleging election fraud - also flagged by Twitter for having disputed information - and full of praise for President Trump. The actor also posted a two-minute video rant about the election. 'Is this the way America goes: from George Washington to George Soros?,' he said, touting a conspiracy theory that Soros, a wealthy Jewish financier, pulls the strings in American bureacracy. 'Ring out you bells of freedom, sound out across the land,' Quaid said in his call to arms. 'Our day of reckoning is nigh. Wake up!' And he wrote on Twitter: 'Never underestimate The greatest President this country has ever had. Trump is an astonishing man of the people, fighting for all of us.' Trump replied: 'Thank you Randy, working hard to clean up the stench of the 2020 Election Hoax!' Trump also retweeted Quaid's call for an 'in-person-only-paper ballot re-vote.' Quaid wrote: 'We've lost confidence in the system that elects our leaders. 79 million Americans believe election was rigged, the results fraudulent. We need an in-person-only-paper ballot re-vote, especially in the States where flagrant irregularities have occurred. No accuracy, no democracy!' 'Are you listening Republicans?' the president demanded with his retweet. It's highly unlikely Republicans would agree to another election - a move that would be unprecedented in American history. A hand recount in Georgia certified Biden's win there and several states have begun the certification process that will formally give Biden the 306 electoral votes he won. The president also displayed his continuing anger with Fox News, which was the first news organization to call Arizona for Biden - a decision that enraged Trump. The president retweeted Quaid's praise for two small conservative television networks: 'TIME TO MAKE OAN & NEWSMAX RICH. FOX IS DEAD TO ME!' Quaid's tweet also included a video message. 'They forgot what made them successful,' Quaid said of Fox in an eerie video filmed as a closeup of his face with light flickering across his features. 'They forgot the golden goose.' Trump's doubling down comes after GSA Chief Emily Murphy sent Biden a letter on Monday night, writing that the transition process could formally begin. Murphy released a letter to Biden announcing the move, but dedicated a considerable portion to defending her own reputation and claiming she had been threatened and harassed. Her letter, notably, does not go so far as 'ascertain' that Joe Biden is the winner of the election, despite networks calling the race 16 days ago, numerous states certifying their tallies, and Biden winning 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. She also called him 'Mr.' instead of president-elect or vice president. It came just over an hour after Michigan certified that Biden had won the state, putting another nail in the coffin of Trump's bid to overturn the election result. The move ends much of the controversy over Trump's refusal to concede and means that a concession would be purely symbolic. It allows Biden to get the same intelligence briefing as Trump, order FBI background checks on his picks for office and talk to senior officials in key roles - most notably, Dr. Tony Fauci. The Biden-Harris transition team last night welcomed Murphy's letter, saying it was a 'needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation'. 'In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response' as well as national security issues, said Biden aide Yohannes Abraham. But Trump tweeted later on Monday saying he had ordered Murphy to start the transition 'for the sake of the country' and claimed he was sure he would win 'the good fight.' President Trump stopped in the White House briefing room on Tuesday to make a short statement on the stock marketJoe Biden has started building his government, including announcing senior staff position and major Cabinet roles'Threatened.' Trump appointee Emily Murphy used her letter to Joe Biden to complain that she had been 'harassed' while refusing to start the transition and claim she acted on her own initiative in refusing to declare him the apparent winnerHOW BIDEN'S STAFF CAN FINALLY GET WORKING The decision of GSA Administrator Emily Murphy to allow the transition to move forward allows Biden and his team to get access to money, space and personnel. Biden will now have at his disposal $6.3 million in administrative costs, and another $1 million has been appropriated for appointee orientation sessions and a transition directory. But the cash is not the point: the access is. Biden will now have access to the President's Daily Brief, meaning he will be receiving the same national security briefings as Trump. Additionally, the Biden-Harris team will be able to receive briefing books from other career civil servants. The Biden-Harris transition has already announced landing teams at major agencies. Those teams can now interact with their government counterparts at the agencies. Crucially in this crisis, Biden will be able to communicate with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the coronavirus taskforce. Biden and his team will also have access to government office space. So far, he's been running the transition out of the Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, which has also been partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. During the transition, more than 4,000 political appointments need to be made, including 1,200 that will need Senate confirmation. With transition resources green-lit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will now be able to process background checks on the individuals Biden has picked. AdvertisementMurphy wrote to Biden defending herself and said: 'I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,' she told him, after noting her ability to make resources available. 'I have dedicated much of my adult life to public service, and have always strived to do what is right,' she wrote, on a letter dated 16 days after TV networks called the race for Biden. Murphy, a Trump appointee, claimed she did not receive any pressure to hold up the ascertainment - a word she never used. 'I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official including those who work at the White House or GSA with regard to the substance or timing of my decision,' she added. 'To be clear, I did not receive any direction to delay my determination. I did, however, receive threats online, by phone, and by mail directed at my safety, my family, my staff, and even my pets in an effort to coerce me into making this determination prematurely. Even in the face of thousands of threats, I always remained committed to upholding the law, she wrote. She said her decision was not made out of 'fear or favoritism.' Murphy had resisted sending the letter of ascertainment as Trump refused to concede the presidential election. But Trump has seen his case for victory fade day by day. He has yet to win a major court case. And, despite making numerous allegations of voter fraud including funding from Communists to turn votes in Biden's favor and alleging voting machines from Dominion Systems changed Trump votes to Biden ones the president's team has not shown any evidence. Numerous state election officials said there was no evidence of voter fraud. ABC News reported that the Secret Service was already asking agents if they wanted to transfer to Florida to guard the Trumps full-time there from January. As Trump remains huddled in the White House he is rarely seen in public and his public schedule for Monday had no events on it Biden has gone on with building his government. On Monday he announced a slate of national security officials and more Cabinet announcements are expected. In another small but notable sign of the looming handover, the Biden transition website changed from a .com to a more secure .gov domain on Monday. COUSIN EDDIE IS NOW A CONSPIRACY THEORIST (WITH OSCAR NOM, ARREST AND ASYLUM CLAIM ALONG THE WAY) By Martin Gould for DailyMail.com Randy Quaid has had an extraordinary journey from Oscar-nominated actor to sex-tape star to conspiracy-spouting Trump supporter. Dennis Quaid's older brother was nominated for an Academy Award in 1973 for playing a dishonorably discharged sailor alongside Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, the highlight of an acting career that included such disparate films as Midnight Express, Independence Day, being Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Vacation movies and Brokeback Mountain. But in recent years 70-year-old Quaid's eccentricity has increasingly taken center stage. It started with him being banned for life from the actors' union Equity and fined more than $80,000 for hitting an actor on the head during a stage play in Seattle in 1988. He also allegedly made 'sexually inappropriate' comments' to an actress, calling her musical instruments 'gynecological instruments.' He sued the producers of Brokeback for $10 million, claiming they had fooled him into taking the role at below market rate, saying it was a small art house film with no chance of becoming a box office hit. Instead it won the Best Movie Oscar for 2005. He dropped the case before any court hearings. He and his second wife Evi were arrested in 2009 for using an invalid credit card to pay a $10,000 hotel bill at a ranch in Montecito, California, and a hotel in nearby Santa Barbara He was arrested in tiny Marfa, Texas he was there, he said, scouting for a place to build a Randy Quaid Museum. Cousin Eddie's a conspiracy theorist: Quaid started in 1973 with an Oscar nomination, starred in the National Lampoon vacation movies, and since then has become one of Hollywood's most controversial eccentrics Could have been a contender: Quaid starred in Midnight Express in 1978 but has become increasingly eccentric in the last decade Though they paid most of the bill they repeatedly failed to turn up in court and warrants were issued for their arrests. Randy was eventually acquitted, but Evi was sentenced to 240 hours of community service and three years' probation. He had married Evi in 1988 when they were both working on Madonna's movie Bloodhounds of Broadway. He told her he loved her on their first date and married her two weeks later. The couple were charged again in 2011, this time for squatting in the guest cottage of a Santa Barbara home they had sold three years earlier. The owner said they had caused $5,000 in damage. But the Quaids claimed the home was still theirs and the sale was not valid, and again refused to appear in court, leading to them losing $100,000 bail money. Randy and Evi then moved to Canada and sought asylum, claiming they could be killed in California. 'We feel our lives are in danger,' Evi told an immigration and refugee hearing in Vancouver. 'Randy has known eight close friends murdered in odd, strange manners,' she added. 'We feel that we're next.' Among the 'murdered' friends were Kung Fu star David Carradine, who hanged himself, and Brokeback co-star Heath Ledger, who died from a drug overdose. He made a documentary about Hollywood's so-called 'star-whackers.' It featured him reciting Shakespeare while wearing a full-length fur coat with his penis hanging out. The couple started living in their car and stopped using cell phones so the supposed assassins couldn't track them. Bizarre incident: Randy Quaid and his wife Evi were freed in Vermont in 2015 after a long legal dispute which included seeking asylum in Canada Evi was eventually given Canadian citizenship as her father was born north of the border. Randy applied as the spouse of a Canadian but his application was turned down. The couple were then arrested due to their outstanding warrants as they tried to cross back into the United States, shortly before Randy was due to be deported from Canada. He was again arrested in Montreal in 2013 for not checking in as a resident and two years later was deported. He and Evi then moved to Vermont but California authorities applied for them to be extradited. A judge in Vermont found irregularities in the extradition request and threw it out. Quaid told reporters that was because the arrest warrant had been issued before the crime was committed. In 2015 Quaid uploaded a hard-core tape of he and Evi having sex below a portrait of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He had previously released another where Evi wore a paper Murdoch mask. He first showed himself as a Trump supporter when he posted a video of himself sipping champagne as he watched the president speak at this year's Republican National Convention. Now he has joined Trump in claiming the election was stolen. AdvertisementBIDEN TRANSITION WEBSITE GETS A .GOV DOMAIN The Biden-Harris transition website changed its URL from a .com to a .gov domain on Monday in another sign that the handover is officially underway. Biden shared the new link - BuildBackBetter.gov - on Twitter on Monday after the switch was made. The GSA, the agency which finally allowed the Biden transition to formally begin on Monday, manages the .gov domain and makes it available to government agencies. 'Using a .gov domain shows you're an official government organization,' it says. Biden shared the new URL on Twitter Security measures that come with .gov domains include a ban on using passwords that have ever been leaked in data breaches, which are collated by the website Have I Been Pwned? The GSA also beefed up security in 2017 to stop 'hostile networks' from deploying malware or tracking beacons when people visit official websites. The president's official @POTUS Twitter account will be handed over to the Biden administration on inauguration day in January, the company said on Saturday. Trump will still have his own account, but Twitter says he will be subject to the same rules as anyone else - meaning tweets that break the rules could be deleted rather than red-flagged with a warning as they currently are. AdvertisementTrump praised Murphy's action in a tweet on Monday night and claimed she was the victim. 'I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues,' he tweeted shortly after she sent the letter. 'We will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same,' he added. Trump's near-concession didn't stop one of his current campaign lawyers, Jenna Ellis, from claiming on MSNBC that 'the election was stolen' and that 'President Trump won by a landslide.' That came despite another day of legal setbacks which included Michigan's supreme court denying an attempt to block certification; and the Trump campaign filing a brief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals after a blistering lower court ruling that blasted 'Frankenstein' reasoning. The brief claimed the Trump campaign was not seeking to disenfranchise 6.8 million Pennsylvania voters, just 1.5 million. 'The campaign is not seeking to disenfranchise 6.8 million Pennsylvanian voters. Instead, it only seeks to set aside the defective ballots among the 1.5 million cast in the defendant counties. 'The campaign seeks to examine a sample of the mail ballots to determine the defective percentage of ballots among the 1.5 million, which should then be deducted from Biden's vote total,' they wrote in their filing under expedited appeal. Murphy had faced heavy pressure from Biden and congressional Democrats because without her blessing the president-elect could not communicate with federal agencies or access federal funds allocated for the transition process. House Democrats were threatening to haul Murphy to Capitol Hill to explain the delay. They sent her a letter late last week demanding an in-person briefing from her on Monday. She tried to delay that until next week. But they sent her another letter on Monday evening demanding one on Tuesday. | 1 |
###CLAIM: marty and durbin, both of whom are chamber of commerce members, also oppose the move, calling it politically motivated.
###DOCS: The pandemic, immigration, climate change and the economy were the focus of the orders, memorandums and proclamations signed in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon, rapidly reversing many of his predecessors policies. Among other things, Mr. Biden named an official Covid-19 response coordinator, shielded Dreamers from deportation, revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and rejoined the Paris climate accord. Marty Durbin of the Chamber of Commerce also opposed the move, calling it a politically motivated decision that is not grounded in science.Wall Street seemed pleased. Driven by expectations of a hefty economic stimulus, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all ended in record territory. What happens next: Mr. Biden will take more unilateral action today, using his executive authority to ramp up the manufacturing of coronavirus test kits, vaccines and supplies. His team said it had identified 12 immediate supply shortfalls critical to the pandemic response, including N95 surgical masks and isolation gowns. Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, said Mr. Biden absolutely remains committed to invoking the Defense Production Act to bolster these supplies. When the focus shifts from executive orders to legislation, namely a huge stimulus bill, it is going to take more than Mr. Bidens trademark backslapping and good nature to break through the persistent gridlock in Congress, The Timess Carl Hulse writes. How youd fix AmericaLast month we published a special report, How to Fix America, in which we asked experts what they would do to address the most pressing problems in the U.S. It clearly struck a chord, because our inbox has been flooded with your ideas ever since. At the start of a new administration, here are some readers suggestions, edited for clarity and length:Mandatory financial literacy classes in every elementary and junior high school. Seth Polevoy in Cresskill, N.J.Flip the tax incentives on health insurance premiums so that the tax benefit goes to individuals, rather than employees, for purchasing individual health insurance. Julia Thomson in PhoenixRequire one full year of community service before the age of 25. Lets give young people the opportunity to build community while serving others. Andrew David in Sherman Oaks, Calif.Redefine the federal poverty guidelines so that benefits remain high and people have more usable income, not less, when they get a raise or increase their hours. Jan Hise in Indianapolis | 0 |
###CLAIM: ron, avi and astor hold joint appointments at the ucla graduate school of public affairs and the school of education and information and studies.
###DOCS: Editors Note: Ron Avi Astor holds the Marjorie Crump Chair Professorship in Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs with a joint appointment in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He is the author, most recently of Bullying, school violence, and climate in evolving contexts: Culture, organization and time. He co-authored a recent policy brief on basic needs of students in schools during the Covid-19 era. He is a member American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the National Academy of Education. Follow him on Twitter @AstorAvi. The views expressed are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN. CNN Much of the talk on school reopenings has focused on technology, how to balance parent work and childcare with online schooling, best techniques to engage students online and social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies. However, amid a pervasive pandemic, students more basic needs like housing, mental health, the connectivity gap and food are not the top priority at the national level. They should be. But here Id like to focus on the most basic need: FoodRon Astor Ron AstorThe federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) was launched and signed into law in 1947 by President Harry Truman because our country understood that it is not possible to learn, develop or thrive in school if a student is sitting in class hungry. About 30 million students a year receive free or reduced price meals each school day through this program. In 2018 close to five billion lunches were served to students nationwide. This does not include the breakfast programs. Then in 2020, the pandemic arrived in the United States. Hungry children have not vanished. In fact, judging by the growing number of unemployed workers and long lines at food banks, the number of food insecure students have increased. Congress, through the United States Department of Agriculture, recently extended waivers for its Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option for students, which allows meals to be served in all areas of the country without cost and includes flexibility of who is able to pick up the food until December 31, 2020 or until funding runs out. The program has set up nearly 80,000 pick up sites over the last six months and has delivered about 40 million meals. But it is a grossly insufficient response to the needs of students and their families when you look at how many students arent being reached because of food delivery logistics (or an inability of students, parents or caregivers to go to distribution sites) and lack of a national distribution plan. A majority of school districts surveyed in May by the School Nutrition Association reported that 50% or more of their students in the free meals program were not getting their free meals. Eighty percent of districts reported distributing a lower number of meals served than before the pandemic. Some researchers estimate that only 15% of low-income students in the program receive their meals. In a June national study, more than 62% of school social workers reported that half or more of their schools students were struggling with hunger and food insufficiency. Things could get even worse if schools cut educational staff due to dwindling state and school funding. School staff have played a key role in the distribution of food to students. With lower staff capacity, large swaths of the country may not be able to provide food for hungry students. We desperately need the current administration and Congress to make sure that every student, particularly those who are distance learning, is being fed before being put in front of computer screens for hours at a time and asked to concentrate on learning. To meet the challenges of the pandemic, we urgently need to:1. Create a national task force that will generate a national, working plan to feed all hungry students. No new laws are needed. As a nation we recognized our obligation to prevent hunger through school meal plans many decades ago. Federal funds are already allotted for these tasks. But some regions are overwhelmed with requests for food and will likely need extra funding. We should fully fund the existing program to match the growing needs and create a coherent federal plan to help states and school districts feed the large numbers of hungry students. 2. Know which eligible students are getting food and whom we are missing. We need funding for a more accurate school-by-school accounting on meals and ongoing food needs. Even though the NSLP and summer meal programs are federally run, and we are in a national food crisis for millions of families, we have no publicly available, accurate, real-time assessments on how many students have been receiving free meals since school closed. Even with the herculean efforts we saw in the spring as the pandemic hit and school districts and volunteers scrambled to get meals to students, we know that not all eligible or enrolled students in those districts are being fed. Millions more enrolled and, because potentially eligible students dont always live in districts that have initiated Covid-19 school breakfast and lunch distribution programs, those providing services often are reaching only a fraction of students who are eligible. Provide funding for logistics and increase human capacity, focused exclusively on the distribution of food to all students and their families. Feeding students cannot be left only to local ingenuity and dedication. This is a massive task. Teachers are volunteering, bus drivers are driving their routes to get food out wherever they can. These sporadic efforts are laudable but not enough. 3. Increase funding for public-private partnerships to cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including weekends for students and their families. Depending on the school, the federal free and reduced breakfast and lunch program offers only one or two meals each school day. The federal programs do not offer students other meals during the week or on the weekend. Whats more, school-based meals do not address the hunger of parents, older siblings, grandparents or other family members that are supervising and helping schoolchildren through the hybrid and online educational process at home. Federal funding could dramatically expand partnerships with community or city run food banks and other nongovernmental organizations. Food banks and food industry partners coordinating food services with the school could make the school a center of hope and support for parents and family members. Some districts are doing this work, but this should not be a haphazard patchwork approach. It should be systemic and federally led. We are talking about a federal food program after all. Using new stimulus funds to encourage organized distribution systems of food is another possibility that would help local districts manage these tasks over the long haul of Covid-19. 4. Re-deploy police funding and reassign school police and school resource officers as part of the local and national food distribution effort. As the Black Lives Matter movement has reminded us, many of our hungry students are in communities that are also hit by underfunding, over-policing and punitive tactics that have been used to create the school-to-prison pipeline. If we as a nation awakened by the pandemic and recent social unrest redistribute resources by defunding police, lets make sure these resources are reallocated where they are needed most. We should use funds that are already being divested from police departments to help organize, distribute and reach the millions of students still not being fed. New York City, for example, is redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars from the New York City Police Department to New York City Schools and social service organizations for youth and social service programs. As part of the city and school district plan, 5,500 NYPD school police officers will be retrained and transferred to the Department of Education. While it is still not clear what the retrained officers will do or what training they will receive, engaging this large workforce to distribute food to students who need it would be a good path forward. Just imagine if instead of policing school hallways, the newly trained officers become engaged in providing food to hungry students and their families. This would be a concrete way to reconnect the school and community by feeding students and parents in a spirit of care. Other school districts and cities are redirecting police funding for social services. Using these human and fiscal resources to help feed and distribute food to students is an excellent way to address both economic and racial inequities and hunger. Get our free weekly newsletter Sign up for CNN Opinions new newsletter. Join us on Twitter and FacebookWe need to send a national message to our students and their families in struggling communities that we care about their hunger. Students are hungry today. They cannot wait to eat only after a vaccine is found and distributed. If we want to show care and teach social-emotional support, particularly during this pandemic, then we must take collective national action to attend to the basic needs of hunger, compounded by racial and systemic economic social injustice. Start with the basics of relieving hunger. Provide food to all enrolled and eligible students. Hungry students and families will remember these actions many decades from now. Let us not be like Marie Antoinette and respond to students cries for food by deferring, offering excuses about logistics, costs, or apathy. That would be no different than saying, Let them eat cake. | 0 |
###CLAIM: the mayors and governors of major cities of both parties have been called on to institute a mask mandate to reach state and local officials as the coronavirus pandemic enters a potentially more deadly phase with the arrival of winter.
###DOCS: SEE NEW POSTSObama administration vet Psaki to lead Biden's Senate confirmation team WILMINGTON, Del. President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is formally unveiling a team put in place to sherpa nominees through Senate confirmation processes. The team is being led by Jen Psaki, a former top Obama White House and State Department official, who was part of the communications team at the start of the Obama administration and has experience from Obamas transition. Others on the team include his Senate aides and former 2020 campaign staffers for Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Psaki is overseeing the nominations team, with Olivia Dalton, a Democratic consultant and former Biden Senate aide who also served in senior Obama administration and campaign roles, running point on communications. Jen Psaki during an interview in Washington on Dec. 18, 2015. Drew Angerer / Bloomberg via Getty Images file Additionally, Stephanie Valencia is handling outreach and Louisa Terrell will run congressional affairs for the transition, helping to support the nominations team. Reema Dodin, the floor director for Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, will oversee legislative strategy. Jorge Neri, a former senior advisor to the campaign, will be the deputy outreach director for Confirmations. Andrew Bates, the rapid response director from the Biden campaign will also serve in a leadership role, as will Saloni Sharma, who was most recently Warren's deputy communications director, and Sean Savett, formerly press secretary to Illinois Democratic Sen. Senator Tammy Duckworth and rapid response director for Buttigieg. The confirmations team will expand over the coming days with additional positions. The Biden transition team said that they believe there will be substantial pressure on the Senate, which right now stands to be controlled by Republicans unless Democrats can sweep both Georgia Senate runoffs in early January, to act fast in the midst of the pandemic and concerns about the economy. The transition added that they also want to "introduce nominees to the American people," which would mean "throwing away the old playbook dictating that nominees say nothing in public until their hearings." In an earlier interview, a senior transition official told NBC News that the team learned from the 2008 transition that it needed to build out an infrastructure to prepare to support nominees similar to the ones built out for a presidential nominee's vice-presidential pick or a president's Supreme Court nomination. We built a more robust apparatus ready to tell the story of our nominees post-election, once we start having nominees in November, in a more robust theory of the case then I think has just been done in prior transitions, the official said. You need infrastructure. You need really clear process and infrastructure the way a White House has but a transition doesn't have the benefit of having." Share this -Link copiedHere are the two Wisconsin counties where the Trump campaign wants a recount WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's presidential campaign has requested and paid for a partial recount in the state of Wisconsin. But rather than a statewide recount, which would have cost the campaign about $7.9 million, they're zeroing in on two vote-rich, heavily Democratic counties: Dane and Milwaukee. (The partial recount still will cost them $3 million.) Biden currently leads Wisconsin by 20,565 votes, and the two counties are where the Democrat racked up his biggest leads. As in other states, Biden's huge vote margins in urban and suburban Democratic strongholds offset Trump's strong performances in more rural counties. Together, the two counties alone account for about a quarter of the statewide vote cast. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 2, 2020. Carlos Barria / Reuters Biden won Milwaukee County, 69 percent to 29 percent. (That's 317,270 votes for Biden to Trumps 134,357.) Biden won Dane 75 percent to 23 percent. (That's 260,185 votes for Biden to Trumps 78,800.) According to Census data, Milwaukee County is about 51 percent white alone, 27 percent Black, 16 percent Latino and 5 percent Asian. For Dane County home to Madison and the University of Wisconsin its 79 percent white alone, 6 percent Black, 7 percent Latino and 6 percent Asian. Dane also has a population of about 51 percent of residents who have bachelor's degrees or more, a rate far higher than the national average. Share this -Link copiedLoeffler, Warnock will debate ahead of Georgia runoff, Perdue and Ossoff will not ATLANTA After a debate over having runoff debates, there will be at least one ahead of Georgias Senate runoff elections. The Atlanta Press Club told NBC News Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., has agreed to debate Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock on Dec. 6. Georgians need to know who he is and I welcome that chance to debate him as many times as he wants, Loeffler said during a Fox News interview before her participation was announced. Sen. Kelly Loeffler R-Ga., arrives for the weekly Senate Republican caucus policy luncheon on Capitol Hill on Nov. 17, 2020. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters GOP Sen. David Perdue declined APCs invitation to debate Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff. Ossoff will still appear during the debate time slot but will be besides an an empty podium representing Perdue. Perdue's campaign manager Ben Fry said in a statement, "We've already had two debates in this election," and added, Were going to take our message about whats at stake if Democrats have total control of Congress directly to the people." That is not our preference, the APC wrote in a release, adding the organization will hopes Perdue changes his mind and will leave the door open for him to participate. The Atlanta Press Club works hard to provide a platform for all candidates running for public office. We believe it is an essential part of the democratic process for voters to have an opportunity to hear an exchange of ideas from the candidates so they can be better informed when they cast their ballots. Ossoff attacked his opponent for refusing to debate ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election. If Senator Perdue doesn't want to answer questions in public, or debate his opponent that's fine, he just shouldn't run for re-election to the United States Senate, Ossoff told reporters on Tuesday. Ossoff and Perdue debated prior to the Nov. 3 election, but Perdue backed out of the third general election debate against Ossoff in October. Share this -Link copiedSmall businesses are suffering from the pandemic amid stalemate on Capitol Hill WASHINGTON Amid an ongoing explosion of Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths, its important to remember that some of the damage of the coronavirus is entirely self-inflicted. For six months, the White House and leaders of both parties in Congress have failed to reach an agreement on more emergency relief, with each side holding out at various points for a better deal. The political calendar has made things harder Democrats assumed their leverage would increase post-election with a Biden win, Republicans now have a stronger hand with down-ballot victories as well as Trumps chaotic approach. Theres a severe human cost to the failure to pass even a nominal emergency package, however, and its becoming increasingly apparent in American neighborhoods where beloved small businesses are going bankrupt waiting for relief from Washington. A man walks past a closed business on May 2, 2020, in New York. Noam Galai / Getty Images file NBC News viewers submitted over a hundred names of their favorite local establishments that had gone under recently, including beloved barbershop in New York City to a quirky boutique in Lincoln, Nebraska, and their owners were acutely aware that of the congressional inaction. I just sort of saw the writing on the wall, that we weren't going to get any money in the near future, said Jason Rudofky, who closed his family's Jewish deli in Denver, Zaidys, after 35 years. They cared more about the election and they don't realize whats happening in America. These dilemmas are also exacerbated by the ongoing lack of aid for jobless Americans, whose emergency unemployment benefits expired months ago, for school districts waiting for long-promised funding to help them function in extreme circumstances, and for health care workers trying to fight the pandemic and prepare for vaccination programs. And because state and local governments cant deficit-spend the way the federal government does, only Washington can fill in the gaps. If we're going to control this virus out in our communities right now, we're going to have to support those who are going to be suffering economically, Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, said on Meet The Press. You know, you have a choice: do you want to have schools open, or do you want to keep bars and restaurants open?" Share this -Link copiedBiden transition boasts majority-female staff, 40 percent people of color WILMINGTON, Del. Women make up the majority of staffers on President-elect Joe Bidens transition team, and people of color are more than 40 percent of the total transition workforce, according to new diversity data obtained by NBC News from the transition. Biden has promised that his administration will look like America, as well as the broad coalition of voters who boosted him into the White House. The diversity data released Sunday shows similar levels of gender parity and racial diversity on his transition staff as he had on his presidential campaign staff. And it comes as speculation ramps up about Bidens Cabinet picks and staffing decisions throughout the administration. More than half 52 percent of Bidens transition staff are women, with 53 percent of senior staff identifying as female. And the transition's advisory board is also majority female. President-elect Joe Biden listens as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris addresses the media about the Trump administration's lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 10, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. Joe Raedle / Getty Images Five of the thirteen members of Biden's recently-announced COVID task force of public health experts and doctors are women. People of color make up 41 percent of transition senior staff, and 46 percent of transition staff overall. Theyre also 43 percent of the transition advisory board and nearly 70 percent of the 13 person COVID task force. The data comes as Biden has promised his administration will reflect the nation's diversity from the vice president straight down through Cabinet members to major players within the White House, and the court, as Biden has said. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris made history upon winning the election, becoming Americas first woman, first Black, and first South Asian person elected to that office. Share this -Link copiedIowa Democratic House candidate calls for recount as she trails by razor-thin margin WASHINGTON Iowa Democrat Rita Hart announced Thursday her campaign would seek a "complete recount" of Iowa's 2nd Congressional District race as results show her narrowly trailing Republican state Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The Iowa Secretary of State's unofficial results show Miller-Meeks ahead by just 47 votes (NBC's Decision Desk has the race at virtually the same margin). The Hart campaign pointed to two reporting errors (which local counties and the Secretary of State caught and are fixing) as part of its reasoning to request the broader recount. It is critical that Iowans' voices are heard and their votes accurately counted. With our race still too close to call, here's an update on our next steps in #IA02 pic.twitter.com/Pw6GDQ3rkb Rita Hart (@RitaHartIA) November 12, 2020 On Monday, Miller-Meeks issued her own statement after counties certified their count, a count that left her narrowly ahead (the state doesn't officially certify until the end of the month). Thank you to the voters of #ia02! I express to the voters my heartfelt gratitude and acknowledge Rita Harts grace and positive demeanor during this campaign. The election is over, and it is time to move forward together and focus on the priorities that will best serve Iowans! pic.twitter.com/V9FpvGoUMz Dr. Miller-Meeks (@millermeeks) November 11, 2020 If the result holds through the recount, Iowa's 2nd District would be yet another Republican flip in a seat previously held by the Democrats (Rep. Dave Loebsack chose not to run for re-election in 2020). Democrats outspent Republicans on the TV and radio airwaves there, $10.3 million to $8.2 million, according to ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. Rita Hart speaks with a reporter at her farm in Wheatland, Iowa, in 2019. Caroline Brehman / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images file Share this -Link copiedBig money rolling into Georgia ahead of marquee Senate battle WASHINGTON Georgia Senate hopefuls have already begun booking millions of dollars on the television airwaves ahead of the likely two runoffs there in early January that could decide the balance of power of the Senate. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock are slated for a runoff after neither cleared the 50 percent threshold needed on Election Day to win the race outright. And in the state's other race, GOP Sen. David Perdue sits at just 49.7 percent to Democrat Jon Ossoff's 48 percent. While NBC News' Decision Desk hasn't yet called the race, the Associated Press and other media outlets have projected it will head to a runoff. As of Wednesday, Warnock has $2.6 million booked on the airwaves for the runoff, according to data from the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. Loeffler just started booking TV time on Wednesday about $200,000 with more expected. In the other race, Perdue has already booked a whopping $10.6 million to Ossoff's $1.6 million. Raphael Warnock: 'If money could purchase this seat, Kelly Loeffler would have it by now' Nov. 11, 2020 06:08 TV spending is not the be-all, end-all Democrats (or in the case of Alaska, the independent candidate backed by Democrats and his allies) outspent Republicans in Senate races this cycle in Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, winning just two of those races. In Georgia, Republicans significantly outspent Democrats in the race for Loeffler's seat (that race included two high-profile GOP candidates), while Democrats narrowly outspent Republicans in the Perdue race. But with more money set to flood the race with the battle of the Senate up for grabs (and Loeffler potentially able to help fund her campaign with millions of her own, like she did in the primary), the runoff (or runoffs, if Perdue falls short of 50 percent) are already shaping up to be quite expensive. Share this -Link copiedNewsom in no rush to choose Kamala Harris' Senate successor NEW YORK With Kamala Harriss ascension to the vice presidency on Jan. 20, a coveted California Senate seat is about to open up. And that means all eyes are on the states Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who will choose Harris successor. But dont expect an answer anytime soon. The timeline to choose a replacement for Harris is truly fuzzy, according to one California Democrat with knowledge of Newsoms thinking. The fact that there is no rush to name a candidate ahead of Jan. 20, along with Newsoms inclination to be a careful process person as this person calls him, means that a decision could take some time. Newsom also wouldn't entertain much serious talk about naming a replacement for Harris prior to the election, this person added. Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses the 2020 election, in Oakland, Calif. on Nov. 3, 2020. Noah Berger / AP And he bristled a bit Monday when asked by reporters about a timeline, saying the surging coronavirus pandemic in the state was his major concern. My weekend was not focused on that. It was focused on seeing these new case rates go up, Newsom said. But even as he takes his time weighing his options, Newsom is facing considerable pressure from competing interest groups about who to select. Many Latino activists are pressing Newsom to choose the states first Latino senator. Names under consideration are California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, whose office has tangled frequently with the Trump administration, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, former California Senate president Kevin De Leon, who challenged Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018, Long Beach, Calif. Mayor Robert Garcia. Garcia would be the first openly gay senator from California, and hes become a visible activist around efforts to contain Covid-19 after losing his mother and stepfather to the virus earlier this year. Newsom may also want to replace Harris with another woman, particularly a woman of color. Some of those under consideration include Rep. Karen Bass, whom Biden considered for vice president, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Rep. Barbara Lee and State Controller Betty Yee. Rep. Katie Porter, a progressive favorite and proven fundraiser, may be considered as well. The California Democrat with knowledge of the process said Newsom has not yet spoken to Harris about who shed like to see succeed her. Newsom is also weighing whether to name a placeholder to fill the seat, leaving others to mount a full-blown campaign in 2022 when Harris would have faced re-election. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown would likely be under consideration in that case. Share this -Link copiedRick Scott to lead GOP Senate campaign arm, as parties elect their leaders WASHINGTON While the battle for Senate control remains underway, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were re-elected unanimously by acclimation to their posts by their respective caucuses on Tuesday. Republicans kept their party heads the same, re-electing McConnell, Republican Whip South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Conference Chair Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, Policy Committee Chair Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt and Conference Vice Chair Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst. Florida Sen. Rick Scott replaced Indiana Sen. Todd Young as the next National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair the campaign arm for Senate Republicans. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., speaks on Capitol Hill after the Republican Conference held leadership elections on Nov. 10, 2020. Erin Scott / Reuters Its a hard job I'm going to take it very seriously. I know the job is to make sure we have a Republican majority in the Senate. First, we've got to go win in Georgia and we're going to win in Georgia, Scott told reporters on Tuesday. On the Democratic side, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto were added to Democratic leadership positions on the larger team that includes Schumer, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. While Democrats only picked up two Senate seats in the 2020 election cycle so far, senators said the caucus still has faith in Schumer's leadership. I know [Schumer] has that personality that can sit down and work with anybody, Manchin told NBC News. But as people have pushed him one way or the other, that sometimes gets you off track. Share this -Link copiedRepublicans overperforming in House races with more still to be called WASHINGTON It's clear the blue wave many Democrats had been hoping for never materialized, and with more than a dozen House races still left uncalled by the NBC News Decision Desk, that has implications for Democratic control of the House. Heading into the election, Democrats held 235 seats in Congress, compared to 199 for the GOP. And while the party was fresh off a strong 2018 midterm election where it made gains deep into Republican-leaning districts and netted 39 seats, most analysts expected the Democrats to expand their majority. But with NBC's Decision Desk having called all but 17 House races, Republicans so far have net five seats. And all of the GOP candidates who flipped seats so far are either women or people of color. Of the 19 NBC-called races characterized before the election by the Cook Political Report as toss-ups, Republicans is projected to win all of them and flipped four seats in the process (IA-01, MN-07, NM-02 and OK-05). The GOP also swept all 14 of Cook's "lean Republican" seats and is projected to win three seats rated as "lean Democratic" (FL-26, SC-01, and TX-23). Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez speaks during a protest at PortMiami by workers in the cruise ship industry wanting to return to work on Oct. 21, 2020, in Miami. Lynne Sladky / AP file Republicans appear to have picked off one "likely Democratic" seat held by Florida Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala. The GOP was also able to hold all "likely Republican" seats. Democrats, by comparison, haven't won any "toss-up" districts so far. They are projected to flip two GOP seats in North Carolina rated "likely Democratic," and hold the majority of the seats in which they were favored. Since several races haven't been called, the landscape is likely to change. A historic amount of mail-in ballots is drawing out the vote tabulation process across the country in several states, Democrats have outperformed Republicans with those mail-in ballots. And the majority of "toss-up" seats this year 17 of 26 were seats where Republicans were on defense (plus another held by retiring Rep. Justin Amash, who was a Republican before leaving the party this year). But even though Democrats may go on to win some of those toss-up districts, Republicans are poised to gain seats in a year they were expected to lose seats. And that reality could have an impact on the Democratic majority's governing power, as well as the midterm math in 2022. Share this -Link copiedBiden to reach out to state and local officials on mask mandates President-elect Joe Biden in the coming days will begin calling governors and the mayors of major cities from both parties to encourage them to institute mask mandates as the coronavirus pandemic enters a potentially deadlier phase with winter arriving, according to a senior Biden adviser who briefed NBC News. "If a governor declines, he'll go to the mayors in the state and ask them to lead," the official said. "In many states, there is the capacity of mayors to institute mandates." Roughly 20 states already have mask mandates, and research suggests that universal use of masks could save more than 100,000 lives. The conversations follow on Biden's plans to announce the names of scientists and other experts on his coronavirus task force Monday. Biden will announce transition team, Covid-19 task force Monday Nov. 8, 2020 02:17 The Biden team is also looking at a possible mask mandate for federal buildings, a step the Trump administration has not taken even after the president and a number of his top officials and aides, most recently chief of staff Mark Meadows, have become infected. The next step, according to the adviser, is to assemble a national testing plan. Biden is directing his team to devise a series of options for both legislation and executive orders to institute a testing plan, given the uncertainty around whether Democrats will be able to get legislation passed. In late October, Biden laid out a plan to tackle the coronavirus that included testing, contact tracing and vaccines as areas that would be prioritized, while the Biden transition aims to quickly announce picks to run the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One issue is whether Biden will also invoke the Defense Production Act to quickly distribute vaccines. President Donald Trump notably rebuffed calls by the American Medical Association, among other health groups, to invoke the 1950s-era act, which would have directed U.S. manufacturers to quickly distribute medical supplies to hospitals during the virus's first major surge in the spring. With the holidays approaching and significant concern among public health officials that indoor gatherings among family members could lead to Covid-19 spread, Biden will use his platform to "fill the void" left by the administration in stressing the need for social distancing and mask-wearing, said the official. "Daily cases are skyrocketing," Biden said during remarks Friday evening in Wilmington, Del., just before the election was called. "I want everyone everyone to know on Day 1, we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action." A Biden spokesperson said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the coronavirus task force will be led by Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general, and Dr. David Kessler, who led the FDA during the 1990s. Share this -Link copiedClyburn jokes Biden 'owes me' for interrupting golf outing At the moment Joe Biden was projected as the president-elect, the man whose critical endorsement put him in position for victory was on the 14th tee box on a golf course in South Carolina. But aides implored him to interrupt his round once the result came in. It was one of the best rounds moneywise Ive had all year! Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., joked in an interview with NBC News, saying he was ahead $30 in his round with some friends. So when I see Joe, Im going to let him know he owes me some money. The South Carolina congressman said he hasnt spoken yet with Biden, but expects he will soon. They last spoke on election night, when Biden was in a cautious mood unsure yet if he would be able to overcome the early leads President Trump posted in key states like Pennsylvania. There was some apprehension there, he said. But Clyburn said he was elated now at Bidens victory and eager to get to work with him. He gave my kind of speech last night, so I dont need to tell him anything, he said. What he said was pitch perfect. Clyburn said he would listen to any entreaties to join the administration but that it wasn't his preference. I would never say never. But I will say this: I do not aspire to be in the administration. Share this -Link copiedWhite House coronavirus task force has not formally met since Oct. 20 WASHINGTON Despite an escalating pandemic, there has not been a formal White House coronavirus task force meeting since October 20, according to an administration official. Since then, the United States has repeatedly broken records for daily new infections, with more than 120,000 confirmed Thursday, eclipsing Wednesdays previous single-day high by more than 15,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Some members of the task force have continued to meet in smaller groups in the last few weeks, with Dr. Anthony Fauci participating in one in-person on Friday, per this official, but the larger team hasnt met since two weeks before Election Day. Its unclear when they will meet next. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is reflected in a video monitor behind him on stage as he listens to a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in April. Kevin Lamarque / Reuters file Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the task force, last spoke at a briefing on July 23. Dr. Fauci hasnt spoken at one since June but he did appear with the president at a Red Cross roundtable on July 30. Its notable that Birx and Fauci both continue to do local and national media interviews but they no long appear from the White House with any regularity or as they once did. By contrast, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris have received various coronavirus briefings from their public health experts in that time, including one as recently as Thursday. The Democratic ticket has had regular virtual meetings with their panel of advisers, mostly privately, but at times showcased publicly to drive the message they believe they are taking the crisis more seriously. Vice President Mike Pence, the chair of the group, hasnt had anything on his public schedule in several days. NBC News reached out to his office for comment and has yet to hear back. The last time we saw Pence in public was at the presidents side in the early morning hours of Wednesday during President Trumps East Room remarks. Pence was notably not in the briefing room for the presidents false claims of voter fraud and election results Thursday evening. Trump, for his part, has not attended a task force meeting in many months and continues to be updated by Dr. Scott Atlas, a controversial neuroradiologist who does not have a background in infectious diseases. Share this -Link copiedRepublicans confident in winning N.C. in presidential and Senate races CHARLOTTE, N.C. Republicans in this still-undecided state said Thursday they are confident that President Donald Trump and Sen. Thom Tillis will win re-election after all the outstanding ballots are counted and processed. We know that Donald Trump carried North Carolina, Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said at a news conference Thursday evening. The North Carolina State board of Elections says that as many as 157,000 potential ballots still need to be tabulated but wont be reported out until November 12. Complete count in North Carolina could be more than a week away Nov. 5, 2020 01:27 Still, the North Carolina Republican Party criticized the board for their refusal to acknowledge that Trump has won. The reason that they're not being transparent is to be sure that they keep North Carolina in the undecided column for their national press and their national narratives, Whatley said. Trump currently leads former Vice President Joe Biden by more than 76,000 votes. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is leading Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham by 98,000 votes. The vote totals wont change much until the county boards of election meet on November 12 and 13 to certify as many as 116,000 absentee ballots and as many as 41,000 provisional ballots. The Cunningham campaign is also signaling that they are not confident that there are enough outstanding votes to change the outcome. Cunningham campaign manager Devan Barber said we plan to allow the process to be carried out so every voter can have their voice heard. Cunninghams top political strategist Morgan Jackson was more direct. In an interview on the Tying it Together with Tim Boyum podcast, Jackson said that President trump certainly has a lead now there are still ballots out to be counted and well see what that looks like at the end of the day but it looks like he may have won North Carolina. Same with Senate race. Looks like Thom Tillis was re-elected at this point. Tillis political strategist, Paul Shumaker, said he, too, is confident that Tillis and Trump will win. He said he told Tillis that he expects Tillis lead over Cunningham to increase by as many as 2500 votes after all the votes are counted. He credits Tillis and Trumps likely win to a lack of Democratic in-person get out the vote effort, noting that black turnout decreased by nearly three points compared to 2016. The Democrats strategy for ground game was the same as their campaign strategy: to stay at home and talk on the phone. It didnt turn their base out, Shumaker said. He said the Republican National Committee found low-propensity voters who didnt vote in 2016 and 2018. Of those, Shumaker said, thirty percent of those people voted early. That was the benefit of the ground game and personal touches, he said. Share this -Link copiedTrump's Florida victory powered in part by Miami overperformance WASHINGTON A huge story early last night was former Vice President Joe Bidens swing-and-a-miss in Miami-Dade County, Florida which he appears to have won by only about 7 points compared with Hillary Clintons 30-point romp four years ago. That collapse was enough to negate Bidens improvement over Clinton in other swing counties like Pinellas and Seminole. But theres another wrinkle: While Biden lost big, it wasnt because he missed Democrats mark in the state dramatically when it comes to votes. At this hour, Biden has received about 617,000 votes in the county. Thats not too far below Clintons 624,000. The difference? President Donald Trump piled nearly 200,000 additional votes onto his 2016 tally. In 2016, Trump got about 334,000 votes in the county. Thats compared with 532,000 to date this cycle. Share this -Link copiedDespite record-breaking fundraising, South Carolina Democrat Harrison falls short WASHINGTON South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison shattered fundraising records in his Senate bid against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, but the Democrat couldn't get over the hump despite that historic fundraising. Harrison raised more during the third fundraising quarter $57 million than any Senate candidate in history. Overall, he raised $109 million as of Oct. 14 and spent $105 million. By comparison, Graham raised $74 million over that time period and spent $63 million. And the Democrat really flexed his muscles on the advertising airwaves, spending almost $64 million on TV and radio compared to Graham's $32.5 million, according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. But Graham pushed hard to close that ad-spending gap in the race's final days, actually outspending Harrison on those airwaves Monday. In S.C., Jaime Harrison raised more $ than any other candidate, and he built up a significant TV advantage over Graham. But in the last week, Graham has worked to close that gap and outspent Harrison yesterday. pic.twitter.com/4lSdgO779f Melissa Holzberg (@mel_holzberg) November 3, 2020 Share this -Link copiedMcConnell cruises despite facing well-funded opponent WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will return to the Senate in 2021 whether or not his party keeps control of the Senate, as NBC News projects he will defeat Democrat Amy McGrath. McGrath gained significant national attention, a former fighter pilot who proved to be a strong fundraiser during her ill-fated 2018 House bid and an even stronger one in 2020. Through Oct. 14, she raised more than every other Senate candidate this year except for South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison. Senator Mitch McConnell gives victory speech Nov. 4, 2020 09:10 She put that money to use, spending more than $75 million in total through Oct. 14, more than all but two other Senate candidates this cycle. And when you look at TV and radio spending, where theres up-to-date data, McGrath spent $22.8 million (as a part of that $75 million-plus total). But despite all that money raised and spent, McConnells victory was a quick call on Tuesday night. McConnell spent $45.5 million, with about $17 million of that coming on TV and radio. Share this -Link copiedLate-emerging super PACs play big role on airwaves for Trump, Biden WASHINGTON With November's presidential election shattering TV and radio ad spending records, it's worth pointing out how big of a role outside groups played, particularly in the final months of the election. On top of the $485 million former Vice President Joe Biden spent on TV and radio ads in the general election, there's been another $364 million spent through Monday by allied outside groups (as well as the Democratic National Committee). For Trump, his $235 million was bolstered by another almost $270 million from outside groups and the Republican National Committee. But a staggering amount of that outside spending, 80 percent, has come since Sept. 1. And the two largest outside spenders since then, one on each side, are groups that just recently sprung to life. Supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate across the street from a venue where Sen. Kamala Harris will hold a campaign event on Nov. 2, 2020 in Bethlehem, Pa. Mark Makela / Getty Images On the left, Future Forward has spent $109.5 million on television and radio ads since Sept. 1 (virtually all since the start of October). Here's how the group's ad spending broke down over that span: Pennsylvania: $27.3 millionMichigan: $19.9 millionNational TV: $14.6 millionWisconsin: $9.9 millionFlorida: $9.8 millionNevada: $9.5 millionMinnesota: $6.4 millionArizona: $5.1 millionTexas: $3.6 millionGeorgia: $2.7 millionNebraska: $700,000Maine: $75,000 Future Forward has been integral to the pro-Biden effort's overall spending advantage in all of these states (except Georgia). Future Forward is backed by a handful of well-known tech millionaires, including Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and former Google executive Eric Schmidt. The pro-Trump effort has actually outspent team Biden in North Carolina, Iowa and Georgia, the only three swing states where that is the case. That group has been overwhelmingly funded by GOP megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, campaign finance filings show. Share this -Link copiedTrump narrowly won Michigan in 2016. Kent County could predict how he'll do in 2020. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. President Donald Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, making him the first Republican to carry the state since 1988. But despite the victory, Trump struggled in one of the Michigan's Republican strongholds of Kent County struggles that could be a warning sign for his 2020 re-election bid. Republican presidential candidates won Kent County in every election from 1968 until 2008, when former President Barack Obama squeaked out a victory by just 1,573 votes. But Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney recaptured the county in 2012 with a larger margin than Trump's 3-point victory. And now, Kent County is beginning to look demographically more like a Democratic-leaning county than a Republican one. Between 2000 and 2019, the white population of the county decreased from 80.3 percent to 73.3 percent, while the Hispanic and Black populations have increased by nearly 4 points (7.0 percent to 10.8 percent) and close to 2 points (8.7 percent to 10.6 percent), respectively. The county's population has also become more affluent and more educated. Between 2010 and 2018, the percentage of people 25 years old or older in the county with have bachelors degrees has risen from 29.9 percent to 35.2 percent. And the median household income has risen by nearly $11,000 based on five-year estimates from 2004-2010 and 2014-2018. To put that into perspective, the United States as a whole saw a closer to $8,000 increase in the same time frame. President Donald Trump at a rally in Waterford Township, Mich., on Oct. 30, 2020. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images Brian Ellis, president of Brooktree Capital Management and a lifelong Grand Rapids, Mich. resident says that those changes have had noticeable impacts. Ellis also challenged Rep. Justin Amash in the GOP primary in 2014. I would say growing up I would call [the county] staunch conservative. I would say weve moved to the conservative, or moderate minus", Ellis said. Part of the uncertainty surrounding how this county will vote on Election Day comes from polling being largely done by the Republican and Democratic parties. But there is a chance that one seat in the county Amash's turns blue for the first time since 1993. The Cook Political Report has the race now listed as a toss-up. Amash is not running for re-election. And that "toss-up" description speaks to the county as a whole. Cindy Timmerman, a west Michigan voter and describes herself as a "repulsed Republican." The pendulum has swung so far to the right, and the push back is so far to the left, and the truth is somewhere in between," Timmerman said. While Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has led in several polls in Michigan, it's a state that Trump will likely need to carry to reclaim the presidency. And Kent County's vote could give insight into how some moderate Republicans choose to vote. Share this -Link copiedGOP senators try to narrow TV and radio spending gap ahead of Election Day WASHINGTON In the week before Election Day, Senate Republican candidates have tried to narrow the spending gap in TV and radio ads compared to the Democratic rivals. According to data from Advertising Analytics, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner have narrowed their gap between their spending and their respective Democratic challengers. But aside from Collins surpassing her challenger one day this week, the candidates have not been able to sustain any upper hand in TV and radio buys. On Tuesday, one week before Election Day, Collins spent over $50,000 less than Democratic challenger Sara Gideon on her TV and radio buys. But in the last two days, Collins was able to outspend Gideon on Thursday by over $40,000, and then spend just $38,000 less than Gideon on Thursday. Thanks to the help of Republican party efforts, Collins' total spending effort came close to tying Gideon's on Wednesday and Thursday. And the change is notable: Collins recorded her highest single day of spending on Monday, and then beat that by her identical high $200,000 spends on Wednesday and Thursday. Senator Susan Collins after the weekly Republican Party caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 26, 2019. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters file It's an even better story for Graham. Graham has struggled to raise the same amount of money as his challenger, Jaime Harrison, throughout the entire general election. And Harrison has spent more money than Graham on TV and radio ads every day since at least Labor Day. But in the week that started with supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation vote, Graham has gotten closer. By week's end, Graham nearly matched Harrison's Thursday buy and with the help of Republican groups, Graham's total effort bested Harrisons by $300,000 on Thursday and by about $200,000 on Wednesday. Of all the challenged Republicans, Cornyn's seat is still rated as a "lean Republican" by the Cook Political Report. But as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's ratings have gone up in the Lone Star state, and Democratic outside groups have started pouring money into the state, Cornyn spent more money on his TV and radio ads. While Democrat MJ Hegar outspent Cornyn every day in the week before the election, Cornyn spent nearly $200,000 more on Thursday than he did on Tuesday proving just how competitive the state, and maybe even his seat, is getting. While Colorado's race seems to be an easier flip for Democrats Cook as the race as a lean Democrat, and it's on the NBC Political Unit's list of flippable seats the total Republican spending effort has outspent Democrats every day this week and in the total general election spend. Gardner, the Republican National Committee and outside Republican groups spent nearly $1.8 million this week on TV and radio buys while Democratic challenger former Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic National Committee and outside groups spent around $1.4 million. In total general election spending, the total Republican effort in Colorado is about $36.2 million, while the Democratic effort is $32.2 million. But on the candidate level, Hickenlooper has had the clear spending advantage over Gardner. Share this -Link copiedPresidential battleground TV and radio spending emphasis shifting toward Midwest WASHINGTON Both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaigns are upping the ad-spending ante in the Midwest in the home stretch before Election Day, with significant new activity in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio. Team Trump (his campaign and the Republican National Committee) has increased its daily TV/radio investments in each of these states over the last few weeks, but have still trailed Biden with few exceptions, according to data from the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics as of the end of Thursday. Trump and the RNC upped their TV/Radio spending in Ohio to nearly $200,000 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Prior to then, neither GOP group had spent any significant amount in Ohio since Sept. 14. Now, the daily Republican effort is on par with the Biden campaign, which has been spending about $200,000 a day every weekday in Ohio since early October. But the late move by the GOP is just a drop in the bucket of the overall spending there since the start of the month Democrats have outspent Republicans $6.3 million to $610,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 29. Campaign signs at a distribution site for Joe Biden supporters in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 17, 2020. Bing Guan / Reuters In Iowa, Biden has outspent Trump and the RNC by a factor of four since the start of October, with Trump/RNC's spending only really coming on the board in the last two weeks. In recent days, Biden's team has doubled its daily spend, going from about $200,000 a day last week to almost $400,000 on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, while Trump had been getting a big lift from outside groups, it's dwindled significantly in recent days, leaving Republicans being outspent there on the airwaves about 4-1 since Tuesday. Team Trump (Trump+the RNC) have been closing the gap in Michigan too, even as Biden and the DNC still hold a slight spending edge. Just last week, Biden and the DNC were doubling the RNC/Trump spend (about a $600,000 disparity). But as of Thursday, the Biden/DNC advantage dropped to about $100,000. There's also been some noteworthy activity outside of the Midwest, particularly in Georgia, where Biden keeps increasing his spending. His campaign started spending about $300,000 per day on TV/radio ad buys on Oct. 16, and has kept that pace on the weekdays until Thursday, when that daily spend jumped to more than $400,000. Trump and the RNC have increased its spending over the last two weeks up to about $200,000 a day over the last four weekdays. Meanwhile, traditional battleground states aren't seeing the same tight spending race. Biden continues to hold a significant daily lead in states like Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with the Trump/RNC effort not making any meaningful pushes to close those gaps in recent days. Share this -Link copiedMike Bloomberg makes final push in FL as he hits $100M pledged investment for Biden WASHINGTON With five days to go until Election Day, Michael Bloomberg is making a final push to mobilize Black voters in Florida as part of the culmination of his $100 million spending pledge to help former vice president Joe Biden in the battleground state. Bloomberg will donate an additional $600,000 to BlackPAC, helping expand the organizations canvassing efforts in Duval and Leon counties, a Bloomberg aide exclusively told NBC News. The aide added that Bloomberg's own PAC, Independence USA, is expanding its radio buy by up to $500,000 in the final days with two new mobilization ads featuring former President Barack Obamas recent remarks Miami and Orlando, targeting Black voters in those cities. Bloombergs total Florida investment helped fund voter persuasion and mobilization efforts through canvassing programs, bilingual paid media, and direct mail campaigns targeting underrepresented voters, according to media reports, press releases and interviews with NBC. "There is virtually no path to victory for Donald Trump without Florida, which is why Mike invested heavily in the state," Bloomberg senior adviser Kevin Sheekey told NBC. "In these final days, we're doing everything we can to reach as many Florida voters as possible across to get them to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris." Though the Biden campaign has also been spending millions in Florida ads, Bloombergs contributions fueled direct voter contact too, while the candidate took a cautious approach to in-person campaigning during the pandemic. Democratic presidential candidate, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg speaks during a rally held at the Bricktown Events Center on Feb. 27, 2020 in Oklahoma City. Joe Raedle / Getty Images file Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, said the face-to-face conversations with canvassing efforts funded by Bloomberg, especially in South Florida, create a sense of urgency to vote she noted more than 80,000 Black voters who did not participate in 2016 have already voted. Those face to face conversations are really critical and important, and it's also important that Black communities see people out mobilizing the vote, this is certainly a part of our cultural history, she said on a press call. And while Bloombergs last push is for Black voters, his investment has had a significant impact on the effort to mobilize Latino voters, in particular with his $14 million investment in Priorities USA and the Latino Victory Fund. Were already seeing, especially in Florida, that we're turning out more Latinos than ever, said Latino Victory Fund National Finance Director Daniela Fernandez. I think Bloombergs investment is key, without these funds we wouldn't have been able to run these culturally competent ads to engage our community in an effective way, she added of the ability to effectively use his funds as validators of their community -- specifically, in multiple dialectics of Spanish -- and collect voter data to use for years to come. By Election Day, Bloomberg expects to spend nearly $50 million on mixed media advertising in Florida through his own Independence USA PAC, in addition to his investments in partner organizations targeting Black voters, Latino/Hispanic voters (Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Venezuelan communities), Jewish voters, seniors and veterans. Per NBCs tracking, Bloomberg has spread his donations across at least 17 organizations and PACs. Both presidential candidates will be in the Sunshine State Thursday, with Bidens fifth trip since the Democratic National Convention and Trumps sixth visit since the Republican National Convention. The final NBC News/Marist poll of Florida shows Biden leading Trump 51 percent to 47 percent, within the margin of error. Bloomberg's assist to Biden comes after his Democratic presidential primary bid, where he spent about $1 billion of his own money. Share this -Link copiedN.H. voters are used to being courted on their doorstep. Covid-19 has challenged that tradition. WASHINGTON Months ago, New Hampshire was the center of the political universe: its first in the nation primary on Feb. 11 drew candidates, crowds and lots of door-to-door campaigning the kind of personal attention Granite State voters have long demanded. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic upended life across the country and transformed the way political campaigns are conducted. Its been a particular challenge in New Hampshire a state whose four electoral votes could make a difference in a close general election contest. Biden has not visited the state since his fifth place finish in the primary as his campaign has largely stepped away from in-person voter contact because of Covid-19, while the president's campaign has stuck with it. The political science research is really pretty clear, the most effective way you can influence people is direct personal contact, said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire survey center. You have to have to play the hand you're dealt, and I think both campaigns have been dealt the same hand, I think the difference is that on the Democratic side, they've hamstrung themselves a little bit more than Trump has because the concern about COVID has been amplified, Smith said. The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee began building what they call the largest-ever GOP ground operation in the state in 2019. After a pause early in the pandemic, the campaign resumed door knocking in mid-June. Trump narrowly lost the state to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and continues to trail in polls to Biden, but made his third trip to the state this year on Sunday. This is not the crowd that comes in second, okay? President Trump told thousands of packed supporters in Londonderry, N.H. Large crowd waiting for President Trump in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He hasnt been to the Granite State since August, as his first stop post-RNC. Nine (!) days to go. pic.twitter.com/x1D4AOLBIw Monica Alba (@albamonica) October 25, 2020 Trumps New Hampshire strategists insist that New Hampshire voters' desire to personally vet candidates and their surrogates gives them a clear advantage. The campaign claims to have made more than 1.8 million direct voter contacts in New Hampshire already so far. Corey Lewandowski, a New Hampshire resident who served as Trumps campaign manager in 2016 said the Trump campaign's efforts go well beyond Biden's. You juxtapose [our efforts] with the Biden campaign, and they think that you can Zoom into an election and win. It doesn't work. New Hampshire wants to vet people face to face and Joe Biden doesn't respect that or the people in New Hampshire," Lewandowski said. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Londonderry, N.H., on Oct. 25, 2020. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images Though the Biden campaign recently gave the green light for in-person door knocking which began in limited form in New Hampshire during a canvass kickoff on Saturday most volunteers in the state are still opting for safer contactless literature drops. And Democrats in New Hampshire are focused on building voter protection programs to ensure ballots are counted. In March the Democratic state party hired a voter protection director, and in June began investing in a voter assistance hotline, resource website and voter education outreach. The state is allowing voters to cast absentee ballots amid the pandemic, and more than 200,000 residents have requested absentee ballots, up from 75,000 in 2016. With this year Covid being an excuse for someone to cast an absentee ballot, it really just changed the whole landscape and how Granite Staters are voting and making sure that people have that information, and also making sure that the elections are going as smoothly as they possibly can on the ground, said Liz Wester, director of the Democrats coordinated campaign group. This gamble in both resources and messaging is where Democrats say they have an edge against Republicans in the state. That's been a huge part of the campaign more than it has been in past years, really making sure that people's relationships and communities and networks are hearing the information directly from someone that they trust because we're not having in-person events in the same way Republicans are. said Wester. Smith, for his part, raised questions about the Democrats approach. I think the evidence supporting voter education, that just doesn't motivate people emotionally to get them out to polls, he said. Share this -Link copiedDemocratic Senate candidates have ad spending advantage in nearly every competitive race WASHINGTON Democratic Senate candidates have outspent Republicans in TV and radio ad spending in nearly every competitive Senate race, according to data from Advertising Analytics. In Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, one Georgia seat, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas the Democratic challenger or incumbent has outspent the Republican on TV and radio ads. The only race where Republicans have outspent Democrats is the special election in Georgia which features two Republican candidates, Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins, and just one chief Democratic candidate, Rev. Raphael Warnock. Democrats are outspending Republicans by nearly 2-to-1. The deficit in spending is tighter, though, when outside groups like the National Senate Republican Senatorial Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and PACs are factored in. Republican groups have boosted funding in Colorado, Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky so much that the combined Republican effort in those races is greater than the Democratic effort. But in key races that could turn Senate control over to the Democrats, the Democratic candidates are dominating the airwaves. From left, Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., from right, debate in the South Carolina Senate debate at Allen University in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 3, 2020. Joshua Boucher / The State via AP Mark Kelly, the Democratic challenger in Arizona, has spent over $37 million on TV and radio ads in the general election incumbent Sen. Martha McSally has spent just about $17.8 million in that same time frame. When the total Democratic and Republican efforts are added in, the Democratic effort has still spent $19.6 million more on the airwaves. It's a similar story in Iowa. Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield has spent $29.2 million on ads while Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has spent $10.6 million. Even with outside money, the Democratic spending has over $18 million on Republican spending. Republicans' best case to keep Senate control would be to win races currently rated as a toss-up, while flipping Alabama Sen. Doug Jones' seat. The Cook Political Report has rated both Georgia seats, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and South Carolina as toss-ups. The Senate races in South Carolina and North Carolina have brought out the biggest spending. The total Democratic effort in South Carolina is over $66 million the total effort to re-elect Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has been about $44.8 million. In North Carolina, the Democratic effort has topped $112 million, while incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis' total effort is about $95.7 million. Democrats' ability to win outright control of the Senate would be netting four seats. They would also maintain control if they had a net gain of three seats and Joe Biden won the White House with would-be Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Key to that victory could be keeping Michigan's open Senate seat in Democratic hands. Sen. Gary Peters is being challenged by Republican John James, and the race has tightened over several weeks. Plus the two campaigns have spent close to the same amount on radio and TV ad buys. The total effort to re-elect Peters in the general election is about $50.3 million. The total Republican effort to elect James is $46.2 million. Share this -Link copiedDemocratic presidential effort poised to outspend Republicans $93 million to $41 million in race's final days WASHINGTON President Trump's campaign is poised to be heavily outspent on TV and radio ads in the final six days ahead of Election Day. Trump's campaign has $10.1 million booked on television and radio between Wednesday and Election Day, compared to Biden's $46.9 million, according to Advertising Analytics, an ad-tracking firm. The president can still count on a big assist from the Republican National Committee, which is spending another $12.6 million in key swing states, and from outside groups set to spend tens of millions more. But when all aligned outside groups are combined with the campaign's future spending, Democrats are set to outspend Republicans $93.4 million to $40.7 million on the presidential ad airwaves in the closing days. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 27, 2020. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters In many states, the majority of Trump's spend is coming from a joint effort by the RNC and the Trump campaign. Trump has just $400,000 booked between Wednesday and Election Day in Arizona, where he's counting on an assist of $2.3 million in spending from the RNC. Biden is set to spend $5.8 million on ads there in the next six days. In Florida, Trump's campaign has just $300,000 booked over that same period, with the RNC set to spend $2.1 million on TV and radio. Yet, Biden has more than $7 million in ad bookings there through Election Day, and Democrats as a whole are set to outspend Republicans there by a factor of four. Trump has no spending planned for Iowa, Nevada or Texas in the next six days, three states where the RNC isn't currently planning to spend more than a few hundred thousand dollars. And Trump and the RNC combined have booked $900,000 in spending in Wisconsin, compared to $3 million for Biden and the DNC. The re-election campaign, both the Trump campaign and the RNC, has its biggest comparative investments in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio, when compared to the amount the Biden campaign has invested there. In Georgia, Biden and the DNC plan to spend $1.7 million, compared to Trump and the RNC's $1.1 million. In Michigan, Biden and the DNC plan to spend $5 million, compared to Trump and the RNC's $4.8 million. In Minnesota, Trump and the RNC are set to outspend their rivals $1.4 million to $1.1 millionIn North Carolina, Biden and the DNC plan to spend $4.9 million, compared to Trump and the RNC's $4.1 millionAnd in Ohio, Biden and the DNC plan to spend about $1.2 millon, compared to Trump and the RNC's $1.1 million All of those states but Minnesota were ones Trump won in 2016. The data from Advertising Analytics shows the joint RNC/Trump campaign account paying for more spending in these closing days than the Trump campaign is alone. By comparison, the Biden campaign alone is paying for virtually all of its ads down the stretch. These spending numbers are not completely final, as groups can still move money around, but represent the current ad reservations by Tuesday afternoon. The differing strategies aren't unprecedented national party committees typically work hand-in-glove with presidential candidates in the general election. But Trump's campaign has been battling cash woes for a while most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission show Trump's campaign committee itself had $43.6 million banked away as of Oct. 14, while Biden's campaign committee had $162 million. And Biden has been outspending Trump in key battleground states for weeks he spent more than Trump from Oct. 20-26 in every single state rated as a toss up or leaning on the NBC News Political Unit's latest battleground map. The Trump campaign partially addressed the ad disparity in a statement refuting reports that it was "pulling" ads down in Florida. "The campaign, with the RNC coordinated buy, is up with a seven figure buy in Florida on broadcast TV alone. In addition in Florida, we are up with six figures in local cable, six figures in Spanish language, and six figures on radio," Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said, touting the campaign's investments over the race's final two weeks. "Including Florida, the Trump campaign is on television in 12 states and also nationally." Monica Alba contributed Share this -Link copiedPence keeps campaign schedule despite Covid-19 outbreak WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence has continued a robust campaign schedule and will travel throughout the country during the final week of the election, despite a Covid-19 outbreak among close aides and staff. Five of Pence's aides, including his chief of staff Marc Short, his body man Zach Bauer, and his senior political adviser Marty Obst, have tested positive for the coronavirus. Despite being in close contact with several of those aides, Pence is not quarantining because his active campaigning was deemed essential work. "While Vice President Pence is considered a close contact with Mr. Short, in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the Vice President will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel," the vice president's press secretary Devin OMalley wrote in a statement. Pence traveled on Sunday and Monday to campaign in North Carolina and Minnesota, respectively. The vice president's aggressive travel schedules comes amid renewed scrutiny of the safety precautions being put in place after the outbreak among the vice president's staff. A source familiar with the procedures said contact tracing was completed, and that three Pence aides Bauer and the two unnamed staffers began protectively quarantining Tuesday after Obst tested positive. Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence have reported testing negative for Covid-19 since confirmation of the positive cases close to them were disclosed. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a rally in Kinston, N.C., on Oct. 25, 2020. Jonathan Drake / Reuters However, Pence was notably absent at the White House's swearing in ceremony for now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Monday. Pence was originally supposed to preside over the Senate for her confirmation vote. He announced earlier in the day on Monday that he would not be present at the vote but would be in D.C. if his vote was needed to confirm Barrett's nomination. Pences office did not respond to NBC News multiple requests for comment on why he would skip that event but still travel to campaign. Pence is expected to travel to North Carolina and South Carolina on Tuesday, and visit several battleground for the rest of the week: Stopping in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, and Iowa and Nevada on Thursday. However, while Pence will continue to travel, some new policies have been put in place. Both Pence and the second lady are tested for Covid-19 every day, and Pence and his staff that travels have been wearing masks consistently something that was more relaxed prior to the outbreak. On Air Force Two, Pence has been seen wearing his mask, and is not getting visitors in his private cabin. The travel staff has also been cutdown for several events compared to the dozens that were present before. Pence has also cutdown on his time interacting with supporters. After both of his events on Sunday and Monday, Pence went straight between his plane and the stage for his speeches. Typically, before the outbreak, Pence would work the rope line without wearing a mask. The vice president has also stopped doing regional interviews while campaigning. Normally, Pence would conduct two to five regional interviews during a day of events to make sure he hit local TV markets. Her assumption, she told NBC News, was that the nomination of a conservative woman to the high court could be a last-minute boon for Trumps re-election bid. Based on what she heard, that assumption was wrong. Not a single person brought up the courts." Longwell, who opposes Trump, said. Instead, "they were all super upset about Trumps refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power and a number offered they were leaning more towards Biden because they couldnt believe Trump said that. Barrett was officially sworn in as an Associate Justice on Tuesday. Amy Coney Barrett sworn in as Supreme Court justice Oct. 27, 2020 02:26 Weeks later, and with a different group of women who voted for Trump in 2016, Longwell said she still wasn't seeing the pick as a boon to the president politically. They dont want the court to go too far right, they want balance, even the ones that are pretty hard-core conservative. And half the groups are always pro-choice, she said. Longwell said that her observations revealed that many of these women dont prioritize the court, especially not over concerns about Trumps behavior and temperament. A number viewed the rush to confirm before the Nov. 3 election as unfair. And others expressed deep respect for former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who helped uphold Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing access to legal abortion. I actually think its a minus for Trump with suburban women, said Lesa Brackbill, a 37-year-old lifelong Republican who voted for Trump and describes herself as anti-abortion rights. Integrity matters to me and the fact that Republicans are doing this after blocking President Obamas election-year nominee is wrong, said Brackbill, of Hershey, Penn. Brackbill said she remained undecided about who to support in the presidential race. Now the Trump re-election campaign is scrambling to hold on to these suburban women, who have grown skeptical about Trump and are shifting to supporting Joe Biden in large numbers, according to multiple public polls. These voters include older women who have experienced decades of political fights over abortion rights as well as their daughters most born after Roe who consider it settled law. Wednesday Hripak, a 45-year-old landscape company manager in North Carolina, is among them: For me, it is a huge factor, said Hripak, a registered Republican who is pro-abortion rights and voted for Trump but is now leaning toward Biden. Barrett will dramatically shift the court, she said. These older men and figures that have been in politics and running the country for so long shouldnt be having the final say on womens health care, said Hripak. According to Pew Research Center, even Republican-leaning women are roughly split on Roe v Wade, a decision Democrats say Barrett would likely vote to overturn. Indeed, the last Supreme Court confirmation fight, over seating Justice Brett Kavanaugh, illustrates that court battles arent a motivating factor for many suburban women, especially for the GOP. After his confirmation, female voter enthusiasm split pretty equally by party, while it pushed independent women to the Democratic side by 12 points. The court battles and their focus on abortion rights is even shifting the political advantage toward the Democrats, experts say. With Trump almost certain to seat his third justice before Election Day, the fate of Roe, once thought irreversible, suddenly appears at risk. This is the first time we know of since weve had data that the Democrats are more energized than the Republicans, said Celinda Lake, a longtime Democratic pollster. Share this -Link copiedBattleground ad spending: Biden maintains advantage in key swing states WASHINGTON A look at the TV and radio ad spending in the battleground states helps tell the story behind Joe Biden's lead, showing big spending advantages over President Donald Trump in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and even Pennsylvania. Biden outspent Trump in every single one of the states rated as toss ups or leaning on the NBC News Political Unit's latest battleground map over the last week (Oct 20-26). Heres some state-by-state analysis: Arizona: Biden and Trump both slightly boosted spending over the last week, with Biden spending more than double Trump $5.7 million to $2 million. GOP outside groups have tried to close the gap for Trump, but Democrats retained a significant edge with help from their outside groups, too. Florida: Biden increased spending here, while Trump decreased spending week-over-week the Democrat spent three times as much as the Republican ($8.4 million to $2.8 million). Total spending for Republicans (campaigns + outside groups) is virtually stagnant, while total Democratic spending increased week-over-week by 23 percent. Georgia: Directionally, both campaigns slightly increased their investment. But Biden spent almost three times Trump over that seven-day stretch, $1.7 million to less than $600,000. When you factor in outside groups, Republicans have a $500,000 edge. Iowa: Biden has significantly upped the ante here, going from $700,000 two weeks ago to more than $1.1 million last week. Trump spent just $200,000 over the past week. But with outside spending, it's the red team with the edge, $2.5 million to $1.7 million Michigan: Biden has outspent Trump here every individual day since well before Labor Day, and it shows. Biden spent more than $4 million over the week, with Trump under $2 million. And when factoring in outside groups (including a big $4.7 million week for Future Forward), its a 3-to-1 advantage for the blue team. A boy holds a sign while waiting for the arrival of Sen. Kamala Harris on Oct. 25, 2020 in Pontiac, Mich. Nic Antaya / Getty Images Nevada: Both campaigns increased their TV/radio ad investment here, but with Biden significantly outpacing Trump. With outside groups, the Democrats are spending about 10 times that of Republicans North Carolina: Trump is benefitting from a big GOP outside-spending push. Biden spent $3.8 million last week to Trumps $2.6, but that amounted to a weekly increase for both campaigns. When outside groups are included, the advantage goes to Team Trump by almost $3 million (or almost 40 percent). Ohio: Biden decreased his spend here over the past week to $1.1 million, but neither the Trump campaign nor any GOP outside groups have been on the board in weeks. Pennsylvania: Biden keeps increasing his spending to the moon, eclipsing $8 million in just one week, a number matched by the Democratic outside group Future Forward. With Trump spending just $1.4 million last week there, the total spending gap that week (when you factor in outside groups) was about $24 million to $8 million. Texas: Biden has decreased his spending to about $600,000 for the week (and hes getting outside help), while Trump and GOP outside groups were dark. Wisconsin: A bloodbath similar to Pennsylvania, both on the candidate and outside group sides. Biden outspent Trump by about 10 times ($3 million to under $300,000). And including outside groups, Democrats hold a huge edge of $9 million to less than $4 million. Note: The Trump campaign was the 10th biggest spender in Wisconsin over past week. Share this -Link copiedMajority of Americans don't expect to know presidential winner on Election Day WASHINGTON A week out from Election Day, a majority of American adults don't expect to know who will win the presidential race on Nov. 3, according to new data from the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Tracking Poll. Sixty-eight percent of adults said they don't expect to know if President Trump or Joe Biden won the election on election night, but there's a split in how long people will think it will take to find out. Thirty-eight percent said they expect to know within a few days, 19 percent said within a few weeks and 11 percent said they expect it to take longer than a few weeks. Thirty percent of Americans said they still expect to know who won the contest on Nov. 3. The data comes as a record number of votes have already been cast in this election either by mail-in ballots or early voting in-person. According to NBC News Decision Desk and Target Smart data, 62 million voters have cast their ballot early. The total early vote in 2016 was 50 million. People line up outside a polling station located at the McFaul Activity Center in Bel Air, Harford County, during early voting in Md., Oct. 27, 2020. Hannah McKay / Reuters In the NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll, 38 percent of adults said they have already voted. Another 42 percent said it is "absolutely certain" that they will vote. Just eight percent of adults said they will not vote. A majority of adults who reported that they already voted were Democrats or Democratic-leaners. Fifty-two percent of Democrats and those who lean Democratic said they already voted, while 31 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners said the same. Nineteen percent of independents said they already voted. A stark 69 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners said they voted by mail and 30 percent said they voted early in-person. Comparatively, 52 percent of Republican and Republican-leaners said they voted by mail and 47 percent said they voted early in person. Sixty-eight percent of independents said they mailed in their ballot while 31 percent said they went to the polls in person. The amount of mail-in ballots could be the reason a winner is not declared on election night. In several key states to both Biden and Trump's win, like Pennsylvania, early ballots cannot be counted until Election Day. Other swing states though, like Florida, expect to have results on Nov. 3 because they begin counting ballots early. Share this -Link copiedBoth sides ramp up ground games in suddenly battleground state of Texas HOUSTON With just a week to go until Election Day both Democrat and Republican groups are on the ground in Texas working to turn-out last-minute voters. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican Super PAC has invested $1 million in the state, in an effort to turn out voters in areas where there hasnt been a robust GOP voter outreach effort. We are trying to reach low propensity voters, Republicans who havent always gone out to vote, Gabriela Hernandez, a project manager for the group told NBC News. The organizations strategy is to talk to voters about local issues and congressional races in hopes that they will turn out to help Republican candidates win up and down the ballot. Everyone knows how close it can be, Hernandez said. So these efforts right now hitting just these 1,000 doors can really make a difference. Democratic organizers canvassing with hope to turn out new voters in Texas Oct. 26, 2020 01:42 Meanwhile Democratic groups like the Texas Organizing Project are also barnstorming the state alongside Former Rep. Beto ORourke. Theyre focused on galvanizing Black and Latino voters who are registered to vote, but havent done so historically. The goal: to turn Texas, a historically red state, blue. Its going to pay off on November third because guess what, were going to flip Texas, Texas Organizing Project Deputy Director Brianna Brown, told NBC News. And ORourke says a win for Democrats in Texas could have implications far beyond just the presidential race. [Texas] is the state that could put Joe Biden over the top on election night, help us win a Democratic majority in the statehouse and help control help flip control of the us senate. More than 7.1 million Texas voters have already cast ballots, more than any other state in the country. The latest polls show Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump in a dead heat in the Lone Star State. Share this -Link copiedTrump hasn't met with coronavirus task force in months, not expected to before election President Donald Trump has not attended a White House coronavirus task force meeting in months and is not expected to do so in the final days before the election, according to an administration official. Although nationwide Covid-19 infections reached a new high on Thursday, the president has decided to focus on his re-election campaign and continue a rigorous rally schedule in the closing stretch. It comes as Trump continues to promise the virus will go away and claim were rounding the corner, despite data to the contrary. US reports record daily COVID cases as FDA greenlights drug Oct. 23, 2020 02:14 The president has delegated most of the current task force work to Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the group and leads its discussions. Those meetings used to be more frequent in the earlier months of the health crisis but have since become less regular with the 2020 race taking priority for the White House. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, said recently it has been quite some time since the president met with the group of agency heads navigating the pandemic. Obviously it's a bit of a chaotic time with the election, Collins told NPR. There's not a direct connection between the task force members and the president as there was a few months ago. But this seems to be a different time with different priorities. Instead, Trump is routinely briefed on the teams findings and recommendations by Pence, according to press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Notably, Trump is also being closely advised on the pandemic by Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no background in infectious diseases. He was brought on to the task force in August, after the president saw his appearances on Fox News and appreciated that Atlas controversial views on the coronavirus more closely aligned with his desire to reopen states and schools. Atlas has repeatedly questioned the efficacy of masks and Twitter recently flagged one of his messages for violating its misinformation policy. Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID director, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force response coordinator, have not appeared alongside the president in months. They were a near-constant presence in the briefing room earlier this year, before a shift in strategy that sent Birx on the road to push the administrations message and left Fauci to do media interviews from beyond the White House grounds. For Cuban voters, theres a photo of Biden kneeling superimposed in front of a flag of Che Guevara and the ad also accuses him of betraying Nicaraguans, abandoning the Venezuelans, and being the candidate of Castro-Chavistas. The spot ends with Trump declaring America will never be a socialist country. Team Trump has been trying to dent Biden's image among Florida Hispanics as polls over the last few months have shown the Democrat underperforming there. Meanwhile, the Biden campaign recently started running testimonial spots of Spanish-speaking individuals telling their own stories combatting the socialist charge against Biden, attacking Trump on Puerto Rican hurricane recovery and the coronavirus, and criticizing Trump's hydroxychloroquine push. Share this -Link copiedBiden campaign launches new ads to combat Trump attacks among Latino voters Cecilia, a young Venezuelan immigrant living in Kissimmee, Florida says that when members of her community tell her theyre not voting for Joe Biden because they have heard hes a socialist, she stops to tell them that they should worry about President Donald Trump instead. Socialism, for me as a Venezuelan, was one of the most important things that destroyed my country. It may sound crazy to compare Trump with [Venezuelan President] Nicolas Maduro, but the reality is theyre very similar, she says before comparing their authoritative tendencies to criticize opponents in a new one-minute TV ad airing in Cuban and Venezuelan-rich South Florida. Her story is one of three testimonial ads the Biden campaign is releasing across 10 key states with high Latino populations in the final two weeks of the election as they hope to combat attacks Trump has launched against Bidens in those communities. Arizona voters will hear from Lidia, a Mexican-American first-time voter whose lupus returned after she was unable to receive hydroxychloroquine to treat her disease because the president falsely declared the drug a treatment for the coronavirus. And to appeal to Puerto Ricans living in Florida and Pennsylvania, the campaign is running a bilingual TV ad featuring a Puerto Rican priest who says Trump abandoned the community during Hurricane Maria and again on the coronavirus. The campaign considers it most affect to air ads with Latinos who speak to common experiences and similar accents as those living across battlegrounds, a micro-targeting strategy they believe makes the most convincing appeal to support Biden within the community. Three other TV and digital ads focus on reintroducing Bidens record to a largely immigrant community who did not live in the U.S. during his early political career by reminding them of how he helped end the 2008 economic and his plan to do so again. The campaign also notably targets younger Latino voters, a huge voting bloc that could swing the election if they turnout, by telling them how Biden and Harris would work alongside them if elected. Share this -Link copiedFormer RNC chair Michael Steele endorses Biden Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has endorsed Joe Biden, the first such endorsement of a Democratic presidential nominee in the modern era. Former RNC chair endorses Biden for president Oct. 20, 2020 05:13 Steele was elected party chairman in 2009 as the GOP sought to regroup from President Barack Obama's historic victory in 2008 and he presided over the RNC as it marshaled tea party opposition to the Obama-Biden administration to make significant gains in Congress and across the country in the 2010 midterms. A former lieutenant governor of Maryland, Steele lost a 2006 bid for U.S. Senate in the heavily Democratic state. He has become an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, serving as a senior adviser of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC. But until Tuesday morning he had not officially endorsed Biden. His backing comes as the Trump campaign has sought to make inroads among African American voters, especially younger Black men who have tended to support Biden in lower numbers than other age groups. Because of his role with the Lincoln Project, it's unlikely Steele, who is also a political analyst for MSNBC, would play a direct role in Biden's campaign or act as a surrogate. But he informed the Biden campaign of his plans to publicly support him. Share this -Link copiedBiden outspent Trump on the airwaves in every key battleground state over past week WASHINGTON Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign has outspent that of President Donald Trump on television and radio ads in every key battleground state over the last seven days as the Trump re-election effort continues to fall behind the Democrat in fundraising. Over the last seven days, Biden outspent Trump in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, per the latest figures from Advertising Analytics. That's every single state listed as a toss-up or leaning Democrat/Republican by the Cook Political Report, meaning that Biden has the TV/radio spending edge in every single one of the most competitive states. Biden already had the edge in an overwhelming number of battleground states, but his total supremacy on the airwaves there came this past week when the Trump campaign cut its TV spending in Georgia in half week-over-week to about $720,000. Meanwhile, the Biden campaign boosted its weekly spend in Georgia to $1.5 million over the last seven days. TV and radio spending don't make up the full story. Trump's campaign is still spending heavily on digital platforms, and if money meant everything, Trump would have lost the 2016 race to Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it's the latest sign of ways in which the resource gap may be having an impact on the race dueling announcements from the campaigns last week revealed that the effort to elect Biden significantly outraised the Trump re-elect in September, and that the pro-Biden effort entered October with $180 million more in the bank than Trump's re-elect. Share this -Link copiedSenate Democrats post historic fundraising totals as battle for Senate control reaches home stretch WASHINGTON Senate Democrats are riding a wave of historic third-quarter fundraising numbers into the final weeks before Election Day, even as Republicans are raising significant money of their own. Before this quarter, no Senate candidate had ever raised more in a single three-month quarter than former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who raised more than $38 million in the third quarter of 2018. But between July and September of this year, South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison raised $58 million, Maine Democrat Sara Gideon raised $39.4 million and Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly raised $38.7 million. U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon speaks at campaign event on Feb. 19, 2020 in Skowhegan, Maine. Robert F. Bukaty / AP Six other Democrats Kentucky's Amy McGrath ($36.8 million), Iowa's Theresa Greenfield ($28.8 million), North Carolina's Cal Cunningham ($28.3 million), Montana's Steve Bullock ($26.8 million), Colorado's John Hickenlooper ($22.6 million), and Georgia's Jon Ossoff ($21.3 million) all raised more than $20 million last quarter. With Harrison raising more than any other Democrat, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham outraised all other Republican Senate candidates with $28.4 million. Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally raised $22.7 million, Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell raised $15.7 million, Michigan Republican John James raised $14.4 million and Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines raised $11.5 million. It's clear the Democrats have the fundraising edge when looking at all the Senate races rated "likely" or more competitive by the Cook Political Report (except Georgia's special election, where a slew of candidates are still running in a jungle primary), the average Democrat raised about $26 million last quarter compared to the average Republican's $10.2 million. But as Democrats spend big, primarily on television airwaves, the average Democrat has a similar amount of money in the bank than the average Republican candidate $9.5 million in cash on hand for the average Democrat and $7.1 million for the average Republican. For example, despite raising almost $58 million last quarter, Harrison's South Carolina campaign had about $8 million in cash-on-hand, about equal with Graham. And while North Carolina's Cunningham outraised Republican Sen. Thom Tillis by a factor of four, Tillis ended the quarter with $6.6 million in the bank to Cunningham's $4.2 million. Share this -Link copiedBiden camp appears to be heading into final stretch with serious cash advantage over Trump re-elect WASHINGTON Joe Biden's campaign apparatus appears to have significantly outraised President Donald Trump's re-election effort in September, according to both campaigns, with the Democrat heading into the final stretch of the presidential campaign with a massive resource advantage. On Wednesday, the Biden campaign announced that it (along with the Democratic National Committee and its affiliated joint-fundraising committees) raised $383 million in September, ending the month with $432 million in cash on hand between them all. You heard it from the VP: our grassroots community of donors helped us raise $383 million in September a record. Im proud of what youve been able to build, but theres still more work to do. Here's some other things Im proud of under the hood: (1/? )https://t.co/hPX9Va2EmB Jen O'Malley Dillon (@jomalleydillon) October 15, 2020 The Trump campaign tweeted Thursday that the Trump re-election apparatus (the campaign, the Republican National Committee) raised $247.8 million in September and had $251.4 million banked away. President Trump hits final stretch with strength, resources, record & huge ground game needed to spread message and secure re-election. Campaign, RNC & joint committees in September:$247.8M raised$251.4M cash on handPOTUS has done more in 47 months than Biden in 47 years. Tim Murtaugh - Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) October 16, 2020 That means the Biden effort outraised the Trump effort by $136 million, and went into October with a more than $180 million cash advantage. Since all of these groups have to file their campaign finance reports at different times, the campaigns historically announce the top-line totals for their whole apparatus each month. So it's unclear at this moment how much of the money raised by each side is hard money raised directly to the campaign versus how much is controlled by the national parties. The dynamic hasn't changed in recent months, with the Biden organization significantly outpacing Trump both in fundraising and cash-on-hand. And that's been reflected in how they are spending their money. Biden's campaign has spent $355.5 million on TV and radio ads since March 31, compared to Trump's $201.8 million, according to data from Advertising Analytics. And the discrepancies in the battleground states have been striking. The Democrat has outspent Trump by about a 2-to-1 margin in Arizona and Minnesota, as well as by roughly a 3-to-1 margin in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. And the spending disparity has exacerbated down the stretch since Labor Day, the Biden campaign has spent about $166 million in key battleground states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin), compared to Trump's $72 million in those states. Share this -Link copiedBiden camp taps Hollywood stars, jam bands, retired general for fundraisers WASHINGTON -- Justin Timberlake, Natalie Portman, Alanis Morissette and more are lending their star power to Joe Biden's campaign coffers for virtual fundraisers in the closing weeks of the campaign, according to a list of invitations to the events obtained by NBC News. Democrats have long tapped Hollywood stars for money and glitz, but the shift from in-person to virtual events during the coronavirus pandemic has made it easier for campaigns to book stars and put on more elaborate events, such as re-assembling the entire cast of a classic film for the first time ever to perform a live script read. Meanwhile, retired four-star Gen. Stan McChrystal, the former top commander in Afghanistan who endorsed Biden earlier this month, is hosting a virtual fundraiser with Richard Armitage, a former top State Department official under George W. Bush. Morissette, the Canadian-American singer, will appear with the cast of the new Broadway musical based on her 1995 hit album Jagged Little Pill. The cast of "The West Wing," a political touchstone for many liberals, will host a trivia night, while the creator and stars of Amazon's "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" will appear together for Biden as well. The cast of the 2001 cult-classic comedy "Wet Hot American Summer" and others including Elizabeth Banks, Chris Pine, Jason Schwartzman and Michael Cera will perform a live reading of the script later this month. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will host a virtual reception for Tennessee-based donors with Memphis-native Timberlake and actress Ashley Judd, who once considered a Senate run in neighboring Kentucky. Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke will host an event featuring musicians Willie Nelson, David Crosby, the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and jam band Widespread Panic's Dave Schools. Actresses Fran Drescher and Shannon Elizabeth will also appear, along with TV personality Montel Williams "and more" yet to be named. The Biden campaign is also holding a Star Trek-themed "Trek the vote" event featuring actors from five versions of the sci-fi franchise, including Patrick Stewart, George Takei, and LeVar Burton along with three Democrats who have spoken publicly about their love of Star Trek: Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, and Stacey Abrams. Natalie Portman will appear at food and agriculture-themed virtual event alongside former Obama White House chef and policy adviser Sam Kass and Roots drummer Questlove. Restaurateur Jose Andres, who clashed with President Donald Trump over aborted plans to open a restaurant in his Washington, D.C. hotel, will discuss Biden's plans to help revive the restaurant industry after the pandemic. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr will appear with former Rep. Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, who is running for Senate in Arizona. Comedians Aasif Mandvi, Aparna Nancherla and Sendhil Ramamurthy will help host a "South Asian Block Party." And Rita Moreno, one of the few Puerto Rican members of the cast of the original "West Side Story" film, will host a conversation with Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. The Biden campaign has been raking in money at an unprecedented clip after a slow start, which has allowed it to outspend the Trump campaign in key battlegrounds. Share this -Link copiedDNC launches new radio and print ad campaign to target Latino voters HOUSTON With early voting set to begin in several more key battleground states this week, the Democratic National Committee is rolling out a radio and print ad campaign aimed at boosting turnout among Latino voters for former Vice President Joe Biden. "Latino communities across the battleground states have a critical voice in this election, that's why we are reaching out directly to these voters and ensuring they have the tools they need to make their plan to vote," Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. Jose Diaz Balart on the importance of the Latino vote Sept. 29, 2020 03:11 Perez emphasized the ways the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Latinos, blaming a "failed response to the pandemic" on the part of the Trump administration. The ad campaign, which the DNC says is a six-figure effort, strikes a similar tone with an equally stark message. "This November 3rd, our lives are on the ballot," the ads say in Spanish before imploring those reading or listening to "make your plan to vote" and directing potential voters to visit VoyAVotar.com. The Spanish site, hosted by the DNC, allows prospective voters to check their registration status and register while also making plans to vote absentee, in person early or on Election Day. With the latest polls in several battleground states showing Biden ahead or neck-and-neck with President Donald Trump including Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin turning out key demographics could be the difference in those states. The number of eligible Latino voters has grown more than among any other racial or ethnic group in battleground states over the past nearly two decades, but historically Latinos have had lower turnout rates than white and Black voters. According to Pew Research Center data, the number of eligible Latino voters who did not vote in 2016 was higher than the number of those who did. In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton underperformed among Latino voters compared to President Barack Obama. This cycle, the Biden campaign has faced criticism for what some view as slow and lackluster outreach to the community. Even so, the latest Pew Research poll showed Biden with a 34-point lead among Latino voter | 0 |
###CLAIM: she said the amount around was not huge during the harvest, but they are gradually building up and are now a proportion of plague.
###DOCS: SYDNEY After one of its worst wildfire seasons and a global pandemic, Australia is now facing its latest end-of-days challenge: a monumental plague of mice. Millions of rodents are running amok in parts of Australias eastern states, with residents sharing horror encounters on a daily basis. With an epicenter in rural New South Wales, farmers have uploaded videos to social media of mice blanketing their land, damaging crops and taking up residence inside homes. Guy Roth, who works at a sprawling University of Sydney research farm near the New South Wales town of Narrabri, said mice had overtaken the property. I know we had two mice per square meter in our cropping paddocks at the peak ... [so] if I have the math right, its 20 million mice. Thats more mice than the population of most big cities, he said. Roth said at one point he and his family were catching and disposing of around 100 mice each day inside their house and offices. Theyre all around the house. Every time you open a drawer, youre potentially going to find one, he said. Youll be sitting at the desk and a mouse will run across it.He said the mice were eating the cotton crops as well as grain stored in silos. Roth, who has spent his whole life in regional and rural Australia, said this was the worst mice plague Ive ever seen.They certainly smell. Thats what my memory of this is going to be the smell, he said. The smell of the dead mice in and around the house and the farm.While the health impact on humans has not been severe, there has been at least one report of the rare mouse-related illness lymphocytic choriomeningitis. And at least three people have been bitten by mice in New South Wales hospitals while they were admitted for non-mice-related issues. A spokesperson for the state government health department NSW Health said these bites were minor and appropriate treatment has been provided.NSW Health staff are responding with appropriate control measures, the spokesperson said, listing measures including increased baiting and trapping, odor repellents and blocking access. The spokesperson added, The current mouse infestation across western NSW is a natural occurrence.Whats causing the plague? Steve Henry conducts mice research with Australias national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. Henry said the outbreak, which is of the non-native house mouse, is monumental and continues to have severe economic and social effects. Some farmers are giving up on summer crops ... because the mice have damaged them so severely, so thats essentially a total crop loss, he said. And in some scenarios where farmers have managed to get the crops through to harvest, theyve had it rejected because its full of mouse poo.Swarms of mice run around on a farm in Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia, March 12, 2021. Melanie Moeris / ReutersBut he said mice plagues can come around every five to 10 years in Australia due to a combination of factors. Weve had a run of dry years and [now] the drought has essentially broken, so the mice get switched on to that change in environmental conditions, and they start to breed, he said. The farmers have had a good crop and that puts a lot of food into the system. So youve got favorable climatic conditions, favorable food in the system, lots of good shelter, lots of moisture.And he said mice are prolific breeders, as they can start to breed when they are 6 weeks old, and then they can have a litter of six to 10 pups every 19 to 21 days after that.But Henry said a mice plague typically ends abruptly with a population crash, although it is difficult to predict when this will occur. The winter cropsFarmers in plague-hit areas are now looking toward the winter crops, which in this part of the Southern Hemisphere are typically sown in April and May. The industry group NSW Farmers has grave concerns that some farms will lose all the planted seed to the mice. NSW Farmers President James Jackson said there needs to be urgent action from the state government, including emergency permission to use the pesticide zinc phosphide and financial assistance through a small grants program. Mouse control is very costly. The severity of the current plague has resulted in the need for multiple aerial and ground bait applications in cropping regions ... Action is needed now, he said. According to the group, heavy rainfall over recent days has curbed mice numbers in some areas, but they are still rampant in the central west and northwest of NSW. I am hearing the rain has pushed more of them into houses and vehicles, the groups spokesperson, Michael Burt, said. For now, Australians like Roth are left hoping the plague comes to a quick end. Everyones tolerating it, but weve really had enough, he said. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the first american to win a gold medal in the event since 1908 gave him another olympic berth, but his other shoulder over his neck soon felt like the 20-year-old cole and hocker breathing down his neck until both stride in the homestretch.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareAs Matthew Centrowitz rounded the turn into the final straight of Sunday nights mens 1,500-meter final at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore., he peered over his left shoulder to gauge his lead. Five years after he became the first American to win a gold medal in the event since 1908, the Arnold, Md., native was well on his way to clinching another Olympic berth but over his other shoulder, he soon felt 20-year-old Cole Hocker breathing down his neck until both runners were stride for stride on the homestretch. It was a familiar scene from earlier this week during their semifinal heat Friday, the 31-year-old Centrowitz edged Hocker in a photo finish, muttering something and smiling back at his younger counterpart as he crossed the finish line. On Sunday night, though, it was Hocker who furiously outran Centrowitz in the final 10 meters to win the final, pressing his fingers to his lips as he crossed the finish line, as if to quiet anyone at Hayward Field who doubted he could win. I just wanted to silence everyone, said Hocker, who just finished his freshman season at Oregon. AdvertisementHockers victory comes with a twist: He will have to wait until later this week to learn if he has qualified for Tokyo. Although he finished with a personal-best time of 3:35.28, it is below the Olympic standard of 3:35.0, which is normally required to qualify for the Games. Hocker could be named to the U.S. Olympic team based on his World Athletics Ranking his ranking is now the highest among nonstandard athletes at 1,232 points, according to track publication FloTrack. Hocker could also run in another U.S. Track & Field sanctioned event by the end of the month to try to meet the qualifying standard, but he said Sunday night he didnt plan to do so because hes confident his world ranking will be enough to earn a berth to Tokyo. USATF will submit its team roster Thursday. I think my world rank right now is good enough to walk me in, Hocker said. Centrowitz clinched his third Olympic berth with his second-place finish of 3:35.34, while Yared Nuguse placed third at 3:36.19. Should Hocker not qualify, the third spot would go to Sundays fourth-place finisher, Craig Engels (3:36.69). AdvertisementOne of the most exciting races Ive ever been part of, Centrowitz said. I didnt know what to expect, fast or slow, so I had different race plans. They all involved me being at the front.It was a stunning finish on a night that saw plenty of victorious headliners. Sydney McLaughlin set a world record in the womens 400-meter hurdles; Alexandria, Va., product Noah Lyles won the mens 200 meters; 19-year-old Athing Mu set a track record to win the womens 800 meters; and JuVaughn Harrison claimed victories in both the high jump and the long jump. But nearly all of that came after officials suspended competition for more than five hours because of unprecedented extreme heat conditions. The forecast in Eugene called for extreme heat Sunday, and temperatures on the famed track reportedly had reached 108 degrees when the decision to postpone competition was made around 6:15 p.m. Eastern time. A few hours later, the National Weather Service announced that temperatures in Eugene had reached 111 degrees, breaking the record of 108 set in August 1981. The trials resumed at 11:30 p.m.AdvertisementHeptathlete Taliyah Brooks fainted before the javelin throw in her event Sunday afternoon, her agent Tony Campbell said. By Sunday evening, Brooks was coherent and requested to reenter the competition a request that was granted by the USATF Games Committee but she later withdrew from the event. In the first event completed after the restart, Annie Kunz won the heptathlon with a personal-best score of 6,703. Kendell Williams finished second with a personal-best finish of 6,683, and Erica Bougard also earned a berth to Tokyo with a third-place finish of 6,667. Mu set a meet record with a personal-best time of 1:56.07 in the 800 to clinch her first Olympic berth, and she will try to become the second American to win a gold medal in the event. She was warming up and getting ready to run through prerace drills when her coach informed her she wouldnt be running until a few minutes after midnight Eastern. AdvertisementI was like, Uh, thats pretty annoying, she told the NBC Sports Network broadcast before Sunday nights final. She took the extra time to eat and take a 20-minute nap, she said, and when she returned, temperatures were dipping below 100 degrees. Just coming back with a clear mind, just relaxed, she said. She looked nothing other than her relaxed self when the final finally arrived and she found another gear to pull away from the pack. Raeyvn Rogers used a personal-best time of 1:57.66 to finish second, while Ajee Wilson clinched a berth to Tokyo with a time of 1:58.39. Despite the heat wave, event officials had previously opted not to move a list of Sundays marquee finals from their original afternoon time slots, although three distance events this weekend were moved to earlier times in the morning. AdvertisementThat included Sundays mens 5,000-meter final, which was moved from the late afternoon to 10 a.m. Pacific time and was won by Paul Chelimo. The only other event completed before the pause Sunday was the mens high jump, which Harrison won to secure his first berth to Tokyo. He waited another five hours for the long jump, where he achieved a personal-best jump of 27 feet 912 inches to clinch his win despite strong showings from second-place finisher Marquis Dendy (27-6) and third-place finisher Steffin McCarter (27-114). Harrison is expected to become the first American to compete in both the high jump and long jump in a single Olympics since Jim Thorpe in 1912, according to Bill Mallon, a renowned Olympics historian. The delay really just gave my legs time to recover, and it gave me a chance to eat something, said Harrison, a former all-American at LSU. It gets really hot in Baton Rouge, so Im pretty used to the heat. ... I was ready to go. The heat wasnt really affecting me like that.AdvertisementThe womens heptathlon had been in action all afternoon and had one event remaining before officials announced the postponement. The temperatures on the track were just under 90 degrees when the mens 5,000-meter final began, and Chelimo, the silver medalist in the event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, would later say that he wanted it hotter.Chelimo was barely leading when he approached the final straight of the race. Then he drifted from the rail to Lane 4, dragging the field wide with him and daring his challengers to run extra meters to pass him. The tactic worked: Chelimo finished with a time of 13 minutes 26.82 seconds, edging Grant Fisher (13:27.01) and Woody Kincaid (13:27.13), who both also qualified in the event. Chelimo closed with a final lap of 52.83 seconds and later defended his decision to drift to the middle of the track, forcing those who trailed him to go wider in their path in an attempt to pass him on the final stretch. Its fair. I didnt touch anyone; I didnt impede anyone, Chelimo said. Its race tactics. ... Everyone has fitness, but its also tactics, and thats what you have to do sometimes to win.Adam Kilgore contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article [1/4] Jun 26, 2021; Eugene, OR, USA; Grant Holloway reacts after winning the 110m hurdles during the US Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsJune 28 (Reuters) - With world records broken and season's best marks posted, U.S. athletes showed they are peaking at just the right time for the Tokyo Games as their Olympic trials came to a thrilling end in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday. Along with Ryan Crouser's record-breaking heave in the shot put (23.37 metres) and Sydney McLaughlin's new mark in the women's 400m hurdles (51.90), hurdlers Rai Benjamin (400m) and Grant Holloway (110m) also came close to getting their names in the record books after eight days of competition. U.S. sprinters have had to play second fiddle to Jamaican speedsters at recent Olympics but there was plenty to suggest they can turn the tables in Tokyo. Gabby Thomas delivered a 200m time not seen since Florence Griffith Joyner in the 1988 Games while 21-year-old Sha'Carri Richardson cruised to victory in the women's 100m final in 10.86. She will face a showdown with Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the fastest woman alive, who won her country's national athletics championships on Friday. read more"I would tell my younger self that it would all pay off when you least expect it," said Richardson, reflecting on her early Olympic ambitions. "Continue to be who you are." With Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt no longer in the picture, Trayvon Bromell will have his eyes on the top of the podium after winning the men's 100m final in 9.81 seconds, just a hundredth of a second slower than Bolt's gold medal performance in Rio. And after the U.S. was left off the podium in the men's 200m at the last two Games, 23-year-old world champion Noah Lyles offers genuine hope of a medal after posting a world-leading 19.74 in the final night of competition. Six-time Olympic gold medallist Allyson Felix, 35, will have one last shot at some hardware after clinching a spot in the 400m for her fifth Games. The United States has topped the track and field medal table at every Games since 1984 but never won a medal in the women's hammer. That drought could be coming to an end in Tokyo, with DeAnna Price extending her own U.S. record with an 80.31m throw -- a distance only double Olympic champion Anita Wodarczyk has bettered. New Zealand's 1,500m runner Nick Willis, who won a silver in Beijing and bronze in Rio, was impressed by the talent on show in Oregon. "Wow, this has got to be one of the best US teams heading to the Olympics ever. Incredible 10 days in Eugene," he tweeted. For some athletes, though, the dream of Tokyo is at an end. World champion and U.S. record-holder Donavan Brazier saw his hopes dashed in the 800m, while 39-year-old Justin Gatlin, who won 100m gold in Athens in 2004, failed to make an impact in his race, his career appearing all but over. read moreReporting by Amy Tennery, additional reporting by Gene Cherry; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. The hot temperatures were nearly unbearable at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in recent days. But meet officials finally pulled the plug on the races at about 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, announcing in a terse statement that they were delaying the final day of competition until 8:30 p.m. The event will now be televised on NBCSN instead of NBC. The scoreboard at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene indicated the temperature was 105 degrees Fahrenheit when the announcement was made. The delay was announced about 30 minutes before the mens long jumpers were set to compete and less than an hour before the runners in the mens 1,500 meters were set to run their final. The heat should not have come as a surprise to meet officials; temperatures were forecast to approach 110 degrees by midafternoon. Several marquee finals are scheduled for Sunday or Sunday night, rather including the mens 1,500, the mens 200 and the womens 400 hurdles. The mens high jump managed to wrap up before the afternoon session was suspended. JuVaughn Harrison won the event, while Darryl Sullivan finished second and Shelby McEwen finished third. Temperatures of over 100 F on Sunday forced the Olympic U.S. track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, to be postponed, with one athlete having to be taken off the field in a wheelchair. The decision was made around 3 p.m., with the track announcer asking spectators to evacuate the area, The Associated Press reports. Taliyah Brooks, a heptathlete, was in fourth place after having competed in five of the seven events when she was wheeled off the field. She was permitted to participate in the sixth event, the javelin throw, hours later when the event resumed in the evening. The AP notes that due to the humidity, the temperatures felt closer to 113 F by the mid-afternoon. Its crazy. I wasnt expecting it to be this humid, Shelby McEwen, one of the high jump competitors said to the AP. We just had to be mentally locked in, mentally prep ourselves for it, stay hydrated and go out and get the job done.A record-breaking heatwave has swept over much of the Pacific Northwest in recent days, with many locations expected to exceed their all-time record highs. Portland has reached 112 degrees, marking the hottest day recorded since 1940. The heat has also shut down COVID-19 testing centers in Washington state and Seattle has opened more public libraries to serve as cooling areas. | 3 |
###CLAIM: two oklahoma police officers face murder charges for allegedly using stun guns on more than 50 men who refused to comply with a demand.
###DOCS: Two Oklahoma police officers are facing charges of murder for allegedly using their Tasers more than 50 times on a man who refused to comply with their demands, court documents show. Wilson police officers Joshua Taylor, 25, and Brandon Dingman, 34, surrendered to authorities Thursday on second-degree murder charges in the July 2019 death of Jared Lakey, a 28-year-old man who died at a hospital days after being hit with stun guns multiple times by the two cops, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced. Lakey, of Wilson, died two days after encountering the officers on July 4, 2019, when Taylor and Dingman responded to a report of a man running down a street naked while screaming, the Daily Ardmoreite reports. Dingman allegedly deployed his Taser 23 times for a total of 114 seconds as Lakey refused to comply with the officers commands, according to court filings cited by the newspaper. Taylor, meanwhile, allegedly used his stun gun on Lakey a total of 30 times over a nine-minute span, or 122 seconds. In all, Lakey was tased for nearly four consecutive minutes within a nine-minute span, according to an affidavit cited by the newspaper. Lakey never made any aggressive move toward either officer during the incident and both Taylor and Dingman never tried to subdue him by using their hands, which runs counter to department training methods, an OSBI agent wrote in court documents. Lakey, who stopped breathing after he was taken into custody, died from multiple heart attacks and critical coronary atherosclerosis and law enforcement use of electrical weapon and restraint, according to records cited by the newspaper. Arrest warrants for Taylor and Dingman were issued Wednesday. They surrendered to the Carter County Sheriffs Office before being released on $250,000 bond, OSBI officials said. Its unclear if Dingman and Taylor remain employed by the Wilson Police Department, the New York Times reports. If convicted, they face up 10 years to life in prison. The death of Mr. Lakey saddens us all, an attorney for both officers, Ryan Hunnicutt, told the newspaper in an email late Thursday. We are confident that the legal system will provide an opportunity for all the facts to be known and look forward to our day in court. | 1 |
###CLAIM: pelosi, discussing a recent interview on abc news ( this week ), discussed the new possibilities of replacing the late justice ruth bader ginsburg with a trump nominee.
###DOCS: Democrats provoked an angry tirade from Donald Trump on Friday by proposing a congressional commission to assess whether US presidents are capable of performing their duties or should be removed from office. The gambit came a week after Trump was flown to a military hospital for treatment for coronavirus and 25 days before an election. The president returned to the White House on Monday but has caused concern with erratic behaviour. This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of the voters but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told a press conference in which she also took a swipe at the British prime minister, Boris Johnson. But the timing was impossible to ignore as Trump has continued to give rambling TV interviews, tweet false and contradictory statements and potentially endanger his own White House staff by defying public health guidance. The president tweeted in response: Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!! !The 25th amendment to the US constitution provides the procedure for the vice-president to take over the duties of president if he or she dies or resigns or it is determined that he or she cannot fulfill the functions of the office. The Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, introducing the legislation on Friday, said: The 25th amendment is all about the stability of the presidency and the continuity of the office. Now, its never been necessary, but the authors of the 25th amendment thought it essential in the nuclear age to have a safety valve option and, as they often said, we have 535 members of Congress but we only have one president.He added: In the age of Covid-19, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans and now ravaged the White House staff, the wisdom of the 25th amendment is clear. What happens if a president any president ends up in a coma or on a ventilator and has made no provisions for the temporary transfer of power? This situation is what demands action.This panel would be known as the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office. Raskin, a constitutional law professor, said it would be bipartisan and consist of 17 members, including medical personnel, and could only act in concert with the vice-president. Asked about the timing of the bill, Raskin explained this situation has focused everyones mind on the 25th amendment. Pelosi repeated her insistence that it did not apply to Trump: Again, this isnt about any judgment anybody has about somebodys behaviour. It isnt about any of us making a decision as to whether the 25th amendment should be invoked. Thats totally not the point. Thats not up to us.Invoking the 25th amendment would require the support of Vice-President Mike Pence and members of Trumps cabinet. There has been no hint that this is imminent. A reporter asked Pelosi if Johnson was an example of someone whose capacity to govern was reduced by coronavirus. She replied: I have no idea. Nor do I have of President Trump. I just said clearly, he is under medication. Any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state. He has bragged about the medication he has taken. And again, there are articles by medical professionals saying, as was said earlier, this could have an impact on judgment.She then made a surprise attack on the UKs efforts to create a vaccine, describing the US Food and Drug Administrations very stringent rules for clinical trials and approval. My concern is that the UKs system for that kind of judgment is not on a par with ours in the United States. So if Boris Johnson decides hes going to approve a drug and this president embraces that, thats the concern I have about any similarity between the two.The initiative on the 25th amendment was not without political risks for Democrats as Trumps allies sought to portray it as a power grab ahead of the election. Josh Holmes, former chief of staff and campaign manager for Senate majority leader, the Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, tweeted: Every time I think our goose is cooked, Nancy Pelosi grabs the microphone and I say to myself, we still have a shot.Trump was flown to a military hospital on 2 October after testing positive for Covid-19. He spent three nights there receiving a menu of treatments before his doctors said he was well enough to be discharged. He returned to the White House and immediately removed his face mask, provoking criticism. Since then his conduct has raised concerns, even by the turbulent standards of the Trump presidency. He suddenly called off negotiations with Congress over an economic stimulus package, taking his Republican allies by surprise, but then performed an equally jarring U-turn. And boasted about being a perfect physical specimen and extremely young in another Fox phone interview. Both Trumps doctors and White House officials still refuse to say when the president received his last negative test, raising questions over who he might have infected. Trump floated the idea that he might travel to a rally on Saturday in Florida, but the administration indicated on Friday morning that this was unlikely. | 0 |
###CLAIM: major league baseball recently announced tests of multiple minor rule changes, including limits on defensive shifts, as part of an effort to increase stolen base and strikeout averages.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareMajor League Baseball sent a memo to teams this week alerting them of plans to crack down on pitchers use of foreign substances to manipulate pitch movement, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Washington Post. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The memo tells teams that MLB will implement additional monitoring and enforcement procedures to prevent players from applying foreign substances to baseballs, including the use of Statcast data to conduct spin rate analysis of pitchers suspected of using foreign substances.It also outlines the creation of Gameday Compliance Monitors, who will keep tabs on the dugout, tunnel, batting cages and bullpens, looking for violations of the foreign substance rules. As part of those duties, monitors will also collect balls suspected of being tainted and send them to the commissioners office for testing by a third-party lab. Players will be subject to discipline for violations identified by umpires during games and for violations discovered through these processes. AdvertisementUmpire enforcement on the field will continue in a manner consistent with recent past practice, the memo states. MLB prohibits pitchers from altering the baseball in any way, including with saliva, sweat or less organic substances. But in big league clubhouses, that rule may as well be written with a wink at the end. Finding ways around it has become a staple of pitchers arsenals for decades. AdvertisementThat pitchers find ways to use everything from rosin to pine tar, from sunscreen to sweat, is one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball, one that MLB has yet to find a way to limit, even as the incentive to do so is being backed by more data. As Statcast and other technologies have allowed the industry to quantify the value of increased spin rates, the temptation to increase that spin rate in any way possible say, by applying pine tar to the ball has grown, though previous generations of pitchers never needed math to tell them what small additions to the surface of the baseball could achieve. And players didnt have to worry too much about being disciplined for the practice, either. The theory in major league dugouts has long been that if a team calls out an opposing pitcher suspected of using a foreign substance, the opponent will probably levy the same accusation in return, a form of mutually assured destruction. If a manager wants to accuse another pitcher of using a foreign substance, he had to be certain none of his pitchers were relying on one, too. AdvertisementSome hitters say they dont take issue with the practice because given the choice between a pitcher using a sticky substance to increase his control and a pitcher uncertain of where the ball is heading they would rather step in against the pitcher who is less likely to send a fastball at their helmet. Pitchers have been using stuff for many, many years. At some point its a good thing because there are a lot of pitchers who go out there and sweat tremendously. You dont want to see anyone get hurt, said Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez, who indicated he hopes the sport can strike a balance between allowing pitchers to maintain grip without gaining too large an advantage over hitters. Im more about keeping guys healthy, he added. When you get a guy throwing a 100-mph fastball and cant hold on to the baseball, that kind of gets scary for a hitter and everybody.AdvertisementTechnically, the rules allow pitchers to lick their fingers and dry them on their uniform before gripping the baseball to throw. But last year, amid a season staged during the coronavirus pandemic, MLBs health and safety protocols permitted the use of a wet rag to provide necessary moisture. The wet rag is not mentioned in a copy of 2021 health and safety protocols obtained by The Post. The impact of increased monitoring of baseballs and spin rates is hard to predict. For one thing, comparing pitchers spin rates with their career baselines may not yield much insight if that pitcher has always used foreign substances no clear increase would be visible. Additionally, changes in spin rate could be attributable to a variety of factors, and many players now spend their offseasons working with coaches who train them to improve exactly that. But the effort is just one part of a continued, multifaceted push by MLB to create more action in a game dominated by strikeouts and home runs. MLB recently announced it would be testing multiple rule changes in the minors, including one that would limit defensive shifting, as part of an effort to increase stolen bases and increase the batting average on balls put in play. AdvertisementA true crackdown on the use of foreign substances could make things easier on hitters, many of whom believe widespread increases in pitcher velocity and movement have made their jobs particularly difficult. But unwritten rules are often difficult to break, and longtime habits dont go quietly. Among the most beloved tenets of baseball philosophy is the deep-rooted, decades-old belief that even written rules are made to be worked around, rather than obeyed without question. Clandestine creativity will almost certainly continue, and MLB will almost certainly continue trying to keep up. GiftOutline Gift Article | 1 |
###CLAIM: photoreed added that having four more locations in the dallas area leased for the restaurant is held to be a good thing, but the staffing worries are why the deal was signed.
###DOCS: A Texas-based chain of chicken restaurants is reportedly promoting teens to general manager positions that pay more than $50,000 a year in a bid to keep talent amid the recent labor shortage. Garrett Reed, the CEO of Laynes Chicken Fingers, told the Wall Street Journal hes had to train workers in their late teens and early 20s to run his new stores because he cant find or afford workers with more experience. The company runs six restaurants across the Lone Star State. Were so thin at leadership that we cant stretch anymore to open more locations, he told the Journal. Ive got a good crop of 16- and 17-year-olds, but I need another year or two to get them seasoned to run stores.Reed noted that Laynes had lost some workers to larger employers such as Walmart and McDonalds. Were so thin at leadership that we cant stretch anymore to open more locations, Garrett Reed, the CEO of Laynes Chicken Fingers, told the Journal. Ive got a good crop of 16- and 17-year-olds, but I need another year or two to get them seasoned to run stores. Alamy Stock PhotoReed added that he has deals to lease four more locations in the Dallas area for restaurants, but hes holding off on signing because hes worried about staffing. FacebookHe added that he has deals to lease four more locations in the Dallas area for restaurants, but hes holding off on signing because hes worried about staffing. The biggest challenge for small companies to grow right now is your labor force, Reed told the Journal. Wed be growing at twice the rate if we had more people.Theres only so much I can pay and remain profitable without raising prices too much, he added said. Laynes did not return The Posts request for comment. Businesses across various industries have bemoaned a nationwide labor shortage that economists say is caused by a variety of factors, including child-care concerns, fear of catching COVID-19 and federal unemployment benefits that dole out an extra $300 per week. The worker shortage means that some businesses are caught unable to expand or ramp up operations in order to meet the demands of customers, recently emerged from the pandemic and ready to spend. To try to recruit new workers, nationwide chains like McDonalds and Chipotle are becoming more flexible where possible and boosting wages. FacebookThe labor crunch comes even as more than 3.5 million Americans remain on traditional state unemployment and as job openings nationwide hit a record high of 9.3 million in April. And weekly new jobless claims surprised economists last week by rising, shattering six straight weeks of declines. Some economists have expressed hope that the labor market will tighten once the federal unemployment benefits program is ended. President Biden confirmed earlier this month that the program will cease in September. In the meantime, to try to recruit new workers, nationwide chains like McDonalds and Chipotle are becoming more flexible where possible and boosting wages. But with wages rising and supply costs also surging, some businesses are passing those extra costs on to customers, sending the prices of food and other goods up. | 0 |
###CLAIM: she toted a tan leather bag, her shirt tucked into her collar with a pair of green-lensed aviator sunglasses tucked in.
###DOCS: Ellen Degeneres appeared tense as she stepped out in her Montecito neighborhood. The 63-year-old daytime television host was spotted walking to her car on Saturday accompanied by her wife Portia de Rossi, 48. Ellen's uneasy demeanor comes after Rosie O'Donnell's recently commented on the controversy surrounding the end of The Ellen Degeneres Show. Uneasy: Ellen Degeneres appeared tense as she stepped out in her Montecito neighborhoodDegeneres donned a navy blue t-shirt, olive green pants and blue and green sneakers for the outing. She was also sporting a white baseball cap and a large silver watch. She was toting a tan leather bag and had tucked a pair of aviator sunglasses with green lenses into the collar of her shirt. The comedienne's face appeared strained as she carried a bottle of water to her new $180k Porsche. Portia was seen getting into the car wearing pink three-quarter sleeve blouse with her long wavy hair falling over her shoulders, while Ellen opened the door to her vehicle as she checked her iPhone. Tough: The comedienne's face appeared strained as she carried a bottle of water to her new $180k PorscheEllen checked her iPhone as she opened the door to her vehicle. By the early evening, the Louisiana native kicked back on a couch, that appeared to be in an outdoor patio, with three of the couple's pets and wrote, 'End of day Saturday relaxing' in the caption of two Instagram photos. On Wednesday, Rosie spoke out about Ellen's show concluding after 19 seasons. She suggested that the end of the talk show was 'complicated' amid claims that the comedienne had allowed a toxic workplace to develop. The 59-year-old actress and former talk show host opined on Sirius XMs The Jess Cagle Show that Ellen's departure was likely about more than the recent controversy. The former actress also recounted how she was labeled the 'Queen of Nice' while hosting The Rosie O'Donnell Show and how she came to be mocked for the title. More to it: Rosie O'Donnell, 59, said Wednesday on The Jess Cagle Show that Ellen Degeneres' departure from her talk show was more 'complicated' than being punishment for being the '"be kind" lady'Rosie said of Ellen ending her show: 'It was a lot of things, and it was complicated, and I'm glad that she's, you know, going to be finished and she can get some time to herself.' The conversation began when Cagle brought up Ellen's monologue from September's season premiere when she complained about being held to a higher standard because of her cheery demeanor on television. 'Being known as the "be kind" lady is a tricky position to be in. So let me give you some advice out there. If anybody is thinking of changing their title or giving yourself a nickname, do not go with the "be kind" lady. Dont do it,' she said at the time. Cagle said the statement reminded him of Rosie's eponymous talk show from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when critics dubbed her the 'Queen of Nice,' and wondered if it had similarly hurt her career. 'I don't think it was the "be kind" thing that got her,' Rosie said. 'I think that's an oversimplification. But it was a lot of things, and it was complicated, and I'm glad that she's, you know, going to be finished and she can get some time to herself.' High expectations: 'Being known as the "be kind" lady is a tricky position to be in,' Ellen, 63, said on her September season opener amid a toxic workplace scandal; seen in 2016 in HollywoodMore to the story: 'I don't think it was the "be kind" thing that got her,' Rosie said. 'I think that's an oversimplification'She suggested that the 63-year-old Finding Dory star might be tired of all the 'attention' she got for her popular talk show. 'It's a huge kind of strange thing to be on a show like that, and have all that attention on you,' she continued. 'And she had it for like 19 years. So, you know, it's a tough thing.' Ellen announced last month that her long-running talk show would end in 2022. 'The truth is, I always trust my instincts,' DeGeneres said when she shared the news on her show. 'My instinct told me it's time.' She also claimed to have chosen the end date two years earlier when she signed her final contract for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Time to herself: She suggested that the 63-year-old Finding Dory star might be tired of all the 'attention' she got for her popular talk showBad start: Rosie also remembered being labeled the 'Queen of Nice.' '[In] a couple of years, it's going to be the Queen of Lice, the Queen of Fried Rice, you know, the Queen of We Don't Like Her Anymore'Inspired by Ellen's monologue, Cagle wondered if the 'Queen of Nice' designation had harmed Rosie's own career. 'Not in the way that Ellen's talking about, I think,' she replied. 'But you know, I said the day it came out, "Look at this, the Queen of Nice. And [in] a couple of years, it's going to be the Queen of Lice, the Queen of Fried Rice, you know, the Queen of We Don't Like Her Anymore."' She added that other entertainers don't always know 'when enough is enough,' but she felt like The Rosie O'Donnell show ended at an ideal time, giving her a 'good balance.' 'And it's hard to maintain. It's hard to do, especially when you're doing a show like that,' she said. R&R: The Louisiana native relaxed after a busy day with three of the couple's pets Ellen DeGeneres appears to have Rosie ODonnell 's support when it comes to ending her longtime talk show. The former host of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" appeared on SiriusXMs " The Jess Cagle Show " on Wednesday where she weighed in on DeGeneres' highly-publicized exit following a toxic workplace scandal that saw the host being ripped by staffers and former guests. O'Donnell, who had her own talk show and is a former co-host of "The View," said she has an "understanding" of show business and "when enough is enough." "Oftentimes people don't know that. I think I have a good balance of both in my life, of the importance of both. And it's hard to maintain. It's hard to do, especially when you're doing a show like that," she said. ROSIE O'DONNELL DISHES ON 25-YEAR FRIENDSHIP WITH TOM CRUISE: 'HE NEVER HAS FORGOTTEN MY BIRTHDAY'O'Donnell revealed she believed DeGeneres' show motto "be kind" "bit her in the a--." Still, O'Donnell doesn't believe it's the phrase "that got her." "I think that's oversimplification," said the TV personality. "But it was a lot of things, and it was complicated, and I'm glad that she's, you know, going to be finished and she can get some time to herself." O'Donnell went on to describe jobs like her former positions and DeGeneres' current talk show gig as "kind of a strange thing to be on." ELLEN DEGENERES ALREADY LINING UP A-LISTERS FOR FINAL SHOWS IN 2022: REPORTReflecting on the attention the show has brought her for the past 19 years, O'Donnnell said "it's a tough thing." In the same interview, O'Donnell dished on her close friendship with actor Tom Cruise . Cruise made several appearances on O'Donnell's eponymous day time talk show which aired from 1996 to 2002 and saw O'Donnell speak about her love for the star. In the interview on Thursday, the actress and comedian raved about Cruise as "the only person who never misses my birthday" in her 25 years of knowing the actor, adding "he has never missed an event in my life." DeGeneres announced in May that " The Ellen DeGeneres Show ," will be coming to an end in 2022 after Season 19. Many questioned the timing of her announcement as it came nearly a year after she received widespread criticism from former staffers and guests for fostering and allowing a toxic workplace environment. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERShe vowed to "Today" that she was not quitting because of the scandal and further claimed she had "no idea" about the so-called hostile environment until reports surfaced in 2020. "If I was quitting I would not have come back this year. I really did think about not coming back. It was devastating. I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy. I just kept saying to Portia [de Rossi] if I was a fan of somebody and even if I wasn't, I would think there must be some truth to it because it's not stopping. Right on the heels of that, I read in the press that there was a toxic work environment. I had no idea. I never saw anything that would even point to that," she said. Guthrie asked if she felt as if she were "canceled" when more than a dozen current and former staffers spoke to alleged misconduct taking place at "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"I mean I really didn't understand it. I still don't understand it. I thought something was going on because it was too orchestrated. It was too coordinated. People get picked on but for four months straight for me. And then for me to read in the press about a toxic workplace environment when all I've ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is and what a happy place it is." | 2 |
###CLAIM: love a product that has been in use for weeks after noticing the softness, shiny and volumised following.
###DOCS: A $29 hair care product with nearly a month-long waitlist has taken the beauty world by storm after selling out three times since launching on Instagram. Australian brand Pump Haircare launched its Pump Soft Curl Gel in 2019 - and the cult product has since become a staple for women with curly hair. Founded by hairdresser Natasha Jay, more than 20,000 bottles were sold out in its first run, racking up a three week waiting list three times. The plant-based formula contains moisturising ingredients such as Aloe Vera to create definition and smooth frizz on both high and low porosity hair types. A $29 hair care product with nearly a month-long waitlist has taken the beauty world by storm after selling out three times since launching on InstagramThe plant-based formula contains moisturising ingredients such as Aloe Vera to create definition and smooth frizz on both high and low porosity hair typesThe cult product has been one of the five best sellers for the brand, known for its Curly Girl Method products. And it's not hard to see why the gel has become the must-have hair care product. Hundreds of women have been sharing their glowing reviews on social media, with many raving about the product for nourishing and de-tangling locks with ease. 'This stuff is the absolute best! Keep my curls (once upon a time, rats nest) frizz free for days,' one fan wrote. Hundreds of women have been sharing their glowing reviews on social media, with many raving about the product for nourishing and detangling locks with easeBeauty fan Jess said she was 'totally loving' the product after noticing her luscious hair was soft, shiny and volumised following weeks of using itAnother woman said: 'Love this product so much! My curls have never looked better. And a third added: 'I was very skeptical about your products. Tried them and I honestly cannot believe the results. Absolutely amazing I have recommended this to so many people. Love love love.' Beauty fan Jess said she was 'totally loving' the product after noticing her luscious hair was soft, shiny and volumised following weeks of using it. 'When I first went to apply this I couldn't stop smelling it. It has this light bubble gum scent that's fabulous (Being mega sensitive to scents it was honestly a refreshing smell over some products that leave me sneezing on a wash day),' she wrote. 'I wanted to give it a true test on how my hair responds to it so I have been using this gel as a one and done styler. I use between five to seven pumps on damp hair and then micro plop with the bamboo towel. 'This product did not leave me with any sort of hard crunchy cast to scrunch out once I was done diffusing. Just left me with super soft, shiny and volumised curls. I think it's definitely one I will be keeping in my product rotation.' The product is very easy to use - simple apply the formula to your hands and then directly onto your wet hair by scrunching or twisting for a more defined curl. A new serum that promises to brighten the face with a natural glow and leave skin looking years younger is making waves across Australia just hours after launching. Developed by homegrown skincare brand Alya Skin, a single pump of 'Supercharged Vitamin C Serum' claims to leave the complexion 'soft, smooth and supple' thanks to powerful anti-ageing ingredients like Kakadu plum and hyaluronic acid. The $39.99 serum - which can be ordered on the brand's website or picked up in Priceline stores Australia-wide - attracted an enormous waitlist of 56,000 people before hitting the market early Thursday morning. It's the latest creation from Alya Skin co-founders Manny Barbas and James Hachem, both 25, who famously made $7million in their first 14 months of trading with a $49.99 pink clay mask that was dubbed the 'world's best clay product' in 2019. This top-selling trio was later joined by a foaming micellar cleansing water and now, the vitamin-infused face serum. 'VIP' customers who have ordered from the brand more than three times were given a pre-sale link ahead of the launch, where they quickly snapped up $50,000 worth of the product. Applying just one drop to cleansed skin morning and night is said to tighten pores, reduce oiliness and wind the clock back on wrinkles, thanks to ingredients which have been shown to stimulate the production of collagen. Collagen is linked to a slew of health benefits including reduced wrinkles, stronger bones, brighter skin and smoother movement of joints, with a booming industry built on its back over the past five years. Bloggers and beauty experts are raving about the serum on Instagram, with some even claiming it has given them the confidence to go make-up free. Gold Coast makeup artist Jasmine Lei said she 'couldn't be happier' with the results after just a few days of using it. Another 'micro-influencer' from Sydney called it a 'game-changer' and said it has 'done wonders' for her skin. Micro-influencers are people who have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers on social media. They typically focus on a specific niche - like beauty, fitness or fashion - and are regarded as unofficial experts in their respective fields. It appears these women were gifted the serum free of charge ahead of Thursday's launch to promote the product online. An independent cosmetics reviewer from Nylon magazine also shared positive results, saying she woke up to 'bright and healthy' skin 'without redness' after applying the serum at night. 'It felt like magic,' she added. Bloggers and beauty experts are already raving about the serum on InstagramSpeaking to Daily Mail Australia in 2019, Alya Skin's co-founders revealed their ambitious goals for their fledgling brand. 'Expanding our Australian skincare line to 10-15 products globally is what we have dreamed of and that continues to be our main focus,' Mr Hachem said. The inspiration came after Mr Barbas noticed scores of pink face masks 'trending' on social media, much like teeth whitening kits had done the year before, and decided this was the market to be involved in. The duo spent seven months perfecting the formula - which contains aloe vera and pomegranate to calm acne-related inflammation and witch hazel to heal skin faster - before they sent the mask to 1,000 influencers, as they appear to have done with their latest product. Alya Skin uses 'micro-influencers' - people who have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers on social media - to promote is productsThe mask contains aloe vera and pomegranate to calm acne-related inflammation and witch hazel to heal skin faster (pictured: a before and after customer transformation)'Influencers were vital during the launch phase of our brand,' Mr Barbas said. 'We used nano and micro influencers, sending out to approximately 500 a week. 'Never underestimate the power of those with less than 5,000 followers. These days it's not all about large paid influencers.' Alya Skin's remarkable success stands testament to this claim, with Mr Barbas and Mr Hachem on track to make $20million by the end of 2020. | 2 |
###CLAIM: the post assumes on the basis of acting after ronny and jackson's departure from doctors in february 2019 who declared trump in very good health despite being medically obese.
###DOCS: Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician who is under fire for holding back information about the president's medical regimen, was 'hand-picked' for the job by predecessor Dr. Ronny Jackson. Conley has drawn sharp criticism for his weekend press conferences, undertaken outside Walter Reed medical center while the president undergoes treatment for COVID-19. He initially held back information about the president going on artificial oxygen, and has declined to disclose information about the state of the president's lungs. He also prescribed the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to the president as a preventive treatment for the coronavirus, and appears to have signed off on the president's short trip in an SUV outside of Walter Reed with agents in tow to waive to supporters despite having the coronavirus. Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, briefs reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. Conley was recommended for his post by predecessor Dr. Ronny JacksonHe stated Sunday when pressed about his optimistic statements about the president's health only later to reveal the president's blood oxydenation levels had twice dropped below normal. 'I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, over his course of illness,' Conley said. 'I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. And in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true.' Conley, 40, was elevated after assuming his post on an acting basis after the departure of Dr. Ronny Jackson, who in February 2019 declared Trump in 'very good health' despite being clinically obese. Trump tapped Jackson to run the Veterans Affairs Department, only to have the nomination blow up. Opon Jackson's departure, the longtime White House physician 'hand-picked' Conley to succeed him, NBC News reported. The director of White House operations recommended Conley get the job. He was then the senior doctor in the White HOuse medical unit. The promotion happened 'without proper vetting,' a member of the White House medical team told NBC. He received Navy training in emergency medicine, and spent six months at a military medical facility in Afghanistan. During his residency, he won the 'Nurse's Choice Award,' the Washington Post reported. Conley accompanied President Trump on his November 2019 unscheduled trip to Walter Reed. Conley, a Navy commander, issued a statement saying the visit was 'for a routine, planned interim checkup.' He said Trump had not had any chest pain, 'nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues' but provided little information about the visit, prompting questions about whether the president had experienced a serious event. Conley did not provide any medical briefing for the press on Friday, after the early morning revelation that Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. When he did speak on Saturday, he repeatedly dodged questions about whether the president had been given oxygen, saying: 'He's not on oxygen right now.' It was only on Sunday that he revealed there were two instances when Trump's oxygenation levels dropped below 94 per cent, which is below the normal level of above 95. On Saturday, he stated: Yesterday and today he was not on oxygen.' But on Sunday he said Trump had in fact been on oxygen Friday morning, when he said the level was 'transiently dipping below 94 per cent.' Conley refused to provide specifics when asked about the president's x-rays, scans, and pneumonia. 'We're tracking all of that. There are some expected findings but nothing of any major clinical concern,' he said. Earlier this year, Conley prescribed hydroxychloroquine for Trump. It is an anti-malarial drug that has been studied for possible benefits for people who have the coronavirus, but several studies have shown it does not have value. Conley also appears to have cleared Trump's 'joy-ride' to greet supporters outside Walter Reed, despite the president having the coronavirus. 'The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do,' said White House spokesman Judd Deere Sunday. Jackson, who is now a Republican congressional candidate in Texas and an ardent defender of the president, also suggested Friday that Trumps positive Covid-19 test was a result of him leading by example amid the pandemic. The president, hes led by example. And part of leading by example is hes had to get out and hes had to interact with folks, Jackson said, insisting the White House has been doing a good job protecting Trump. Hes had to continue being president, Jackson said. And he hasnt been boxed up or, you know, cooped up in the White House and campaigning from, you know, from within White House. And I think that, you know, thats been necessary.In recent months, Jackson has issued dubious public health advice related to the pandemic that often breaks with the guidance put forth by experts within Trumps own administration. Jackson revealed in July that he does not wear a mask all that often and called mask-wearing a personal choice. Those remarks undermined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who had mandated that most of his states residents wear a mask in public. The presidents former physician came to public prominence in 2018 when Trump tapped him to become secretary of Veterans Affairs. But his nomination was derailed by controversy after Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) released allegations that Jackson had overprescribed pills and drank on the job. The White House eventually withdrew its nomination, even as Trump continued his forceful defense of the doctor, and Jackson later departed the White House medical unit. | 2 |
###CLAIM: mitt romney is a senator from utah, adding, "i suggest to anyone who believes this legislation will change china's march towards global hegemony of autocracy and repression that we must work a lot harder. "
###DOCS: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday greenlighted sweeping legislation to push back on China on a number of issues, including human rights and economic competition. The 21-1 panel vote sends The Strategic Competition Act to the floor for a full chamber vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) cast the lone vote opposing the legislation. There has been no shortage of discussion in recent years about the need to reimagine our nations competitive posture towards China. There has, however, been a lack of results until today. With this overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Strategic Competition Act becomes the first of what we hope will be a cascade of legislative activity for our nation to finally meet the China challenge across every dimension of power, political, diplomatic, economic, innovation, military and even cultural, said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the Foreign Relations chair. From the beginning, I have said that any China legislation needs to be strong, actionable, and truly bipartisan. I believe the package we passed out of committee today meets those criteria, added Sen. Jim Risch (Idaho), the committees top Republican. The bill would implement a slew of investments, including $655 million in Foreign Military Financing funding for the Indo-Pacific region and $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative. It also expands the powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which analyzes international financial transactions in an effort to pick up on any national security risks. The legislation also designates $10 million for the State Department to promote democracy in Hong Kong and includes several measures to boost the defense capabilities of Taiwan. The legislations passage comes as the relationship between Washington and Beijing grows increasingly strained. The U.S. has lambasted China over cyber attacks and intellectual property theft, human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang Province and crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Washington earlier this month also issued new guidance on for government talks with Taiwan. China considers the autonomous island to be its sovereign territory and has increased its military activity in the Taiwan Strait and through Taiwans air defense ID zone, a development the Biden administration said this week it is monitoring. Lawmakers touted the bipartisan nature of the vote Wednesday but maintained the bill alone is insufficient to significantly alter Chinas behavior. I dont believe anyone would think that this legislation is going to change Chinas march toward a global hegemony of autocracy and repression, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), adding I would suggest we have a lot more work to do. | 0 |
###CLAIM: he scored perfect scores in all three specialist subjects and general knowledge in his semi-final round, seeing him through to become the youngest champion ever since the show began in 1972, beating gavin and fuller 's previous record of 1993.
###DOCS: He is the youngest ever winner of Mastermind, who charmed the nation the morning after his win was broadcast by bursting into song on breakfast television. But Jonathan Gibson describes himself as the history-loving black sheep of a family of lawyers and insists that the secret to quizzing lies in practice, not brain power. I wouldnt say that it really has anything to do with intelligence in a classical way. Its about curiosity and just continuing to do quizzes whenever you can, says the 24-year-old, who was crowned as Mastermind champion 2021 on the last ever episode to be hosted by John Humphrys. The student, who is studying a PhD in modern history at the University of St Andrews, won by four points in the grand final scoring a perfect 11/11 in his specialist subject on comedy songwriting duo Flanders and Swann. Having grown up listening to the duos songs, which his father played to him on car journeys, he welcomed the prospect of a revival of interest in the work of the stars, who had their heyday in the 1950s and 60s. I love the idea of more people rediscovering them to be honest and if thats a consequence of winning Mastermind then that would be great, says Gibson, whose delivery of a classic Flanders and Swann song after an impromptu invitation on to BBC Breakfast has helped seal his persona as one of the more memorable Mastermind champions of recent times. Reflecting at home in Glasgow on a surreal aftermath to the final, he says: The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive but the best bit really has been hearing from people who I havent seen or heard from for a while but who have been getting in touch to say: Well done.24 year old Jonathan Gibson is the youngest Mastermind Champion, after a perfect score in his specialist subject , the comedy song-writing duo Flanders and Swann. He gave #BBCBreakfast a little rendition of one of his favourites.https://t.co/8CzhbjnsOh pic.twitter.com/zWrwcUVklg BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) April 27, 2021He was also taking satisfaction from sharing his success with what he described as the wider quizzing community, which has grown after more people took part in Zoom contests, though Gibsons involvement long predates its expansion. I cant remember a time when I did not love quizzing as a pastime, Gibson says. Watching The Weakest Link and shouting out the answers was part of growing up. But I do also think of when I was in senior school and took part in a tournament that was based on the rules of University Challenge and which I did for about six years running. I remember doing it and realising that this was something I was unusually good at. Asked if he had any regrets, he says there was a question about Greek letters. If I was to have had 10 seconds to think about it I am pretty confident I would have got it but when you are in the chair you have to build up a rhythm, so you sort of end up answering with the first thing that comes into your head.Before the final, the students other specialist subjects throughout the competition were Agatha Christies Poirot in the heat and, in the semi-final, William Pitt the Younger. He scored perfect scores on all three specialist subjects, as well as a perfect general knowledge score in his semi-final round, seeing him through to becoming the competitions youngest-ever champion since the show began in 1972, a record previously held by Gavin Fuller in 1993. He was planning to reimmerse himself in his first love of history as soon as he could turn off his phone on Tuesday, looking forward to finishing off a chapter on his PhD thesis about the the rhetorical trope of plain speaking and its particular relevance to the language of Cromwellian politics. | 0 |
###CLAIM: choose your bloober/team plan to make pc's and products available: open the door to subversion.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareThe Medium Developed by: Bloober Team Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Published by: Bloober Team Available on: PC, Xbox Series X/S A cliche can supercharge a story if it opens the door for its own subversion. That was my thought when I finished The Medium, a game which begins with a woman uttering the portentous words, It all starts with a dead girl, as she describes a recurring dream she has had since childhood. In it, a man chases a girl through a wooded area to a pier where he shoots her with a pistol. The first time I watched the scene play out, I thought of other stories that revolve around dead girls: Twin Peaks, The Virgin Suicides, the two True Detective seasons worth watching, etc., not to mention the articles Ive glanced at that have examined the trope in YA fiction. Skeptical of such a setup, I was gratified to see how the tale of the murdered dream girl ends up running aground on the shore of reality. Set in Krakow in 1999, The Medium tells the story of Marianne, a woman who can communicate with spirits and travel between the lands of the living and the dead. We are introduced to her during a low point in her life on the day she visits the funeral home which, until recently, was owned by her beloved foster father Jack. She is there to pin a tie on his corpse. But just as she completes her task in the mortuary, the lights in the room start flickering. Tracking the disturbance upstairs, Marianne hears the door of Jacks office shut and a sharp sound ring out from inside. Stepping into the office, she finds shards of pottery scattered on the floor, and her reality splits in two. On the left side of the screen is the Marianne weve been following to this point; on the right, in a twilit world, is Mariannes spirit self. On one side, we see a brunette-haired Marianne talking to herself in Jacks office while on the other we see a white-haired Marianne addressing Jacks spirit, sporting a marble death mask, as he frantically searches for a notebook. Shaken, but self-possessed, Marianne helps Jack to understand that the notebook he is looking for is unimportant and its all right for him to pass over to the other side. AdvertisementFollowing Jacks departure Marianne finds herself whole again and in his old office when the phone rings. Upon answering she is greeted by an unknown man. Radiating tension, he introduces himself as Thomas and tells her that he knows about the dream that has plagued her throughout her life. At a loss for time, he entreats her to meet him at the Niwa Resort where he promises answers to her questions. Heeding her instincts, Marianne decides to go to the Niwa, an abandoned, government-run resort intended to showcase the triumphs of twentieth-century communism a workers playground if you will. As she approaches the building she is unsettled by its aura. Her subsequent exploration of it, as well as its vast underground structure, uncovers a tangled history e.g. parts of the facility were once used by the Nazis. As players explore the Niwa and its environs, Mariannes reality will fracture when she comes across areas haunted by traumatized spirits she can help, or a malignant spirit who means her harm. During these moments, players will have to pay attention to both the material and the spirit world to solve puzzles or escape from danger, as different clues appear in each. In the spirit world, Marianne can draw energy from departed souls which she can use to cloak herself in a shield to ward off flying adversaries known as spirit moths. She can also use a spirit blast to defend herself against a more formidable enemy whose identity isnt revealed until late in the game. Things affected in one world have repercussions in the other. Often, real-world Marianne will come across devices that lack electrical power. To remedy such issues shell have to hunt around for the spirit-world counterpart to, say, an elevator or a fuse box which can be activated with a spirit blast. Moreover, while straddling both worlds, Marianne will sometimes come across a passageway that is blocked in the material world but unobstructed in the spirit world. With the press of a button, she can leave her material incarnation to explore areas that are otherwise cut off from her real-world self. I loved the way these mechanics worked together to create an unusually dynamic adventure. The real strength of The Medium is the novel way it uses split-screen gameplay to tell a single-player story. Numerous video games have used split-screens for multiplayer in the past, but The Medium is the first one I know of which extensively uses the technique for a single-player tale. Scenes are split along vertical and horizontal axes and it's not unusual for the separate halves to focus on different facets of their corresponding environments. As a result, The Medium is a game with a rich visual vocabulary. This style reinforces the idea that the game can be read as a parable for a land soaked in history. After all, anyone who has walked through an old city has probably entertained thoughts of what it was like to pass through the area in bygone days and Marianne is a vessel for a past that refuses to stay mum. AdvertisementAlthough The Medium is billed as a psychological horror game, I found it to be consistently unsettling rather than scary. There is a vengeful monster that Marianne must deal with intermittently, but except for one breathtaking scene where he chases her through different realities resulting in shifts in perspective that strike like tidal waves I didnt think much of him. Nothing robs a creepy game of its power as forcing a player to confront the same monster too many times so, thankfully, the monster encounters are nicely spread out. The Medium might not have the most nightmarish adversary but its blanketing, foreboding atmosphere and uncompromising ending amply makes up for it. Christopher Byrd is a Brooklyn-based writer. His work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @Chris_Byrd. Recent game reviews:GiftOutline Gift Article | 1 |
###CLAIM: wilkinson's superior said in the memo sent on september 11, 2017 that the duty was not adequately performed because the sterns case was a very serious one.
###DOCS: The Biden administrations acting attorney general, a longtime career official named Monty Wilkinson, took part in a controversial 2017 decision to remove a justice department (DoJ) lawyer in Texas who had raised concerns about migrant children who were being separated from their parents. Emails seen by the Guardian show that Wilkinson, who is expected to serve as acting attorney general until Judge Merrick Garland is formally confirmed by the Senate, worked with another longtime career official, Iris Lan, in reviewing complaints about Joshua Stern, a prosecutor who had told colleagues he was disturbed by the Trump administrations separation policy. The policy ultimately led to the separation of about 1,550 children from their parents, hundreds of whom have still not been reunited, although Joe Biden has said he would make that one of his top priorities. Stern, who is no longer employed by the DoJ, was ultimately removed from his post as a temporary detailee, two weeks after senior officials in Texas raised concerns about him to officials in Washington DC, including Wilkinson. Wilkinson, who Biden chose to serve as acting attorney general until Garland is confirmed, had been overseeing human resources, security planning and the library at the justice department before he was elevated to serve as acting attorney general. A recent report in the New York Times suggested that Wilkinson was a trusted longtime official, and that his low profile all but guaranteed that he was not involved in any of the myriad scandals that defined the justice department under Donald Trump and the former attorney general Bill Barr. But a report published by the Guardian in September 2020 revealed that Wilkinson was one of several career officials who reviewed complaints that ultimately led to the removal of Stern from the western district of Texas in 2017. The report was focused on the role a senior justice department official, Iris Lan, played in reviewing those complaints. Lan had been nominated to serve in a lifetime appointment as a federal judge, but the nomination was never taken up in the Senate after a number of immigrant rights groups raised concerns about Lan following publication of the Guardians article. It is not clear whether Wilkinson or Lan privately supported or criticized the administrations child separation policy when they heard about Sterns concerns. At the time of the controversy, Wilkinson was working as director of the executive office for US attorneys, a role that he had been appointed to by Eric Holder, the former attorney general for Barack Obama. Emails seen by the Guardian show that a DoJ official in Texas named Jose Gonzalez sent a memo to the then acting US attorney for the western district, Richard Durbin, in September 2017 in which he outlined concerns about Stern, including complaints that Stern was particularly disturbed by cases in which defendants could not locate their children. The western district, in El Paso, was at the time involved in a pilot program to criminally prosecute migrants who were entering the country illegally, which in turn led to people being separated from their children, sometimes indefinitely. The policy was later expanded to include all border states, but was ended following an outcry in Congress and in the press, when stories about migrant children being separated began to become known. Stern had been sent to Texas to help deal with a significant influx in migrant cases. But emails show that he was deeply concerned and alarmed about the children who were separated, and told prosecutors that the parents who were being prosecuted were often fleeing violence in their home countries. He also told superiors in Texas that he had been contacting agencies to try to help locate missing children. The memo detailing what was seen as Sterns insubordination was forwarded by Durbin to Lan, who told Lan that he did not believe Stern was fully committed to the program. Durbin was seeking to release Stern from the detailee program early. Lan, in turn, said she was not sure about the usual protocol, and said she wanted to share the memo with Wilkinson to get his take before we proceed. Wilkinson then responded to Lan and Durbin saying that he and Durbin had talked and that Durbin was going to send more specific examples. Stern was sent a termination letter that ended his posting on 20 September 2017, two weeks after concerns were first raised with Lan and, later, Wilkinson. Stern has not responded to questions by the Guardian. A spokesperson for the DoJ said in a statement: The department cannot comment on specific personnel matters. Regarding the process for detail assignments from components to US Attorneys Offices, the decision on whether to continue a detail is between the lending and receiving components. EOUSA plays an administrative role related to the associated paperwork but does not make decisions on assignments.It did not provide further comment on who did make the decision. A DoJ spokeswoman under the Trump administration said, in response to questions for the previous Guardian article on the matter, that Lan had received the memo about Stern because of her role as a liaison to US attorneys and did not handle personnel matters. She routed it, consistent with her role, she said. A recent report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Justice closely examined the role some officials at the department played in Trumps separation policy. It said department leadership knew the policy would result in children being separated from their families and that the former US attorney general Jeff Sessions demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children. We concluded that the Departments single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations, the report said. | 0 |
###CLAIM: not expected that the biden administration will rethink the triad that has been the us nuclear orthodoxy since the early cold war.
###DOCS: The US is building a new $100bn nuclear missile based on a set of flawed and outdated assumptions, a new report by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) will say. The report, due to be published next week, will argue the planned ground-based strategic deterrent (GBSD) is being driven by intense industry lobbying and politicians from states that will benefit most from it economically, rather than a clear assessment of the purpose of the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is becoming increasingly clear that there has not been a serious consideration of what role these cold war-era weapons are supposed to play in a post-cold war security environment, the FAS report, titled Siloed Thinking, will say. According to the FAS, a non-partisan thinktank, the US Air Force price tag for the new GBSD was deliberately framed in such a way as to appear slightly less than the cost of extending the life of the missile it would be replacing, the Minuteman III. An independent assessment by the Rand corporation at about the same time, suggested the cost of a totally new weapon could cost two to three times more. An effort by Congress to mandate an independent study on the comparative costs was blocked in 2019 with the help of the industry lobby. The current estimate is that the basic acquisition costs of the GBSD will be $100bn, while the total cost of building, operating and maintaining it over its projected lifespan to 2075 is projected as $264bn. The report is being published as the Biden administration is preparing its first defence budget which may reveal its intentions towards the GBSD, which is in its early stages. In September 2020, Northrop Grumman was awarded an uncontested bid for the $13.3bn engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the project, just over a year after its only rival, Boeing, pulled out of the race, complaining of a rigged competition. It said Northrop Grummans purchase of one of the two companies in the US making solid fuel rocket motors gave it an unfair advantage. There are currently 400 Minuteman missiles spread over five states: Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming. Many arms control advocates argue that rather than being replaced, they should be phased out entirely on grounds of their vulnerability and consequent instability. A US president would have less than half an hour to decide whether to use the missiles in the event of a surprise attack from Russia (the only country with an arsenal big enough to carry out such an attack), or risk losing them altogether to incoming enemy missiles. The decision would have to be made on the basis of early warning systems, which could potentially be faulty or hacked. Deciding to launch US ICBMs under these conditions would be the most impactful decision in human history, the report said. Supporters of the GBSD argue against greater reliance on the sea-launched Trident missiles, which they say will be hostage to advances in anti-submarine warfare. It doesnt make sense to rely over the long term on the fact that the seas will forever be opaque, Tim Morrison, a former White House adviser to Donald Trump on Russia and nuclear weapons, now at the Hudson Institute. Our adversaries understand how much of our deterrence is based on our submarines and we can bet that they are seeking to make those submarines vulnerable. I see no reason why the US would put more eggs in that basket by eliminating the cheapest, most responsive leg of our triad.The FAS report will argue the opposite that the survivability of the US submarine force, which carries 55% of the total nuclear arsenal, is unlikely to change, even decades into the future. Some critics argue for a pause in the GBSD build-up, delaying the scheduled boost in funding while the new administration conducts a nuclear posture review. While a pause is possible, the Biden administration is not expected to rethink the triad, which has been US nuclear orthodoxy since early in the cold war. I think they are going to make the wrong decision, former defence secretary William Perry told the Guardian. These arguments in favour of maintaining the triad have been so ground into us through the years its very unlikely they will find a way of rising above that.A study published by the Centre for International Policy on Tuesday said Northrop Grumman and its top subcontractors spent over $119m on lobbying in 2019 and 2020 alone and employed a total of 410 lobbyists including many former officials. The rising military power of China is being increasingly cited by GBSD supporters as a rationale for building the new weapon. When Democratic congressman Ro Khanna suggested an amendment last July for using $1bn of GBSD seed money to help combat the Covid pandemic, Republican Liz Cheney, whose home state of Wyoming hosts the Minuteman complex at the Warren air force base, came close to accusing him of being a Chinese stooge. I dont think the Chinese government, frankly, could imagine in their wildest dreams that they would have been able to get a member of the US Congress to propose, in response to the pandemic, that we ought to cut a billion dollars out of our nuclear forces, Cheney said. The FAS currently estimates the Chinese arsenal at 320 warheads, compared to the 3,800 the US has deployed and in the reserve stockpile. The Siloed Thinking report will argue that Americas ICBMs are irrelevant to deterring China because any launch from the Great Plains and over the Arctic could be interpreted by Moscow as an attack on Russia and would therefore risk widening an already catastrophic conflict. Overall, the Air Forces ... recommendation to pursue a brand-new missile was based upon a series of flawed assumptions about how GBSD would address perceived capability gaps, maintain the health of the large solid rocket motor industrial base ... and most importantly be cheaper than the cost of a Minuteman life-extension, the Siloed Thinking report will say. In hindsight, and upon further scrutiny, all of these assumptions appear to have either been exaggerated or de-prioritized, the report will conclude, calling for a thorough re-evaluation. | 0 |
###CLAIM: a senate panel on saturday acquitted former president donald trump of charges of inciting rioting in the capitol on january 6.
###DOCS: Senate lawmakers acquitted former President Donald Trump for a second time Saturday, marking the end of a five-year campaign by Democrats to achieve the top item on their agenda before, during, and after Trumps one-term presidency. The weekend vote acquitted Trump on charges of incitement of insurrection, passed by the lower-chamber last month in a snap impeachment featuring no hearings and no witnesses, exactly one week after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Ultimately seven Republicans joined with 48 Senate Democrats and two Independents in voting to impeach Trump, bringing the final tally to 57-43, ten votes short of the 67 needed to convict. Trumps second acquittal by the Senate comes almost exactly a year after the upper chamber dismissed two articles passed by Democrats in a soap opera show trial over charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice. This years impeachment, pursued by Democrats even after the president left office, focused on the January riot at the Capitol that featured a horde of Trump supporters interfering with congressional certification of the electoral college vote. Democrats in the House were joined by 10 Republicans in their impeachment vote over Trumps alleged incitement, despite the former presidents explicit call for his supporters to protest peacefully before the riot. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard, Trump told his supporters gathered near the White House. Today we will see whether Republicans stand strong for integrity of our elections.We fight like hell. And if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, the former president said in the same speech. A timeline of events compiled by the New York Times determined rioters launched their assault on the Capitol a full 20 minutes before Trump even finished speaking that day. Nevertheless a handful of Republican lawmakers, led by Liz Cheney of Wyoming, joined the Democrat impeachment effort, which would have barred Trump from ever holding public office again. Cheneys vote provoked backlash on two fronts, with Republicans in Congress and voters at home. Cheneys statements were frequently quoted by Democrats and their progressive allies in legacy media, even being prominently featured at the top of House Democrat impeachment manager Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskins closing argument. The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack, Cheney claimed of the Capitol riots. Everything that followed was his doing.While last years impeachment trial lasted several weeks, this years lasted only several days, opening on Tuesday and concluding with a Saturday vote just before 4:00 p.m. Earlier that morning, the trial threatened to go longer as confusion gripped the upper chamber over whether there would be witnesses.The Democrat impeachment managers won a procedural vote offering the green light to bring witnesses forward, and then proceeded straight to closing arguments. Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whose vote on impeachment remained unclear, announced to colleagues Saturday morning he would vote for acquittal, one day after Trumps lawyers made their case. Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. | 0 |
###CLAIM: does it add much value to the exhibitors to have people coming because of education, not because of buying.
###DOCS: 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesTrade shows and conventions pretty much stopped with the Covid-19 pandemic. Many organizations tried virtual meetings, but attendee engagement was generally inferior compared to the old live events. Yet reports are coming in that many companies sales were unaffected by their absence from trade shows. The companies saved the money that previously had been spent on sponsorships, booths, collateral material, travel and hotels. Does this experience mean that trade shows will die off once the pandemic is over? (Thanks to Edward Leigh of the Center for Healthcare Communication for raising this question.) Companies, like bicyclists, can coast now and then, especially if they have good momentum and especially if their competition also coasts. However, when competitors start pedaling again (or peddling), companies that ignore trade shows will fall behind. The benefits of exhibiting will help trade shows and conventions to resume, though with some changes. Trade show participation drives sales in three ways: continued sales to existing customers, sales to new buyers dissatisfied with their current providers and buyers attracted to a new offering. (Consumer-focused shows are different, as discussed below.) For many good sales programs, the booth on the trade show floor is minor compared to the one-on-one appointments made to existing customers who attend the show. Zoom calls work best when complemented by periodic face-to-face meetings. The industry convention is a great place to set up multiple client meetings. Travel, hotel and entertainment is fairly cheap when a large number of meetings are held in a short time span. Companies may dial down attendance and sponsorship at conventions that are less important to them, but the trade shows with significant numbers of clients will still be valuable. A small number of the people walking through the trade shows will be dissatisfied with their current suppliers. In fact, that may be a reason for attendance. A potential new provider wont even notice they didnt get the business because they did not show up at the trade show. Over time, however, picking up new business is vital, as a loss of some existing clients is inevitable. Finally, trade shows are a great way to show off new products, including new variants of old products. Potential buyers may not be aware that the new products exist, they may not understand them, or they may not have been motivated to learn how the new products would benefit them. This is especially true for companies that sell their products through intermediaries (such as wholesalers or manufacturers representatives) and seldom get to meet their end users. Business-to-business sales can survive a year or two without trade show exposure, but the value of increased sales will eventually win out relative to costs savings. Waiting until travel fully returns to normal sounds reasonable, but marketers should weigh the cost savings against the benefit from being one of only a few businesses selling your particular products at a show. So the exhibitors will want to return, but will the attendees? Certainly those who are spending a good bit of money will want to attend in order to ensure they are getting the best products for their companies. Educational sessions may be less important now that people are used to webinars. Meetings that are primarily educational, rather than trade shows, will be more often virtual. However, the networking advantages of in-person meetings are strong. Many associations will have one or two large meetings a year, with education in between conducted virtually. Trade show producers may want to consider that those who have been coming because of the education, and not because they are buyers, dont add much value to the exhibitors. Their registration fees, though, help pay the overall cost of putting on the show. Old practices to encourage attendees to stop by booths, such as raffles based on dropping business cards off, flooded exhibitors with contacts that were not truly interested in buying. A goldfish bowl of uninterested contacts may not be worth following up with. The changes in trade show environments make this an ideal time for exhibitors to up their game. Many companies set up booths but dont show themselves very well, with salespeople sitting down while staring at their phones instead of greeting passers-by. Some of the sales people who do speak to people havent given much thought to what they want to pitch. And many companies miss the opportunity to set up one-on-one meetings with their clients who will be present. Consumer shows will likely thrive as soon as people can mingle again. Most of the products displayed, such as weddings, boats and home improvements, are not frequent purchases. Consumers who attend the shows want to see multiple products and services offered and will likely not bother with those businesses that are absent. The depths of a downturnwhether a traditional recession or a pandemicmay lead to pessimism about our long-term future. For trade shows, however, they perform a valuable function for businesses, which will lead shows to rebound once social distancing can be less severe. | 1 |
###CLAIM: fathers ' day celebration victims in new jersey say they were passing on a shoulder when two vehicles tried to overtake them.
###DOCS: A video shows a man smashing a windshield with a baseball bat after reportedly getting into a traffic collision, it was reported Tuesday. The father, who asked to remain unidentified, was driving on the Staten Island Expressway with his two boys when he reportedly became involved in a collision, according to NBC New York. After stopping, the other driver proceeded to smash the victims windshield with a baseball bat. The father sat in the vehicle with his children, where he caught this on video. It was not immediately clear from the video footage what preceded the man smashing the car windshield. The victim wrote on his Facebook page, as reported by NBC New York, While I stood there and told him to back the fuck off me and that I have kids in the truck and Im not doing this his friends also exited the second vehicle and came at me as well.One of the victims sons can be heard in the video exclaiming, Hes going to hit us, right before the man proceeded to smash the vehicles windshield with a baseball bat. The victim said that he was on his way to celebrate Fathers Day in New Jersey when two vehicles tried to pass him on the shoulder, according to NBC New York. The father added that in an attempt to avoid hitting a construction cone, he believes one of the vehicles sideswiped the his car. Police told NBC New York that after smashing the victims windshield, the attacker fled the scene in a vehicle that was uninvolved in the crash. This incident happened around 7 p.m. on Friday. Police are still searching for the assailant and the two vehicles involved. The victim said, I fear that this individual could do it to somebody else. A Bronx driver used his fist to settle a traffic dispute with an elderly man in a road rage incident that was caught on camera. The suspect could be seen arguing with a 72-year-old as both drivers stood next to their vehicles in Morris Heights on April 24, according to police. The pugnacious perp then cold-cocked the man in the head, video of the incident shows. Police are still investigating the Bronx crime. NYPDHe fled the Jerome Avenue and Featherbed Lane scene and left the victim with a laceration, police said. The injured driver was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital following the afternoon incident, according to the NYPD. The incident remained under investigation Tuesday. | 2 |
###CLAIM: the couple, nicknamed dim and tomic for their initially disjointed get-togethers, have the same circle of friends.
###DOCS: Bernard Tomic's new girlfriend, model Vanessa Sierra, has revealed it was the tennis star's idea to shoot scenes for her raunchy OnlyFans account - not hers. On Monday, the 25-year-old former Love Island star spoke to The Kyle and Jackie O Show about the sportsman's foray into the world of subscription-based adult 'content'. 'It was his idea. It wasn't me convincing him,' Vanessa said, adding. 'He just decided to hop on my OnlyFans yesterday [Sunday].' New career: Bernard Tomic's new girlfriend, model Vanessa Sierra, has revealed it was the tennis star's idea to shoot scenes for her raunchy OnlyFans account - not hersRadio host Kyle Sandilands asked if the pair had filmed themselves having sex, which Vanessa denied. On Sunday, Bernard made his debut on the adult website alongside the brunette bombshell, which she promoted on Instagram Stories. In the photo, Vanessa lay on the floor in skimpy underwear, while a shirtless Bernard crouched behind her and softly bit her buttocks. Explicit: On Monday, the 25-year-old former Love Island star spoke to The Kyle and Jackie O Show about the sportsman's foray into the world of subscription-based adult 'content'Vanessa said of their romance: 'We've been chatting with each other for a little while. I just kept it off social media.' She added that the couple - who have been nicknamed 'Dim and Tomic' - have the same circle of friends and initially did not get along with each other. 'I thought, "athlete player," I'm not interested. I don't want a bar of it,' she said. Spilling the beans: 'It was his idea. It wasn't me convincing him,' Vanessa said, adding. 'He just decided to hop on my OnlyFans yesterday [Sunday]'She explained the pair ended up getting along after he made the first move. They shared their first kiss in his Bentley, Vanessa said. The reality star also confirmed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show that Bernard had recently said he was in love with her after just two months of dating. That was quick! The reality star also confirmed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show that Bernard had recently said he was in love with her after just two months of datingElsewhere, Vanessa revealed that her boyfriend was back training ahead of a tennis comeback. 'He trains every day. He's going to start playing again next year,' she said. Vanessa is one of the top content creators on Only Fans. 'He's going to start playing again next year': Elsewhere, Vanessa revealed that her boyfriend was back training ahead of a tennis comeback. Pictured: Bernard on January 14 in MelbourneThe couple debuted their romance on Thursday, when Vanessa shared a clip to Instagram Stories of the controversial tennis ace kissing her on the cheek. In the caption, she hinted that she may already be pregnant, referring to Bernard as her 'baby daddy'. She clarified on the radio on Monday morning that she wasn't pregnant. Steamy: The couple debuted their romance on Thursday. At the time, Vanessa hinted that she may already be pregnant, referring to Bernard as her 'baby daddy'It's believed the lovebirds are spending time together on the Gold Coast. Vanessa's relationship with Bernard came as quite a surprise to fans, as she was in an on-and-off relationship with YouTuber Luke Erwin until only recently. The exes had launched a joint OnlyFans account earlier this year. Before their split, they were among the top 0.01 per cent of creators on the platform. Bernard Tomic went Instagram official with his new girlfriend, OnlyFans and Love Island star, Vanessa Sierra, last week. On Sunday, the Tennis bad boy, 28, debuted his first video for the adult video platform, advertising the clip in a racy Instagram Stories post shared by Vanessa, 25. In the photo, Vanessa lays on the floor in skimpy underwear, while a shirtless Bernard lays behind her, softly biting her bare buttock. Racy: Bernard Tomic and new girlfriend, Love Island star Vanessa Sierra (both pictured), debuted their first video for the adult video platform OnlyFans on Sunday. In an Instagram photo advertising the clip, Vanessa lays on the floor in skimpy underwear, while a shirtless Bernard lays behind her, softly biting her bare buttockVanessa captioned the image: 'Oops I convinced Tomic to do something bad. Swipe up to see the video, sorry mum'. The 'swipe up' link goes to Vanessa's OnlyFans page, where fans can access the video from $3 for 30 days access. The former reality star is a top content creator on the adult subscription site. Bernard and Vanessa also cuddled up in a short Instagram Stories video, with Vanessa making smooching motions towards her new man. Another post shared to Instagram on Sunday showed Vanessa making a sultry expression as she posed in a bikini and pressed against the shirtless athlete. Vanessa captioned the image: 'Oops I convinced Tomic to do something bad. Swipe up to see the video, sorry mum'Kissy kissy: Bernard and Vanessa also cuddled up in a short Instagram Stories video, with Vanessa making smooching motions towards her new manIn the caption, Vanessa hinted that she may already be pregnant, referring to the tennis champ as her 'Baby daddy'. The new couple debuted their romance on Thursday, when Vanessa shared a clip of the controversial player giving her a kiss on the cheek on her Instagram Stories. As the two looked at the camera, Bernard planted multiple kisses on Vanessa while she grinned widely beside him. Hints: Another post shared to Instagram on Sunday showed Vanessa making a sultry expression as she posed in a bikini and pressed against the shirtless athlete. Vanessa hinted that she is pregnant in the caption, calling Bernard her 'Baby Daddy'Together: It's believed the duo are spending time together on the Gold CoastIt's believed the duo are spending time together on the Gold Coast. Vanessa's relationship with Bernard comes as quite a surprise to fans, as she was in an on/off relationship with Luke Erwin until only recently. The pair launched their X-rated OnlyFans page to create content as a couple earlier in the year - and before their split, they were among the top 0.01 per cent of creators on the platform. They briefly broke up back in July, after Vanessa confirmed she had been unfaithful in their relationship. Loved up: The new couple debuted their romance on Thursday, when Vanessa shared a picture of the controversial player giving her a kiss on the cheek on her Instagram storiesHowever, it appeared they had rekindled their romance in August. But on Thursday, Vanessa posted a screenshot confirming that she and Luke had split at least a month ago. 'RE: Luke,' the post read. 'We are not together.' Vanessa starred on the second season of Love Island Australia. Despite having a brief fling with Matt Zukowski, she failed to find long-term love on the match-making show. All over: Vanessa's relationship with Bernard comes as quite a surprise to fans, as she was in an on/off relationship with Luke Erwin (right) until only recentlyThey're through! Vanessa shared evidence that she and Luke had split at least four weeks agoSaucy! Vanessa and her ex had launched their Onlyfans page to create content as a couple - and before their split, they were among the top 0.01 per cent of creators on the platformAnd she isn't the first reality star Bernard has been linked to. Earlier in the year, the sportsman was said to have been seeing Bachelor reject Kaitlyn Hoppe, 26. But the blonde starlet confirmed in September that she was no longer in contact with the former world No. 17, telling The Daily Telegraph their 'friendship is definitely over' after a blazing public row on the Gold Coast. 'I do wish him the best and I hope he finds his way and surrounds himself with people who have his best interests at heart,' she added. Not a match: Vanessa starred on the second season of Love Island Australia. Despite having a brief fling with Matt Zukowski, she failed to find long-term love on the match-making showHe loves reality TV! Vanessa isn't the first reality star Bernard has been linked to. Earlier in the year he was thought to be dating Bachelor reject, Kaitlyn Hoppe, 26Kaitlyn downplayed their romantic connection, but said she had stayed 'loyal' to the fallen sportsman for years. 'It's more like loyalty with him and I've always had a soft spot for him because I know a lot of people don't like him, but I wouldn't call it dating or a relationship,' she said. Bernard was also seen flirting up a storm with Bachelor star Keira Maguire earlier in the year, and is said to have told Married At First Sight star Jessika Power that he 'wanted to catch up' with her in 2019. | 3 |
###CLAIM: the biggest difference in life is finding affordable housing, making a living wage, access to mental health care, and having insurance.
###DOCS: This article is published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletter, or follow the Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. Read more from this series: Incarcerated people explain what could have kept them out of prison and organizers try to unlock the vote in jails. How do we fix policing in America? Can it be fixed? Donald Trump has made law and order a central message of his campaign, portraying antipolice brutality protesters as dangerous. Joe Biden has emphatically rejected protesters calls to defund the police and insists that less drastic reform can make a difference. Whoever wins the election will help shape the future of criminal justice. But while the effects of the pandemic and police violence are magnified for people behind bars, the vast majority of them will not be able to press for solutions by voting. So Slate and The Marshall Project asked them directly what they thought. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn March, we launched a first-of-its-kind political survey of people behind bars, reasoning that while they are constantly talked about on the campaign trail, their own views are rarely sought. The survey showed that despite being temporarily barred from the political process, many people in prison remain politically engagedand had some surprising political preferences. In this second survey, incarcerated people showed they have passionate and nuanced opinions about what interventions might have kept them out of prison and what policies the next president could pursue. Theyd like to see money shifted from policing and spent instead on mental health care, affordable housing, drug addiction, health care, livable wages, and preventing domestic violence. As in the first survey, views of people behind barsboth Black and white respondentsdiverge from those outside, particularly in their support for defunding the police and Black Lives Matter. AdvertisementAdvertisementWith the help of Edovo, an education-focused tablet company that provides its services free to incarcerated people, we reached nearly 2,400 people in prison and jail. Respondents are incarcerated in 12 states. Roughly 20 percent are Black, 50 percent are white, and the remaining 30 percent are Native, Latino, Asian, or have mixed heritage. Most have completed high school. Seventy percent are men and 14 percent are women. The majority are serving time in prison, and 42 percent are in jail. What Would Have Kept You Out of Prison? A new generation of Black activists and organizers has succeeded in changing the conversation about criminal justice and policing. The central idea: Move money from police to services that could address deeper causes of crime, because many communities with high rates of violence have been historically overpoliced but underresourced. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAcross the country, some policymakers have taken up the message. Theyve removed police from public schools, slashed funding to police departments, and tasked social workers with responding to 911 calls about people in the midst of mental health crises. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut these changes may have come too late for the 2.3 million people already behind bars. Decades of punitive policies have created a massive and aging prison population. To be sure, criminal justice reforms have shortened sentences and created more opportunities to divert people away from prison. But many prisoners will serve out their time as the nation grapples with new ideas about fixing the criminal justice system. We asked incarcerated people what might have prevented them from committing the crimes that landed them behind bars. Most respondents, regardless of race or political affiliation, cited the kinds of kitchen table issues usually reserved for discussions about the needs of everyday Americans. AdvertisementAdvertisementPlease enable Javascript in your browser to view Slate interactives. Better paying jobs in small communities, wrote one respondent in jail in Illinois. Working a low paying job, [where you] cant get by, cant put food on the table to feed your family sucks. So what do you do? You go back to the streets, where you can make a couple hundred in an hour.Programs that help with concerns of what we go through as young Black men, wrote another. Lots of counseling mentally, physically and emotionally.More help with housing, so I could have afforded to live in the city and use public transportation instead of living where I could afford to live and having to drive without a license to get to work, wrote one respondent incarcerated in Maine. AdvertisementAdvertisementMental health counseling and affordable housing topped the list of interventions, with over a third expressing support for both. About a third cited a better education, going to college and a livable minimum wage job; about a quarter chose finishing high school and access to affordable health care. AdvertisementWomen were much more likely than men to choose affordable housing as a top intervention. Roughly 47 percent of women said affordable housing would have made a difference in their lives, compared with just 34 percent of men. Many women who responded to the survey highlighted their experiences with domestic violence, which, research shows, is a leading cause of homelessness among women. Women that get abused and end up homeless trying to get on their feet when its hard finding support, wrote one respondent who is incarcerated in Arkansas. AdvertisementHaving a battered womens group and being able to have a safe house and [re]sources to help relocate could have made a difference, wrote another. Formerly incarcerated people are roughly 10 times more likely than the general public to be homeless. And formerly incarcerated women experience higher rates of homelessness than formerly incarcerated men do. Being homeless makes people more likely to be arrested and reincarcerated, creating a revolving door. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe problem is returning to the streets, wrote one female respondent in jail in Washington. A lot of people are not eligible for work release. We get $40 gate money [the money given out when they leave prison] and are lucky if we qualify for a house voucher. Housing is the problem. If we can go directly to the top of housing [lists] then we could receive stability.AdvertisementSome respondents emphasized their own responsibility for their mistakes. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlthough growing up Black came with stigmas, I still chose my path, wrote a respondent who is incarcerated in Arkansas. I had options. I chose the streets and the lifestyle that came with it. I never knew who I was until I came to prison and found [myself] and my calling.AdvertisementAdvertisementThese attitudes cut across racial lines. Opportunities to not come to prison are everywhere, yet people still make poor choices. The real problem is that people are not required to fix themselves; they can simply blame a system, wrote a white respondent who is also incarcerated in Arkansas. The problem is not the system, but millions of people who are looking for someone to blame for making poor decisions. ... I know because I was once like that.For many, the path out of prison includes several appearances before the parole board, where they must take responsibility for their actions, show remorse, and demonstrate true change. Inside vs. OutsideSince the widespread protests this summer, Americans attitudes on policing and racism have starkly divided by race and political party. But incarcerated survey respondents across the ideological spectrum, of all races, showed significantly higher support than the general public for the Black Lives Matter movement and its demands. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBlack Lives Matter was popular among Black respondents and a minority of white respondents. Far more Black respondents78 percentstrongly support the movement, compared with 28 percent of white respondents. There was also a marked difference between white women (43 percent) and white men (25 percent). AdvertisementPlease enable Javascript in your browser to view Slate interactives. Such enthusiasm seems to outpace that of the general public. In one Pew survey from September, for example, just 22 percent of white adults and 62 percent of Black adults strongly backed Black Lives Matter. People behind bars also expressed more support than did those outside for defunding the police and diverting the money instead to such services as mental health or after-school programs. Four out of five respondents supported such a transfer, including almost 90 percent of Black men and three-quarters of white men. Even among incarcerated Republicans, 64 percent backed this idea, while 36 percent opposed it. In contrast, a Gallup poll conducted in late June and early July, at the height of the protests, found that 41 percent of white people and just 5 percent of Republicans support transferring funds from police departments to social services. AdvertisementPlease enable Javascript in your browser to view Slate interactives. Americans across the ideological spectrum have generally expressed support for large-scale prisoner releases to slow the spread of the virus. Half of our survey respondents were confident that people convicted of violent and nonviolent crimes would be equally likely to succeed if they were released during the pandemic. Please enable Javascript in your browser to view Slate interactives. Collateral ConsequencesThe survey results suggest a need to reframe the debate substantially over public safety and crime. Despite their political differences, the respondents are unified in their belief that finding affordable housing, making a living wage, accessing mental health care, and having the insurance to pay for it would have made the most difference in their lives. Yet these kinds of issues have historically been missing from the criminal justice discourse. AdvertisementAdvertisementMany of these challenges are magnified after people return home from prison or jail. Experts often say the first 72 hours after release are critical to determining whether a formerly incarcerated persons path will lead away from prison or make a sharp U-turn. As a result of jail overcrowding, I was given a 27 day early release with no warning so the bed I had reserved at a treatment facility was not available, wrote one respondent in jail in California. I was doomed before I even hit the gates. Just a roof over the head couldve saved me, the rest would work itself out if you have the safety of shelter.For people leaving prison, a felony conviction comes with multiple consequences beyond incarceration. A criminal record makes it harder for people to find work, get access to affordable housing, and receive a college education. Until recently, several states maintained a lifetime ban on food stamps for people with felony drug convictions. Applicants for federally subsidized housing programs must disclose their criminal histories, making it easier for private landlords to deny their applications. In some states a criminal record bars people from receiving professional licenses or joining the fire department. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt the state level, there are signs elected officials are beginning to embrace the connection between social and economic security and criminal justice. By the start of the year, 36 states had prohibited employers from inquiring about criminal histories during the application process, according to the Collateral Consequences Resource Center, a nonprofit working to raise awareness about the consequences of a criminal conviction. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently signed a series of bills that will automatically expunge the records of people convicted of certain crimes in addition to expanding the list of convictions eligible to be erased. And several states have expanded voting rights for people returning home from prison. AdvertisementBut for some respondents, these changes arrived too late. I was sent straight to prison at 19 and missed out on some of the best years of my life, wrote one respondent in jail in California. This is not rehabilitation. Had I been sent to some sort of program, been given some sort of vocational training, I could have had a chance at a normal life instead of being sent to prison where I was surrounded by killers and career criminals. It pretty much ruined my life. I never got a second chance, program or anything.Special thanks to John Timpone at Edovo and Lawrence Bartley, director of News Inside at the Marshall Project. | 0 |
###CLAIM: `` the secret of long life is that all alerts are required, and i think the family has agreed, '' added the 106-year-old.
###DOCS: A resilient pensioner who has survived two world wars and three flu pandemics, has celebrated her 106th birthday by beating Covid-19 for a second time. Mary Nicholson who lives at the Elizabeth Court Care Home in St Helens, Merseyside, tested positive for Covid-19 on New Years Eve but said she felt healthier than ever after overcoming the virus in time for her birthday on Tuesday. She revealed her long life is the result of drinking full fat milk, cream and butter, as well as enjoying a tipple of whisky at night. Mary said it was a lovely sensation to be out of isolation and to find so many cards and presents waiting for her. Mary Nicholson (pictured) who lives at the Elizabeth Court Care Home in St Helens, Merseyside, recovered from covid-19 twiceThe 106-year-old has lived through two world wars and two pandemics. Pictured: Mary as a babyStaff at the care home sang to Mary who is better known by her nickname Polly, a birthday song and presented her with a cake in celebration of her birthday. Mary who never got married or had children, was unable to see her family due to the covid restrictions but said that she was looking forward to celebrating with them once all this Covid is done. CAN YOU CATCH COVID-19 TWICE? Early on in the pandemic, scientists were baffled as to whether or not you could catch Covid-19 twice. Now the evidence is more convincing, following a string of reports of re-infections all over the world. With some illnesses such as chickenpox, the immune system can remember exactly how to destroy it and becomes able to fend it off if it ever tries to enter the body again. Tests have shown that many people who recover from Covid-19 have antibodies - which can produce future immunity - but it is not known whether there are enough of them. However, antibodies are only one type of substance that can produce immunity. The immune system is a huge web of proteins that have different functions to protect the body against infection. Others, including white blood cells called T cells and B cells, can also help the body to fight off disease but are more difficult to discover using currently available tests. Evidence is beginning to suggest that antibodies disappear in as little as eight weeks after infection with the coronavirus, scientifically called SARS-Cov-2. On the other hand, T cells - which target and destroy cells already infected with the virus - are 'durable'. A promising study done on monkeys found that they were unable to catch Covid-19 a second time after recovering from it, which led scientists to believe the same may apply to humans. The rhesus monkeys were deliberately reinfected by scientists in China to test how their bodies reacted. Because the coronavirus has only been known to scientists for nine months there has not been enough time to study whether people develop long-term immunity. AdvertisementIts a big birthday 106,' she said. Ive been fantastic and Im happy and enjoying myself. Earlier on I had a cough but Im feeling better. I couldnt tell you how lovely my birthday has been. Lovely sensation to find cards and presents that were given to me. Its nice to be able to celebrate after being in isolation because of the virus. Im feeling good after Covid and nothing can hold me back. Ill get back to normal as quickly as I can. I cant wait to be able to see my family again, I love them all to bits and they mean the world to me. I wish they could be with me here today. But I cant wait to see them once all this Covid is done.The centenarian who was born in England, revealed her family are originally from Scotland. Her father, Murdoch Nicholson, was born in Glasgow in 1897 but he moved to Liverpool for work. Born on January 12 1915, during the First World War, Mary has lived through both world wars and the flu pandemics of 1918, 1957 and 1968. The former canteen cook lived a difficult life after losing her mother when she was five and her father five years later. Her father had enlisted as a medic and was gassed, dying shortly after returning to Britain. Mary's niece Jean Humphreys, 68, from Warrington, Cheshire, describes her as fiercely independent, but also funny and loving. Jean said: They didnt have an easy life. She lost her mum and dad so young and went through the wars. But she persevered and worked hard and she inspires me every day. She lived in her home until she was 102. She lived on her own, she was fiercely independent. Mary (pictured) who never got married or had children, revealed she's looking forward to celebrating her birthday with family after the pandemicMary's niece Jean Humphreys, said she hasn't had an easy life following the death of her mother and father at a young ageShe used to go shopping for the old lady a few doors down. And she was younger than Polly, she was about 100. She used to say she was an old woman who needed help. She had to be very independent growing up because of the circumstances, and she was taking care of my mum.The retired support worker, added: She was diagnosed with Covid on New Years Eve. It was so scary to hear that at her age. Its the most wonderful birthday present we couldve asked for, that shes fit. She looks amazing, you wouldnt be able to tell she was ever sick. Jean revealed Mary lived in her own home until age 102 and would go shopping for her 100-year-old neighbour. Pictured: Mary with her familyShes got all of her presents. Well have a belated party in summer if it all changes.Mary was also wished a happy birthday by Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard on ITV's Good Morning Britain. Her carer Jane, revealed they were concerned about her health during her second battle with the coronavirus. 'Her first bout of covid she was really, really poorly and we thought we were going to lose her. She's been through another bout now and you can see for yourself she's great. Mary (pictured) appeared on Good Morning Britain alongside her carer Jane, adding that the secret to a long life requires being alert at all times'She's just a fighter and I think her family will agree with me she had been all of her life'Joking with Mary, she added: 'What's your secret to being 106?' 'Be on the alert the whole time,' Mary responded. Jane laughed: 'No men and good food is your secret isn't it' | 0 |
###CLAIM: years after the ftc cleared us, the government wants to do so without regard for the impact on the broader business community or the people who choose our products daily.
###DOCS: A coalition of 48 state attorneys general, led by New York's Letitia James, announced a new lawsuit against Wednesday, alleging the company stifles competition to protect its "monopoly power." The lawsuit comes the same day that the Federal Trade Commission announced a separate suit against the social media giant, also accusing it of anti-competitive practices. "For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users," Attorney General James said in a statement. "Today, we are taking action to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebooks illegal behavior." James said Facebook "used its power to suppress competition so it could take advantage of users and make billions by converting personal data into a cash cow." Signage is displayed outside Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Oct. 30, 2018. Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILEShe added that almost every state in the nation has joined the bipartisan lawsuit, "because Facebooks efforts to dominate the market were as illegal as they were harmful." The separate FTC lawsuit alleged that the company illegally maintained its "monopoly" through years of anticompetitive practices. "Personal social networking is central to the lives of millions of Americans," Ian Conner, the director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. "Facebooks actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our aim is to roll back Facebooks anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive." Facebook tweeted from its official communications account that it is reviewing the complaints. "We're reviewing the complaints & will have more to say soon," the company said. "Years after the FTC cleared our acquisitions, the government now wants a do-over with no regard for the impact that precedent would have on the broader business community or the people who choose our products every day." The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken Dec. 2, 2019. Johanna Geron/Reuters, FileThe suit filed by the attorneys general in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, alleges Facebook uses a variety of methods to maintain its dominance -- specifically including acquiring smaller or potential rivals and quashing third-party developers on its platform. Consumers suffer with fewer options online, and Facebook's power only grows as it collects users' private information and uses it for its business interests, according to a statement from James' office. The attorneys generals' lawsuit accused Facebook of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act and multiple violations of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. It is seeking the court to halt Facebook's allegedly anticompetitive conduct and prevent it from doing so in the future. In addition, the coalition asks that Facebook be prohibited from making further acquisitions valued at or over $10 million without advance notice to the states. Lastly, it seeks unspecified additional relief. The FTC lawsuit delves into Facebook's 2012 acquisition of Instagram and 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp as examples of it wielding its monopoly power, and also accuses the company of allegedly anticompetitive conditions for software developers. The FTC suit seeks a permanent injunction in federal court that could require Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. It is also seeks Facebook giving notice and gaining approval for future mergers and acquisitions as well as end its alleged anticompetitive conditions for software developers. Jennifer Newstead, Facebook's vice president and general counsel, told ABC News in a statement that, "This is revisionist history." "Antitrust laws exist to protect consumers and promote innovation, not to punish successful businesses," Newstead added. "Instagram and WhatsApp became the incredible products they are today because Facebook invested billions of dollars, and years of innovation and expertise, to develop new features and better experiences for the millions who enjoy those products." She continued: "The most important fact in this case, which the Commission does not mention in its 53-page complaint, is that it cleared these acquisitions years ago. The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final. People and small businesses dont choose to use Facebooks free services and advertising because they have to, they use them because our apps and services deliver the most value. We are going to vigorously defend peoples ability to continue making that choice." | 0 |
###CLAIM: the incident comes a day after another hunter was jailed for accidentally killing a british cyclist in a french mountain in 2018.
###DOCS: A 25-year-old British expat who was shot and killed by a hunter who mistook him for a boar close to his home in south-western France has been named. Morgan Keane is thought to have died instantly when a bullet fired by a hunter hit him in the isolated hamlet of La Garrigue, north of Toulouse. A 33-year-old Frenchman, who has not been named, was taken into custody following the tragedy on Wednesday afternoon. He now faces manslaughter charges. Both of Mr Keane's parents died in the past few years, leaving him and his younger brother - understood to be aged just 21 - living in the house alone. Their father died in the last year and the sons were looking after family affairs, sources claimed. A 25-year-old British expat who was shot and killed by a hunter who mistook him for a boar close to his home in south-western France has been named Morgan Keane (pictured)Lilliane - a friend in nearby Cajarc who asked to be identified by only her first name - told local media that Mr Keane 'had been very close to his parents'. She added: 'He cared for his mother, and stayed at his father's bedside and watched over him until the end.' Lilliane - who runs a pottery shop and is originally from South Africa - described Mr Keane as a keen musician, who was creative and generous. Gavin, her husband, said: 'Morgan was always helpful. When I asked for help on a job site, restoring a building, he was always there.' In a tribute on Facebook, Liliane wrote: 'Michael's best friend and our surrogate boy was accidentally killed by a hunter last evening. 'He leaves a brother of 21. His dad died this year and his mum a couple of years ago. Mr Keane is thought to have died instantly when a bullet fired by a hunter hit him in the isolated hamlet of La Garrigue (the area, pictured), near Calvignac and north of Toulouse'This is the saddest thing that has every happened to me. 'For those in our area, please spread the news that we are having a protest walk in Cajarc on Saturday at 2pm. 'More details later. Please come and bring your friends, this hunting has to stop.' The incident came one day after another hunter was jailed for accidentally killing a British cyclist in the French alps in 2018. An investigating source said of Thursday's incident: 'It happened while a boar hunt was passing by the edge of the village just before 5pm on Wednesday. 'The victim was chopping wood outside his home when a stray bullet hit him. 'The emergency services arrived soon afterwards, but they found that the young man had died on the spot.' A 25-year-old British man was just 300 feet away from his home when he was shot by a hunter who was on an organised boar hunt near Lot, in south-western France, local reports have said. Pictured: Hunters gather prior to a wild boar hunt in France (file photo)The gunman, who came from Montbazens, had not been drinking alcohol, and was 'mortified by what happened,' the source said. The suspect is understood to have had a hunting licence and was in an organised shoot. Mr Keane had lived in the village for a number of years as part of a British expat family - which included his brother. 'They are friendly, nice boys,' said a near neighbour. 'Everybody is in a state of shock this is a terrible tragedy.' Didier Burg, the Mayor of La Garrigue, said Mr Keane 'lived with his brother, and was a quiet and very nice youngster.' A spokesman for the Cahors Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that it has since 'launched an inquiry for manslaughter.' Reacting to the 'terrible accident', Andre Manie, the President of the Federation of Hunters of the Lot department, offered his 'sincere condolences' to the family of the victim. Mr Manie said his organisation would 'redouble its efforts for better training and safer hunting practices.' Public prosecutor Frederic Almendros earlier told French media: 'The gunman thought he had identified a wild boar, but his shot caused the death of this young man who was not taking part in the hunt.' Lucas Clerc, 22, (left) gunned down Mark Sutton, 34, (right) believing he was an animal, and is still in hospital being treated for severe shock, according to his father Dominique. The investigation into the shooting 'must determine the precise circumstances of this accident, in particular the shooting distance, visibility and the angle of the shooting,' the prosecutor continued. Investigators were still at the scene on Thursday evening working to determine these factors, as well as to establish the organisation and planning behind the hunt, safety instructions given to hunters and marking posts. All these elements will be studied to establish responsibility for the shooting. The incident comes after another French hunter was jailed for a year who - in similar circumstances - accidentally shot and killed a British man. Marc Sutton, 34, and originally from Wales, was fatally shot with a rifle while cycling down a popular route high in the French Alps in 2018. Lucas Clerc, a 24-year-old hunter, was sentenced on Tuesday after he admitted firing the fatal shot, which he said was intended for a wild boar. Clerc was sentenced to a total of four years, three of them suspended, was banned from owning a gun for five years, and banned from hunting for ten. A 24-year-old French hunter has been jailed for a year for fatally shooting Marc Sutton, 34, who was killed while cycling in the French Alps in 2018He broke into tears as the sentence was handed down, according to French broadcasters France3. Two other hunters, the father of one of them who had been on the hunt, and that man's wife, were also given suspended sentences of between six and 18 months for concealing evidence. A court heard that they altered hunting logs to make it appear as if they had not been in the area at the time, and later put up signs warning of a hunt to make it appear as if they had taken safety precautions. Mr Sutton had lived with partner Jo Watts in the Haute-Savoie region of France for four years before he was killed on October 13, 2018. The couple were well-known locally as the owners of two restaurants, one of them vegetarian, and were well-liked by customers. Around 6.50pm on the day in question, Marc was heading down a steep but popular cycling route near his home when he was struck and killed by a rifle bullet. An investigation found that Marc had been wearing high-visibility clothing and that visibility was good at the time he was shot. Instead, investigators pointed to a litany of safety failings by the hunting party, including that they had failed to put up signs warning of a hunt in the area. The largely inexperienced party had also failed to nominate a person to be in charge of the hunt, had not established a clear area for their hunt, had not completed the proper paperwork and were hunting within 500ft of homes, prosecutors said. That meant, when he missed the shot, the bullet was able to travel far enough to hit and kill Marc, who had unknowingly cycled into the line of fire. Frederic Noetinger-Berlioz, a lawyer for the victim's family, described the hunters as 'pathetic and pitiful' and called the sentence 'balanced... in the circumstances'. He added that hunting had not been the cause of Mr Sutton's death, but rather 'delinquent hunters who observed no safety rules'. At the time of his death, Miss Watts paid tribute to a 'kind, happy, loving man' saying they had shared nine happy years together. He was also described by those living in the French Alpine community they called home as 'well-liked' and 'popular'. | 0 |
###CLAIM: street racers with no authorization have taken advantage of this new quiet road of competition to kill several innocent drivers and disrupted routine car traffic by disrupting daily commutes and traveling to leisure activities, authorities across the us said.
###DOCS: While Americas coronavirus pandemic has disrupted routine car traffic by reducing daily commutes and travel to leisure activities, authorities across the US said unauthorized street racers have taken advantage of these newly quiet roadways and that these competitive motorists have killed several unsuspecting drivers. Illegal street racing has reportedly surged ever since Covid-19 hit the US in earnest last spring, with officials reporting increases in states such as Georgia, New York, New Mexico and Oregon, among others, officials said. Experts have also pointed to ongoing cultural interest in street racing, and the fact that participants or would-be racers have more time on their hands to work on their cars. These racers block roadways ranging from local roads to major interstates to evade police intervention. They might engage in drag racing or perform stunts, recording their risky antics on videos that go viral on social media. They might travel in packs, and their vehicles range from old, souped-up cars to luxury vehicles, authorities say. Jaye Sanford, 52, was killed on 21 November while driving in the Atlanta region and police said the culprit was a driver who was drag-racing with another individual when Sanford was hit head-on. A 28-year-old woman in Phoenix, Arizona, died on 2 May after an alleged street racer cracked into her car. And a motorcyclist died in Portland, Oregon, in April from an alleged racing-related accident. Non-fatal incidents abound. On New Years Eve in Jackson, Mississippi, some motorists blocked highway traffic for an hour while performing stunts such as donuts. New York City, which has notoriously busy roadways, saw in excess of 1,000 drag-racing complaints in a six-month period during 2020, marking an almost five-fold surge compared to the same timeframe of 2019, the authorities reported. Some states and localities have passed laws to combat street racing amid the apparent uptick. In Georgia, governor Brian Kemp signed a bill named for Sanford that mandates a minimum of 10 days in jail for all drag-racing convictions. Drivers who are convicted of drag racing three times within a five-year period must forfeit their vehicles. This illegal activity is very dangerous ... Our goal is simple: to protect every family in every community, Kemp remarked during the bill-signing ceremony. The Mississippi governor, Tate Reeves, signed legislation into law this March that authorizes state troopers to respond to incidents in municipalities. Before, they were barred from responding to incidents in cities with more than 15,000 residents. Politicians in New York have also taken steps to combat street racing; state senator Brad Hoylman has introduced a bill that would permit New York Citys speed-detecting cameras to run overnight as well as on weekends in areas notorious for street racing. The state senates transportation committee has unanimously approved this legislation, meaning it is poised for a floor vote. Illegal street racing puts lives at risk and keeps us up at night, Hoylman recently said. While theres been less traffic during the pandemic, some drivers have used this as an opportunity to treat our streets like a Nascar speedway.In December, the Dallas Morning News reported that city police recorded almost twice as many calls involving speed racing and similar activity 8,441 in 2020, up from 4,867 in 2019. Some southern California law enforcement officials have detected an increase in street takeovers since Covid-19 hit, the Mercury News in San Jose reported in December. Part of it is just whats going on with the times, with Covid and lockdown, Los Angeles police sergeant Mark Guardado, who supervises the San Fernando Valley bureaus street racing task force, told the newspaper. Theyre antsy and bored. I think that has a lot to do with it. Obviously, the weekends are busier, but with no one working and with school closed, they have the time.In New Mexico, Albuquerques mayor, Tim Keller, said there has been an increase in complaints over street racing. We can actually hear the street racing problem from our houses, he said, according to local channel KOAT. Story at a glance Illegal street racing cases are reportedly on the rise as streets emptied by the pandemic offer would-be racers seemingly vacant spaces to race. Cases apparently surged in New York, Georgia, New Mexico and Oregon, and several illegal street races led to the deaths of bystanders, officials have said. Illegal street racing puts lives at risk and keeps us up at night. ... While theres been less traffic during the pandemic, some drivers have used this as an opportunity to treat our streets like a Nascar speedway, New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman said. Illegal street racing cases are reportedly on the rise as streets emptied by the pandemic offer would-be racers seemingly vacant spaces to race. Cases apparently surged in New York, Georgia, New Mexico and Oregon, and several illegal street races led to the deaths of bystanders, officials have said, according to The Guardian. New York reported more than 1,000 drag racing complaints in a six-month time frame in 2020. Experts say the increase in cases can be partially attributed to excess free time brought on by the global pandemic. With COVID[-19], when we were separated from people, I think people sort of bonded in their interest groups ... so that need to want to socialize and be around other people brought the racers out, said sports psychologist Tami Eggleston, according to the outlet. America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. Jaye Sanford was hit head-on by an alleged drag racer while in the Atlanta area, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, a 28-year-old woman was killed in the Phoenix area May 2, and a motorcyclist died in April from an alleged drag racing accident in Portland, Ore.Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill named for Sanford that gives a minimum 10 day sentence to anyone convicted of a drag racing violation. The BBC reported in April that the Atlanta Police Department issued nearly 100 citations per weekend over the course of the year. New York State Sen. Brady Hoylman introduced legislation to combat the act in racing hot spots, according to The Guardian. Holymans proposal would allow traffic cameras to run overnight in designated areas. Illegal street racing puts lives at risk and keeps us up at night, Hoylman said. While theres been less traffic during the pandemic, some drivers have used this as an opportunity to treat our streets like a Nascar speedway.Mark Guardado, supervisor of a San Fernando Valley, Calif., street racing task force, told the San Jose Mercury News in December that the culprits are partly antsy and bored due to lockdowns. I think that has a lot to do with it. Obviously, the weekends are busier, but with no one working and with school closed, they have the time, he said. READ MORE STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICANEWLY MINTED TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETE BUTTIGIEG WANTS US TO LEAD WORLD IN HIGH-SPEED RAILUS IS NOW BUILDING A GIANT BIKE TRAIL THAT WILL GO COAST-TO-COASTAMAZON TO SPEND $2B TO CREATE AFFORDABLE HOMES IN HUB CITIESVIRGIN HYPERLOOP TOPS 100 MPH IN SUCCESSFUL FIRST PASSENGER RIDE | 2 |
###CLAIM: "panthers" is his game face, his behind-the-scenes smile, his compliments all day, and his objectification all day.
###DOCS: Pro golfer Michelle Wie West blasted Rudy Giuliani on Friday night over lewd comments he made about her on Steve Bannon's podcast, "War Room." The former New York City mayor had shared a story on Thursday about Rush Limbaugh, who died earlier that day, in which he and the late rightwing talk show host caught glimpses of Wie's underwear while golfing. Wie, who has won 5 LPGA titles, called the story "highly inappropriate" in a note shared on Twitter. "What this person should have remembered from that day was the fact that I shot 64 and beat every male golfer in the field leading our team to victory," she wrote. "I shudder thinking he was smiling to my face and complimenting my game while objectifying me and referencing my 'panties' behind my back all day." According to Giuliani, during a charity tournament where amateurs paid to play with pro golfers, his and Limbaugh's group which also included Roger Ailes and Cigar Aficionado publisher Marvin Shanken was paired with Wie. Giuliani asked Bannon if he could share a "funny story," and launched into the anecdote, in which he says he and Limbaugh were trying to avoid the paparazzi trailing them, before realizing that they weren't the focus. "On the green is Michelle Wie, and she is getting ready to putt," Giuliani said "Now, Michelle Wie is gorgeous. She's 6 feet. And she has a strange putting stance. She bends all the way over and her panties show. And the press was going crazy. ...They were trying to take pictures of her panties. I said '[Rush], it's not me, it's not you, it's her panties.'" He ended the story with, "Is that okay to tell that joke? I'm not sure." Bannon replied, "We already told it, so I don't know." While Wie's note didn't directly name Giuliani, she confirmed that she'd led the group to victory. She also addressed his comments on her stance, saying, "My putting stance six years ago was designed to improve my putting stats (I ended up winning the US Open that year), NOT as an invitation to look up my skirt!" She added, "What should be discussed is the elite skill level that women play at, not what we wear or look like." Twitter users lauded her response, which also sparked a discussion about misogyny and sexism in sports. The fact that you could calmly respond w/out even mentioning the creeps name in the first place tells us 1.) We all know who youre talking about and 2.) You have more dignity in your pinky than he will ever even read about. Thank you for showing us what a dignified person is BJ Murray (@bjmurray) February 20, 2021Coaches and parents of young female golfers weighed in as well, sharing some of the experiences they've seen in the sport. Used to coach high school girls golf. The comments Id overhear from dirty old men about my players infuriated me. Never comments about their swings. Ben M. (@el_pato_real) February 20, 2021There were also criticisms of sports maker Nike for female golfers' outfits. I will not condone Rudy but the modesty and decorum of @nike womens golf attire has definitely made sex objects of some women athletes. Less is NOT more. Jacquelyn M. Basso (@jacquibassocpa) February 20, 2021The United States Golfing Association got involved, sharing Wie's Tweet with the comment: "Sexism has no place in golf or life. We are always in your corner, @MichelleWieWest." The LPGA similarly supported Wie on Twitter:Shes a 5-time LPGA Tour winner. Major champion. LPGA Board member, elected by her peers. Stanford graduate. Working mother. We stand with @MichelleWieWest https://t.co/BGr9wn12ab LPGA (@LPGA) February 21, 2021Wie has been on hiatus from the tour circuit recently, after giving birth to her daughter last June. LPGA champ Michelle Wie responded to mentions of her and her undergarments during a story told by Rudy Giuliani during a podcast Thursday. Giuliani told a story of an incident that happened when he and the late radio legend Rush Limbaugh played in a charity fundraiser golf tournament alongside Wie in 2014, and how the media seemed to pay more attention to Wie than the two men. According to Giuliani, Limbaugh had complained about the large media presence at the event and joked they were there for Giuliani. Wie was putting at the time, and Giuliani recalled:On the green is Michele Wie, and she is getting ready to putt. ... Now Michelle Wie is gorgeous. Shes 6 feet. And she has a strange putting stance. She bends all the way over. And her panties show. And the press was going crazy. ... I said [Rush], its not me, its not you.Definitely not the point, but keep wondering why Rudy called this a joke. What is the punchline? pic.twitter.com/VNKgoq92KS Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) February 19, 2021Wie responded on her Twitter page, not using Giulianis name. What this person should have remembered from that day was the fact that I shot 64 and beat every male golfer in the field leading our team to victory, she wrote Friday. I shudder thinking he was smiling to my face and complimenting my game while objectifying me and referencing my panties behind my back all day.The LPGA put out a response on Twitter Friday, saying, Shes a 5-time LPGA Tour winner. Major champion. LPGA Board member, elected by her peers. Stanford graduate. Working mother. We stand with Michelle Wie West.Shes a 5-time LPGA Tour winner. Major champion. LPGA Board member, elected by her peers. Stanford graduate. Working mother. We stand with @MichelleWieWest https://t.co/BGr9wn12ab LPGA (@LPGA) February 21, 2021Wie included a statement about the objectification of women athletes in her tweet. What should be discussed is the elite skill level that women play at, not what we wear or look like, she said. Despite Wies view that what sportswomen wear or look like should not be discussed, she took to her Instagram account in 2017 to protest new LPGA dress code rules that do not allow plunging necklines and states the length of skirt, skort, and shorts MUST be long enough to not see your bottom area (even if covered by under shorts) at any time, standing or bent over.Offseason = No dress code fines #croptopdroptop, Wie said. Women & Golf published a story on Wie that same year titled Michelle Wie: A Fashion Icon On And Off The Fairways. Pro golfer Michelle Wie has shared her shock at hearing Rudy Giuliani's 'unsettling' story about looking up her skirt during a charity event seven years ago. Giuliani told the story on Thursday when he appeared on Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast to eulogize his friend Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio host who died of lung cancer the day before. The unpredictable former lawyer to President Donald Trump seemed to shock Bannon when he recounted a day with Limbaugh on the golf course - and mentioned Wie's underwear. Giuliani reminisced about a charity golf outing in 2014 where he said he and Limbaugh observed Wie 'bending over and showing her panties'. The LPGA star, 31, responded to Giuliani's comments in a statement on Friday, accusing him of 'objectifying' her. 'What this person should have remembered from that day was the fact that I shot 64 and beat every male golfer in the field leading our team to victory. 'I shudder thinking that he was smiling to my face and complimenting me on my game while objectifying me and referencing my "panties" behind my back all day. 'What should be discussed is the elite skill level that women play at, not what we wear or look like. 'My putting stance six years ago was designed to improve my putting stats (I ended up winning the US Open that year), NOT as an invitation to look up my skirt! 'Nike makes skirts with SHORTS built in underneath for this exact reason ... so that women can feel CONFIDENT and COMFORTABLE playing a game that we love.' Wie posted this statement condemning Giuliani's comments to Twitter on FridayGiuliani had launched into what he called a 'funny story' as he described how he and Limbaugh bonded over golf on Bannon's podcast. The two men, along with magazine publisher Marvin Shanken, had been paired with Wie at the Els for Autism Pro-Am, which was held at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 10, 2014. Their team ended up winning the event thanks to an impressive performance by Wie, according to the official web site for the fundraiser. But Giuliani remembered the day for a different reason, recalling how he and Limbaugh were being hounded by photographers. 'The paparazzi was driving us crazy!' Giuliani told Bannon. 'They're taking pictures! They're taking pictures! They're taking pictures!' Limbaugh, the nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host, died on Wednesday of lung cancer. He is seen above in February of last yearGiuliani said that he recalled Limbaugh commenting to him: 'What did you do now? You know how I hate [having] pictures taken. I know you're famous but can't you tell them to stay away?' The former mayor then said he invited Limbaugh to 'come on to the green with me' because Wie was getting ready to putt. 'Now, Michelle Wie is gorgeous,' Giuliani said. 'She's 6ft [tall] and she has a strange putting stance.' 'She bends all the way over and her panties show. And the press was going crazy.' He said that the media was clamoring to 'take pictures of her panties.' In the next sentence, Giuliani appeared to get Limbaugh's name wrong. 'I said: "Roger, it's not me. It's not you. It's her panties."' Giuliani's remarks were met with an awkward silence from Bannon. Having failed to get the laughs he expected, Giuliani added: 'Is that okay to tell that joke? I'm not sure.' 'Well, you already told it, so I don't know,' Bannon replied, prompting Giuliani to giggle. The bizarre retelling came months after Giuliani found himself in hot water when he was 'honey-trapped' by an actress posing as a conservative journalist in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. In perhaps the most notable scene from the movie, Giuliani was filmed reclining on a bed and appearing to put his hands down his pants in front of actress Maria Bakalova, who portrayed 15-year-old Tutar Sagdiyev. Giuliani paid tribute to Limbaugh, with whom he was frequently seen. From left: Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, Limbaugh, Giuliani, and magazine publisher Marvin Shanken are pictured above during the Els for Autism Pro-Am charity event in West Palm Beach in March 2011Giuliani on Wednesday remembered Limbaugh as a 'genius, patriot, humorist, great golf partner, and a generous kind man'Critics on social media seized on Giuliani's remarks, calling him misogynistic and creepy for calling out Wie's appearance with no mention of her skill. Wie shot to fame in the golf world when she became the youngest player to qualify for the USGA amateur championship at age 10 in 2000, before turning pro at 15. Over the course of her career Wie has secured five victories on the LPGA Tour, earning more than $6.8million. In March 2019, she wed Jonnie West, the director of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors and the son of former Lakers great Jerry West. Later that spring, Wie announced she was taking a break from competitive golf for the remainder of 2019 citing the injuries she has battled throughout her career. In June of last year, Wie gave birth to her daughter, Makenna Kamalei Yoona West. She has said she is interested in returning to competitive golf. Wie has been plagued by wrist problems and had endured a start-stop return to the sport following wrist surgery in October 2018. The Hawaii native won the US Women's Open in 2014, the same year she achieved a career-high ranking of world number six. Wie, 31, has five victories on the LPGA Tour. She garnered publicity after turning pro just before her 16th birthday. During her career, she has earned more than $6.8million | 3 |
###CLAIM: the plaintiffs are required to show the reckless disregard with which the arsonist acted when the fire got out of control.
###DOCS: FILE - This Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, shows charred trunks of Ponderosa pines near Sisters, Ore., months after a prescribed burn removed vegetation, smaller trees and other fuel ladders last spring. Hundreds of millions of acres of forests have become overgrown, prone to wildfires that have devastated towns, triggered massive evacuations and blanketed the West Coast in choking smoke. Today, officials want to sharply increase prescribed burns, with drought and global warming creating a sense of urgency. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)FILE - This Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, shows charred trunks of Ponderosa pines near Sisters, Ore., months after a prescribed burn removed vegetation, smaller trees and other fuel ladders last spring. Hundreds of millions of acres of forests have become overgrown, prone to wildfires that have devastated towns, triggered massive evacuations and blanketed the West Coast in choking smoke. Today, officials want to sharply increase prescribed burns, with drought and global warming creating a sense of urgency. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)SALEM, Ore. (AP) In the 1950s, when University of California forestry professor Harold Biswell experimented with prescribed burns in the states pine forests, many people thought he was nuts. Harry the Torch, Burn-Em-Up Biswell and Doctor Burnwell were some of his nicknames from critics, who included federal and state foresters and timber groups. Six decades after Biswell preached an unpopular message to those who advocated full-on fire suppression, he is seen not as crazy but someone whose ideas could save the U.S. Wests forests and ease wildfire dangers. Millions of acres have become overgrown, prone to wildfires that have devastated towns, triggered massive evacuations and blanketed the West Coast in thick smoke. Today, officials want to sharply increase prescribed fires those set intentionally and under carefully controlled conditions to clear underbrush, pine needle beds and other surface fuels. ADVERTISEMENTLast month, four Democratic U.S. senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Dianne Feinstein of California introduced legislation that requires federal land managers to significantly increase the number and size of prescribed fires on federal lands. Wyden said it would more than double funding for prescribed burns. We would have a technically skilled prescribed fire workforce, Wyden said in a phone interview. We would streamline the smoke regulations in winter months.Wyden and the Biden administration are also seeking creation of a 21st century Civilian Conservation Corps, to provide more boots on the ground to work on forest health. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation on March 18 that will clear the way for more prescribed fires by establishing liability standards for landowners who conduct them and creating a certification program. In Oregon, a bill from state Sen. Jeff Golden would enact rules for prescribed fires and a certified burn manager program. He envisions Oregon having as many as hundreds of trained managers to supervise prescribed fires. I dont see that we have any option other than to increase the prescribed burns, said Golden, who is from the Rogue Valley, where wildfires tore into two towns last year. Weve got, across the Western U.S., a buildup of decades of fuels, and its going to burn. So do you want to burn in a planned, strategic way that has an element of control to it, or do you want it to burn in megafires, with all the costs human, animal, environmental costs that that entails?ADVERTISEMENTIt took years for forest managers to come around to accept and then finally embrace prescribed burning. In the first half of the 20th century, fire was seen as the enemy, with federal and state forest managers believing prescribed burning damaged the environment, particularly timber, a commercial resource. But in the late 1960s and 1970s, federal forest managers began employing prescribed burns. Yet scaling up the practice has been slow. From 1995 through 2000, an average of 1.4 million federal acres (566,560 hectares) were treated with prescribed fire each year, far short of the 70 million acres (28 million hectares) that in 2001 were in critical need of fuel reduction to avoid high-severity wildfires, biologist David Carle said in his 2002 book Burning Questions: Americas Fight with Natures Fire. Another 141 million acres (57 million hectares) also needed treatment. Several cold realities are stacked against the latest plans: The periods between wildfire seasons when prescribed burning can happen safely are shrinking; some forests are too overgrown to ignite without thinning; and prescribed fires can shroud nearby towns. We have to be mindful of not pouring smoke into communities because thats a violation of the Clean Air Act, said Tim Holschbach, deputy chief of policy and planning with Oregons Department of Forestry. Furthermore, many landowners are reluctant to use prescribed fire because of fears of getting hit with steep costs. Some states can hold burners liable for any property damage caused by an escaped prescribed fire. Others use so-called simple negligence standards, which require the burner to practice reasonable care. A plaintiff would need to prove negligence for the burner to be responsible for damages and firefighting suppression costs. Gross negligence standards make it harder to hold people accountable, requiring plaintiffs to show burners acted with reckless disregard if fires get out of control. To encourage prescribed burning on private lands, Oregon will explore shifting from simple to gross negligence. Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation on June 11 that directs a state agency, in consultation with stakeholders, to study whether states with such standards experience more prescribed fires and more out-of-control fires. The review must also examine the accessibility of insurance coverage for prescribed fires. One of the most destructive escaped fires occurred in 2012, when the Colorado State Forest Service conducted a 50-acre (20-hectare) prescribed burn near the small town of Conifer, southwest of Denver. After the fire seemed to be out, high winds whipped it back to life. Ann Appel, 51, was among worried residents who dialed 911. Its blowing smoke right over my house, she told an emergency dispatcher. Yeah, its about 5 acres (2 hectares) and growing, so theyve got crews on the way, the dispatcher replied. Appel thanked the operator and hung up. Her body was later found in the ashes of her home. Two other people also died in the fire, which ultimately consumed 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers) and destroyed two dozen homes. Colorados immunity law capped liability at $600,000 per incident, but after the fire, the Legislature removed the cap for controlled burns in cases where victims claim the state acted negligently. The state paid a total of $18 million in compensation to two dozen parties. The largest settlement, $4.8 million, went to Appels husband and estate. Prescribed burning has prevented disasters, and high rebuilding costs. In 2017, a wildfire threatened the resort town of Sisters, Oregon, but firefighters were able to control it because months earlier, crews removed trees and brush with machines, then ignited prescribed burns. The fire came to a halt, both because it had less fuels and also because in the thinned, more natural forest, there was a lot more space for the firefighters, noted Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who is pushing for more funding for forest treatment. Scott Stephens, a professor of wildland fire science at the University of California, Berkeley, wants a big increase in prescribed burns, along with mechanical forest thinning, but predicts it will be gradual due to both a lack of people trained in it and of political and societal support. That prescribed burning is now widely seen as a remedy would have been welcome news to Biswell, who died in 1992 at age 86. Harold Weaver, a forester for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was also an early advocate. In 1955, Weaver published an article titled Fire as an enemy, friend and tool in forest management. Like Biswell, he was cold-shouldered. The two supported each other. The West, which is more susceptible to wildfires because of its vast wildlands and dry climate, has been stepping up prescribed burns. In 2019, 3.7 million acres were treated by prescribed fire in the West, a 268% increase from 2011, the National Association of State Foresters and the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils said in a report . Stephens said prescribed fire and restoration thinning should increase at least five-fold to turn things around and create healthy forests as Biswell, his predecessor at Berkeley, envisioned. Once you get areas treated, you have to come back in around 15 years for maintenance treatments. And this never ends, Stephens said. This is a key point: The program has to last forever.___Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky | 0 |
###CLAIM: in northern england, the bed, service and facilities are reputed to be contaminated with the coronavirus rather than the routine operation.
###DOCS: The NHS in England is returning to its highest state of alert amid warnings that hospitals will continue filling up with Covid-19 patients for at least another two weeks. The service will go back to level 4 alert status at midnight on Wednesday to coincide with the start of the second lockdown. The switch to level 4 means the NHSs response to the resurgence of the pandemic is being handled nationally rather than regionally and that NHS Englands national incident coordination centre comprising the organisations senior team has become operational again, having been stood down in July. It will monitor which hospitals are coming under the most pressure and decide what steps need to be taken to respond, for example by diverting patients with spare capacity and managing non-Covid care. The number of people seriously ill with Covid who are being treated in hospitals in England has risen from 2,000 at the end of September to almost 11,000. That is more than half of the 19,000 Covid patients whom hospitals were treating at the peak of the pandemic in April, Prof Stephen Powis, NHS Englands national medical director, said on Wednesday. Powis said the number of people being infected with coronavirus was rising across the country. The influx is not confined to places in the north such as Liverpool and Manchester, and hospitals in the south of England are starting to fill up. The north-west is particularly under pressure; the highest infection rates are in the north-west. That translates into the highest number of admissions [being] in the north-west, Powis said at a press conference. But ... infection rates are now rising and rising faster in the south, [and] hospital admissions are beginning to rise in the south of the country too. Therefore our hospitals are beginning to fill in the south with coronavirus patients.Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, admitted that the pressure on hospitals from Covid-19 was increasing so sharply that the health service could have to abandon its ambition that patients seeking normal, non-Covid care during the second wave of the pandemic should be able to get it. The truth, unfortunately, is that if coronavirus takes off again, that will disrupt services. Were seeing that in parts of the country where already hospitals are dealing with more coronavirus patients now than they were back in April, he said, citing Leeds as one place where hospitals have already had to cancel routine surgery. Hospitals in Liverpool, Nottingham, Yorkshire and Plymouth in Devon have done the same in recent weeks. Weve seen, for example, that in the north-west of England a quarter of patients who would otherwise be having their routine operations, those beds, services and facilities are instead being having to [be] repurposed for coronavirus, said Stevens. He pleaded with the public to help protect the NHS by following the new rules that come into force on Thursday morning, as well as the governments hands, face, space infection control advice. The reality, I think, is that there is no health service in the world that by itself can cope with coronavirus on the rampage, he said. What he called three lines of defence the actions we take as individuals and families, [and] the efforts of the test-and-trace programme were vital to ensure the NHS was not overwhelmed, Stevens said. NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said the return to the highest level of emergency preparedness confirmed that the health service is once again facing one of the most challenging periods in its history. Saffron Cordery, the organisations deputy chief executive, said: Despite months of preparation for the second wave, this is going to be an extremely difficult winter for the NHS and will place a further burden on staff who have worked relentlessly since the start of the pandemic to care for patients.Planned surgery and cancer care may have to be scaled back to ensure hospitals can focus on Covid patients, she said. Alongside treating more Covid-19 patients than at the height of the first wave, trusts are also providing above-average levels of cancer care and planned surgery. But this is now under threat. Sir Simon Stevens - NHS England's chief executive - said the move to level four was in response to the 'serious situation ahead'The NHS will tonight be thrust back into its highest alert level, in anticipation of a wave of coronavirus hospital admissions in the coming weeks. Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England's chief executive, claimed the move to level four was in response to the 'serious situation ahead'. He warned non-Covid treatment would be disrupted again if the outbreak 'takes off'. A move to level four means health bosses believe there is a real threat that an expected influx of Covid-19 patients could start to force the closure of other vital services across the nation. It comes amid startling warnings from Number 10's advisory panel SAGE, used to justify the country's second lockdown, that the health service could run out of beds within weeks unless tougher action is taken. Boris Johnson even warned the sick 'would be turned away', if the NHS became overwhelmed. But questions have been asked about whether there truly was a need for the blanket restrictions, with data suggesting neither hospitals nor intensive care units are actually busier than normal for this time of year. And some top scientists believe the current flare-up of Covid-19, which kicked off when schools and universities reopened in September, has already died down. One expert yesterday argued cases were 'flatlining'. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King's College London, today sparked hope by claiming data from his team's symptom-tracking study shows the country has 'passed the peak of the second wave'. But he argued this would not be seen for at least a week in hospitals because of the lag it takes between patients catching the disease and getting severely ill. Professor Spector warned it could take a month before deaths start to drop. Before announcing that NHS England would once again move to level four today, Sir Simon claimed the health service is currently treating the equivalent of 22 hospitals' worth of Covid-19 patients. But around three quarters of these are in the North East, North West or the Midlands, which have been hit harder by the second wave. And he repeated claims that the numbers of infected patients in hospital will surpass levels seen during the first wave by the end of November. Fewer than 500 Covid-19 patients were in England's hospitals at the start of September, compared to 10,000 now. The figure in April during the darkest days of the first wave stood at 17,000. At the height of the crisis, officials took the drastic decision to cancel operations and treatment for thousands of patients, including cancer victims, amid fears a swarm of coronavirus-infected patients would overwhelm hospitals across England. But tens of thousands of beds were never used, including wards in private facilities commandeered by No10 and make-shift Nightingales purposely created to help ease the burden of Covid-19. As a consequence, millions of people are feared to have missed out on cancer scans, consultations or treatments while hospitals ran reduced services. A&E attendances plummeted to fewer than half the usual numbers. Sir Simon urged people without Covid-19 not to stop using the NHS. He said: 'The facts are clear, we are once again facing a serious situation. This is not a situation anybody wanted to find themselves in, the worst pandemic in a century, but the fact is that the NHS is here.' Now that normal care has resumed, a leaked report suggests there are still fewer than average numbers of beds in useDon't stop going to your GP, leading doctors plead People who fall unwell with non-Covid-19 symptoms are being urged not to put off seeing a doctor. The Royal College of GPs said that general practices would remain open and fully functional, despite the latest NHS alert level. The body is urging GP practices across the country to 'get the message out' that services will stay open, by sharing it on their websites and social media. There were 27million fewer GP appointments than normal during the shut down, raising fears it led to the worsening of other conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Tens of thousands less people than average went for cancer checks during that time and there were hundreds more deaths from heart attacks. Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'General practice has remained open throughout the pandemic - and now we're in a second lockdown, that isn't changing. GPs have worked incredibly hard, swiftly transforming their services to continue delivering safe and accessible care to patients in the most challenging of circumstances. 'We do not want slogans such as 'stay at home' or 'protect the NHS' to deter patients from seeking medical care, if they need it. We do not want to see patients hesitant to access our services, and in doing so potentially missing out on vital care. 'Lockdown is going to be tough for people. It will potentially have an impact on their physical and mental health. 'We hope our resources help GPs get the message out to patients that general practice services are available, albeit delivered differently than usual. GPs and our teams are currently delivering more consultations than we were before the pandemic, and delivering the largest and most complicated flu vaccination programme ever - but if patients are sick, or if they have potential signs of serious illness such as cancer, they should contact their GP or NHS 111, or in an emergency call 999.' AdvertisementA move to level four means health bosses believe there is a real threat that an expected influx of Covid-19 patients could start to disrupt other vital services across the nation. The health service was originally put on a level four alert in January ahead of the first peak of the epidemic, but it was downgraded in August when England successfully flattened its curve through lockdown. However, a surge in cases last month resulted in thousands of coronavirus-infected patients pouring into hospitals across the country in recent weeks, mainly in badly-affected towns and cities in the north. Triggering the alert means all trusts have to report to NHS England centrally so it can track bed levels in every region and reallocate equipment, staff and capacity in the worst-affected areas. The NHS assured patients they won't notice any difference after the new alert level. The upgrading of the alert system comes as hospitals in Manchester opened up extra ICU beds to treat a growing number of Covid-19 patients needing oxygen. There are now around 300 patients with the disease in the hotspot city's hospitals, according to Manchester council's health scrutiny committee. But operations for people who have got other illnesses and conditions are continuing, piling additional pressure on the health service there. Health bosses plan to start using the 36 ICU beds at Manchester's Nightingale hospital, which was built during the first wave but went unused, next week. In a press conference from University College Hospital, Sir Simon said the health service has prepared 'very carefully' for the 'next phase of coronavirus'. He said that, for some patients, mortality in hospital and intensive care has 'halved since Covid was first known to humanity'. But he added: 'However well-prepared hospitals, the NHS, GP surgeries are, it is going to be a difficult period.' He said: 'We want to try and ensure that the health service is there for everybody, minimising the disruption to the full range of care that we provide, not just Covid but cancer services, routine operations and mental health services. 'And the truth, unfortunately, is that, if coronavirus takes off again, that will disrupt services.' Echoing the gloomy warnings of No10's top scientific advisers, Sir Simon said there were already some hospitals with more Covid patients than during the first peak in April. He added: 'We are seeing that in parts of the country where hospitals are dealing with more coronavirus patients now than they were in April. 'The best way we enable the health service to look after all the people who need our care ... this, by the way, is what is meant by that slogan 'Protect the NHS', what it means, I think, is help us help you by ensuring (we) are able to offer that wider range of care.' Department of Health figures saw a 12.5 per cent decrease in the number of cases from last Tuesday (left), as King's College London's Professor Tim Spector shared projections that suggest new daily cases are now falling after peaking in October (right)ICU UNITS ARE NO BUSIER THAN USUAL, LEAKED DOCUMENTS SHOW Leaked documents today revealed intensive care units are no busier than normal for this time of year for most trusts, pouring extra cold water on claims the NHS is close to being overrun. Eighteen per cent of critical care beds available across the health service nationally, which is normal for the autumn. Data from the NHS Secondary Uses Services, seen by The Telegraph, claims to show that even in the worst hit region, the North West, seven per cent of critical care beds are still free. The figures show there is still 15 per cent 'spare capacity' across the country fairly normal for this time of year. That's even without the thousands of Nightingale hospital beds which will provide extra capacity if needed. Even in the North-West, the worst affected region in the 'second wave', only 92.9 per cent of critical care beds are currently occupied. And in the peak of the Covid outbreak in April, critical care beds were never more than 80 per cent full, according to the data. There were around 5,900 critical care - or ICU - beds in the NHS in January 2020, according to the King's Fund. It is not clear how many Covid-19 patients are on critical care wards as this data is not available. But the number of patients on a ventilator - 952 on November 3 - gives a rough idea. However, not all patients on ventilators are classed as being in ICU. AdvertisementHe said that 'other lines of defence such as actions individuals are taking to reduce the spread of the virus and the Test and Trace programme' are needed, adding: 'The reality is that there is no health service in the world that by itself can cope with coronavirus on the rampage. That's why it is so important that we reduce infections across the country.' The number of Covid-19 patients in English hospitals has soared almost five-fold from 1,995 on October 1 to 9,213 on the 31st, Department of Health data shows. 'In a sense the facts speak for themselves,' Sir Simon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning. 'We began early September with under 500 coronavirus patients in hospitals by the beginning of October that had become 2,000 and as of today that is just under 11,000. 'Put another way we've got 22 hospitals worth of coronavirus patients across England and even since Saturday when the Prime Minister gave his press conference we've filled another two hospitals full of severely ill coronavirus patients.' Sir Simon today admitted, however, that the NHS never ran out of room during the first wave and claimed that the national lockdown will mean the health service continues to have space throughout the winter to keep up normal services and tackle backlog created from cancelling thousands of operations in the first wave. Doctors already face a huge backlog in cancelled or postponed non-urgent operations and procedures, on which they are now desperately trying to catch up. A resurgence in people who need saving from Covid would put this progress in jeopardy. Sir Simon's comments come after leaked documents today revealed intensive care units are no busier than normal for this time of year for most trusts, pouring extra cold water on claims the NHS is close to being overrun. Eighteen per cent of critical care beds available across the health service nationally, which is normal for the autumn. Data from the NHS Secondary Uses Services, seen by The Telegraph, claims to show that even in the worst hit region, the North West, seven per cent of critical care beds are still free. This chart was designed to show that some hospitals shown in red already had more Covid-19 patients than at the peak of the first wave in the springFor while 29 hospitals are shown on the slide, the full dataset, published by NHS England, actually includes 482 NHS and private hospitals in England at least 232 of which had not a single Covid-19 patient on October 27IS THE NHS ACTUALLY QUIETER THAN USUAL? NHS hospitals in England appear quieter than usual for this time of year even though they are treating more than 9,000 patients with coronavirus. A leaked document claims 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country yesterday, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded during autumn last year. Bed occupancy has not averaged lower than 85 per cent in any normal three-month period for the past decade. The only exception to this was between April and June this year, when it stood at 64 per cent because hospitals were forced to turf out thousands of non-Covid patients to make space for the epidemic. Regional differences in the coronavirus outbreak mean some places are feeling more strain than others one major hospital trust in Liverpool is already be treating more Covid-19 patients than it was in the spring. Medics fear the numbers of people needing care for Covid-19 will become so large that they won't be able to treat people with cancer and other serious diseases. But the data obtained by the HSJ shows that hospitals are less full than usual despite having 70 per cent more patients than they did in the spring. They have around twice as many non-Covid patients more than 70,000 on wards as of yesterday along with 9,000 coronavirus patients, and still have at least 10,000 beds available. At the most recent measure during the first quarter of 2020/21 the NHS had a total of 118,451 beds available, of which 92,596 were general hospital beds. The others were on maternity, mental health and learning disabilities units. This is not thought to include capacity in Nightingale hospitals or private wards that have been rented out. Thousands of beds were put on standby when ministers feared a catastrophic wave of patients with coronavirus, but many were never used. Full data has not been published about daily bed occupancy and the NHS is coming under growing pressure to show the real state of pressure on its hospitals. AdvertisementThe figures show there is still 15 per cent 'spare capacity' across the country fairly normal for this time of year. That's even without the thousands of Nightingale hospital beds which will provide extra capacity if needed. Even in the North-West, the worst affected region in the 'second wave', only 92.9 per cent of critical care beds are currently occupied. And in the peak of the Covid outbreak in April, critical care beds were never more than 80 per cent full, according to the data. There were around 5,900 critical care - or ICU - beds in the NHS in January 2020, according to the King's Fund. It is not clear how many Covid-19 patients are on critical care wards as this data is not available. But the number of patients on a ventilator - 952 on November 3 - gives a rough idea. However, not all patients on ventilators are classed as being in ICU. The SUS documents show there were 9,138 Covid-19 patients in general hospital beds in England as of 8am on November 2. Yesterday this figure was 10,377 - the highest it has been since the beginning of May but following a drop of patients in hospital at the weekend. It means Covid-19 patients are accounting for around 10 per cent of general and acute beds in hospitals, which has gradually been increasing over the month of October. However, there are still more than 13,000 beds available on general wards, considering there are almost 114,000 NHS beds in England overall. MailOnline revealed at the height of the first wave in April that Covid-19 patients never made up more than 30 per cent of the total beds occupied. Just under 19,000 patients out of 70,000 in hospitals at that time had Covid-19. An NHS source told The Telegraph: 'As you can see, our current position in October is exactly where we have been over the last five years.' Commenting on the new data, Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, said: 'This is completely in line with what is normally available at this time of year. 'What I don't understand is that I seem to be looking at a different data-set to what the Government is presenting. 'Everything is looking at normal levels and free bed capacity is still significant, even in high dependency units and intensive care, even though we have a very small number across the board. We are starting to see a drop in people in hospitals. 'Tier Three restrictions are working phenomenally well and, rather than locking down, I would be using this moment to increase capacity.' The leaked documents also show that no intensive care units are in Covid-19 Pandemic Critcon levels above two. Critcon levels - used to give an idea of how stretched a hospital is - at three and four are enacted during a 'full stretch' and 'emergency', when other wards need to be used for critical care. But 146 units out of 222 (65 per cent) are still at 'Critcon 0', which is defined as 'business as usual' by the NHS. Just 29 units (13 per cent) are at 'Critcon 1', defined as the usual impact of a bad winter, according to documents seen by The Telegraph. Only 19 (eight per cent) are at 'Critcon 2', described as a 'medium surge'. Twenty-eight units have not reported their position. COVID-19 CASES WORSE THAN 'GLOOM MONGERS' FEARED, ICU DR SAYS An intensive care consultant has said the number of coronavirus cases looks worse than 'even gloom-mongers like me had feared'. Dr Richard Cree works at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and writes on his nomoresurgeons.com blog about his role. In a post on Tuesday, he said that there were 93 Covid-19 patients in the hospital at the weekend, with 'significant numbers' requiring continuous positive airway pressure on the three coronavirus wards, and more ventilated patients in intensive care. Dr Cree said when the government's leading scientists presented the worst-case scenario in September, growth of cases was low and deaths even lower. He wrote: 'As a result, most people refused to believe such a prophecy. It turns out that everyone was wrong and that the situation looks much worse than even gloom-mongers like me had feared.' He believed the second lockdown would not be as effective as the first because schools will remain open this time. Dr Cree also said the number of coronavirus patients in the hospital was 'having a worsening effect on the hospital's ability to function normally' and some surgery has had to be suspended. He added: 'This disruption is likely to continue for the rest of the week. However, the organisation continues to do its utmost to ensure that most surgery will continue as normal and there is to be no disruption to urgent and emergency operations.' It comes as hospitals in Manchester have begun reorganising beds to provide more oxygen treatments for Covid patients, but is expected to fill its initial 36-bed allocation in the Nightingale by next week. Manchester council's health scrutiny committee heard there are now around 300 patients with coronavirus in the city's hospitals but that hospitals are committed t treating patients with non-Covid issues for as long as possible, the Manchester Evening News reported. Katie Calvin-Thomas, interim chief executive of Manchester's Local Care Organisation - said 'hospitals are looking at how they reorganise their beds and their staffing to create additional capacity in intensive care for people who require oxygen'. Mark Edwards, chief operating officer of the LCO, said there are currently nine Manchester patients in the Nightingale. 'That will grow quite rapidly ahead of the weekend and I suspect the first ward - which is where we will need the 36 beds - is likely to be filled early next week, if not before,' he said. AdvertisementHe tweeted: 'Many hospital CEOs in the north tell us they are under extreme pressure. Many of them say their Covid-19 patient numbers are above what they saw in the peak of the first phase. 'The argument from NHS CEOs in rest of country is many are already seeing high worrying levels of general bed occupancy. And if the Covid pattern in the north is repeated elsewhere in the country a month later, it'll coincide with winter when NHS is at its most stretched. 'This means trusts won't be able to give the treatment and quality of care they would want, to all who need it. None of this is reflected in, or affected by, current national ICU bed occupancy rates. They are irrelevant as far as this risk is concerned.' Meanwhile, Boris Johnson is facing a Tory revolt in a crunch Commons vote today on his new lockdown plan - with fears he will have to rely on Labour to get the plan through. The draconian measures, ordering people to stay at home and shutting non-essential retail, bars and restaurants for a month, are set to come into force from midnight. But while Sir Keir Starmer's backing means the PM is assured they will be rubber-stamped by MPs this afternoon, he is scrambling to contain a rising tide of anger on his own benches. It comes after leaked documents, seen by the Health Service Journal, revealed NHS hospitals in England appear quieter than usual for this time of year. Some 84 per cent of all hospital beds were occupied across the country on Monday, which is lower than the 92 per cent recorded during autumn last year. Bed occupancy has not averaged lower than 85 per cent in any normal three-month period for the past decade, with a couple of exceptions this year when hospitals were forced to turf out thousands of non-Covid patients to make space for the epidemic. NHS England figures show hospitals across the country were 92 per cent full last December, amid the winter months when hospital admissions increase. Some 93,442 beds out of 101,598 were taken up by patients needing overnight care, on average. Regional differences in the coronavirus outbreak mean some places are feeling more strain of Covid-19 more than others one major hospital trust in Liverpool is already be treating more Covid-19 patients than it was in the spring. It comes after the data used by the Government to justify a second national lockdown has come under scrutiny in recent days. Officials are making repeated comparisons to the spring situation as a shorthand for crisis but will not explain how busy hospitals actually are. A chart was designed to show that some hospitals shown in red already had more Covid-19 patients than at the peak of the first wave in the spring. Hospitals shown in amber have more than half as many virus patients as they had then, while green indicates hospitals with fewer than half the number of patients they had at the peak of the first wave. The chart gave the impression that hospitals were already close to overflowing. However, while 29 hospitals are shown on the slide, the full dataset, published by NHS England, actually includes 482 NHS and private hospitals in England. At least 232 of which (and probably more as some entries were left blank) had not a single Covid-19 patient on October 27. Mr Johnson's top advisers also warned on Saturday that hospital admissions for Covid-19 and the numbers of beds filled by coronavirus patients are surging and the NHS could run out of room by December, unless any action was immediately taken. Medics fear the numbers of people needing care for Covid-19 will become so large that they won't be able to treat people with cancer and other serious diseases. Sir Stevens said today: 'We're adding as much capacity as we can in anticipation of not only coronavirus but the extra winter pressures that always come along at this time of year. 'And in fact the reason we want to try and minimise the number of coronavirus infections and patients is not only because of the excess death rate that implies, but because of the knock-on consequences it has for other services, routine operations, cancer care and so if we want to preserve those other services so that the health service can continue to help the full range of patients we need to do everything we can together to keep the infection rate down for coronavirus.' Officials say the 'available capacity' of hospitals is only around 20,000, prompting startling warnings they could run out of room by next month. But even during the spring, almost 40,000 beds were empty because tens of thousands of beds went unused after hospitals turfed out patients to make room for an overwhelming surge in Covid-19 patients that never fully materialised. GREEN LIGHT FOR NHS ROUTINE TESTING The head of the NHS in England has suggested that all patient-facing health service staff will soon be given routine Covid-19 tests. Sir Simon Stevens said new tests and increased capacity mean that testing for all frontline workers regardless of whether they have symptoms should begin within six to eight weeks. Routine testing of NHS staff is already taking place in the hardest-hit areas. Sir Simon said that, so far, 70,000 staff in those regions have been tested in recent weeks. The chief executive of NHS England told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Routine testing of asymptomatic NHS staff has now begun in high prevalence parts of the country, areas where there are outbreaks, and more than 70,000 NHS staff have had those tests within the last several weeks. 'And the chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, yesterday wrote to the Health Committee, to Parliament, explaining that, because the availability of testing had now increased, and we've got this new saliva testing that will be available for hospital and other health service staff over the next six or eight weeks, we will now be able to press on routinely testing all patient-facing NHS staff.' On Monday, Sarah-Jane Marsh, the outgoing director of testing at NHS Test and Trace, suggested that routine staff testing would occur on a weekly basis. AdvertisementThe NHS has kept hold of the thousands of beds it commandeered to fight off the first wave, with nine make-shift Nightingale facilities on standby to help cope with a second surge of Covid-19. It is not clear how many more beds could be made available if the NHS needed them. The NHS England chief executive admitted today the health service did not run out of critical care capacity during the first wave. Sir Simon Stevens said: 'We fully expect that will continue to be the case, and indeed the action Parliament is considering today will mean not only that, but should mean that we will not need to embark on a national deferral of routine operations across the country and instead will continue with targeted local decisions based on the particular pressures individual hospitals and geographies are facing.' There is no data to show how full hospitals really are; neither the Government nor NHS bosses provide regular updates of what proportion of beds are full or how many beds are still available. Instead, they offer a weekly report on how many Covid-19 patients are being treated at each trust and a once-a-month update on how many of the overall number of beds occupied are taken up by the infected. At the most recent measure during the first quarter of 2020/21 the NHS had a total of 118,451 beds available, of which 92,596 were general hospital beds. Only around 10,000 are currently occupied by coronavirus patients. The total number of inpatient beds that could be called upon including those rented from private hospitals and those in make-shift Nightingales is unknown. Mr Johnson and his advisers warned in Saturday's briefing that admissions are on track to exceed levels seen in the spring crisis within weeks, heading for more than 30,000 inpatients by the end of November and more than 4,000 new admissions per day in the first week of December. However, coronavirus data for all of England now shows that the number of people in hospital with the disease dropped on Sunday for the first time in a month, falling from 9,213 to 9,077. Daily admissions also fell on Saturday the most recent data from 1,345 new patients on Friday to 1,109 on October 30. Oxford University's Professor Carl Heneghan, a vocal critic of lockdown policies, today said the outbreak is 'flatlining'. An ongoing surge in serious Covid-19 illness means hospitals could have more patients with the disease in two weeks time than at the peak of the pandemic, NHS leaders are warning. Hospitals in England were treating 10,971 inpatients with Covid on Tuesday. NHS England pointed out that this was more than half of the 18,970 such cases that hospitals had on 12 April when the disease was at its most destructive. The health service in England is due to go back to level 4 alert status at midnight on Thursday to coincide with the start of the second lockdown. The move means the NHSs response to the resurgence of the pandemic is being handled nationally rather than regionally, and that NHS Englands national incident coordination centre comprising the organisations senior team has become operational again, having been stood down in July. It will monitor which hospitals are coming under the most pressure and decide what steps need to be taken to respond, for example by diverting patients to places with spare capacity and managing non-Covid care. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS Englands medical director, said the number of people needing inpatient treatment would continue rising inexorably until mid-November, despite the lockdown from midnight on Thursday. That was baked-in because of the 10-day lag between someone getting infected, falling seriously ill and needing hospitalisation, he said. As infection rates rise in the next few weeks ... the projection is that hospital numbers will rise as well, Powis said at an NHS England press conference. And as that occurs, it starts to fill up our hospitals, it starts to eat into the current available capacity that we have, it goes beyond the peak bed usage that we had in wave one. And unless we can control the virus and unless we can bend that curve, it will start to move into our surge capacity. So our hospital admissions and our hospital numbers are baked in already for the middle of November.Sir Simon Stevens, NHS Englands chief executive, admitted that the pressure on hospitals from Covid-19 was increasing so sharply that the NHS could have to abandon its ambition that patients seeking normal, non-Covid care during the second wave of the pandemic should be able to get it. Some trusts had already cancelled planned surgery, he said. These include trusts in Liverpool, Yorkshire, Nottingham, and also in Plymouth, in Devon. In the north-west of England, a quarter of patients who would otherwise be having their routine operations, those beds, services and facilities are instead being repurposed for coronavirus, Stevens said. Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: Todays announcement by NHS England that the health service will tonight be returning to the highest level of emergency preparedness is confirmation that the health service is once again facing one of the most challenging periods in its history. Despite months of preparation for the second wave, this is going to be an extremely difficult winter for the NHS and will place a further burden on staff who have worked relentlessly since the start of the pandemic to care for patients.Powis said it was no longer only hospitals in places such as Liverpool and Manchester that were coming under intense strain from Covids resurgence. Infection rates are now rising and rising faster in the south, [and] hospital admissions are beginning to rise in the south of the country too. Therefore our hospitals are beginning to fill in the south with coronavirus patients.Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, which represents doctors working in intensive care units, said most people being admitted to an ICU with Covid had an average age of 60, and some had underlying health conditions. But we are still seeing patients who are significantly older and younger than that. So it is affecting the whole spectrum of age, she said. Stevens pleaded with the public to help protect the NHS by following the new rules that come into force on Thursday morning, as well as the governments hands, face, space infection control advice. The reality, I think, is that there is no health service in the world that by itself can cope with coronavirus on the rampage, he said. What he called three lines of defence the actions we take as individuals and families, [and] the efforts of the test-and-trace programme were vital to ensure the NHS was not overwhelmed, Stevens said. Hospitals will be forced to cancel routine operations across England due to pressures from resurgent Covid despite the new lockdown measures, doctors leaders have warned. The NHS is facing potentially impossible demands in the months ahead and hospitals everywhere would soon have to follow the lead of those in the north of England and Midlands by cancelling non-essential surgery, against the wishes of NHS bosses and ministers. Doctors leaders also said the new lockdown in England was necessary and inevitable but warned that tens of thousands of NHS vacancies across the service would make the Nightingale field hospitals hard to staff during a surge of Covid patients. Things are going to get worse in the NHS before they get better, even with the lockdown, because it takes time for people who have been infected to get sick and come to hospital. So the impact on changes to transmission rates from the lockdown will take a while to show up, said Dr Tom Dolphin, a consultant anaesthetist and member of the British Medical Associations council. Dr Claudia Paoloni, president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, said: Its difficult to predict if this [lockdown] will be sufficient, being implemented so late and missing the opportunity of half-term school closures, especially as it is a modified and not full lockdown, with schools, universities and manufacturing kept open. Although this can certainly reduce the infection rate, if adhered to fully, whether it can get the R rate [the average number of people each case infects] below 1 and keep NHS capacity to a manageable level will need close monitoring.Hospitals will find it hard to treat both Covid patients and those with other illnesses unless the public strictly follow the new rules from Thursday, warned Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. The NHS wont collapse but patients with non-Covid illnesses will suffer if we dont control transmission and more people will die, she said. Intensive care units have seen a steady increase in the number of Covid cases. Staff are back in full PPE, working in surge capacity, non-ICU staff are helping out. Routine operations are being cancelled in order to accommodate Covid patients. It all feels like deja vu but with the added burden of trying to maintain as much non-Covid activity as possible.NHS England and Boris Johnson want normal NHS care, especially surgery, to continue during the second wave, unlike in the spring, when it was mostly suspended. But Dr Sue Crossland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said that was unlikely to prove possible and that the needs of people needing life or death care because of Covid must take priority. A second lockdown was inevitable given the exponential rise in cases. We are now at a point where we have to minimise the risk between caring for Covid patients and ensuring that other patients waiting for treatment are also cared for in a timely fashion. It is difficult, if not impossible, to square this circle, she said. The difficult decisions being advised by the scientific evidence and Sage are not easy, but we need to ensure we protect the vulnerable and keep the NHS working for those who need it most.The BMAs Dolphin agreed. You cant turn Covid patients who are septic and breathless and unwell away at the front door. Youve got to admit them. [But] then youve got no beds to admit people in for other conditions, he said. Senior doctors are divided over what role the seven Nightingale field hospitals might play this time. The first to open, in London, was the only one to care for patients in the spring. Paoloni said: The NHS has one of the lowest hospital bed bases in Europe. There are 246 beds per 100,000 population in the UK compared to 800 per 100,000 in Germany. [Given that] I suspect the Nightingales will have to be used, but staffing levels will restrict what they can be used for. Nightingales in Manchester, Harrogate and Sunderland have been put on standby. Dolphin cautioned that the more than 100,000 vacancies in the NHS makes staffing the field hospitals difficult. A lot of people are saying the Nightingales will save us. But Im not convinced theyre necessarily going to be the answer to everything. They are physically there and have beds and equipment you need, like ventilators. But who is going to staff them? There arent any extra doctors or nurses sitting out there doing nothing, waiting to be called up to the Nightingales. | 3 |
###CLAIM: as a teenager on the southern and california circuit as a teammate, cole said of higashioka : `` at this point, i think i can be a pitcher if i swing the way i want.
###DOCS: There are games big-league players never forget no matter how long they play. Kyle Higashioka had one of them Wednesday night, when the career backup catcher, who was dropped from the Yankees 40-man roster five years ago and brought back a dozen days later, slugged three home runs and led the Yankees to a 13-2 pounding of the Blue Jays in The Bronx. Catching Gerrit Cole for the third straight game, Higashioka hit a two-run homer in the third inning, flied to the warning track in the fourth, hit a bases-empty homer in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh. I think at this point, the way he is swinging I might be his personal pitcher, Cole said of Higashioka, who was a teammate of Cole on the Southern California summer circuit as teenagers. The Yankees tied a season high with a seventh straight win that followed a 20-6 flogging of the Blue Jays on Tuesday night when they hit six homers. They topped that by one Wednesday. In addition to Higashiokas power show, DJ LeMahieu hit two homers and Clint Frazier and Luke Voit added one each. Voit leads the majors in home runs with 19. Higashioka started the night with seven big-league homers in 178 at-bats and is considered a defense-first catcher with some pop if pitchers miss on the inner half. He is an elite receiver, I mean he has amazing hands behind the plate, Aaron Boone said of the 30-year-old Higashioka, who was a seventh-round pick of the Yankees in the 2008 draft. And he has power at the plate. There is the power potential that is in there and you saw it manifest itself tonight.Higashiokas first three big-league hits were homers, but the first one stopped a trying indoctrination to the majors, so hitting three Wednesday night topped the first three. I think it might be number one. The first three came after an 0-for-22 and they were three hits over 12 at-bats, said Higashioka, who didnt miss by much joining Lou Gehrig as the only Yankee to hit four homers in a game when he flied out to the warning track in left in the fourth inning. Overshadowed by Higashiokas muscle was Coles second solid outing in which he allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. He is 5-3 with a 3.00 ERA and posted his 100th career victory. The win pushed the Yankees to within three lengths of the AL East-leading Rays. The three-game deficit is actually four since the Rays won the season series against the Yankees and hold the tiebreaker. With 11 games remaining, the Yankees hold a 1 12-game advantage over the Blue Jays in the race for second place, which brings an automatic bid to the postseason tournament. Higashioka became the 23rd player to hit three or more homers in a regular-season game in Yankee history. Among the members of that fraternity Higashioka joined are Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Alex Rodriguez. What a performance. Hes got that kind of power. I think he did a great job being aggressive with the fastball. Pitches he was fouling off the other day he didnt miss them, Boone said. Great job behind the plate and a night at the plate he will remember forever.And reinforced something every player knows. It is kind of crazy how baseball works sometimes, said Higashioka, who started the night hitting .188 (6-for-32). One minute you cant hit the ball to save your life and the next game you play you pop three over the fence. Its kind of crazy but hopefully as a team we keep swinging the bats well. New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK (AP) Kyle Higashioka was as surprised as anyone. Its just kind of crazy how baseball works sometimes, the career .169 hitter said. One minute, you cant hit the ball to save your life, and then the next game you play and pop three over the fence.Higashioka slugged a career-high three home runs, DJ LeMahieu connected twice and resurgent New York hit a season-best seven homers in another Bronx air show, thumping the Toronto Blue Jays 13-2 on Wednesday night. Luke Voit lofted a three-run drive for his major league-leading 19th homer and Clint Frazier added a solo shot as the Yankees won their seventh straight game following a 5-15 slide. New York moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto for second place in the AL East, with the top two teams ensured spots in the expanded postseason that begins in less than two weeks. ADVERTISEMENTLeMahieu, Voit and Frazier also connected Tuesday Voit homered twice when New York hit six home runs and pummeled Toronto 20-6. Its the first time the Yankees have hit six homers in consecutive games. The confidence is growing with every run were putting on the board, Frazier said. Gerrit Cole (6-3) had another overpowering start for New York, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth. The right-hander completed seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out eight and walking two for his 100th career victory. He also took a no-hitter into the fifth in his previous start a seven-inning, two-hit shutout against Baltimore in the opener of a doubleheader Friday. Aaron Judge was activated from the injured list but wasnt much help, going hitless with three strikeouts. The two-time All-Star had been out since Aug. 26 after re-aggravating a strained right calf. Higashioka had never topped three homers in a season but has four in the past six days while emerging as Coles preferred batterymate. The last New York player with three homers in a game was teammate Gary Sanchez on April 7, 2019 at Baltimore. The 30-year-old Higashioka hit a two-run homer in the third off Tanner Roark (2-2), a solo shot in the sixth against Jacob Waguespack and another two-run drive in the seventh off Hector Perez. He matched a career high with five RBIs, and his only out was a drive to the warning track in the fourth. Higashioka was a seventh-round draft pick by New York in 2008, and only Brett Gardner has been with the organization longer. He debuted in the majors in 2017 but has never gotten regular at-bats, although hes been siphoning playing time recently as Sanchez struggles. Higashioka has stuck around for so long because of his pitch framing, game calling and communication but also because New York has always thought there was more in his bat than the numbers showed. Theres that power potential thats in there, manager Aaron Boone said. And you saw it manifest itself tonight.New York is the first team in major league history to have their Nos. 1 and 9 hitters connect at least twice in the same game, according to STATS. LeMahieu hit his major league-leading fifth leadoff homer and also had for a two-run shot in the fourth, his ninth of the season. LeMahieu has five career multihomer games, including two this month. LeMahieu had three hits and lifted his average to .373 as he battles Chicagos Tim Anderson for the AL batting title. Jonathan Villar ended Coles no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the sixth. Villar later scored on Coles wild pitch. Jonathan Loaisiga relieved Cole and pitched a scoreless eighth in his first appearance since recovering from an undisclosed illness. Nick Nelson allowed Joe Paniks solo homer in the ninth before finishing off the five-hitter. Roark allowed six runs in four innings, including four homers. They had my number tonight, he said. These first two games, theyve had our number.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: OF Teoscar Hernandez (left oblique) was activated from the IL but didnt play. ... RHP Ken Giles was placed on the 10-day IL with a right flexor strain. ... RHPs Perez and Waguespack were called up from the alternate site. Perez made his major league debut. ... OF Derek Fisher was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee bruise. ... LHP Anthony Kay was optioned and added to the taxi squad. Yankees: LHP James Paxton (left flexor tendon strain) was transferred to the 45-day injured list, ending his season. ... Torres (quad) was held out of the lineup for a second straight game with tightness that Boone said was minor. Boone said Torres was available as a late-game replacement and is expected to start Thursday. ... Stanton (left hamstring) was held out a day after returning from the injured list as part of New Yorks plan to ease him back into full-time duty. Boone expects Stanton to start Thursday. UP NEXTYankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka (2-2, 3.16 ERA) closes out the series against Toronto, which hadnt announced a starter. ___Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | 2 |
###CLAIM: harvard medical school professor aaron kesselheim said the vaccine approval process should be based on the highest quality science and discussion and involve a thoughtful balance of benefits and risks.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareIn another era, what happened Wednesday might have been viewed simply as good news. Two companies, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, have independently developed therapeutic drugs, called monoclonal antibodies, that in preliminary testing appear to reduce symptoms for coronavirus patients. They applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The positive development immediately became entangled in election-year politics, with President Trump repeatedly making false and exaggerated claims about the new therapeutics. He called them a cure, which theyre not. He said he was about to approve them a premature promise given that the FDAs career scientists are charged with reviewing the applications. This has been the 2020 pattern: Politics has thoroughly contaminated the scientific process. The result has been an epidemic of distrust, which further undermines the nations already chaotic and ineffective response to the coronavirus. AdvertisementThe White House has repeatedly meddled with decisions by career professionals at the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other science-based agencies. Many of the nations leading scientists, including some of the top doctors in the administration, are deeply disturbed by the collision of politics and science and bemoan its effects on public health. Ive never seen anything that closely resembles this. Its like a pressure cooker, Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview. Trust has been damaged by White House intrusions and the FDAs own mistakes. Earlier this year, the agency granted emergency authorization to hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug wrongly touted by Trump as a treatment for covid-19, then reversed course when it became clear the medication could cause dangerous complications. In August, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn drew sharp criticism for inaccurately describing the benefits of convalescent plasma, statements for which he later apologized. AdvertisementMillions of Americans have embraced some version of a conspiracy theory that imagines the pandemic as a wildly exaggerated threat, or even an outright hoax, pushed by politically motivated scientists and the mainstream media to undermine the president. This is a form of science denial that leads many people to refuse to wear masks or engage in social distancing. Scientists, meanwhile, worry that the politicization of the regulatory process could undermine the rollout of a vaccine even if it is approved by career professionals at the FDA. This is shaping up as a communications challenge for the government: Many people will want to know who, exactly, is greenlighting a vaccine. If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, Ill be the first in line to take it. Absolutely, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), the Democratic nominee for vice president, said in Wednesdays debate with Vice President Pence. Were going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly. I think we should have it before the election, but frankly the politics gets involved. And thats okay. They want to play their game. Its going to be right after the election. But we did it, Trump said in a video taped at the White House and posted on social media. Trump said it was a blessing that he had fallen sick with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and implied that no one would have recognized the potential of the laboratory-brewed antibodies without his insight. But medical experts point out that the president was given a suite of drugs, including a powerful steroid, and it is impossible to know what role the antibodies may have played in his recovery, or even if he is fully recovered. AdvertisementThe president said these antibodies would soon be available to everyone in the country another falsehood. Regeneron has said it could produce about 300,000 doses by the end of the year. That is roughly how many new cases of the coronavirus are being reported nationally every week. Two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters said the White House has pushed Hahn to approve the monoclonal antibodies. The applications are being handled by the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which is led by career scientists. Hahn could potentially short-circuit the normal review process, but in a keynote address to the Food and Drug Law Institute conference Tuesday he said decisions are made by civil service professionals. Still, Hahn has to answer to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who in turn has to answer to Trump, who is vigorously pushing a false narrative about the imminent end to the pandemic. AdvertisementIm telling you, we have a cure. More than just a therapeutic. We have a cure, Trump said Friday on Rush Limbaughs syndicated radio show. Scientists are not naive enough to think they can operate in a politics-free zone. But Trump and his allies have continued to deliver messages at odds with the guidance from the administrations own experts. The result is a government that chronically sends mixed messages, adding to the incoherence of the response to the pandemic. Fauci, who did not directly criticize President Trump or other administration officials, noted the historically unfortunate timing of the pandemic overlapping with the 2020 election. The vaccine kind of slipped into the timing of a very politically charged season at a time when theres extraordinary divisiveness that seems to permeate our society at every level, he said. AdvertisementFrancis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said it would be a tragedy if the nation turned its back on a safe and effective vaccine, and we wont be able to put this behind us even though we have the scientific tools to do that. That is an absolutely terrible outcome for a technologically advanced society.On Friday, Collins addressed the potential breakthrough with monoclonal antibodies and lamented that the issue already has a political tinge. If youre looking for a therapeutic success story, this I think is shaping up very well. But now it is overshadowed, Collins said. If it does get approved for scientific reasons, everyone will be suspicious that it is because of political manipulation. And that makes me sad. Im absolutely confident that FDA will not allow that to happen.AdvertisementFauci and Collins have reason to worry: Polls show trust in a potential vaccine has plunged. A Pew Research poll in September found that only 21 percent of respondents said they would definitely get a coronavirus vaccine if it were available immediately, down from 42 percent in May. Johnna Munsen, a 20-year-old college student who lives in Los Angeles, said in an interview she wants a vaccine for herself and her parents, who are in their 50s. But she said she has been alarmed by Trumps repeated predictions that a vaccine would be available by the Nov. 3 election, and by his assertions during the presidential debate that his scientists were wrong in saying it would take longer. If it gets pushed to coincide with the election, I dont know that I would trust the safety of it, Munsen said. The vaccine approval process should be based on the highest quality science and discussion, and involve a thoughtful balancing of benefits and risks, said Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. But there are substantial concerns it is being hopelessly tarnished by impulsive comments from somebody who is only thinking about his personal political implications.AdvertisementTo try to counter such concerns, medical experts emphasize the nations long-standing, rigorous process of clearing vaccines, starting with randomized clinical trials and including reviews by independent data and safety monitoring boards and a panel of outside advisers to the FDA. They say the system is set up to protect it from political or financial interference. They insist any nefarious effort to push through an unsafe or ineffective vaccine would be blatantly obvious, and would surely fail. Vaccine makers, which include large pharmaceutical firms and biotechnology companies, have powerful corporate incentives to avoid producing and selling a flawed or dangerous product, medical experts point out. Still, even those who are expressing confidence in the process worry about public opinion. Mistrust toward Congress, Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, the news media has been endemic in the United States for many years. More recently, it has been weaponized by Trump as part of his populist appeal and his argument that there is a deep state opposing him. Democrats, meanwhile, have also responded to the crisis in ways that could undermine the FDA, agency backers say. North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham said last month he would be hesitant to take a vaccine approved before Election Day, though he later softened his comments. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said recently he would commission an expert panel to review the FDA vaccine decision, something his office characterizes as a way to bolster public confidence. But Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, called the idea of states reviewing FDA decisions ridiculous.Topol on Friday directed his consternation at Trumps hyping of monoclonal antibodies as a cure for covid-19: Its ruined in a way, because he says hes going to get it out before the election. This was the most promising thing in the hopper, a glowing opportunity. Now, its contaminated.The nation has long relied on an unseen army of government professionals scientists, doctors, engineers, technicians, statisticians to safeguard public safety amid a freewheeling market-based economy. But trust in government expertise has shown itself to be fragile. An Axios-Ipsos poll in mid-September found more than 40 percent of Americans have either not very much trust in the FDA or none at all to look out for their interests. The implications of such falling trust are potentially dire, wrote seven former FDA commissioners in a recent Post op-ed that called on the Trump administration to stop meddling in the FDAs sensitive decisions. Inside the agency, officials realize they have a daunting challenge. They have to persuade the public that, even in a crisis atmosphere in which a vaccine is desperately needed, the procedures supervised by the FDA are sufficiently sturdy that they can withstand the political pressures in an election year. The most important thing that I think I can do . . . in the coming months is to help generate trust, regain trust in vaccines, Peter Marks, the FDA career official who oversees vaccines, said at a virtual meeting held by the advocacy group Friends of Cancer Research recently. Vaccines have saved public health previously. They will save it again. We just are going to have to believe in them.Vaccine development is happening globally. In the United States, four companies have started Phase 3 trials, the final phase, involving 30,000 to 50,000 volunteers each: AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer. AstraZenecas trial remains on hold in the United States as regulators try to determine whether a serious side effect experienced by a participant in Britain was caused by the vaccine. Another company, Novavax, has begun a late-stage trial in Britain and is scheduled to start one this month in the United States. These are randomized trials in which participants dont know if theyve been given the vaccine candidate or a placebo. The data are reviewed by independent groups the data safety monitoring boards when a certain number of people in the trial get covid-19. If more of the people who became infected come from the placebo arm of the trial, in a statistically significant way, that is a signal the vaccine is working. The FDA has said a vaccine must be at least 50 percent effective to win approval, although a higher protective effect is greatly desired. But this process cant be rushed. For ethical reasons, researchers cant intentionally expose volunteers to the coronavirus. The participants have to go about their ordinary lives. Researchers monitor the volunteers who received the vaccine candidate to make sure there are no side effects. If the data safety monitoring board concludes that the vaccine candidate is effective and safe, it will alert the manufacturer, which would then decide whether to seek a standard licensing approval or emergency use authorization from the FDA. Given the urgency of the coronavirus crisis, the FDA is expected to clear the first coronavirus vaccines on an expedited, emergency basis. But before the agency makes a decision, it will consult with its own panel of outside experts in a public meeting, FDA officials have said. Such guardrails, and other parts of the regulatory process, make it hard though not impossible for the White House to subvert the FDAs judgment. When Trump officials recently objected to the planned release of an FDA guidance detailing rigorous standards for the vaccine, agency officials made clear they would stick to the criteria and had, in fact, already conveyed them to vaccine makers. It is hard for the FDA to win widespread public confidence amid the steroidal level of todays political pressure, said Daniel Carpenter, a professor of government at Harvard University and an expert on the FDA. You have a deeply polarized electorate, an authoritarian president who wants to use the levers of government to give himself an advantage electorally and a pandemic in the middle of the campaign, Carpenter said. Fauci said scientists, such as Collins and himself, and others in the scientific community would be watching the approval process closely. If someone tries to mess with that, politically, it will be obvious, he said. And then you will hear the shouts go up.Carolyn Y. Johnson contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article | 1 |
###CLAIM: only red-nosed reindeer are found among the so many busy reindeers covering this winter scene.
###DOCS: AdvertisementA new festive brainteaser has been created just in time for Christmas, with players challenged to locate the brown bear hiding in a herd of reindeer. The jam-packed graphic, created by Hungarian cartoonist Gergely Dudas from Dudolf.com, will leave even the most eagle-eyed of puzzlers scratching their heads. Somewhere in this picture, a bear is hiding in pain sight - but the furry animal is cleverly using doazens of similarly coloured reindeer to blend in. Do you reckon you've got what it takes to find it? Ready, get set, go! Players are challenged to try and spot the brown-coloured bear which is hiding somewhere in this chaotic festive scene, among the reindeerGergely's constant art style makes this puzzle particularly challenging because all of the animals look the same. The sea of brown-coloured animals is only occasionally broken up by some festive red and white scarves worn by a few of the reindeer. If you're having trouble find the bear, try searching near the middle towards the bottom of the festive scene. Give up? Or reckon you've found the sneaky bear? Scroll down to find the answer. There it is! The bear was craftily tucked behind a reindeer and one of its antlers. Did you manage to find it? And if so, how quickly? If you enjoyed that brainteaser, why not give this next one a go and find Santa Claus somewhere in a snowy scene. The festive-themed graphic, created by UK-based firm Ripe Caravans, asks puzzlers to find Father Christmas in a busy caravan park. The current record stands at an impressive 23 seconds. So, can you find him any faster? Scroll down for revealThe festive-themed graphic, created by specialist caravan insurer Ripe Caravans, challenges puzzlers to track down Santa in a snowy caravan scene. so many holidaymakers huddled together, puzzlers could be forgiven for finding this challenge a little harder than most. And if you're struggling to spot the main man, try taking a closer look toward the bottom right-hand corner. Need another clue? He is poking his head through the door... If you're struggling to spot the main man, try taking a closer look toward the bottom right-hand cornerBut if you want more seek-and-find fun this next tricky festive brainteaser challenges pet owners to find the 14 hidden hazards in a family home. The vibrant puzzle, created by UK-based animal medication firm Animed Direct, aims to raise awareness of the dangers that can be found in a typical home, particularly around the festive season. There are 14 hazards hidden within this festive house - ranging from food to plants and decorations. So can you find them all? UK-based animal medication provider Animed Direct has created this tricky brainteaser challenging puzzlers to find 14 common household hazards that pose a danger to your pets over ChristmasWhile the house doesn't appear to be particularly cluttered, the real challenge is working out what things inside a home could be dangerous to your beloved animals. What makes this brainteaser even more tricky is the house being split across two floors, so you have even more ground to cover. Try keeping your eyes open for things that an animal might be interested in or could easily get into its mouth. Have you found all 14? Or maybe you've given up and need to know where the rest are? There they are! Did you manage to locate all 14 hazards? If not, which ones did you miss out on? The answers are: Mistletoe, real Christmas trees, grapes, Christmas pudding, nuts and chestnuts, stuffing, alcohol, avocados, turkey bones, vegetables, chocolate, sweets, coffee and tea. Did you enjoy this puzzle? Why not try this one too where you have to search for the mute button hidden in the video call. The vexing challenge has been created by UK-based event insurance provider Protectivity, who made the puzzle after phrases like 'sorry I was on mute' became commonplace in 2020. With only one hidden symbol to find, puzzlers will have to look extra closely at the fiendish puzzle to spot the mute button. With no record to beat, could you become the fastest puzzler to complete the challenge? Scroll down for the answerUK-based event insurance provider Protectivity has created a fiendishly tricky new seek-and-find puzzle tasking players to spot the hidden mute buttonAfter a year spent on video calls, it hasn't come as a surprise that many Christmas parties this year will be spent over Zoom. With this in mind, the insurance provider recommended making your call more exciting by trying cocktail making, a Murder Mystery party, Christmas karaoke or a virtual secret santa to make the event more enjoyable. If you're struggling to find the button, turn your attention to the bottom right corner of the virtual party. If you still haven't spotted the pesky mute button, scroll down to find the answer. Found it yet? The mute button is located in the bottom right corner of the festive Zoom sceneBeaten the last test? Another fiendish brainteaser challenges puzzlers to find the only red-nosed reindeer in a busy festive scene. The puzzle, created by London-based discount code provider Savoo, shows a herd of reindeer with brightly-coloured noses prancing through the snow. There is a 30-second record to beat - do you think you can do it? Scroll down for the revealA brainteaser challenges puzzlers to find the only red-nosed reindeer in a busy festive sceneWith so many reindeer covering this wintery scene, locating the one animal with a red nose can be quite tricky. The puzzle is made harder by the addition of wrapped presents covered in different coloured paper and decorative bows. Need a clue? Try searching towards the bottom right area of the puzzle. Think you've found the ruby reindeer? Or are you completely stumped? Scroll down to find the answer! There he is! The red-nosed reindeer is leaning down towards the bottom-right corner of the picture. Did you manage to find him within 30 seconds? If you liked that brainteaser, why not give this challenging puzzle a go? The puzzle, created by UK-based communications firm Moneypenny, challenges players to find the single telephone hidden among the speech bubbles. There is a 55-second record to beat - so can you find it any faster? Scroll down for revealPlayers are tasked with tracking down the phone symbol hidden among the sea of 'hellos'With such a busy scene, puzzlers could be forgiven for finding this challenge a little harder than most. But if you're struggling, try taking a closer look toward the bottom right-hand side of the screen. Need another clue? Check out what is nestled between 'Hola' and 'Bongu'. Scroll down to look at the answer below if you've given up or want to check whether you've got it right. The phone can be seen nestled between 'Hola' and 'Bongu'. The time to beat was 55 seconds - but did you find it any faster? But if you want more seek-and-find fun this next tricky festive brainteaser challenges you to spot the only grumpy child in a bustling Christmas marketThe illustration, created by UK-based Rimmers Music, tasks you with finding the unhappy attendee who is covering his ears with mittens. The current record stands at three minutes - but can you solve it any quicker? The illustration, created by UK-based Rimmers Music, tasks you with finding the unhappy attendee who is covering his ears with mittensThe scene is bustling with layered-up locals shopping for presents, holding sheets of music and clinking mugs of mulled wine - making it almost impossible to spot the boy in the crowd. But, if you're struggling, try focussing your attentions to around the base of the Christmas tree. Need another clue? He is dressed all in green... The boy can be found standing between the base of the Christmas tree and the wooden cabin selling sweet treatsAnd this isn't the only festive brainteaser on offer with the puzzle below released in a bid to get the nation into the Christmas spirit. The festive-themed graphic, created by UK-based home furnishings retailer Terrys, challenges puzzlers to track down the only nutcracker without a moustache. However, the current record stands at an impressive 46 seconds. So, can you find him any faster? A brainteaser, created by UK-based home furnishings retailer Terrys, challenges players to track down the only nutcracker without a moustache (pictured)With so many nutcracker men huddled together, puzzlers could be forgiven for finding this challenge a little harder than most. And if you're struggling to spot the man without facial hair lurking in the crowd, try taking a closer look toward the left-hand corner. Need another clue? He is dressed all in blue... If you're struggling to spot the man without facial hair lurking in the crowd, try taking a closer look toward the left-hand corner (answer pictured)Sill keen for more? The below puzzle challenges players to spot the six Christmas presents hidden in the cosy scene. Online furniture store Furniturebox created the baffling brainteaser to spread some festive fun, despite celebrations being a little different this year. The colourful illustration is filled with similar objects that are sure to distract even the most eagle-eyed puzzlers. It takes an average of 90 seconds to find them all - but how fast can you do it in? Online furniture store Furniturebox created the baffling brainteaser for puzzlers to spot the six hidden Christmas presentsIf you're struggling to spot the presents lurking in the living room scene try taking a closer look toward the fire place. Still can't spot them? Some of the others can be found sitting on the rug...Scroll down to look at the answer below if you've given up or want to check whether you've got it right. The colourful illustration is filled with similar objects to distract even the most eagle-eyed puzzlersThis next challenge tasks you with finding the robot disguised as a snowman in a vibrant winter scene. The illustration, created by UK-based electronics company RS Component, is made all the more difficult by the fact that there are a number of other snowmen dressed and on display in the scene. Do you have what it takes to spot the frosty robot from the real snowmen? Do you have what it takes to find the snowman hiding in this Winter scene in a brainteaser created by electronics company RS Components? Try your luck and scroll down to find the right answer circled below. Struggling? The best way to find the robot snowman is to focus on each accessories each snowman is wearing in the picture, some wear hats, other have scarves and one has...! Need a little extra help? Focus your attention to the right of the picture. Think you found it or giving up? Find the answer below, along with other brainteasers to keep your brain working. | 0 |
###CLAIM: he also said the aim of the north african countries was to reduce the overall budget deficit to 5. 5 percent for the fiscal year to june 20, 2002.
###DOCS: CAIRO, April 27 (Reuters) - Egypt is targeting annual economic growth of 6-7% over the next three years as it implements a new round of reforms from the fiscal year that begins in July, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Tuesday. The government will focus on developing three main sectors as part of its National Structural Reform Programme (NSRP), which follows International Monetary Fund-monitored reforms launched in 2016, Madbouly told a press conference. The three sectors are manufacturing, agriculture and telecommunications and information technology. Egypt had achieved a primary budget surplus - excluding interest payments - of 2% before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Madbouly said, adding that his government aims to return to that same level under the new programme. The North African country also aims to reduce the overall budget deficit to 5.5% in FY 2023-2024, he said. The structural reforms aim to achieve sustainable growth rates that are not affected by exceptional conditions, Madbouly said, stressing that they are needed to keep the gains of the fiscal and monetary policy reforms that began in 2016. Egypt signed a three-year, $12 billion Extended Fund Facility with the IMF in November 2016 after allowing its currency to weaken sharply. It implemented a value-added tax and raised fuel prices to reduce its balance of payments and budget deficits, reforms that proved painful for most Egyptians. Madbouly said the new round of reforms would impose "no new financial burdens" and that Egypt would continue to subsidize staple commodities over the next three years. "This new phase focuses on the citizens feeling the benefits of the economic reforms carried out in the first phase," he said. Under the new reforms, Egypt aims to have agricultural products make up 25% of its total exports by 2024, up from 17% in 2020. It also aims to increase total agricultural output by 30%. Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Nadine Awadallah; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | 0 |
###CLAIM: that decision followed a number of incidents on planes in which masked people refused to wear masks, yelled at other passengers and harassed congressional members at airports, in a few cases.
###DOCS: FILE - In this June 10, 2020 file photo, Transportation Security Administration agents process passengers at the south security checkpoint at Denver International Airport in Denver. Federal safety officials are investigating people who took part in last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to decide whether they belong on the federal no-fly list. The move is one of several that officials outlined Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)FILE - In this June 10, 2020 file photo, Transportation Security Administration agents process passengers at the south security checkpoint at Denver International Airport in Denver. Federal safety officials are investigating people who took part in last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to decide whether they belong on the federal no-fly list. The move is one of several that officials outlined Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)Federal officials are investigating people who took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol to determine whether they should be barred from traveling on airlines. The assessments are one of several steps federal agencies are taking to increase security before President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration next week. The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it will put more air marshals on some flights, and travelers will see a noticeable increase in police officers, bomb-detecting dogs and random screening at all three major airports in the Washington, D.C., area. The assessments could result in rioters being added to the federal no-fly list, the person said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that werent made public. The FBI said earlier this week it was considering adding Capitol rioters to the federal no-fly list but stopped short of saying that individuals were being scrutinized. The TSA vets airline manifests and notifies airlines when a ticketed passenger appears to be ineligible to fly. Airlines and Washington-area airports also have promised tighter security after last weeks riot at the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Each of the nations seven largest airlines say they will temporarily prohibit passengers flying to Washington from putting guns in checked bags . Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will take a tougher enforcement stance toward passengers accused of interfering with or assaulting airline crew members or other passengers. That decision followed a number of incidents on planes of people refusing to wear masks, yelling at other passengers, and in a few cases harassing members of Congress at airports. ___David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter | 0 |
###CLAIM: even after most people are eventually vaccinated, scientists say targetting restrictions must continue because this crisis will not go away anytime soon.
###DOCS: LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:It was a busy week in Congress, yet the to-do list grows longer and longer. SCOTT SIMON, HOST:Is there any future for the Capitol riot investigation? Will there be a bipartisan infrastructure deal? And what about police reform? I'm Scott Simon. GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro. And this is UP FIRST from NPR News. SIMON: Another cyberattack. This time, hackers targeted aid groups. GARCIA-NAVARRO: And Microsoft says it's pretty clear who's responsible. TOM BURT: We can really be strong about our conclusion that this is a group that's operating from Russia. SIMON: And record numbers of COVID cases in Argentina. GARCIA-NAVARRO: The vaccine rollout there is slow, and the health care system is pushed to the limit. We'll have an update from the region. SIMON: Stay with us, please. We'll have the news you need to start your weekend. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)GARCIA-NAVARRO: Republicans have staged their first Senate filibuster of the Biden presidency. SIMON: Most Republican senators lined up to block legislation that would have established a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Along with all 50 Democrats, the bill needed 10 Republicans to advance. It just got six. SIMON: Here's Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)CHUCK SCHUMER: Out of fear or fealty to Donald Trump, the Republican minority just prevented the American people from getting the full truth about January 6. GARCIA-NAVARRO: That failed bipartisan push comes as talks continue on infrastructure. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis is here to talk more about it all. Hello, Sue. SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE: Good morning. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let's start with the roadblock in the Capitol riot investigation. Tell us about the vote. DAVIS: Well, the outcome wasn't really in doubt because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had come out against it. He said it was duplicating other Senate committee investigations and called it a purely political exercise. But to be clear here, Lulu, this would not have been a partisan commission. It was modeled after the 9/11 commission, and it would have been equally split with Republicans and given them equal power. As you noted, six Republicans did break with McConnell here, senators like Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, all senators who also voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial. Another senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, said he would have voted for it but had to miss the vote for a family obligation. The bottom line here, I think, is it shows just how closely aligned the Republican Party remains behind Trump. The former president opposed the commission. He wanted Republican lawmakers to vote against it. Had it moved forward, Trump likely could have been called to testify before it over his own role in inciting the insurrection and his administration's response. GARCIA-NAVARRO: So is there any future for the investigation into the January 6 attack after this vote considering what happened? DAVIS: It's unclear. You know, House Democrats could do something on their own, like create a special committee to investigate it. But there's really no reason to believe Republicans would willingly go along with that either. The whole point of this exercise was to come up with something bipartisan to create an agreed-upon public record of that day. As of today, that doesn't look like that's going to happen. GARCIA-NAVARRO: And if they can't agree on that, I mean, it shows that there's a real lack of bipartisan cooperation. And Congress and the White House continue to search for a deal on infrastructure. Are they any closer to an agreement after this week? DAVIS: Well, they're trading offers back and forth. Senate Republicans went back to the White House this week with their offer. As you recall, he had lowered his initial start from 2.2 trillion down to 1.7. Republicans came back this week and said, hey, how about 928 billion? This sounds like they're getting closer together, but it's all a little bit misleading. Republicans in their counteroffer proposed just about 250 billion in new spending. Most of their offer is just recasting existing funds. The White House and Republicans remain really far apart on the bottom line here. Republicans are still focused primarily on what they call traditional infrastructure - roads, bridges, other projects. They don't want any part of the things that Biden is calling for, things like expansion for electric vehicles and other investments Democrats want. They also still are not any closer to how they're going to pay for it. Republicans continue to oppose rolling back any of the Trump tax cuts. So I think this latest offer - we've seen more Democrats saying, look. We should just cut bait. We should go it alone, and we should get this done without any Republican support. GARCIA-NAVARRO: We're headed into the holiday weekend, right? But Congress still has a lot on its to-do list. What else is coming up when they get back? DAVIS: They have a big bill in the Senate going on right now that would increase American competitiveness against China. That's going to be priority No. 1. Big questions remain on whether they can reach a bipartisan deal on police reform. Tim Scott, who's a Republican from South Carolina, said this week it was June or bust. And Schumer's setting up a month of what he acknowledged was pretty confrontational votes with Republicans on legislation they oppose - bills to close the gender pay gap, toughen gun laws, expand gay rights, all expected to come up for a vote. Schumer said it would, quote, "test the resolve of Democrats" and will probably bring another call from some corners of the party to scrap the filibuster to make it easier to pass bills without Republican support. GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis. Thank you. DAVIS: You're welcome. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)SIMON: We have to tell you about another cyberattack, again by Russian hackers. GARCIA-NAVARRO: As many as 3,000 accounts at 150 different humanitarian organizations were breached in an attack that was first disclosed by Microsoft. SIMON: Dina Temple-Raston of NPR's investigations team has been tracking recent Russian hacking operations and joins us. Dina, thanks for being with us. DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: You're welcome. SIMON: And what can you tell us about what happened? TEMPLE-RASTON: So Microsoft's cybercrimes team found these hackers, and they were in the systems of a group of international development organizations. And what they think happened is that the hackers broke into an email marketing company that USAID was using, a company called Constant Contact. And once the hackers had broken in, they sent phishing emails out to other organizations. But those emails looked like they were coming from USAID. And when people got those emails and clicked on the links inside of them, unbeknownst to them, they were installing malware on their networks. And the malware essentially allowed the hackers to read their emails, to steal information and even plant more malware. SIMON: We should mention that Constant Contact is one of NPR's funders. Dina, do we know who's behind the hack? TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, yes, I talked to Tom Burt yesterday. He's the vice president of customer security and trust at Microsoft. They were the ones who first told the world about the hack, if you remember. And he told us that it's pretty clear these hackers were linked to the Russian intelligence service known as the SVR. Here he is. BURT: The association with the SVR comes from what - the techniques we see them using and from the kinds of targets that they are targeting. So it's a collection of circumstantial evidence, you might say, that point in a consistent direction. TEMPLE-RASTON: And he says they think that it actually was a subset of the Russian group that hacked SolarWinds. They're also known as APT29 or Cozy Bear. And Microsoft thinks this because they saw a lot of the techniques and code that they saw in this new hack seem to overlap with things that Cozy Bear had done in the past. And they didn't want to say unequivocally that it's the exact same people that hacked SolarWinds. Maybe it's a subset, but what they're not equivocating about is that this hack came from Russia. Tom Burt told me that the hackers appeared to be learning as they went along. They were actually customizing their malware packages depending on the target. And, Scott, the reason that's important is because it's yet another indication that a nation-state actor was involved. Your average cybercriminal - they don't target these kinds of institutions, and they certainly don't take the time to tailor their malware like they did in this case. SIMON: Dina, in a world in which hacks have now become everyday occurrences, how significant is this particular hack? TEMPLE-RASTON: The hack isn't such a big deal. Microsoft appears to have spotted this one pretty quickly. But it's the context in which it arrives that's really important. After the major SolarWinds breach, President Biden told the Russians to stop, and he took some real steps. He launched sanctions - or more sanctions, even - expelled diplomats. And that doesn't seem to have been enough. And while this hack isn't nearly as sophisticated as the SolarWinds hack, it's the same kind. It's something called a supply chain attack. So that means that the hackers didn't directly target the companies or institutions they were interested in. But instead, they focused on suppliers, finding a company sort of further down the chain. And now here we are with the same group from Russia launching yet another supply chain attack. SIMON: And President Biden is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin in June. How does this hack play into any discussions that they might have? TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, that's a big question. I mean, what will the U.S. response be? President Biden has already warned Russia not to do these supply chain hacks. And now, like a finger in his eye, they've launched another one. So the question really is whether this is going to force the U.S. to respond in some way. SIMON: Dina Temple-Raston of NPR's investigations unit, thank you so much. TEMPLE-RASTON: You're welcome. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)GARCIA-NAVARRO: Statistics can never fully capture the immensity of the COVID-19 pandemic. I mean, who can really visualize the loss of 3 1/2 million lives? SIMON: Sometimes, it takes something else to make the horror apparent to us, like a single image. GARCIA-NAVARRO: A photograph of a young woman in Argentina went viral this week. And suddenly, the tragedy now playing out in that country really did begin to sink in. SIMON: NPR's South America correspondent Philip Reeves joins us now from Rio de Janeiro, of course, in Brazil. Philip, thanks for being with us. PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: You're welcome. SIMON: And please tell us about this photo. REEVES: Well, it shows a young woman called Lara Arreguiz. She's a student, aged 22. And she's lying on the floor of a corridor in a hospital, using her jacket as a blanket and her bag as a pillow. Lara's reportedly diabetic. She was taken to hospital with COVID, but there wasn't an IC bed for her. By the time she got one, it was too late. She died a couple of hours later. But that image of her alone on the floor has been published all around Latin America. And it's really hit a nerve, partly because she's young and looks like she could be anyone's kid but also because the Argentine government has been saying that, yes, the COVID crisis in Argentina is bad, but at least everyone's receiving treatment, unlike some other countries in the region. This image shows that that is not so. SIMON: We've heard so much over the past 15 months about how devastating the pandemic has been in Brazil. How do you assess how bad it's been in Argentina? REEVES: Well, it's worse now than it has ever been. Intensive care units in big cities are close to breaking point with 95% occupancy. Yesterday, another 39,000 new cases were reported, which is just shy of the daily record, which was set on Thursday. And there were also another 560 deaths, bringing Argentina's overall COVID death toll to almost 77,000. SIMON: Argentina's government has locked down towns and cities since the start of the pandemic. Now the big cities are locked down again. Why are cases rising? REEVES: Well, one part of this is caused by the rapid spread of new variants, including the Brazilian and the U.K. variants. These account for 90% of new cases, according to Dr. Omar Sued, who's president of Argentina's Society of Infectology. Sued says another reason is that restrictions have simply become harder to enforce. OMAR SUED: The people started to not listen to the advice of the authorities because the people was tired, because the people need to work for earn some money but also because there was a lot, a lot of confrontation. And a lot of the people got confused and doesn't know what to do. REEVES: The confrontation he's talking about, Scott, is political. It's coming from state and city governments who are against the national government's attempts to impose restrictions because the economy's nosediving. Just over a week ago, President Alberto Fernandez imposed a semi-lockdown closing all but essential businesses and with a nighttime curfew. And that is now about to end. Dr. Sued says that's actually gone pretty well, but it could have been introduced earlier if it wasn't for political opposition to it. And now the opposition-run city of Buenos Aires says it's opening schools on Monday, and he's worried about that, too. SIMON: Of course, Phil, scientists argue that the only way of reversing the trend is with vaccines. How are vaccines progressing in Argentina? REEVES: Well, as you know, you know, there's fierce global competition for vaccines. And like everywhere in Latin America, Argentina is having trouble getting hold of enough of them. It's using the Russian Sputnik, Sinopharm from China and AstraZeneca. More than 20% of the population has had one dose. But scientists are saying that even after most people are eventually vaccinated, targeted restrictions will have to continue because this crisis isn't going to go away anytime soon. SIMON: NPR's Philip Reeves, thanks so much. REEVES: You're welcome. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)GARCIA-NAVARRO: And that's UP FIRST for Saturday, May 29, 2021. I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro. SIMON: And I'm Scott Simon. This podcast is assembled, created, crafted and artfully polished by Andrew Craig, Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, Danny Hensel and Jon Stewart (ph). GARCIA-NAVARRO: Our editors are Samantha Balaban, Peter Breslow, Melissa Gray, Jan Johnson, Ed McNulty and D. Parvaz. SIMON: Our directors are Sophia Boyd and Ned Wharton. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Stu Rushfield - he's our technical director. Dennis Nielsen provides engineering support. SIMON: Our supervising editor is Evie Stone. And Sarah Lucy Oliver is our executive producer. GARCIA-NAVARRO: And keeping us all in line is deputy managing editor Jim Kane. I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro. SIMON: And I'm Scott Simon. UP FIRST, back Monday with news to start your week. You can follow us on social media. We are @UpFirst on Twitter. GARCIA-NAVARRO: And for more news, interviews, books and music, you can find us on the radio. SIMON: Weekend Edition, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Find your NPR station at stations.npr.org. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | 0 |
###CLAIM: media reports quoting investigation sources said sandrini was charged with fraud and criminal simulation in the same inquiry that led to his arrest tuesday.
###DOCS: Three Italian men have been arrested for masterminding the kidnapping of two businessmen who were held captive in Syria for three years. Over the course of 2016, the three who were arrested all from the northern Brescia province had convinced the two businessmen from the area to travel to Turkey. One of the two, Alessandro Sandrini, was convinced to go with the offer of faking his own kidnapping during the trip, and earn ransom money. The other businessman, Sergio Zanotti, made the journey after being promised a business deal involving Iraqi currency. Once in Turkey, both businessmen were captured for real near the Syrian border and taken to Syria, where they were held captive by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group. According to a police statement, the three men who were arrested had associates in Turkey who carried out the kidnapping and handed the two Italians over to the jihadists. Zanotti left Italy in April 2016 and remained a prisoner until April 2019. Sandrini arrived in Turkey in October 2016 and was freed in May 2019. Media reports, which quoted investigative sources, said Sandrini was charged with fraud and simulating a crime, as part of the same inquiry that led to Tuesdays arrests. Police said a third businessman was approached about making the trip to Turkey but pulled out at the last minute, refusing to board his plane. | 0 |
###CLAIM: in august, a group of specialists argued in the american journal of pharmacology and psychopharmacology that the pandemic affects people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with many of them losing critical support because of their inability to adapt.
###DOCS: London CNN Jim Elder-Woodward has spent an entire year, the span of Britains pandemic, confined to the top floor of his house. This was not out of choice. It was not as if the 73-year-old wanted to be there, forgoing having the sun on his face, and enjoying the views of the small lake at the bottom of his garden in a town on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. It was because his stairlift broke in late March 2020, days before the UK went into a nationwide lockdown. Elder-Woodward, a former social work officer from Glasgow City Council, was born with cerebral palsy and requires round-the-clock care as he cannot walk and uses a wheelchair. The stairlift has been a provision for 30 years, he said, yet his local authority the West Dunbartonshire Council refused to pay for a replacement, saying his bed could be moved downstairs to the living room, Edward-Woodward told CNN. But my bathroom and my study are upstairs, he added. In order to consider granting him a new lift, the council had to make an assessment of his needs, but this could only be done after lockdown, Elder-Woodward said. Council officials eventually visited in late spring and agreed in June to cover some of the costs of his new lift, he said, as the old one was condemned as unfit. But the installation of a new lift in his 19th century house required architectural and structural drawings, and building control approval, which can take months. Along with further delays fueled by the pandemic such as restrictions, working from home and social distancing, this meant construction only began last week. Throughout the pandemic, the HSCP [health and social care partnerships] have had to prioritize care to those most at risk, a spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Council told CNN. We have kept in close contact with Mr Elder-Woodward throughout this period and are pleased that the installation works have now been able to commence.But for the past year, Elder-Woodward has been unable to hold his fiancee, who also uses a wheelchair. She lives in her own flat and when she comes here, they communicate by talking up the stairwell, Jeanette Young, one of his carers, told CNN. Carrying him up and down the stairs is not an option because he is bloody heavy, she added with a throaty laugh. An afterthought at bestElder-Woodwards ordeal is just one of the many problems people with disabilities have had to endure during the pandemic and experts say this is unsurprising to them. The lack of preparedness for the impact of the pandemic on disabled people has been shockingly familiar, write disability experts, including Thomas Shakespeare, a professor of disability research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), in a commentary published in the Lancet earlier this month. Ignored at worst, and an afterthought at best, people with disabilities have experienced a three-fold risk during the outbreak, the authors argue: a bigger risk of severe or fatal outcomes from the disease; greater risk of reduced access to routine healthcare and rehabilitation, even though disabled people on average have a narrow margin of health; and harmful social impacts of efforts to mitigate the pandemic, they write. They also highlight a World Health Organization report that identified people with disabilities as typically being more likely to be older, poorer, experience co-morbidities, and be female of which three factors are linked to a greater risk of severe Covid-19 disease or death. According to the UKs Office for National Statistics (ONS) the risk of death involving Covid-19 in England between January 24 and November 30, 2020 was up to 3.1 times greater for disabled men, and up to 3.5 times greater for disabled women, than for non-disabled men and women. The ONS analysis also showed that in the first wave of the pandemic, between March and November 2020, people with disabilities made up almost 60% of all the deaths involving Covid-19 despite only accounting for 17.2% of the population in England. There are reasons to suspect that people with disabilities will be more likely to die in the pandemic, said Hannah Kuper, co-director of the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine They are more likely to live in deprivation, be older, overweight and live with carers or in care homes where it is difficult to socially distance, she explained. Many people with disabilities live in care homes and rely on carers. Lindsay Parnaby/AFP/ Getty ImagesA November report by Public Health England found that the virus accounted for more than half of all deaths of adults with learning disabilities in care homes between April and May 2020. But it took almost a year for this impact from the pandemic to be recognized. The UKs vaccination campaign began in December and targeted four priority groups to begin with, including people over 70 and anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable. But it was only in February when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) expanded its priority groups to include people with learning disabilities. This was following the release of a study that found that people with learning disabilities were up to five times more likely to be hospitalized with the disease and up to eight times more likely to die compared to the general population, according to Kuper, who led the research. The issue is compounded by various failures during the pandemic. For example, late last year, the regulator for Englands health and social care services, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), found that Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation notices (DNACPRs) were wrongly placed on some care home residents with learning disabilities at the start of the pandemic, potentially causing avoidable deaths. The notices are placed on people too frail to receive CPR, but learning disability charity Mencap said that fit and healthy people with learning disabilities may have had DNACPRs placed on them. In a follow up report, released Thursday, the CQC found that more than 500 people were put on do not resuscitate orders without their consent or their carers consent. But for people with disabilities who have managed to avoid catching the coronavirus this past year, like Elder-Woodward, the pandemic has brought other struggles, highlighted in a study released last month as a pre-print by Shakespeare and his team at the LSHTM. Impact beyond the risk of getting ill and dyingThe researchers explored the lived experiences of people with disabilities during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK. During interviews, people who were blind talked about the increased stigma they faced because their impairment meant they had trouble maintaining social distance. Guide dogs dont understand social distancing, Shakespeare told CNN, adding that a blind person he interviewed was shouted at when their dog cut the queue and went straight into the post office. Blind people also spoke about the challenges of living without physical contact, like touches and hugs. As a blind person Im missing out on the whole lot because of social distancing, a participant said in the study. People who were deaf or hard of hearing talked about face masks making it harder for them to understand what others were saying. Those who depended on food deliveries suddenly found themselves battling with the tens of thousands of non-disabled people avoiding the shops and doing an online food order. Pandemic restrictions also saw the shuttering of large sections of the social care system, leading to people with disabilities being increasingly reliant on their family and other informal carers, the report notes. Facilities and events, such as day centers, art projects, or drama projects also got canceled or put on hold and Elder-Woodward, who was also a participant, said the only additional support offered in the pandemic by his local authority was a 15-minute home care visit to make him comfortable in his wheelchair. The impact of that is they then dont have any contact with other people... so the impact of that is they are watching television all day, Shakespeare said. A consortium of international disability rights groups have urged national governments to ensure persons with disabilities are recognized as a priority group in vaccination plans. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty ImageParents and guardians of young people spoke of how their disabled children lost up to a year of therapy education and socialization. Children with cerebral palsy need speech language therapy, they need physiotherapy or they lose their critical windows [to develop], Shakespeare said, adding that older adults diagnosed with dementia, who have been sequestered away due to pandemic restrictions, are losing skills and suffering from increased memory loss. This all shows how the pandemic has an impact beyond the simple risk of getting ill and dying, he said. Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania and Peru were among the countries with the highest percentage of respondents reporting no access to food. But this also occurred in several high-income nations, with more than 25% of respondents in the US, Canada, France and Belgium saying they struggled to access a meal. In some African countries people spoke of being harassed or beaten up by officials for breaking curfew or restrictions as they attempted to find food, the report writes. In the US, a group of specialists argued in a letter to the American Journal of Psychiatry in August that the pandemic disproportionately affected people with intellectual and developmental disabilities many of whom lost the critical support they need but have been unable to advocate for themselves. According to Kuper, the only available evidence that she has been able to find on how Covid-19 has disproportionately affected disabled people comes from the UK. Citing ONS data, a consortium of international disability rights groups called on United Nations agencies and national governments this March to ensure persons with disabilities are recognized as a priority group in vaccination plans. Close to freedomNot being able to go outside for a year means Elder-Woodward had a lot of time to fill. He has done so by studying for a part-time masters degree in philosophy at Glasgow Caledonian University, which he describes as a hobby to keep my brain active. The internet has kept him company, and as the chair of a number of disability charities, attending a Zoom meeting is a daily occurrence. While busy, he must also remain responsible for his own social care. He pays a team of five part-time personal assistants up 8,000 with the help of funding from the local authority, the government and his savings. They are a vital part of his life, running the day-to-day chores Elder-Woodward is unable to do from a wheelchair, including bringing food up from the downstairs kitchen. But two of his assistants had to self-isolate as the first lockdown progressed, and another resigned, leaving only two carers available to cover the whole week. This meant he had six-hour periods without help, or company, and once found himself in the uncomfortable position of being sat on my testicles for hours as he was not able to readjust his body after a bathroom break. My life is completely different. I used to go out for meals, the cinema, go to the theater and see plays, Elder-Woodward told CNN. Now all I can do is move between my bed and the study. He admits he is luckier than most, having 24-hour cover, but said it had been a constant battle to be able to preserve his autonomy. Everything is a fight, he said. They dont give you things willy-nilly.Last Sunday, the installation of his lift was completed and Elder-Woodward was finally wheeled out to freedom. His first stop? I had dinner with my fiancee, he says. | 1 |
###CLAIM: that's the difference between the social media that allows people to live in bubbles with other people who think.
###DOCS: Former President Obama says that Fox News and the proliferation of social media have increased the current political divide in America. I think a lot of that has to do with changes in how people get information, Obama said during an interview with The 19th published on Monday. Ive spoken about this before, but if you watch Fox News, you perceive a different reality than if you read The New York Times. And those differences have been amplified by social media, which allows people to live in bubbles with other people who think like them.Obama said it has become clear to him that the country today is more divided than when I first ran for president in 2008.America has been fractured by a combination of political, cultural, ideological and geographical divisions that seem to be deeper than just differences in policy, he said. Obama said President Biden, his former vice president, is the right person to work to close that divide. But if anyone can help bridge our divides, its Joe Biden, he said. Hes spent his life bringing people together. And as president, hes been focused on beating back the pandemic and rebuilding our economy ideas that Americans from both parties can support.Since leaving the White House, Obama has attacked Fox News on multiple occasions, using the network as a foil for pushing so-called birther conspiracy theories and drumming up what he often dismissed as needless and partisan opposition to his policy agenda during his eight years in office. If I watch Fox News, I wouldnt vote for me, he said in 2017. I would watch it and say who is that guy? This character Barack was portrayed in weird ways. It is all edited and shaped. ... The point is, you get multiple realities.Obama most recently attacked the network in an endorsement video for Biden when the former Delaware senator was running for the Democratic nomination. Shared thousands of times by users on social media, a meme makes a series of allegations about U.S. President Barack Obama. Presenting its claims as facts, the meme contains a series of fabricated, false claims about the 44th president of the United States, mixed with opinion. The latter are out of the scope of this check. Feb 20, 2019; Durham, NC, USA; former President Barack Obama looks on during the first half between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY SportsThe lengthy text on the meme starts with the legend Lets not mince words. These are facts. A post made in 2018 and still being shared here has over 12,930 shares on Facebook. Recent posts are visible here and here . BIGAMOUS MARRIAGE, FATHER LEFTThe claims present, in a disparaging way mixed with opinion, that Obamas father was already married prior to his union with Obamas mother, and that he left his son early on in his life. These central claims are largely true. Barack Hussein Obama II is the son of late Kenyan Barack Hussein Obama and Kansas-born Anne Dunham. He was born in August 8, 1961 ( here ). His parents, who met at the University of Hawaii, got married in February of 1961. At the time Hussein Obama also had a wife in Africa, Kezia Aoko, with whom he had two children. here ). The exact timeline of when his father physically left the family is unclear. As recalled by biographer Sally H. Jacobs here , Dunham moved to Seattle with her baby shortly after giving birth (archives from the Washington Secretary of State, suggest they moved to Seattle in 1961 here ), while Obamas father stayed in Hawaii and went to Harvard University afterwards. Hussein Obama returned to Kenya on 1964, the same year Dunham filed for divorce. According to Obama himself, his father left when I was two years old here . The former president has addressed the absence of his father in the past ( here , here ). The claims refer to his parents as two communists. Politifact delved into the question of Obama's parents being Communists in detail and found it false. Their article is visible here . MUSLIM HOUSEHOLD AND SCHOOLSThe claims say Obama grew up in a Muslim household and attended Muslim schools. This fact is missing context and presented misleadingly. It is unclear if Anne Dunham practiced a particular faith. Obama has described her as a spiritual person" who grew up with a healthy skepticism of organized religion ( here ). Obamas half-sister, Maya Soetero-Ng described her late mother as an agnostic ( here )Obama was six years old when he moved to Jakarta with his mother. In Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world, Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, a Muslim ( here ). In a 2010 report, locals told Reuters Obama would have been exposed to a moderate form of Islam by Soetoro ( here ). Obama attended St. Francis of Assisi, a Catholic school, from 1968-1970 ( here ). At this school Obama was registered as a Muslim, most likely due to the religion of his stepfather. From 1970-1971 Obama attended State Elementary School Menteng 01, which has students of different faiths ( here ). As reported by the Chicago Tribune here , the school was initially a Dutch institution that was predominantly Muslim around 1962, when it was handed to the Indonesian government. By the time Obama attended, children spent two hours a week studying their religion, either Islam or Christianity. The Chicago Tribune described the school as progressive in which teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas.This claim resembles a falsehood that was triggered by a conservative magazine during Obamas first presidential campaign, that Menteng 01 was a radical madrasa, or Islamic school ( here ). At the time, the vice principal of the school told Reuters the public institution was open for everyone regardless of his religion and ethnicity. We have a mosque, a Bible class and a partnership with the local Hindu temple.In the past, Obama has debunked the longstanding claim that he is a Muslim here , here . REGISTERED AS A FOREIGN STUDENTThe posts say Obama registered at university as a foreign student. Reuters previously debunked the false notion that he registered at Columbia University as a foreigner student, visible here here . Some iterations of this allegation have featured a digitally altered ID. LAW SCHOOL AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONThe posts claim Obama entered law school because of affirmative action. Reuters could not definitively determine if Obama entered Harvard Law School through affirmative action, a policy under which racial minorities historically subject to discrimination are given certain preferences in education and employment ( here ). In the past, Obama said to have gained from affirmative action. In 1990, in a letter for the Harvard Law Record, an independent student newspaper, young Obama noted he was someone who has undoubtedly benefited from affirmative actions program during my academic career. ( here )More about Obamas Harvard years and previous academic life is visible here . WORK PRIOR TO PRESIDENCYThe posts say Obama never worked prior to his presidency, a claim which is false. Obamas career has been well documented. After graduating Columbia University, Obama moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer with the Developing Communities Project in 1985. Testimonies about this time of former colleagues and Obama himself are visible here and here . As a student of Harvard Law School, Obama worked at two law firms as a summer associate: Hopkins & Sutter ( here , here ), and Sidley & Austin , where he met Michelle Obama ( here ). As a graduate he became an associate at Miner, Barnhill & Galland in 1993 and remained affiliated until his election to the Senate in 2004, according to the law firm www.lawmbg.com/history/ . More of his professional experience is also visible on a resume here on an archived version of the University of Chicago Law School site, where he served as a professor from 1992 to 2004 ( here ). VOTER DEMOGRAPHICSThe posts say the former president was elected by white people trying to prove theyre not racist. While this includes opinion, the demographics from both 2008 and 2012 elections provide context to show that Obamas voter base was diverse, and minorities were his strongest supporters. As reported by the Pew Research Center here , in 2008, 55% of white voters supported Republican candidate John McCain, while 43% voted for Obama. Instead, Black, Latino and Asian voters favored Obama with 95%, 67% and 62% of the votes respectively. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in 2012, here Mitt Romney won nearly 57% of the white vote compared with 41% for Obama. About 80% of Blacks, Latinos and other nonwhite voters cast their ballots for Obama, while less than 17% did for Romney. OBAMA SPIED ON TRUMPThe posts say Obama spied on Trump, allegations resembling what President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to as "Obamagate." Trump has offered few details and no evidence with regard to these accusations. A Reuters article on the subject is visible here . U.S. Attorney General William Barr has dispelled the allegations and said he did not expect the Justice Department to review the case ( here ). In another effort to tarnish the former president, whom Trump has targeted for years, including falsely suggesting Obama was not U.S.-born, Trump accused the Obama administration of treason, without providing any evidence, during an interview in June. More on this visible here . OBAMA FOMENTING REVOLUTION AGAINST GOVERNMENTThe posts claim Obama is trying to foment a revolution against our government. Obama has publicly supported peaceful protests and condemned violence and has never advocated for a revolution against the U.S. government. In the months of protest following the death of George Floyd, Obama has praised the actions of peaceful protesters seeking change ( here , here ) and has condemned violent demonstrators, to whom Obama has referred to as the few who resort to violence here . The Obama Foundation dedicates a page of its website here to resources to combat police violence and systematic racism within law enforcement.DOCTORED PHOTOGRAPHThe posts feature a doctored photograph. The original photo ( here , here ) shows the image has been digitally altered to include a cigarette in Obamas mouth. The altered image has also been flipped. While this image is doctored, the former president has addressed his smoking in the past here . VERDICTPartly false. These posts contain a mixture of true and false information (including disparaging remarks and opinion beyond the scope of this article). This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here | 2 |
###CLAIM: this became one of them thursday night when tom thibodeau and the knicks rolled into california and reclaimed the record a.
###DOCS: Something special is happening here. There have not been many shining moments for the Knicks against Stephen Curry since the Warriors drafted him in 2009. But this became one of them on a Thursday night in San Francisco, when the Tom Thibodeau Knicks train came rolling through California and reclaimed a .500 record. The stars of the night were RJ Barrett, with his career-high 28 points, and Julius Randle, posting a near triple-double. Not Curry. Its a typical Thibs team, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said beforehand. Defending like crazy. Theyre building a foundation.The Knicks continued to build a winning streak thats now three games after shutting down Curry in the second half and pounding the Warriors in an exhilarating, wire-to-wire 119-104 victory. I dont think we view ourselves as underdog, Randle said. We view ourselves as a good team. We have pretty good team confidence.After ransacking the Warriors new San Francisco digs, Thibodeau paid homage to Golden State and downplayed his teams 8-8 mark. Before this four-game Western trip began, Thibodeau said statistics that showed the Knicks as the leagues best defensive team werent important. The Knicks coach said he just cared about wins, and now his team has three straight blowout triumphs to hang on its trophy wall. It still wasnt enough for Thibodeau to bask in his teams unexpectedly solid start. Stephen Curry tries to steal the ball from Reggie Bullock as Mitchell Robinson sets a pick during the Knicks 119-104 win over the Warriors. APWe got a lot of work to do, Thibodeau said. We cant feel good. Theres things weve done well. Weve had some good wins. Weve also had games we couldve played a lot better in. We have to be honest with ourselves and know theres a lot of work to be done but were improving and doing a lot better.Curry has forever haunted the Knicks franchise. The Warriors megastar came one slot away from sliding to the eighth pick in 09, where the Knicks awaited with open arms. All these years later, the Knicks and their defense finally found a night to savor against Curry. For the games first eight minutes, Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton held Curry scoreless. Curry got hot, notched 20 points by halftime, then they stopped him cold in the second half. He padded his stats in fourth-quarter garbage time to reach 30 points but shot just 5 of 14 from 3. A guy like Curry, its impossible to guard with one guy, Thibodeau said. I thought Elfrid did as good a job as you possibly can. What youre trying to do is make him work as hard as you can for everything.Late in the third quarter, Curry coughed up the ball and Randle, who posted 16 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists, scooped it up and started a fastbreak that Barrett finished for a 12-point lead. Barrett may be streaky, but hes on his most scintillating hot run of his career, pounding the Warriors with relentless drives and even banging away from the 3-point line for 2 of 3 makes. Hes playing a great all-around game hes got a good blend of scoring and passing, Thibodeau said. Barretts fastbreak bucket came off Currys fourth turnover and that was the game. The Warriors scored 17 points in that third quarter and trailed 89-76 entering the final period. In the fourth quarter, Curry was on the bench, shaking his head. Either he wanted to get back into the game on the second night of a back-to-back or he couldnt believe his team was losing this badly to the Knicks,The Warriors have the leagues highest payroll, the Knicks the lowest $18 million under the salary cap. But the leagues growing defensive juggernaut kept grinding and got more strong center play from the tandem of Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel (four blocks). The Knicks also got help from the referees. Draymond Green picked up an early technical deservedly but a second one late in the first half that led to his ejection was a referee miscue. Green was yelling at a teammate, not the officials. Heck, the Knicks are getting the breaks. Perhaps they are overachievers at 8-8, but their long-suffering patrons are watching this gritty team on TV. The Post has learned the Knicks are up 26 percent in viewership on MSG Network over last season at this point. You could tell before the contest Kerr was concerned the Warriors could take the Knicks lightly. He said he was worried about his teams energy and emotional state on the second leg of a back-to-back and they needed to rely on fundamentals.For the third straight game, the Knicks had the energy and another victory as the Thibodeau train chugged along. Next stop: Sacramento. BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 17: RJ Barrett #9 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball over Jeff Teague #55 ... [+] of the Boston Celtics during a game at TD Garden on January 17, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) Getty ImagesTo the surprise of almost everyone, the New York Knicks have been competitive early in the 2020-21 NBA season. New York hired drill sergeant Tom Thibodeau during the offseason, and the 2011 Coach of the Year has his team playing extremely hard on a nightly basis. In fact, if the season were to end today, the Knicks would be in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Thibodeaus preferred style of play is still a polarizing topic amongst NBA analysts, but thats not all that important right now. What matters most is that RJ Barrett, the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, is starting to play some good basketball for the Knicks. For an organization that is somewhat lacking in talent, its huge that Barrett is beginning to earn his keep. Last year, Barrett averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, which is actually quite good on the surface. But a deeper dive shows that the Canadian wing shot only 40.2% from the field and 32.0% from three with a true shooting percentage of 47.9%. On top of that, Barretts advanced stats showed that he was rather obstructive as a member of the Knicks rotation, as his -2.9 OBPM (offensive box plus/minus) and -1.5 DBPM (defensive box plus/minus) made him a significant on-court negative. Throughout the course of his rookie campaign, the game appeared to be too fast for Barrett, who looked like a deer in the headlights defensively and never seemed confident in the offensive skill set that made him such an intriguing prospect to begin with. In fairness, his miserable jumper made it easier for teams to defend him, and it caused him to second guess a lot of his decisions. This year, Barrett is averaging 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and looks a lot more comfortable in every aspect of the game. The 20-year-old is becoming one of the best in the league at getting himself to the rim, where he is capable of either finishing or drawing fouls. Barretts free throw attempts are up to just about five per game, but he is shooting 76.2% from the charity stripe, which looks a whole lot better than last years 61.4%. And despite the fact that his three-point percentage is only 25% this year, his stroke looks a little better than it did a year ago. Hes also 8 for 18 from the outside over the last six games. Barrett isnt going to shoot 44.4% from deep the rest of the season, but the confidence is nice to see and the higher clip falls in line with his improved free-throw shooting. (All video directly from the NBA.) If Barrett was to work himself into a 35.0% three-point shooter, theres a real chance hed become a lethal offensive player. Thats definitely a big if, but it would do wonders for New Yorks offensive spacing, and itd make him that much better as a driver, as defenders would have to respect his jumper. And again, the work hes done to better his shot has already paid dividends, so its not something anybody can rule out. Barrett already has so many impressive nuances to his game, and his ability to make plays for his teammates is one of them. He genuinely wows you with a pass or two a game. Its one of the many reasons he seems like somebody that can one day be the total package on that end of the floor. Not many off-ball players can rifle a pass to the corner like this:Barrett has used his blend of size and athleticism to his advantage this season. Last year, Barrett scored just 0.941 points per possession in transition (all points-per-possession stats according to Synergy Sports), but he has raised that number to 1.179 this season. It should be tough to defend a 6-foot-6 wing when hes barreling his way to the basket, and Barrett is proving thats the case this season. That has also helped him on hand offs, where Barrett is up from .716 points per possession last season to 1.083 points per possession this season. Barrett has become a threat when turning the corner and attacking, and he is using these plays to his advantage in his second year in the NBA. Defensively, Barrett has also made some real strides in his second year in the pros. Barrett is still a negative on that end of the floor, but that is barely the case this year. His DBPM is now only -0.6 and hes only at -0.4 with ESPNs RAPTOR, which is way up from last years -2.4. Barrett is intense as an on-ball defender, and he generally takes on the toughest wing assignment. Thats something you want to see in a young player, and thats also where Thibodeaus coaching is a good thing. Barrett can definitely benefit from not playing as many minutes each night, but its nice that he has a coach that is teaching him the importance of being a two-way player. When that jumper isnt falling, its important to do the little things. This year, hes doing exactly that. Where it goes from here is ultimately up to Leon Rose and the rest of the New York front office. Barrett has done a great job of turning himself into a productive player, but the Knicks need to surround him with the right talent in order to help him live up to his potential. The Knicks didnt use the third overall pick in the draft on an above-average starter. They want Barrett to be an All-Star. The project starts with finding a way to add more shooters. With Barretts main weakness being his jumper, its imperative that hes surrounded by at least three guys that can shoot the basketball. Ideally, that number would be four, with the Knicks replacing Mitchell Robinson with a center that can shoot the ball. But that wouldnt be as necessary if Barrett can become a bit more respectable from deep which would be preferable considering Robinsons impressive ability to defend the paint. The Knicks also need to find their starting point guard of the future. Immanuel Quickley, the 25th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, has had a nice rookie season, and he looks like a long-term rotation player for New York. However, I dont see him as the teams starter moving forward, and the Knicks can help Barrett a lot by simply taking some things off his plate. Far too often, Barrett is tasked with going out and creating offense for himself and the rest of the team. And while he does have good secondary creation skills, his 23.6% usage rate is a tad too high for my liking. He would benefit greatly from New York adding a rock-solid initiator. Overall, the fact that this is where things stand is still a good thing. Had Barrett not made significant improvements this season, its likely that Knicks fans and the harsh New York media would have started to turn on him. After all, a non-shooting wing that doesnt play defense doesnt belong in a starting lineup, and definitely shouldnt be playing nearly 40 minutes a night. But Barrett is starting to find his groove in his second year, and people should be excited about that. Barrett was once the top player in his class, and thats not something that should be taken lightly. Its nice to see him beginning to live up to expectations, and one would think that his strong work ethic will allow him to keep growing as a player. | 2 |
###CLAIM: it was captured before their wedding at a bar in an initial portrait of lisa with her veil standing against the dark side of a column to show off and be backed by.
###DOCS: AdvertisementPicking a wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions a couple will make ahead of their big day - and these newlyweds certainly hired the right person for the job, with their memories captured in award-winning style. From intimate portraits to breathtaking landscapes, these stunning images represent the very best in wedding photography from around the world and it appears most the images were taken before the coronavirus outbreak. The spectacular shots are all winners of the 2020 International Wedding Photographer Of The Year Awards, which this year, had 10 categories in the competition, with an overall grand winner and a runner-up. The highest accolade went to James Simmons, from Perth, Western Australia, for his dramatic black and white photograph, taken of newlyweds Lisa and James. It was captured before their reception at a bar and was initially a portrait of Lisa standing against the dark side of a column to really show off her stunningly-detailed dress and backlight her veil. The runner-up in the awards was Antonio Crutchley, from Miami, who captured a couple sitting inside a car while pretending to read something exciting in a newspaper. GRAND WINNERThe highest accolade this year went to James Simmons, from Perth, Western Australia, for his dramatic black and white photograph, taken of newlyweds Lisa and James. It was captured before their reception at a bar and was initially a portrait of Lisa standing against the dark side of a column to really show off her stunningly-detailed dress and backlight her veil. James said: 'The Yin Yang symbol instantly came to mind and later as I refined the image. The King and Queen chess board design was also an influence that worked well visually.' OVERALL RUNNER-UPGetting creative! The overall runner-up in the awards was Antonio Crutchley, from Miami, who captured a couple sitting inside a car while pretending to read something exciting in a newspaper. The image was taken to celebrate their engagement and won the Non Wedding Day prizeSOLO PORTRAIT WINNEREye-catching: This photograph was captured by Midhat Mulabdic,a wedding photographer based in Croatia, on a wedding in Lausanne, Switzerland and its mostly based on the conventional love between ladies and shoesFROM ABOVE WINNERHusband and wife photographers Shari and Mike Vallely, from Canada, were awarded the winner of the 'From Above' category this year. They said: 'I knew I had to get this image! It was a unique perspective of [the newlyweds'] guests having an awesome time.' Guests can be seen taking a shot together while others enjoy a soupEPIC LOCATION WINNERVirginia Strobel and Evan Cikaluk, from Canada, took this spectacular shot at the Canadian Rockies. 'We took a helicopter to the location and spent the entire weekend hiking together before finding the perfect spot for the couple,' the wedding photographers explained during the competitionCOUPLE PORTRAIT WINNERPatrick Lombaert, based in France, captured this image of Isa and Arnaud between the getting ready part of their big day and the religious ceremony. The photographer credits the groom's elegance for gaining him the awardRISING NINJA STARThis year saw the addition of the Rising Ninja Star Award. Chosen from the Top 150 entries by awards sponsor Studio Ninja the winner was Croatian photographer Midhat Mulabdic with the above stunning image, showing a loved-up couple sharing a sweet kiss in the middle of a lavish hallDANCE FLOORThis stunning image was taken by Brittany Diliberto in America. She said she wanted to capture all the emotion in the room, a 'snapshot in time showing every guest engaged and enthralled'. The wedding photographer snapped the picture at Ryan and Eric's marriage celebrationsBRIDAL PARTYCoralee Johnstone, from New Zealand, was the photographer behind this sassy image. The women are all dressed the part in similar daring outfits as they enjoy a glass of bubbly. The image was inspired by the Kardashians and even the mother of the bride was included. The fun shot won the Bridal Party prizeSINGLE CAPTURETaken by Keegan Cronin, from Australia, this snap was awarded top slot in the Single Capture category but the photographer said it was all about being in the right place at the right time. The married couple were keen to take a picture at the Newcastle ocean bathsMORE TOP SCORING IMAGESA recently married couple stand in the middle of the dancefloor as their loved ones cheer and applaud their first dance. The groom is seen sweeping his bride off her feet during their romantic routine. The picture was taken by Carolina Mosquera in Belgium and made it into the top images for the Dance Floor categoryA smartly dressed groom is thrown into the air by his beaming friends as they all rush to catch him when he falls back towards the ground. The incredible photograph was snapped by Candice Anderson in Canada for the Single Capture category and was selected by judges as one of the top images in that groupGet it out of here! A pigeon flies into a wedding reception and causes mayhem, with guests freaking out as the bird passes them, in this amusing photograph, taken by Paul Gapper in the UK. The surprising moment was sent into the competition for the Bridal Party awardWorks of art: One photograph captured by Wu Yuhung, shows a bride (pictured left), dressed in an elegant white gown, resting on a wooden pier in Taiwan, while another (pictured right) showcases a wedding party standing on different balconies in America. The image was snapped by Eric WestNot a clue! Peter Van Der Lingen in the Netherlands captures this little boy waiting for the wedding to start. Dressed in an adorable suit while holding a lunchbox with a camera on the front, the youngster looks directly at the camera. The photograph was one of the top images in the Solo portraits prizeLet's get the party started! This energetic photograph was captured by Krzysztof Krawczyk in Poland and shows a bride pouring a drink down her groom's throat as he sits in the middle of the dance floor. Photographers from more than 60 countries entered the 2020 AwardsWedding photographer Stephanie Kindermann, from Australia, created this incredible piece showing a couple holding hands in a vibrant blue corridor, while wearing matching dapper outfits. The image was submitted for the Couple Portraits category and selected by the judges as one of the top imagesAtmosphere: Wedding photographers Shari and Mike Vallely snapped this emotional shot of a couple dancing in front of a waterfall in CanadaFamily affair! Johnny Shryock, from America, snapped this family as they were getting ready for a loved one's wedding. The adult guests are all smiling, while the youngsters look less than impressed. The image was submitted for the Bridal Party awardPartying in style! Margo Ermolaeva captured these men having a great time while in Russia, with the groom drinking from a can as his friends pour more booze on him, while they all stand in a picturesque swimming poolWedding photographer Damien Milan in Australia, shot this magnificent picture showing a loved-up couple standing on rooftop while other stunning buildings line up the sky. It was submitted for the Epic Locations prizeTaking flight! This daring couple decided to have a wedding photo while lying on the wing of an aeroplane in Poland. The stunning image was captured by wedding photographer Krzysztof Krawczyk and was sent in to the competition for the From Above categoryKeeping it cool: Newlyweds in Spain stand next to each other while outside a fruit and vegetable shop. The groom, looking smart, is seen in a black suit with a white shirt as he drinks from a Coca Cola can, while the bride stands with her back towards the camera. The image was taken by Carlos Alberto Peixoto Ferreira for the Couple Portraits awardA glamorous couple in Germany lie next to one another while on a wooden pier in their wedding dresses. The moving photograph was taken by Dirk Spoerer and made it to the top ten images in the From Above categoryRomance is in the air! One photograph, taken by Stephanie Kindermann in Australia, shows a couple during their first dance as fireworks light up the night sky above them, pictured left, while another captures a couple affectionately holding one another when in Germany, pictured right. The image was snapped by Kevin KurekHaving all the fun! Wedding photographer Brittany Diliberto, from America, captured a bride, groom and their loved ones all partying in a swimming pool. The beaming bride even appears to still be wearing her glamorous wedding dressA couple are seen standing still while in the crowded Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, New York, in this impressive photograph. The image was taken by American wedding photographer Sergey LapkovskyLetting all his emotions out! A youngster is seen making wild faces while standing topless at a wedding reception in an image taken by Scott Horsburgh in Australia, pictured left, while a couple stand under the stars in a romantic snap, captured by David Lichtag in Czech Republic, seen rightIn love: Ronnie Hill, from Canada, captured this wedding party snap, showcasing a groom standing in front of his loved ones as they make a heart shape with their hands around himTalk about vibrant! This colourful snap was taken in India by wedding photographer Divyam Mehrotra and shows the groom, bridie and their guests all lying on the floor while being covered in paintSealed with a kiss! Brittany Diliberto in America, snaps a couple sharing a sweet kiss on the dance floor while guests cheer and applaud them. The picture was submitted for the Dance Floor category and was selected by judges as one of the top images for that prizeMagical: Wedding photographer Gautam Agarwal, based in India, captured a couple embracing one another before their nuptials underneath the night sky. The picture was in the top images for the Engagement awardLoving it! Guests in Sweden form a heart, with the bride and groom standing at the top. The picture was taken in a beautiful garden and sent into the competition for From Above awardDaring! This adventure-loving couple decided to celebrate their wedding by skiing down a mountain in Austria. Catherine Ekkelboom-White captured the above shot and it was submitted for the Epic Locations prizeRisky! Daring newlyweds, dressed in all their finery, hold one another while standing on top of a mountain in Croatia. The International Wedding Photographer of the Year Awards is open to photographers from across the worldLooking good: A coupe lie next to one another in a car park while dressed in their glamorous wedding outfits. The interesting snap was taken by Eric Ronald in Australia, and was one of the top images in the From Above category | 0 |
###CLAIM: he said he hoped the team would use interviews, focus groups and anonymous surveys and review documents and other relevant school policies.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareTwo members of the Virginia Military Institutes Board of Visitors resigned Thursday, shortly before the group voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its prominent location by the student barracks. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight It is unclear why Thomas Teddy Gottwald, the chairman of a petroleum additives holding company who graduated from VMI in 1983, and Grover Outland III, a senior vice president and general counsel of a consulting and government contracting firm, resigned. They offered no reasons, according to a school spokesman, Bill Wyatt. Asked why he had quit, Outland, a 1981 VMI graduate who was just appointed this year for a four-year term, did not explain. Gov. Ralph Northam (D), a 1981 VMI graduate, has ordered an independent investigation into the school, which received $19 million in state funds in fiscal 2020. On Monday, the colleges longtime superintendent, retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, resigned. Gottwald and Outland quit right before the boards unanimous vote to move the Jackson statue to a new, undetermined location. Jackson, an enslaver of six people, taught at VMI before helping to lead the Confederate Army. School officials had long resisted calls to remove the 1912 statue, with Peay defending Jackson as a military genius and staunch Christian over the summer. Some VMI alumni, who were once required to salute the Confederate general, agreed that Jackson was a hero and were angered by efforts to dislodge him. AdvertisementIn a petition on Change.org that has garnered 6,000 signatures, Jeremy Sanders, a Class of 2015 graduate and Army captain based in Colorado, complained that the core of the school was under attack by those who seek to destroy these noble ideas that have made VMI cadets an honor to their country and state. Yes, Jackson owned six slaves. No, he was not a perfect man, however he must be judged through the context of his age. To judge him through a 21st century lens is unjust, the petition says, adding, Removing the statue of Jackson is . . . an attempt to erase our history.VMI, whose cadets fought and died for the South during the Civil War, has always celebrated that history. Students are required to memorize the names of cadets who died in the Battle of New Market in 1864. Until this year, new students called rats at VMI would be transported to New Market, about 80 miles north of Lexington, where they would take their cadet oath and reenact the Confederates charge across the battlefield to earn their shoulder boards. VMI was the last public college in Virginia to integrate, admitting five Black students in 1968. Today, about 8 percent of the colleges 1,700 students are African American. AdvertisementIn interviews with The Post, they described an atmosphere of bigotry and hostility at the 181-year-old school. One Black student was in the middle of a business class last year when her professor suddenly reminisced about her fathers Ku Klux Klan membership; another Black student in 2018 was threatened that hed be lynched during his first days as a freshman rat.Black students are also the target of racist insults and jokes on an anonymous social media app called Jodel, which the school has identified as a problem but not banned. In the next two to three weeks, he said the state will hire a third party to conduct the investigation. He said he hopes the team will use interviews, focus groups and anonymous surveys and that it will review documents and other relevant school policies. He also said the team will identify any civil rights violations or immediate or past threats of racial violence. Northam set December as the deadline for a preliminary report and June 2021 as the date for final findings and recommendations. GiftOutline Gift Article Virginia Military Institute is removing the statue of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson from its campus and establishing diversity initiatives amid mounting allegations of racism at the public college. The VMI Board of Visitors unanimously voted Thursday to move Jackson's statue from the front of its barracks to another location that is yet to be determined. The school is also appointing a permanent diversity officer and creating a diversity and inclusion committee. JUDGE OPENS PATH FOR REMOVAL OF RICHMOND'S ROBERT E. LEE STATUEAmid a nationwide racial reckoning, the school's former superintendent said in June that they would not remove the statue of Jackson, a Confederate general and slave owner who was also a professor at VMI. We do not currently intend to remove any VMI statues or rename any VMI buildings, Ret. Gen. J.H. Bindford Peay III, who resigned earlier this week, wrote in a letter to the campus community. Rather, in the future we will emphasize recognition of leaders from the Institutes second century.Kaleb Tucker, a Black graduate of VMI, started a petition earlier this year to tear down the statue of Jackson, alleging that racism is rampant at the school. "There has been story on top of story of racism and black prejudice within the walls of the institute," Tucker wrote. "However VMI has not once acknowledged allegations nor has there been any just punishment to the doers of this racism and black prejudice." WHICH STATE HAS REMOVED THE MOST CONFEDERATE SYMBOLS DURING NATIONWIDE PROTESTS? Earlier this month, The Washington Post published a report on the "relentless racism" faced by Black cadets. During one incident in 2018, a White sophomore was suspended after telling a Black freshman that he would "lynch" him and use his dead corpse as a punching bag," according to the Post. Keniya Lee, who graduated from VMI last year, made a complaint public in June, claiming that a business professor reminisced fondly on her father's affiliation with the KKK in the middle of class. The removal of Jackson's statue and new commitments to diversity are meant to address these issues on campus. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APPI am proud of the commitment by the VMI family to continue fulfilling our mission," J. William Bill Boland, President of the Board of Visitors, said in a statement Thursday. "VMI, like all aspects of society, must honestly address historical inequities and be intentional about creating a better future. We care deeply about the individual experiences of all of our cadets and alumni. Our mission is just as important today, and tomorrow, as it has been for 181 years. | 3 |
###CLAIM: goldman sachs, sachs group and inc. are preparing a second round of job cuts beginning with the elimination of around 400 positions in three months.
###DOCS: FILE PHOTO: A sign is displayed in the reception of Goldman Sachs in Sydney, Australia, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N is preparing for a second round of job cuts, three months after it began eliminating around 400 positions, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The bank had announced here "a modest number of layoffs" in September after pausing job cuts earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goldman is looking for ways to cut costs to achieve a target of reducing operating expenses by $1.3 billion over the next three years, which it announced in January as part of a broader strategic revamp. The latest round of job cuts is not expected to exceed the roughly 400 positions the bank began eliminating in September, Bloomberg News reported earlier on Tuesday. Goldman executives expect to go deeper in the coming year, which could eventually lead to one of the most significant staff reductions at the bank, according to the report. In an email to Reuters, Goldman reiterated its statement from earlier this year, saying it has made a decision to move forward with a modest number of layoffs.It was not clear if there would be further job cuts next year, sources told Reuters. Goldman is also looking to reduce costs by locating more staff in less expensive locations such as Salt Lake City, Dallas and Bengaluru, India, Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr said earlier this month. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the loss result from the uk and eea desktop products sales since 2016 is estimated at about 270 billion dollars in gross profit.
###DOCS: 26 March 2021, Bavaria, Munich: The Microsoft logo hangs on the facade of an office building in ... [+] Parkstadt Schwabing, in the north of the Bavarian capital. Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa (Photo by Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images) dpa/picture alliance via Getty ImagesUK-based software reseller ValueLicensing is suing Microsoft for 270 million due to the companys alleged stifling of competition in the software market. ValueLicensing is a certified provider of pre-owned Microsoft software licences. The company, which is based in Derbyshire, says it buys licences from businesses that no longer require them, either because theyre switching to the cloud or have declared insolvency. Since 2016, however, Microsoft has been urging businesses to give up their licences in exchange for discounts on its cloud-based services, such as Office 365, rather than sell them on to companies such as ValueLicensing. ValueLicensing claims that, as a result of these anticompetitive restrictions on the resale of perpetual licences, it has lost hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue. In a filing with the High Court in London, the company alleges that Microsoft has been abusing its market power as as it deprives businesses of the option of buying used IT services. Its calling for that Microsofts clauses to be found illegal and unenforceable, for NDAs to be removed from contracts, and for Microsoft to end its illegal conduct. ValueLicensing is also asking the UK High Court "to award damages for the loss it has suffered as a result of Microsoft's conduct". The company says that the lost UK and EEA sales of desktop products (as a result of Microsoft practices) since 2016 would have resulted in an estimated gross profit of about 270 million. Jonathan Horley, Managing Director at ValueLicensing, told the Financial Times: Microsofts illegal behaviour has impacted almost every organisation that provides desktop software for its workforce in the UK and the EEAValueLicensing is not the only victim. In purchasing software, public and private-sector organisations presently have little option but to move to subscriptions offered by Microsoft, because there are so few preowned perpetual licenses available now, as a result of Microsofts campaign to almost entirely drain the market. Microsoft is an unavoidable partner. Its software is integral to virtually all organisations. Its position of economic strength enables it to prevent effective competition from being maintained for preowned perpetual licences because it has the power to behave to an appreciable extent independently of its competitors and taxpayer-funded public-sector organisations and private-sector businesses of all sizes.Microsoft told the Financial Times it cannot comment on ongoing legal cases. | 0 |
###CLAIM: klopp believes english talent thrives because players can train alongside some of the best youngsters in europe - an opportunity lost after 'brexit'.
###DOCS: Jurgen Klopp said he is still waiting for the first benefit of Brexit following the Football Associations announcement of its ramifications for English football. The FA, in conjunction with the Premier League and EFL, confirmed this week that English clubs cannot sign foreign players until they are 18, or more than three overseas players under 21 in a single transfer window once the UK leaves the EU on 1 January. Other rules include work permits, allocated on a points-based system, for all transfers from EU nations. Klopp, a long-time Brexit critic, believes the Home Office would have enforced greater restrictions but for resistance from many within the game, and he considers the transfer rules another example of Brexits negative impact. The Liverpool manager said: Michael Edwards [Liverpools sporting director] was involved in a lot of these discussions and the clubs fought pretty hard for a solution kind of a good solution or as good as possible. Without the discussions it would have been worse. I am still waiting for the first advantage of Brexit that someone can tell me. What really improves after Brexit? Its obviously not my thing to judge, but as an interested person I just wait until the first really positive impact of Brexit. Maybe I didnt read it because Im too much in football, but I dont remember a lot, to be honest.The Governing Body Endorsement plan is designed to promote more homegrown talent in the English game. Klopp, however, believes English talent is thriving because players can train alongside some of the best youngsters in Europe, an opportunity that will be lost post-Brexit. People the FA or whoever want to make sure that the clubs dont sign too many players from other countries because they are afraid that not enough English talents will make their way. But if you look at the English youth national teams at the moment they are in the top two or three if not the top in nearly all age groups; talent-wise they are 100%, and that is with the way we did it before. So lets think about why that happened. They had a lot of players around them that played good football as well. Its helpful. We cannot just create more talents because we deny other talents. But, as I say, its not my thing to judge. Its just one of the smaller problems which we will all be aware of when Brexit is finally there.Trent Alexander-Arnold returned to training on Friday having missed the past four weeks with the injury picked up at Manchester City. He could be involved in Sundays game against Wolves. | 0 |
###CLAIM: two main political blocs seen as main contenders are the ruling civic, contract and party forces led by pashinyan and the armenian alliance led by former president robert kocharyan.
###DOCS: FILE In this file photo taken on Thursday, June 17, 2021, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan greets his supporters during a rally in his support prior to upcoming parliamentary elections in the center Yerevan, Armenia. Armenian voters will go to the polls for early parliamentary elections on Sunday, June 20, 2021. Armenians head to polls Sunday for an early parliamentary election stemming from a political crisis that has engulfed the country in the aftermath of the last year's fighting with Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (AP Photo/Areg Balayan, File)FILE In this file photo taken on Thursday, June 17, 2021, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan greets his supporters during a rally in his support prior to upcoming parliamentary elections in the center Yerevan, Armenia. Armenian voters will go to the polls for early parliamentary elections on Sunday, June 20, 2021. Armenians head to polls Sunday for an early parliamentary election stemming from a political crisis that has engulfed the country in the aftermath of the last year's fighting with Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (AP Photo/Areg Balayan, File)YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) Armenias leader is facing a tough challenge at the polls after a humiliating defeat for Armenian forces in last years fighting with Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the early election for Sunday, seeking to assuage public anger over the peace deal he signed in November that triggered months of protests demanding his resignation. The Moscow-brokered agreement ended six weeks of fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, but saw Azerbaijan reclaim control over large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas that had been held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century. The deal was celebrated as a major triumph in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, but thousands of Armenians took to the streets in Yerevan and denounced it as a betrayal of their national interests. ADVERTISEMENTThis is very much a referendum or an election defined by security or more correctly, insecurity given the unexpected and very much unprecedented loss in the war for Nagorno-Karabakh, Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center, told The Associated Press. The attack by Azerbaijan, with Turkish military support, has redefined the political landscape in Armenia.Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the government in Yerevan since a separatist war between the two Caucasus Mountains neighbors ended in 1994, leaving the region and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands. Hostilities flared in late September 2020, and the Azerbaijani military pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby areas in six weeks of fighting involving heavy artillery and drones that killed more than 6,000 people. Pashinyan, who came to power after leading large street protests in 2018 that ousted his predecessor, has defended the deal as a painful but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region. He stepped down as prime minister as required by law to hold the early vote but has remained in charge as acting prime minister. In Sundays election, more than 2,000 polling stations will open across Armenia, with nearly 2.6 million people eligible to vote. The ballot includes 21 political parties and four electoral blocs, but two political forces are seen as the main contenders: the ruling Civic Contract party led by Pashinyan and the Armenia alliance, led by former President Robert Kocharyan. Both have used harsh rhetoric while campaigning. Kocharyan suggested a duel against Pashinyan with any type of weapon instead of debates, while Pashinyan brandished a hammer at his rallies, promising political vendettas and staff purges, referring to officials supporting the opposition as rusty nails.ADVERTISEMENTRecent media reports cite polls showing Pashinyans party and Kocharyans bloc neck and neck, and its unclear if either will be able to win 54% of parliament seats necessary to form a government. Pashinyan, a 46-year-old former journalist, seemingly continues to enjoy broad support despite the humiliating defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh and demonstrations demanding his resignation. When opposition protests swelled in Yerevan, he drew thousands into the streets to rally in his support. During his final campaign rally Thursday, Pashinyan told supporters in Yerevan that he has visited all corners of Armenia and spoken to tens of thousands of people.After eight months of hell, exhausted and followed by threats, curses and insults, we entered this election race. And the Armenian people welcomed us, as one welcomes relatives returning from captivity, Pashinyan told a crowd of about 20,000. Kocharyan, a Nagorno-Karabakh native who was president between 1998 and 2008, ran on promises of reinforcing the countrys shaken security, encouraging economic growth and reconciling a society divided by the war and the political tensions. We must overcome the loser complex, Kocharyan said at a campaign rally. Were rejecting the crisis, rejecting the hatred, rejecting life on our knees!Alexander Iskandaryan, founding director of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute, believes that those who would vote for Kocharyan dont support him as much as they dislike Pashinyan. Its not about people who love Kocharyan. Maybe there are some, but not a lot. The majority of people who would vote for Kocharyan are people who hate Pashinyan, Iskandaryan told the AP. Voters, in the meantime, remain polarized. Some continue to back Pashinyan and believe it is time to leave the bitter defeat behind. The back of our nation is broken, but we are strong. We have already seen three wars. But life goes on and we will always honor those who died, said Nelli Karapetyan, a Pashinyan supporter from the city of Sisian. Others say Kocharyan needs to win in order for Armenia to do well. We want Armenia to be strong, ... and all prisoners of war to come back. I want Kocharyan to be elected and Armenia to prosper, Mariam Gevorgyan told the AP at a rally Friday. We came (to the rally) to free our homeland from the defeatist (Pashinyan), added Narek Markosyan, who also attended the rally. He cant stay, period. Just period. He cant stay in our homeland.And some cannot get past the war with Azerbaijan. Anahit Aleqyan, a 65-year-old from the village of Shurnkh in southern Armenia, says she will vote for anyone who will make (Azerbaijan President Ilham) Aliyev shut up.Her village was cut in two by a newly defined border with Azerbaijan, and she lost her house in the peace deal. Every day I come here to gather thyme, look at (my house) and cry, she lamented. __Associated Press writer Daria Litvinova in Moscow contributed. | 0 |
###CLAIM: 81 percent of respondents said social media platforms facilitating reports of instances of online harassment should take more action to monitor online hate.
###DOCS: Story at a glance Asian Americans and Black Americans saw increases in online harassment over the course of 2020. ADL officials call on Big Tech to further moderate misinformation. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a new report Wednesday documenting the instances of broad online harassment in the U.S., ranging from events of severe online attacks to sexual harassment, stalking and physical threats. Results indicate that race-based harassment has increased considerably this year compared to data from the previous year, most notably among Black and Asian American respondents, the latter of whom saw the largest year-over-year increase in severe online harassment. Users reported being targeted due to either their sexual, religious, racial or ethical identities. This survey shows that even as technology companies insist that they are taking unprecedented steps to moderate hateful content on their social media platforms, the user experience hasnt changed all that much, said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of ADL. Americans of many different backgrounds continue to experience online hate and harassment at levels that are totally unacceptable.YOU MAY THINK YOURE NOT A RACIST. BUT THATS NOT ENOUGHBOOKS ON RACE AND DISCRIMINATION BECOME BESTSELLERS IN WAKE OF GEORGE FLOYD KILLINGUBER PLEDGES $10 MILLION TO BECOMING AN ANTI-RACIST COMPANYSIRI, ALEXA TAKE A STAND ON BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENTMembers of the LGBTQ+ community also reported large spikes in online harassment, with 64 percent of respondents saying they have suffered virtual abuse. Thirty-six percent of Jewish respondents also reported higher instances of online attacks, compared to a smaller 33 percent from last years report. On a broader level, 41 percent of total respondents reported experiencing some form of online harassment. The report comes amid an ongoing pandemic that has exacerbated already-existing inequalities in this country and a national reckoning on racism, starting last year. The country has seen a spike in anti-Asian hate crime since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Just last week, eight people, including six Asian women, were killed when a shooter attacked three massage parlors in Atlanta. The killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, sparked a renewed Black Lives Matter movement last year. Activists have called for an end to systemic racism, demanding police reform and accountability for racially discriminatory policies across industries. Greenblatt posits that the stark upticks in violence toward Asian Americans, both online and in real life, are direct results of national leaders spewing hateful and racist rhetoric. Former President Trump consistently used China virus and Kung Flu to describe COVID-19 during his time in office, among other references he made that blamed the pandemic on China. His rhetoric prompted an increase in anti-Asian hate online, according to a University of California, San Francisco study. Not surprisingly, after a year where national figures including the president himself routinely scapegoated China and Chinese people for spreading the coronavirus, Asian-Americans experienced heightened levels of harassment online, just as they did offline, Greenblatt stated. ADL officials and report authors also say online conspiracy theories are a driving force for the uptick in racially-motivated harassment online. The report also highlights the role social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube play in broadcasting conspiracy theories and misinformation to the general public. This criticism in the past has prompted the sites to update their policies surrounding content regulation, including banning former President Trump. Breaking down where this harassment plays out, Facebook users experience the majority of online attacks, with 75 percent of respondents reporting harassment occurring on the social media site. Solutions to halt online attacks vary, but 81 percent of respondents said social media platforms should take more action to monitor online hate, and another 78 percent want platforms to facilitate reporting instances of online harassment. They also request that spam accounts, or bots, be labeled and say that local law enforcement have more training to assist in helping combat online harassment, ultimately holding perpetrators accountable. BIDEN ADVISER REPORTEDLY SAYS WHITE HOUSE WILL START REPARATIONS TO BLACK COMMUNITY NOWTAYLOR SWIFT BASHES NETFLIX AFTER DEEPLY SEXIST JOKEWOMEN OF COLOR ARE TIPPING THE BALANCE OF POWER IN U.S. CITIESNEW POLL FINDS RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS IDENTIFY AS LGBT | 0 |
###CLAIM: someone 26 years old who retired from playing was forced to fight for his life after a fractured skull left him needing emergency brain surgery.
###DOCS: Ryan Mason was expecting to spend this week hunting for a way to watch Tottenham play in their first Wembley final since 2015, when he was in the team. 'I'm not sure of the ticketing process and whether I would have been there,' said Mason. 'I would have definitely asked for a ticket and hoped of getting in there somehow.' Ryan Mason has been placed in interim charge of Tottenham until the end of the seasonAs it turns out, the 29-year-old will be leading Spurs out for the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday as the interim manager, thrust into the role and tasked with toppling the best team in the country to end a 13-year trophy drought. First though, Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday evening, the first fixture since Jose Mourinho was sacked and Mason summoned from his role as head of player development to take charge for the rest of the season. He will have help from Ledley King, Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs but he could only describe the turn of events as 'crazy'. Mason played for Tottenham the last time they reached the League Cup final in 2015From the seat where he gave a pre-match media briefing, he could see the Under 18s walking past to take on West Ham, aware he had planned to be with them rather than pleading ignorance about the European Super League and fielding questions on life at Tottenham after Mourinho. Then again, if anyone knows how football can disrupt the best-laid plans, it is someone forced to retire as a player aged 26 after a fractured skull left him in need of emergency brain surgery and in a fight for his life. 'What I went through was huge,' said Mason. 'I represented my country on the football pitch, which is huge as well, and I had to deal with an injury where there were difficult moments. 'Retiring was very tough, it's tough at the best of times. Nothing can prepare you for it. My main priority was to get my health back. I had my family around me and my partner had just had a baby. It put into perspective some of the things that were most important. Mason had to retire after suffering a career-ending head injury while playing for Hull in 2017'I want to be positive. I want to be happy. I want to work hard and enjoy the moment and have experiences to look back on when I'm older. Maybe all those moments as a player have shaped me to be where I am today. 'I feel comfortable. I feel in a good place and hopefully that can transmit to the players.' Mason joined Spurs at the age of nine and, after various loan spells, made his breakthrough into the first team under Mauricio Pochettino, winning an England cap against Italy, in March 2015. Pochettino often cited a Mason goal, the equaliser in a League Cup tie against Nottingham Forest, as a turning point in his tenure following a sticky start at White Hart Lane. The Argentine, now in charge of Paris Saint-Germain, came to visit Mason in hospital after the horrific head injury he suffered playing for Hull City at Chelsea in 2017 and was among the first to send best wishes this week. He was still at the helm when Mason was invited back to Tottenham to rebuild his career in football as a coach in their academy. 'I wasn't sure what I wanted to do initially,' he said. 'I loved football, that's all I knew and the club were great with me. John McDermott (then head of the academy) and the gaffer Mauricio welcomed me back. I came and got a feel for it and things just evolved. 'In the last two and a half years, I've taken the Under 17s, Under 18s and Under 19s in the European competition, I'm involved with the Under 23s as well so it's clear I want to be a coach.' He is about to become the Premier League's youngest manager, five years younger than captain Hugo Lloris who is one of seven players in the squad who were team-mates of Mason on his last Spurs appearance five years ago. Mason delivers instructions during his first training session in charge on Tuesday afternoonHe also steps in to replace Mourinho, a managerial legend of world football although never truly able to connect with Spurs fans and, by the end, at odds with several players. 'It's no secret I love this club,' said Mason. 'It's in my heart. It's in my blood. I've always felt a connection to the fans. I know what it's like having them with you. That energy is just incredible, so powerful. Unfortunately, we don't have them in the stadium but I want a Tottenham team to make our fans proud, so they enjoy watching us. 'This football club needs to feel that energy. That's how we work, that's who we are. I want us to be brave and aggressive and play like Tottenham Hotspur.' | 0 |
###CLAIM: the pharma industry, which promises to deploy if any major drug price reform starts moving through congress, has a massive war chest of refills at a yearly fee for members.
###DOCS: As Joe Biden closed in on the Democratic Partys nomination, with only Bernie Sanders still running against him, part of his pitch was that he knew how hed pay for his proposals. Bernies $32 trillion single-payer Medicare-for-all plan? Unrealistic and unaffordable. Bidens $800 billion plan to create a new public insurance option and build on Obamacare? Joe has it covered. The fact of the matter is, everything I call for I pay for, Biden said in his final debate with Sanders on March 15, 2020. But in practice, an $800 billion plan may be almost as politically daunting as a $32 trillion one. Its still a monumental lift, Kim Monk, who follows Congress for investment clients at Capital Alpha Partners, told me. And that is forcing Biden to aim lower still. Right now, in his proposed American Families Plan, Biden is asking Congress for $200 billion to expand the Affordable Care Acts subsidies for health insurance premiums. The expansion already passed in the American Rescue Plan but expires after two years; the new proposal would make them permanent. The public option is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, the payment plan Biden proposed during his campaign and in his debate with Sanders an increased tax on capital gains will probably be used to pay for other parts of the Biden agenda, while a $450 billion savings proposal, favored by most Democrats in Congress, that would allow Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies was also left out of the Families Plan. Congressional Democrats were urging Biden to include the drug price idea and use the savings to pay for coverage expansions, such as lowering Medicares eligibility age. Its hard not to see one as related to the other. Bidens plans for expanding health coverage earlier Medicare eligibility, a public option were modest compared to Sanderss. But their fate, even as Biden proposes trillions in other new spending, shows that health care programs still have to pass a difficult test: They need to at least partially pay for themselves. For decades, the norm has been that when Congress wants to pass a new expansion of health coverage, it will find the money to pay for at least some of that expansion from the health care industry, whether in the form of new taxes or spending cuts. Health care funds health care. But that creates a huge political problem: The health care industry can block new reforms not by opposing the reforms themselves but by campaigning against the cuts or taxes used to pay for them. Doctors, hospitals, and health care companies retain a lot of influence in Congress; every congressional district has a hospital, as lobbyists happily point out. So even as their ambitions for health care grow, as demonstrated by Bidens embrace of the public option, Democrats find themselves caught in this trap. Bidens health care proposals still cost a lot of money and that money has to come from somewhereNobody knows for sure why Biden dropped the Medicare negotiations proposal from the American Families Plan, even as he called for lawmakers to pass it this year on a bipartisan basis an unlikely prospect in his first address to Congress. The reporting has been circumspect. But we do know the pharma industry has a massive war chest, refilled every year by member fees, and has promised to deploy it if any major drug pricing reform started moving through Congress. Drug manufacturers also enjoy their best public approval in years after delivering Covid-19 vaccines in record time. Why go after the very industry that basically is our lifeline out of the pandemic? Monk said. This is how the trap closes: When health care must pay for health care, the health care industry must take a hit in order to cover more people. That is something the industrys immense lobbying apparatus usually wants to stop, and given its influence in the halls of Congress and in the White House, that can make anybodys health care plan whether it costs $800 billion or $32 trillion a nonstarter. Biden avoided this problem with the initial two-year expansion of the ACA subsidies in the American Rescue Plan by mostly not paying for it. But even in this age of deficit doves, the $200 billion to make that expansion, or any other major health care expansion, permanent would need to be paid for. That presents a massive political problem, even for Bidens more modest (compared with Sanderss) proposals. It was quite easy to get the health care industry on board for temporarily increasing ACA premium help without any budgetary offset to pay for it, as was the case in the American Rescue Plan, said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for the Kaiser Family Foundation. Levitt framed that bills health care provisions as all winners, no losers.As soon as there starts being pressure to pay for health care enhancements, he continued, it becomes a zero-sum game with losers as well as winners.If Democrats are serious about expanding public programs, they cant count on the health care industry as alliesThe health care industry can be persuaded that the trade-off is worth it. Its happened before. The platonic ideal of this framework is the ACA itself, the 2010 law Biden says he wants to build on with this subsidy expansion and (eventually) a public option. About 80 percent of the ACA was covered by spending cuts (for Medicare payments to providers, for example) or new taxes (various new levies on pharma and health insurers and medical devices) targeted to the industry. The industry bought into the law and didnt oppose its passage. It took the deal that is at the heart of this long-held tradition: The coverage expansion would mean more paying customers. It might take a trim in payment rates or on new taxes, but itd make up for it with more volume. And, as it turned out, more than 20 million people were covered by the law. But the industry may not be willing to make the same kind of bargain with Biden because his proposals dont have the same appeal. The Medicare expansion is opposed by many hospitals and doctors Medicare pays lower rates than private health insurers; more people on Medicare means less reimbursement for them. The industry opposes the public option, which would presumably set rates lower than private insurance so it could charge cheaper premiums, for the same reason. Considering more than half of Americas uninsured already qualify for Medicaid or the ACA, the public option is less a device for expanding coverage than a way to drive down health care costs. And that is exactly why the health care industry would fight fiercely to stop it. The Biden administration still can, and has, taken steps to expand health coverage. An additional 4 million people qualify for ACA subsidies since Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law. Nearly 1 million people have signed up for insurance during a special open enrollment period Biden started shortly after taking office. The administration is also bound by the rules and politics of the Senate. A public option may not be permissible under the budget reconciliation rules that allowed Democrats to move some legislation without any Republican votes. Some moderate Senate Democrats may be less enthused about the public option or even a Medicare expansion than some of their peers who are more progressive. But America still has the highest uninsured rate in the developed world and the highest health care costs. So long as the health care industry wields a veto pen over any plan that would cut into its profits to address those problems, little is going to change. Democrats will have to find a way to escape this trap. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the vaccine, developed by biontech and pfizer, was approved by the ema because authorization to shoot moderna took just over a month after application in early december.
###DOCS: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson could deliver the first doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Europe in April, an EU official told Reuters on Wednesday after a top lawmaker said the U.S. healthcare company was likely to seek EU regulatory approval in February. FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationClinical data on the vaccine has been assessed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since Dec. 1 under a rolling review to speed up possible approval. A senior EU official, who is involved in negotiations with vaccine makers and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the J&J shot could be available from April 1 in Europe. Earlier on Wednesday, an EU lawmaker said J&J could seek EU approval for its one-shot vaccine in February. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides announced during our (EU lawmakers) group meeting this morning that the vaccine manufacturer Johnson & Johnson is likely to submit an application for approval to the EU for their vaccine in February, said Peter Liese, who speaks on health matters for the EUs centre-right group, the assemblys largest. J&J Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels told Reuters the drugmaker expects to have clear data on how effective its vaccine is by the end of this month or early February and was on track for a U.S. rollout in March. The EU drugs regulator had said in December it expected the J&J to apply in the first quarter of this year. It took EMA 20 days to approve the vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc, and just over a month to authorise the Moderna Inc shot after their applications were submitted in early December. The two vaccines are so far the only ones approved in the EU, while AstraZeneca submitted its application on Tuesday. If all goes well, we will already have the fourth corona vaccine available in a few weeks, Liese added. The EU has booked 200 million doses of the J&J vaccine and has an option to order another 200 million shots. The J&J vaccine is administered as a single shot, while those from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech require two doses three or four weeks apart for full protection. The EU has invested about 360 million euros ($438 million) to secure the J&J vaccine with a downpayment that would need to be complemented with payments by EU governments willing to buy the vaccine after approval. The U.S. government secured 100 million doses from the company for $1 billion in an August agreement, with an option to buy an additional 200 million doses. | 0 |
###CLAIM: bogdan always exceeded this chance by bumping efficiency up a notch this year, knocking down 43 percent of those looks.
###DOCS: ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 06: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts with Bogdan Bogdanovic #13 after ... [+] hitting a three pointer during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at State Farm Arena on April 6, 2021. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) Getty ImagesStarting the offseason thinking that you were traded via Twitter isnt the best way to kick off your free agency. Bogdan Bogdanovic began this year believing, for good reason, that he would be sent off to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal that was to fortify their quest to win a championship and retain Giannis Antetokounmpo. The crumbling of that transaction was well detailed in a story by Sam Amick in The Athletic where he was able to get an interview with Bogdanovic who gave his side of the story. The restricted free agency matching period left Bogdanovic wary of the possibility of having to return back to Sacramento where hurt feelings still remained. Ultimately the Kings bypassed the opportunity to match the offer and/or gain assets in a sign-and-trade. Regardless, Bogdanovic ended up in Atlanta on a four-year, $72 million contract. Like the beginning of his offseason, the start of the year didnt go too well for Bogdanovic. He averaged just 10 points per game on less than 40 percent shooting from the field; often looking a bit off in his fit next to Trae Young as Lloyd Pierce searched for the right combinations after the team made a flurry of acquisitions a few weeks beforehand. Bogdanovic revealed last month that during his first practice with the team that his stamina may still have been impacted from his COVID-19 infection earlier in the year. It was tough. I have finally felt over the last month that I have finally recovered and am back to feeling good. I do remember that first practice I had with the Hawks, I was dead. I was really dead. When I got hurt, all I could think about was how I might not have been ready. Before being able to fully settle in he suffered a right knee fracture and bone bruise that knocked him out for 25 games. The Hawks sputtered during that time, compiling a 10-15 record that buried them in the standings and put them in peril of missing the playoffs. Coincidentally, Pierce was fired on March 1st which happened to be the day before Bogdanovic returned back to the court for Atlanta. Since that time the Hawks have posted a 20-9 record and have rocketed up to 5th in the Eastern Conference. Plenty of praise should be given to Nate McMillan, but the 28-year-old shooting guard deserves plenty of kudos for his ability to help lift the Hawks from a disappointing season. The beauty of Bogdanovic is that his game is so malleable to the construction of the team. The intrigue with his fit in Atlanta was that he could provide enough size on the wing to toggle between the guard and small forward position while continuing to provide that consistent shooting from 3-point range that the organization desperately needed around Trae Young. As a team the Hawks are shooting 37 percent from deep after only draining 33 percent of their 3-point shots last year. That figure placed them dead last in the league last season, even with the gravity and shooting acumen of Young. Bogdanovic has been the most reliable shooter on the floor this season for the team, sporting a 41.9 3-point percentage on seven attempts per game. The luxury of having a player like Trae is that it allows his other teammates open catch and shoot opportunities. Bogdan has always exceeded on these chances, but hes bumped up his efficiency a notch by knocking down 43 percent of those looks this year. His snug fit within the confines of the team makes him indispensable. Young puts pressure on his teammates to fit in specific ways to minimize his deficiencies. For example, his defense has often been pointed out as being borderline atrocious. His size and offensive load limits his effectiveness in coverage, where hes generally graded out as being one of the worst guard defenders in the league. Bogdanovic gives the Hawks an adequate defender on the wing that still offers the team enough shooting to maximize the offense. He has generally slotted in at shooting guard this season after playing nearly 50 percent of his minutes at small forward last year. Positional tracking data isnt exact, but the more important note is the lineups in which the Hawks have succeeded with Bogdanovic on the floor. The team has played about 100 possessions with Young/Bogdanovic/Huerter/Collins/Capela on the court and have outscored teams by 12.9 points per 100 possessions. Theyve had even more success with Solomon Hill in the place of John Collins as theyve outscored opponents by double that amount over double the possessions. The biggest difference has been the survival of the Hawks when Young isnt on the court. For the season, the team is +3.1 points per 100 possessions with Bogdanovic on the court and Young off. Staying afloat during those minutes has been the biggest bugaboo for Atlanta since Young arrived in 2018. The Hawks played like one of the worst teams in the NBA the past two seasons when Young sat on the bench. Bogdanovic gives the Hawks the playmaking chops and shooting to keep the defense honest. The ceiling of the organization primarily rests on Youngs shoulders, but figuring out that potential is a lot easier to do when making the playoffs. The acquisition of Bogdanovic has allowed for not only a more capable regular season team, but a playoff nightmare for whoever gets matched up with them in the 1st round. | 0 |
###CLAIM: lin explains that, although most of the work is done by intuition, it is in the mind that there are over all arrangements.
###DOCS: Written by Rachel Trent, CNNDead trees and art may be an unusual combination, but the pairing is part of a new display in New York's Madison Square Park designed to highlight a particular phenomenon of climate change : the loss of forests around the world. The display is called "Ghost Forest," a term that refers to dead woodlands that were once vibrant, according to Madison Square Park Conservancy . It's the work of architect and artist Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Lin told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that when Madison Square Park Conservancy invited her to create a piece of temporary artwork, she wanted to bring a ghost forest to Manhattan to raise awareness of the "huge loss that is going on that people might not be aware of." The 49 Atlantic white cedar trees used in the display come from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where they became victims of saltwater inundation. Lin said she was inspired by her late husband and their time in southwestern Colorado, where they spent their summers, to create the piece. She said forests there are killed off by beetles because the winters are too mild. "One season you'll see a little bit of rust on the tops of the trees. By next season, an entire forest can have died off." She said the phenomenon is happening across the country and around the world. "In California , it's forest fires. In the East Coast, it's rising seas, saltwater inundation." Madison Square Park Conservacy and the Natural Areas Conservancy , an environmental protection organization in New York, will plant 1,000 trees and shrubs throughout the city to offset the emissions caused by the project, according to Lin's website . Lin said these will offset the carbon emissions by more than tenfold within 10 years. "We really wanted to focus on nature-based solutions to climate change," she said. "I didn't want to just wake you up to climate change. I think we don't have much time left." Lin said she thinks reforming agricultural, forestry and ranching practices, as well as protecting and restoring degraded land and wetlands, could offset "a significant amount of carbon emissions and protect biodiversity around the world." "Nature is resilient. If we give it a chance, it will come back," she added. The "Ghost Forest" piece will be removed in November, after symbolically going through all four seasons. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareIn the center of New York Citys spring greenery, artist Maya Lin has installed the leafless, brown trunks of 49 dead Atlantic white cedar trees in a Manhattan park. The installation is a Ghost Forest to warn of the danger of climate change and the threat of rising seawater. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight This is a grove of Atlantic cedars . . . victims of saltwater inundation from rising seas due to climate change, said Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.Theyre called ghost forests, so I wanted to bring a ghost forest to raise awareness about this phenomenon, she added, noting that more than 50 percent of Atlantic white cedars on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard have been lost. The evergreen trees, found in swamps, help control floodwaters and stream bank erosion, absorb pollution and provide a habitat for animals such as frogs, owls, snakes and birds. In Colonial times, the rot-resistant wood was used to build homes, fences and furniture. The trees in the installation, which are about 40 feet tall and some of them 80 years old, are from the Pine Barrens area of New Jersey, which is about 100 miles from downtown Manhattan. Lins exhibit also features a soundscape of birds and other animals that used to be commonly seen in Manhattan. (The soundscape can be found at the website madisonsquarepark.org.) The exhibit in Madison Square Park, in the shadow of the Empire State Building, will be displayed until November 14. | 2 |
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