{"question_id": "20230210_0", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:38", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/02/07/fact-check-no-vigilante-didnt-shoot-down-suspected-chinese-spy-balloon/11201545002/", "title": "Fact check: No, vigilante didn't shoot down suspected spy balloon", "text": "The claim: A vigilante 'shot down the Chinese spy balloon'\n\nA Feb. 3 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet that features a photo of a man posing with a gun next to a photo of what appears to be a crashed white balloon.\n\n\"BREAKING: A local man has SHOT DOWN the CHINESE SPY BALLOON in an EXTRAORDINARY act of vigilantism,\" reads the tweet.\n\nThe Instagram post was liked more than 4,000 times in four days.\n\nFollow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks\n\nOur rating: False\n\nA vigilante did not shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon. A U.S. fighter plane took down the balloon after it passed into territorial waters off the South Carolina coast. The person shown in the photo is Sam Hyde, a comedian who has been falsely linked to mass shootings and other events in recent years.\n\nFighter jet, not vigilante, took down Chinese balloon\n\nA large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance drifted across a huge swath of the U.S., from Montana to the Carolinas, in early February.\n\nA fighter jet flying at about 58,000 feet fired a single air-to-air missile and hit the balloon shortly after 2:30 p.m. EDT on Feb. 4, as previously reported by USA TODAY. At the time, the balloon was flying at about 65,000 feet and was six miles off the South Carolina coast. The entire incident was captured on video.\n\nBut that incident has nothing to do with the picture shown in this post.\n\nThe photo of the balloon in the Instagram post was taken in 2015 after a 240-foot helium-filled blimp broke loose from a U.S. military facility in Maryland. It climbed to about 16,000 feet and traveled about 150 miles in three and a half hours before deflating and coming down on its own, according to the Chicago Tribune.\n\nThe person shown in the post is Sam Hyde, a comedian who has been repeatedly – and falsely – linked to mass shootings and other events for years. In 2022, false rumors spread online that \"Samuyil Hyde\" was the name of a Ukrainian pilot dubbed the \"Ghost of Kyiv\" for single-handedly shooting down six Russian fighter jets.\n\nThe viral tweet was originally posted by a parody account. The Instagram post, however, fails to disclose the tweet's satirical origins.\n\nIt's an example of what could be called \"stolen satire,\" where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured via screenshot and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.\n\nFact check:False claim Joe Biden 'signed away' US sovereignty\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.\n\nPolitiFact also debunked the claim.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/02/03/china-spy-balloon-path/11174459002/", "title": "Chinese spy balloon shot down after drifting across continental US", "text": "An Air Force jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, after it drifted for five days across Idaho, Montana and the continental U.S. before reaching the Atlantic.\n\nAn F-22 Raptor jet fired a single missile that sent the balloon into the ocean at about 2:39 p.m. Efforts to recover its surveillance equipment were underway.\n\nThe Pentagon had been tracking the balloon, which appeared over Billings, Montana, Wednesday after passing near an American missile launch site.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/13/spy-balloons-spotted-shot-down/11247285002/", "title": "How many spy balloons have been spotted? Congress demands ...", "text": "WASHINGTON–The U.S. military on Sunday shot down yet another unidentified flying object in North American airspace, the fourth in three days, raising additional questions about where the objects are coming from and putting President Joe Biden in a tough spot politically.\n\nOn one hand, he's facing mounting pressure from Congress – including from members within his Democratic party – who want him to respond with transparency and strength. On the other hand, he is trying to de-escalate rising tensions with China after the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon nine days ago off the South Carolina coast.\n\nAfter the latest flying object entered U.S. airspace and posed a \"very real\" threat to air traffic, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, lawmakers want to know how many more are out there.\n\nHere's what we know:\n\nWhere was the spy balloon shot down?\n\nSunday night marked the first time in history that U.S. warplanes have shot down aircraft over or near the United States, according to Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.\n\nThe extraordinary move was taken after the object shot down on Sunday was first detected by radar late Saturday afternoon about 70 miles north of the U.S. border in Canada, he said. F-15 fighter jets were scrambled but were unable to locate it. But it appeared again on radar Sunday near Wisconsin, he said, and was tracked across the state into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.\n\nThe object had been flying at about 20,000 feet over Lake Huron in a path and altitude that raised concerns about it being a hazard to civilian aviation, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. He said an F-16 shot down the object at 2:42 p.m. ET Sunday at the direction of President Joe Biden, firing an AIM 9X sidewinder missile. That's the same weapon used in the previous instances, including the suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon shot down six miles off the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4\n\nThree subsequent takedowns came Friday on sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaksa; on Saturday in the Canadian Yukon; and on Sunday 15 nautical miles off shore in Lake Huron.\n\n“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” Ryder said of the latest shootdown, indicating the possibility that it is another spy balloon.\n\n'It was a success':White House says a second 'high altitude object' shot down over Alaska\n\nHow many spy balloons have been spotted?\n\nThough many lawmakers continue to refer to multiple \"spy balloons,\" Kirby wouldn't commit to that language Monday for the latest \"objects\" spotted in the sky.\n\nHe said officials couldn't \"definitively assess\" what the latest flying objects were.\n\nPentagon officials on Sunday evening acknowledged that they had a lot of unanswered questions about the latest three incursions, including whether they might have been civilian aircraft engaged in some kind of research.\n\nOn Monday, a congressional aide told USA TODAY that the three objects shot down by U.S. fighter planes since Friday appear to have been balloon-like surveillance devices.\n\nThe first object, shot down Friday over Alaska, has been described by the Pentagon as the size of a small car. The second device was metallic and balloon-like with a small payload attached to it, according to the aide who was familiar with briefings on the objects but not authorized to speak publicly.\n\nThe Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina after floating across the country from Idaho also had a payload that U.S. officials say consisted of devices meant to snoop on sensitive communications.\n\nEfforts to recover debris from some of the subsequent shootdowns have been hampered by severe winter weather, limited daylight and the remote arctic terrain. Crews worked Monday to recover the most recent device from Lake Huron where it had been shot down by an F-16 on Sunday.\n\nMore:Chinese spy balloon flew over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says\n\nBalloon controversy raising tensions with China\n\nU.S. officials last week disclosed that they believe China has been engaging in a years-long balloon surveillance effort that includes many types of airborne vehicles that have been deployed over wide swaths of the globe.\n\nMeanwhile, on Monday morning, a senior Chinese official accused the U.S. of flying high altitude balloons over its airspace more than 10 times without permission since early 2022, according to reports by Reuters and other news agencies.\n\nBeijing's claim drew a swift denial from Washington. But it widens an already contentious rift between the two superpowers that began after the U.S. shot down the first object on Feb. 4, which it continues to maintain was a brazen attempt by China to spy on sensitive U.S. military and nuclear weapons sites. That prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a diplomatic trip to Beijing.\n\nBloomberg reported that Blinken may meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this week to discuss the situation.\n\nWas the U.S. ready for the balloons?\n\nThat is one of the biggest unanswered questions, and one that has members of Congress clamoring for answers.\n\nOn Feb. 6, VanHerck told the media that the Pentagon didn't know – in real-time – of at least one balloon that entered U.S. airspace at the early stage of the Biden Administration and at least three others that transited through during the Trump Administration.\n\nThe general acknowledged that \"every day as a NORAD commander it's my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats. And that's a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out. But I don't want to go in further detail.\"\n\nMore recently, Pentagon officials said that they are moving to identify and address such gaps, including working with Canada on improving NORAD's surveillance and detection capabilities and more closely collaborating with other U.S. allies internationally.\n\nAre we under attack by aliens?\n\nNo, there is no indication that any of the unidentified flying objects are anything other than surveillance or research vehicles owned by foreign governments like China or civilian research agencies.\n\nBut there has been much uninformed speculation about that, which intensified on social media after VanHerck refused to rule \"anything\" out.\n\nVanHerck's comment came in response to a question from a reporter who asked if aliens or extraterrestrials had been ruled out.\n\n\"I'll let the intel community and the counterintelligence community figure that out. I haven't ruled out anything,\" VanHerck replied. \"At this point, we continue to assess every threat or potential threats unknown that approaches North America with an attempt to identify it.\"\n\nElon Musk appeared to be among those attempting making light of the unanswered questions on social media. \"Don’t worry, just some of my friends of mine stopping by …\" Musk tweeted Sunday on Twitter, the social media platform he owns. Musk included an emoji for an alien and another for a flying saucer. By Monday morning, it had garnered more than 65 million page views.\n\nKirby said Monday said there was no sign of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with the recent takedowns.\n\nCongress wants answers after flying objects shot down\n\nTwo House members from Michigan, Reps. Jack Bergman and Elisa Slotkin, both said Sunday in tweets that they had been briefed by the Pentagon on fighter pilots shooting down an object over Lake Huron.\n\n“The American people deserve far more answers than we have,” Bergman, a Republican, said in a tweet.\n\n“As long as these things keep traversing the US and Canada, I’ll continue to ask for Congress to get a full briefing based on our exploitation of the wreckage,” Slotkin, a Democrat, said in a tweet.\n\nThe Senate is the only chamber in session this week, and all members are scheduled to have a classified briefing on the issue Tuesday morning.\n\nSimilarly, a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday is set to examine global security, and it’s expected to include a lot of discussion about spy balloons.\n\nSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he supports the effort of Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., to look into why it took so long for Congress, the U.S. military and our intelligence to know about the spy balloons.\n\nAs Defense subcommittee chair, Tester said he is receiving regular updates from the Pentagon and intelligence community about incursions in American airspace. “I’ll keep demanding answers for the public,” he said in a tweet Sunday.\n\nSen. Lisa Murkowski, an Republican who also is on the committee, said late last week she is “angry” about spying objects in American airspace and expressed frustration that they aren't stopped first over her home state of Alaska.\n\n“It seems to me the clear message to China is, ‘We got free range in Alaska because they’re going to let us cruise over that until it gets to more sensitive areas,’” Murkowski said.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/13"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/04/chinese-spy-balloon-where-it/11186401002/", "title": "Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon ...", "text": "Americans on Saturday reported seeing the large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance as it drifted over the Southern U.S. Hours later, it was shot out of the sky over the Atlantic Ocean.\n\nTV footage showed the moment the balloon appeared to be hit and began its descent toward the water.\n\nThe balloon was downed after it passed into U.S. territorial waters, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. It carried a large payload of spy gear according to U.S. officials, and had soared over several strategic sites, including nuclear missile silos as it crossed a huge swath of the U.S.\n\nEarlier in the day, people had used cell phones and professional cameras to document the balloon's trajectory. The balloon was spotted over Montana earlier this week.\n\nUPDATES:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast\n\nMore:Blinken postpones China trip amid spy balloon row; US officials scramble to get rid of it\n\nMore:Surveillance, research, civilian use? What the Chinese balloon is and how the U.S. can bring it down\n\nVideo shows Chinese balloon being shot down\n\nFootage on TV and captured by onlookers appears to show aircraft over the Atlantic firing at the spy balloon. After a small explosion, debris could be seen slowly floating down toward the ocean.\n\nU.S. military jets were seen flying in the vicinity and ships were deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation.\n\nSenior Pentagon officials briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity said F-22 warplanes from Virginia and F-15s from Massachusetts were scrambled to down the balloon after it passed the coastline of South Carolina. A single AIM 9X sidewinder air-to-air missile was fired and struck the balloon at 2:39 p.m. EDT, officials said.\n\nWATCH:US jets shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloon\n\nThe debris landed in about 47 feet of water, a relatively shallow site that a salvage ship and divers will investigate in the coming days. Debris could scatter over about a 7 mile radius. No people or vessels were struck.\n\nWhat was the Chinese balloon doing?\n\nThe balloon was a \"high-altitude surveillance balloon,\" Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said.\n\nChina has maintained it was a weather research \"airship\" that went off course, but that has been rejected by U.S. officials. It's not the first time China has tried to collect sensitive information, Ryder said.\n\n“Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years, Ryder said. “Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”\n\nThe Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.\n\nWhere did people see the balloon?\n\nThe balloon was spotted Saturday floating east over the Carolinas, headed toward the Atlantic Ocean.\n\nEvan Fisher, an atmospheric sciences major at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, photographed what he said was a \"surprisingly large\" balloon just before 9 a.m. Saturday. He used a professional camera with a zoom lens to capture detail on the balloon.\n\n\"I'm used to weather balloons, I'm a meteorologist, so I'm familiar with 12- to 18-foot-wide balloons, but the fact that this thing is three school buses wide just just blew me away,\" Fisher told USA TODAY.\n\nAmy Ostrosky, who works in digital marketing and lives in Cornelius, about 20 miles north of Charlotte, said she and several neighbors ran outside to spot what they thought was the balloon Saturday morning. It looked like a bright star in the sky, but bigger, she said.\n\nOstrosky said the whole ordeal made her uneasy: \"What is it for? What’s it doing? Why is it here?\"\n\nContributing: Tom Vanden Brook, Josh Meyer and Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY; The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/04"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/02/15/fact-check-no-biden-didnt-ask-china-permission-down-balloon/11254238002/", "title": "Fact check: No, Biden didn't ask China for permission to down balloon", "text": "The claim: Biden asked China for permission to shoot down spy balloon\n\nA Feb. 4 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) purportedly explains President Joe Biden's recent decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon.\n\n\"The Chinese Balloon has been shot down after Biden called the Chinese President and asked for his permission to shoot it down,\" reads the post.\n\nThe post is from Terrence K. Williams, a comedian, but commenters took the claim seriously and reacted accordingly. It was shared more than 400 times in 10 days.\n\nFollow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks\n\nOur rating: False\n\nThere is no evidence Biden asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for permission to shoot down the balloon. A spokesperson for the White House told USA TODAY the claim was false.\n\nBiden didn't ask China for permission to down balloon, White House says\n\nIn early February, a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance drifted across a huge swath of the U.S., from Montana to the Carolinas.\n\nA fighter jet fired a single air-to-air missile and hit the balloon on Feb. 4, as USA TODAY previously reported. At the time, the balloon was flying at about 65,000 feet and was six miles off the South Carolina coast. The incident was caught on video.\n\nThere are no credible reports that Biden asked Jinping for permission before downing the balloon.\n\n\"This is false,\" Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, told USA TODAY.\n\nBiden had ordered that the balloon be shot down days earlier, but officials worried about debris harming people on the ground. He explained his decision-making process while taking questions from reporters days after the balloon was taken down.\n\nFact check:False claim a vigilante shot down the Chinese spy balloon\n\n\"Once (the balloon) came into the United States from Canada, I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate,\" Biden said. \"They concluded we should not shoot it down over land, it was not a serious threat and we should wait until we got across the water.\"\n\nChina claimed the object was a weather balloon thrown off course, but State Department officials have said it carried devices used to intercept sensitive communications. The situation prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip to China.\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to Williams for comment.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/15"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/02/10/fact-check-image-altered-add-balloon-victory-marking-f-22/11222387002/", "title": "Fact check: Image altered to add balloon victory marking to F-22", "text": "The claim: Image shows victory marking on F-22 that shot down Chinese spy balloon\n\nA Feb. 6 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows the pilot of an F-22 Raptor giving a thumb’s up to a crew member. The plane has a white decal below the cockpit that looks like a balloon with a payload suspended beneath it.\n\n“The F-22 has a balloon kill marking,\" the post reads.\n\nThe post was liked more than 2,000 times in three days.\n\nFollow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks\n\nOur rating: Altered\n\nThe marking was digitally added to a photo of an F-22 originally published to social media in 2020. The marking depicted would not be allowed under Air Force regulations.\n\nImage of fighter jet is altered\n\nOn Feb. 4, an F-22 shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon carried a payload of spy equipment, according to U.S. officials, and had flown over strategic locations across the U.S.\n\nThe incident marked the first time an F-22 downed another aircraft since making its combat debut in 2015.\n\nThe same photo, minus the decal on the plane, was posted April 2, 2020, to the Facebook account of Edwards Air Force Base in California. The caption on that post says a pilot in the 411th Flight Test Squadron, F-22 Combined Test Force was giving a thumbs up after a crew member prepared the fighter for flight.\n\nThe altered image is intended to look like a victory marking, a symbol placed on a plane to denote it had been the winner in air-to-air combat.\n\nThe tradition of placing victory markings or kill marks on aircraft dates back to at least World War II for the Air Force and its predecessors. Markings during WWII often included insignias or symbols relating to the type of mission flown and the nation of the target or other enemy combatant.\n\nAir Force Instruction 21-105 standardizes the look of markings for the branch. Victory markings are limited to green stars with black borders. The type of aircraft shot down would then be stenciled into the star in white block lettering.\n\n“No other victory markings are authorized,” the instruction says.\n\nFact check:False claim a vigilante shot down the Chinese spy balloon\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.\n\nThe Associated Press also debunked the claim.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/10"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/05/bidens-state-union-china-spy-balloon-live-updates/11186653002/", "title": "What to expect from Biden's State of the Union address, spy balloon ...", "text": "Democrats and Republicans found themselves on Sunday morning pressed over the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast.\n\nThe balloon debacle comes ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he's expected to lay out his administration's priorities for the remainder of his term and give America answers about what his political future holds.\n\n“The operation took place without any damage or injury to any American lives or property,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on CNN’s State of the Union, defending the White House over the balloon.\n\nHere's what else is going on in politics:\n\nButtigieg defends the White House over Chinese spy balloon: Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner.\"\n\nButtigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner.\" Shot down sooner: While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, \"before it entered U.S. airspace.\"\n\nWhile the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, \"before it entered U.S. airspace.\" Bye, Iowa: Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states.\n\nDemocrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states. New poll on Biden: 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer another nominee over Biden, according to a poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.\n\nStay in the conversation on politics:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nBiden aide: Republicans have no debt ceiling/spending cut plan of their own\n\nDuring his Sunday show tour, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeated the president's pledge that he would not negotiate a necessary debt ceiling increase with Republicans – and added that the GOP hasn't proposed anything to negotiate about anyway.\n\nHouse Republicans have said they will block a debt ceiling hike unless the Biden administrations cuts overall spending, but they have not offered a specific set of cuts.\n\n\"It's very hard to understand what exactly they're proposing to cut,\" Buttigieg said on ABC's This Week, adding that a refusal to act on the debt ceiling would lead to a government default on existing debt that would wreck the economy.\n\nThe debt ceiling standoff is expected to be discussed during Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nSchumer: Senate will get a classified briefing Feb 15 on the Chinese balloon\n\nThe full U.S. Senate will receive a classified briefing Feb. 15 on the Chinese surveillance balloon threat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday.\n\nIn announcing the briefing, Schumer praised the Biden administration for taking out the Chinese balloon and criticized Republicans for second-guessing.\n\n\"The bottom line here is that shooting down the balloon over water wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain,\" Schumer told reporters.\n\nWhile Republicans said Biden waited too long to take out the balloon, Schumer said the critics \"were breathless, political, and premature.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\n'Too late:' McConnell attacks Biden over Chinese balloon\n\nMitch McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, weighed in on the Chinese balloon affair Sunday, saying it reflected habitual slowness by the Biden administration.\n\n\"As usual when it comes to national defense and foreign policy, the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late,\" McConnell said in a written statement. \"We should not have let the People’s Republic of China make a mockery of our airspace.\"\n\nMcConnell, the Senate minority leader, said the incident may well be part of an upcoming budget debate with Biden over military spending: \"Let’s hope his budget proposal this year is more decisive, serious, and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nHouse GOP opens investigation into Hunter Biden’s art\n\nHunter Biden’s paintings have drawn the eye of House Republicans, but not for the art.\n\nThe House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know who bought the art and how much they paid, after list prices initially ranged up to $500,000. The chair called the figures \"exorbitant\" for a \"novice artist\" and questioned whether it amounted to influence peddling over federal policy.\n\nRep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the committee, wrote to George Berges, Hunter Biden’s art dealer, requesting a transcribed interview by Feb. 15.\n\n“Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions,” Comer wrote.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nGallagher, chair of House committee on China, attacks White House over balloon\n\nRep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chair of the House select committee aimed at increasing the United State’s competitiveness with China, compared the suspected spy balloon to “a robber on your front porch.”\n\n“Letting a Chinese surveillance balloon lazily drift over America is like seeing a robber on your front porch and inviting him in,” said Gallagher on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.\n\nGallagher warned the balloon could signal future aggression from China, saying “It's time to push back before it's too late, before something far more dangerous than a balloon is flying over American territory.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nRepublicans: Biden team should have shot down the Chinese balloon earlier\n\nCongressional Republicans took to the Sunday shows to bash Biden over the China surveillance balloon, saying the entire incident reflected administration weakness toward an increasingly aggressive China.\n\nWhile the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier.\n\n\"This should have been taken down before it entered U.S. airspace when it was over Alaska,\" said Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.\n\nAdministration officials said they waited until the balloon was over the ocean so as to minimize the risk to aircraft and people on the ground.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nRubio: Balloon ‘not a coincidence’\n\nSen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Biden administration over the suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying the timing was “not a coincidence.”\n\n“It’s not a coincidence this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to Blinken’s visit to China,” Rubio said on CNN’s State of the Union.\n\nThe Biden administration is scheduled to brief the “Gang of Eight” this week about the balloon. The group is comprised of Congress’ four party leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which includes Rubio.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nEx-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, crucial supporter of U.S. after 9/11, dies at 79\n\nPervez Musharraf, the Pakistan leader who provided crucial support to the U.S.-led \"war on terror\" following the 9/11 attacks, has died at 79, the Pakistan military announced Sunday.\n\nNo cause of death was revealed, but Musharraf, had been battling a rare disease, amyloidosis, and was being treated at a hospital in Dubai, Pakistani media reported.\n\nMusharraf seized power in 1999 from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. Sharif had tried to remove Musharraf from his position as military leader – a year after Sharif had appointed him.\n\nThe Pakistan military issued a statement expressing \"heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf. ... May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family.\"\n\n– John Bacon\n\nButtigieg say Biden will use State of the Union to promote his economic policies; stays mum on 2024\n\nButtigieg went on the Sunday shows to promote President Biden's prime time State of the Union speech on Tuesday – and to avoid discussing Biden's plans to seek re-election in 2024.\n\n\"That's out of my lane,\" Buttigieg said on ABC's \"This Week.\"\n\nButtigieg, who said it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss politics in his position as Transportation Secretary, said Biden would use the State of the Union to argue that his economic policies are working; the Cabinet member also made it clear that he hopes Biden will stay on the job after 2024.\n\n\"I'm humbled and honored to be part of his team,\" Buttigieg said.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nButtigieg: The U.S. waited to shoot down the Chinese balloon until it drifted out over the ocean\n\nResponding to Republican criticism, Buttigieg said Sunday the Biden administration waited several days to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon because it was over American land and air space.\n\nShooting the huge and heavily-equipped balloon over land would have been risky for aircraft and people on the ground, Buttigieg said on NBC's Meet The Press.\n\nRelated:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast\n\nSo the U.S. waited until it drifted out over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration \"worked closely with the Pentagon,\" Buttigieg said. \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner, and flights are back to normal in the U.S.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nAhead of State of the Union, Democratic voters aren't keen on Biden: poll\n\nDemocratic voters aren’t keen on Biden running for reelection in 2024, with 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they would prefer another nominee rather than Biden, according to a poll released by the Washington Post and ABC News on Sunday.\n\nThe poll comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, where he is expected to also make the case for his 2024 campaign, which he has yet to formally announce.\n\nOn the Republican side, 49% of GOP voters and GOP-leaning independents would prefer if a candidate other than former President Donald Trump compared to the 44% that do support Trump. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nIs he running?:5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden to answer America's questions in the State of the Union\n\nThe State of the Union address Biden is slated to deliver Tuesday night is likely to draw his biggest audience of the year and provide a blueprint for the rest of his presidency – from his stance toward the Republicans who have taken control of the House to the political question looming over his future.\n\nIs he running for re-election?\n\nHe's not likely to directly answer that, of course. A formal announcement of his intensions isn't expected until later this month or next. But the balance he strikes between seeking common ground with the GOP and promoting Democratic causes that have limited prospects of passage will be a clue.\n\n– Susan Page\n\nChinese spy balloon shot down\n\nThe United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.\n\nAn operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and estimated to be about the size of three school buses.\n\nTelevision footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nOn Chinese spy balloon, the question of 'why'\n\nAmong the many lingering questions about the Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States is why the balloon was in U.S. airspace – and why now.\n\n“What are they signaling? And what do they hope to achieve?\" said Kari Bingen, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. \"Because this is something that you can't miss. They were going to get caught. That's what's so brazen about it.\"\n\nIn his first remarks about the balloon, which the Chinese maintain is a “civilian airship” used mostly for weather research that was blown off course, Biden projected confidence: \"We’re gonna take care of it,\" he told reporters Saturday.\n\n– Josh Meyer, Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee\n\nDemocrats approve 2024 primary calendar\n\nDemocrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election.\n\nThe national party green-lit a calendar that makes South Carolina the initial contest, elevates Nevada to the second position alongside New Hampshire and welcomes Georgia and Michigan to the early primary window for the first time.\n\nDemocrats are seeking to amplify diverse voices earlier in their presidential selection process. The calendar Democrats approved on Saturday will only apply to 2024. They have vowed to revisit it before the 2028 election.\n\n– Francesca Chambers\n\nContributing: Associated Press\n\n'Four more years':Biden hints at 2024 as he rallies Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/07/chinese-spy-balloon-missile-nuclear-sites/11206332002/", "title": "Chinese spy balloon went over key military sites sites, lawmaker says", "text": "China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites in addition to ones in Montana passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner said.\n\n“If you take the path that this balloon did, and you put up an X every place where you have a missile defense site, actual nuclear weapons infrastructure, you're going to follow this path,” Turner, R-Ohio, said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday. “So I think the natural conclusion is, it is intelligence-gathering with respect to try to affect in some way the command and control of our missile defense and nuclear weapons.”\n\nTurner did not elaborate or share other details about the investigation into China’s balloon, in some cases citing classified information. But he said the U.S. intelligence community is scheduled to brief him and other members of congressional leadership who comprise the Gang of Eight later this week on the balloon and efforts to gain any intelligence from the recovery of it.\n\nThe Gang of Eight refers to a group of congressional lawmakers who are responsible for reviewing and receiving highly sensitive intelligence information given to them by the executive branch. It includes top-ranking Republicans and Democrats and top Intelligence Committee lawmakers in the House and Senate.\n\nShooting down the balloon:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast\n\nBlinken puts off trip to China over spy balloon\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China because the Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the U.S. was a \"clear violation\" of sovereignty and international law, Biden administration officials said Friday.\n\nThat, and the takedown of the balloon, have heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing and sparked criticism from Republicans that the Biden administration should have done more. Beijing has also criticized Biden, saying he overreacted by ordering an F-22 fighter jet to take out the puffy white dirigible.\n\nMeanwhile, China won’t take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s calls, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.\n\nOn Saturday, “immediately after taking action to down the PRC (People's Republic of China) balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe,” Ryder said in a statement. “We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC in order to responsibly manage the relationship. Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue.”\n\nThe Pentagon maintains open lines with adversaries, including Russia, to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to confrontation.\n\nGOP Intelligence Committee chair worried balloon mission exposed U.S. security gaps\n\nTurner said Tuesday that the balloon’s journey across the U.S. – including past Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana – highlights not only the fear of intelligence gaps on what the U.S. knows about China’s intentions and capabilities but also “actually what those gaps can mean in real security threats.\"\n\n\"And that doesn't just mean spy balloons or even surveillance,\" he said, \"it can also mean an actual threat to our country that these gaps could penetrate.”\n\nThe Pentagon referred to a background briefing Thursday by a senior defense official when asked about Turner’s remarks.\n\nIn that briefing, the defense official was asked whether the balloon was trying to collect intelligence on siloed nuclear weapons in Montana. “Yes, so clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,” the official said. “And so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites.”\n\nU.S. response:State Department calls out China for knowingly sending spy balloon over the United States\n\n\"But we know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over. And we are taking steps to be extra-vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk, the official said.\n\nA Turner spokesperson said Tuesday that the congressman could not comment further on the specifics of where the balloon traveled and what it surveilled but referred to remarks Turner made on NBC’s “Meet the Press With Chuck Todd” on Sunday.\n\nOn that show, Turner criticized the Biden administration for waiting too long to shoot down the balloon, describing it as “sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over.”\n\n“The satellite had completed its mission. This should never have been allowed to enter the United States, and it never should have been allowed to complete its mission,” Turner said.\n\nThe White House has said Biden waited until the balloon – described as the size of three buses – was over water before shooting it down to prevent anyone from being injured or killed by the debris.\n\nAnd Biden directed the military to \"ensure we protected all sensitive sites from collection, which was straightforward because we could track the path of the balloon and ensure no activities or sensitive unencrypted (communications) would be conducted in its vicinity,\" White House spokesman John Kirby said. \"At the same time, we turned the tables on China and collected against the balloon so that we would learn more about China’s capabilities and tradecraft.\"\n\nU.S. Northern Command commander Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said Monday that the balloon itself was 200 feet tall and that its surveillance payload was about the size of a regional commercial aircraft and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Its size and weight fed into the decision to wait until the balloon was over water to shoot it down, VanHerck said.\n\nBut Turner said that decision jeopardized national security, despite the Biden administration's assurances that it was taking steps to cover up sensitive facilities as the balloon made its way west to east.\n\nThe balloon, with its high-tech payload of surveillance devices, “didn`t go and look at the Grand Canyon. They went and looked at our nuclear weapons sites and the missile defense sites throughout the country,\" Turner said.\n\nAlso Tuesday, the Navy released its first photos of its balloon recovery effort and said it was being led by its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Military officials described the mission as an extensive operation that included the use of underwater drones, warships and inflatable vessels, according to a release from the Navy.\n\nSome of the photos, taken Sunday, show naval operators from the Navy explosive team pulling debris from the balloon onto a boat, including huge swaths of white fabric. The Navy said the debris is being taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.\n\nStay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/12/united-states-china-relations-unidentified-objects/11242418002/", "title": "Heightened concerns over US-China relations after objects shot down", "text": "The takedown of four unmanned aircraft has raised new concerns about relations between the United States and China, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers putting a new focus Sunday on national security.\n\n“We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend and that we need to have appropriate sensors to do so,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on CNN’s \"State of the Union.\" “We certainly now ascertain there is a threat.”\n\nOn Sunday, the U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object over Michigan. The shootdown occurred hours after airspace was temporarily closed over Lake Michigan by the Federal Aviation Administration and NORAD and after lawmakers had made the rounds on the Sunday political talk shows.\n\nU.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets downed the object, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment.\n\nOn Feb. 4, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the South Carolina coast. Less than a week later on Feb. 10, an unidentified object was shot down over Alaska. The next day, another unidentified object was shot down in northern Canada.\n\nRelated:How the Pentagon shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, echoing Chinese spy balloon\n\nSmart analysis delivered to your inbox:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nLate discovery of balloon program is 'wild,' Schumer says\n\nSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on ABC’s \"This Week\" that “it is wild” that the U.S. did not learn of China’s balloon program “until a few months ago.\"\n\nSchumer said he was briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday night regarding the aircraft, saying that the U.S. believes the two unidentified objects that were destroyed in recent days were also balloons, but that they were \"much smaller\" than the initial balloon shot down Feb. 4.\n\nRep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, said he was “glad” to see a swift response from the White House, but told ABC’s \"This Week\" that “we've got a whole lot bigger problem with China than the spy balloons,\" saying the White House needs to be more \"firm\" against China.\n\nRelated:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon\n\nHours after the second aircraft was shot down, the Department of Commerce announced sanctions against six Chinese companies which it said were supporting China’s military aerospace programs.\n\n“Today’s action demonstrates our concerted efforts to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than forty countries,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said in a statement.\n\nTurner: Preferable to be 'trigger happy'\n\nLawmakers on Sunday also expressed concerns over the U.S. military’s protocol when unidentified objects are discovered.\n\nWhen asked about whether the U.S. has changed its posture towards flying objects, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said “I certainly hope not.”\n\n“If that’s where we’re going to go, there will be an accident. At some point we’re going to shoot down something we don’t want to shoot down,” Himes said on NBC's \"Meet the Press.\"\n\nTurner said the White House does “appear somewhat trigger happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”\n\nThe first balloon's path visualized:U.S. tracked suspected Chinese spy balloon for 5 days before shooting it down over the Atlantic\n\nSeveral lawmakers raised questions about the spy balloon’s flight path and whether it flew over sensitive military and nuclear weapon sites. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester noted on CBS' \"Face the Nation\" that the balloon flew over his home state of Montana, which houses 150 nuclear missiles.\n\nConcerns about TikTok, foreign ownership of U.S. farmland\n\nThe discovery of the balloon and two other unidentified objects has raised concerns about other issues pertaining to China. Tester pointed out his own concerns over foreign, including Chinese, ownership of U.S. farmland.\n\n“I don’t think they should have any opportunity to try to dictate our food supply,” said Tester, who introduced a bipartisan bill in January with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., aimed at preventing foreign companies from owning domestic farmland.\n\nRelated:Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownership\n\nSchumer also suggested that Congress should take a closer look at TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to which Comer agreed, citing worries over Chinese data collection.\n\n“(TikTok) would be a concern if we continue to see escalation among China and the United States,” Comer said.\n\nBan TikTok?:Restrictions on the popular video app are spreading across the U.S.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/12"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/02/04/snl-msnbc-chinese-spy-balloon-interviewed-cold-open/11191048002/", "title": "'SNL': Chinese spy balloon interviewed in breaking news cold open", "text": "\"SNL\" landed a big interview in breaking news related to the suspected Chinese spy balloon, hours after it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.\n\nIn the show's cold open, Chloe Fineman starred as MSNBC host Katy Tur interviewing the floating, and indignant, spy balloon itself (Bowen Yang).\n\n\"Well, I’m sorry you are in the water, but thank you for speaking to us,\" Tur said to the balloon.\n\nThe balloon tells Tur, \"You got me. Congrats, you shot a balloon.\"\n\n\"I entertain you people for four days but then get shot down by Biden! I can’t believe I’m Joe’s Osama,\" the balloon added.\n\n'SNL' video game trailer: Pedro Pascal's next HBO show is 'Mario Kart'\n\nMore:'The Last of Us' Nick Offerman talks surprising love story, that Linda Ronstadt song\n\n\"What were you doing flying over Montana?\" Tur asked.\n\n\"I love the show 'Yellowstone.' It’s like 'Succession,' but outside,\" the balloon answered.\n\nWhen the balloon was asked about legitimate spying concerns, he became more indignant:\n\n\"By me, a balloon? Everyone is being surveilled constantly. But it's, 'Shoot the balloon!' never 'Unplug Alexa!' If you care so much about data why do you keep bank passwords in the notes app?\"\n\nKenan Thompson's Pentagon official: 'We popped the balloon'\n\nThe skit opened with Tur announcing, \"Our long national nightmare is over. We got the balloon.\"\n\nTur added: \"The discovery of the massive surveillance balloon earlier this week inflamed already volatile U.S.-Chinese relations, and had many on the right calling the Biden administration’s response soft, including this tweet from Donald Trump Jr. saying: ‘If my Dad was president, there would be no balloons.”\n\nThe anchor then interviewed stern Pentagon official General William Hamilton (Kenan Thompson) who announced, \"We popped the balloon.\"\n\n\"The balloon was somehow able to get past our West Coast anti-balloon defense system, the Seattle Space Needle,\" Thompson added.\n\n'Weekend Update' joked about the spy balloon controversy\n\n\"Weekend Update\" newscaster Colin Jost joked about the spy balloon controversy.\n\n\"Earlier today an American fighter jet shut down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been spotted crossing the United States ending history's most complicated gender reveal party,\" said Jost.\n\n\"Chinese officials condemn the US decision to destroy the surveillance balloon saying it was a civilian aircraft,\" Jost added, as a picture of a Spirit Airlines plane flashed onscreen. \"But even civilian aircraft can be extremely dangerous.\"\n\nThe show is hosted by \"The Last of Us\" star Pedro Pascal.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/04"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_1", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:38", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/05/grammy-awards-2023-live-updates/11170771002/", "title": "2023 Grammys: Harry Styles wins top prize, Beyoncé sets record", "text": "It was a historic evening for the Beyhive and a great Grammys for those hanging in \"Harry's House.\"\n\nHarry Styles won album of the year, the biggest prize at Sunday's 65th Grammy Awards, though it was Beyoncé who made history, taking four honors and becoming the most-winning Grammy artist of all time. Music's biggest night also gave fans some nice surprises, including Bonnie Raitt taking home song of the year, Lizzo winning record of the year and jazz singer Samara Joy being named best new artist.\n\nCheck out all the winners and highlights from the Grammys, going back to the pre-show Premiere Ceremony.\n\nWinners! See which stars took home the Grammy gold\n\nBrutally honest reviews of every Grammys performance:Harry Styles, Stevie Wonder, more\n\nThe best moments of the Grammys: From Harry Styles' superfan to a stunned Lizzo\n\nHarry Styles' 'Harry's House' wins album of the year\n\nStyles gets the biggest prize of the night and hugs the superfan who announced his win. \"I've been so inspired by every artist in this category with me,\" the British singer says. \"On nights like tonight, there are no such things as 'best' in music. This is really, really kind. I'm so grateful. This doesn't happen to people like me very often.\"\n\nSamara Joy upsets Måneskin for best new artist\n\nFormer best new artist winner Olivia Rodrigo comes out to induct a fresh act into the prestigious club. And here's another shocker: It's jazz singer Samara Joy. \"I've been watching you on TV for so long,\" says a tearful, thankful Joy to her fellow artists in the audience. \"All of you inspire me for being who you are.\" (She also won the best jazz vocal album Grammy for \"Linger Awhile\" earlier in the day.)\n\nSteve Lacy has a 'Bad Habit' of breaking up big award presentations\n\nYou can't have all these major Grammys without a little sonic palette cleanser. Lacy performs his catchy hit \"Bad Habit\" with master bass player Thundercat before the night closes with best new artist and album of the year.\n\nLizzo's 'About Damn Time' snags record of the year\n\nLizzo nabs one of the best Grammy prizes. \"Let me tell you, Adele and I are having a wonderful night rooting for our friends,\" she says, dedicating the award to Prince. She felt misunderstood making positive music but \"I wanted to make the world a better place.\" She also shouts out Beyoncé: \"In the fifth grade I skipped school to see you perform. You changed my life.\"\n\nBonnie Raitt wins song of the year for 'Just Like That'\n\nWell, here's a Grammy shocker: Raitt defeats Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Harry Styles and Beyoncé for one of the night's biggest prizes. \"I'm so surprised, I don't know what to say. This is an unreal moment,\" Raitt says. \"I don't write a lot of songs but I'm proud that you appreciate this one.\"\n\nLuke Combs performs 'Going, Going, Gone'\n\nHow do you follow a stage full of rap powerhouses? It's not an easy task. But country star Combs leans on the emotion and trots out a string section for a warmhearted rendition of his hit song.\n\nAdele takes pop solo performance honors for 'Easy on Me'\n\nAdele's new best friend Dwayne Johnson is out to present the Grammy for best pop solo performance. He must be a good luck charm because she snags the victory against the likes of Bad Bunny, Lizzo, Doja Cat and Harry Styles. \"I really was just looking forward to coming tonight,\" she says, dedicating the win to her son, Angelo.\n\nDr. Dre gets own award, LL Cool J leads all-star hip-hop tribute\n\nThe rap legend says he's \"extremely moved\" to be the first recipient of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. That honor transitions to LL Cool J introducing a performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip hop. With The Roots in the house, the medley takes an energetic journey through rap history with songs including Grandmaster Flash's \"Flash to the Beat,\" Run-DMC's \"King of Rock,\" Salt-N-Pepa's \"My Mic Sounds Nice,\" Queen Latifah's \"U.N.I.T.Y.,\" Busta Rhymes' “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” Missy Elliott's \"Lose Control,\" Nelly's \"Hot In Herre\" and Lil Wayne's \"A Milli.\"\n\nBeyoncé takes best dance/electronic album honor, becomes all-time Grammy winner\n\n\"I'm trying to not be too emotional,\" says an overcome Beyoncé as she accepts for \"Renaissance,\" and her fourth victory of the night sets a new record for all-time wins. (Her total now stands at 32, one more than the late Hungarian conductor Georg Solti.) \"I want to thank God for protecting me\" and she also thanked her mom and dad \"for loving me and pushing me\" as well as \"the queer community for your love and for inventing this genre.\" Mary J. Blige followed up the historic moment with a performance of \"Good Morning Gorgeous.\"\n\nBreak out the pitchforks for Kim Petras and Sam Smith's 'Unholy' show\n\nMadonna, known for being a fan of the \"provocative\" and \"troublemakers\" in general, introduces Sam Smith and Kim Petras' performance of their Grammy-winning hit \"Unholy.\" Smith looks downright devilish in red leather, high-heeled boots and horns singing in the center of a group of robed, grinding demonic folks, while Petras performs in a cage surrounded by women with whips.\n\nLate musicians Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie, Takeoff earn Grammy tributes\n\nKacey Musgraves performs an acoustic version of \"Coal Miner's Daughter\" to honor Lynn in the \"In Memoriam\" portion of the night. The sounds of Jeff Beck's unmistakable guitar pepper a montage of greats who've passed in the past year, and that's followed by Quavo teaming with Maverick City Music on \"Without You\" as tribute to his Migos group member Takeoff. If that wasn't emotional enough, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood finish with a tearjerking rendition of \"Songbird\" for Christine McVie.\n\nKendrick Lamar earns major rap honors with 'Mr. Morale'\n\nCardi B presents the award for best rap album to Lamar for \"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.\" He says it was one of the \"toughest\" albums he's made, thanking his family for \"the courage and the vulnerability to share my truth and these stories (and) the fans for trusting me with these words.\"\n\nHarry Styles embraces the ol' razzle-dazzle with 'As It Was' performance\n\nHot off winning a Grammy, an ultra-glittery Harry Styles – who looks he decorated himself with tons of Christmas tinsel – dances around and sings \"As It Was\" with his band and a bunch of random people walking on a rotating stage.\n\nBad Bunny snags Grammy for best música urbana album\n\n\"I just made this album with love and passion, and when you do everything with love and passion, it's just easier,\" says Bad Bunny, accepting his honor for \"Un Verano Sin Ti\" and dedicating the Grammy win to Puerto Rico.\n\nIt's about damn time Lizzo rules the Grammy stage\n\n\"We're about to have some church up in here!\" Lizzo feels the spirit and comes to the stage to do a bit of her hit \"About Damn Time\" before launching into her empowerment anthem \"Special\" with a gold-drenched dancing gospel choir surrounding her.\n\nSam Smith, Kim Petras walk away with an 'Unholy' win\n\nBest pop duo/group performance goes to Sam Smith and Kim Petras' \"Unholy.\" \"This song has been such an incredible journey for me,\" says Petras, who receives rapturous applause when she announces she's the first transgender woman to win this category. She shouts out influences (\"I don't know if I'd be here without Madonna\") and also Smith: \"Sam, you are a true angel in my life.\"\n\nWillie Nelson wins country Grammy, Stevie Wonder leads a Motown medley\n\nA red-haired Shania Twain presents the Grammy for best country album. Willie Nelson wins for \"A Beautiful Time\" but isn't at the show. Another icon is in the house: Stevie Wonder, who leads a Motown tribute to Smokey Robinson. Wonder teams with WanMor on \"The Way You Do the Things You Do,\" duets with Robinson on \"Tears of a Clown\" – which gets a huge crowd reaction – and closes the set with \"Higher Ground\" alongside Chris Stapleton.\n\nBeyoncé wins best R&B song, ties record for most Grammy wins ever\n\nNewly minted EGOT winner Viola Davis comes out to a standing ovation. She's here to quote Aretha Franklin and give out the Grammy for best R&B song, which goes to Beyoncé for \"Cuff It.\" The win now makes her tied for biggest Grammy winner of all time, though she's still on her way to the show.\n\nHarry Styles takes home best pop vocal album\n\nThe first award of the main show goes to Harry Styles, who wins for \"Harry's House.\" \"This album from start to finish has been the greatest experience of my life,\" the singer says.\n\nBrandi Carlile arrives to unleash 'Broken Horses'\n\nAfter winning a few early Grammys, Carlile takes the stage to give a blistering performance of \"Broken Horses.\" When it comes to rockin' – at least on this night – Carlile overtakes The Rock with killer guitar riffs and growling vocals.\n\nThe Rock, meet Adele. Adele, meet The Rock.\n\nNoah walks through the crowd pointing out trivia: LL Cool J loves breakfast cereals, Cardi B loves presidents and Adele loves tea. Noah also makes a friend connection between Adele and her superfan, Dwayne Johnson. (She seems very excited by the meet-and-greet.)\n\nBad Bunny gets the Grammy show started in Latin style\n\nHost Trevor Noah kicks off the main Grammys show and introduces the opening performance by Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican singer (aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), who's looking to be the first artist to take album of the year honors for a Spanish-language record, comes through the audience to hit the stage with dancers and his band to perform hits \"El Apagón\" and \"Después de la Playa.\" Jack Harlow is one of the many music lovers dancing in the audience. \"This album is so fire it makes Trump want to learn Spanish,\" Noah jokes.\n\nMåneskin is clear favorite to win best new artist\n\nNew artist is one of the most high-profile Grammy categories of all, with winners over the years including The Beatles, Mariah Carey, Billie Eilish, Carly Simon, Adele and John Legend. Among this year's varied crop of contenders, the Italian rockers of Måneskin are expected to be victorious. Winners of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, the band played Coachella and multiple Lollapaloozas before embarking on a sold-out tour of large clubs and theaters late last year.\n\nWins by Taylor Swift, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrap up pre-show ceremony\n\nMadison Cunningham, who performed as part of the pre-show ceremony, wins best folk album for \"Revealer\" and admits, \"I'm in shock.\" Dave Chappelle's \"The Closer\" gets a Grammy for best comedy album, and a 2022 Broadway cast recording of \"Into the Woods\" is named best musical theater album.\n\nAdding to two earlier victories for \"Encanto,\" Lin-Manuel Miranda's \"We Don't Talk About Bruno\" gets best song written for visual media, while Taylor Swift's \"All Too Well: The Short Film\" takes best music video and documentary \"Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story\" wins best music film. And Jack Antonoff is named producer of the year for his work with Swift, Florence + The Machine, Diana Ross, The 1975 and the \"Minions: The Rise of Gru\" soundtrack.\n\nBonnie Raitt scores a pair of Grammys, Brandi Carlile takes Americana\n\nAaron Neville scores a Grammy for best American roots performance for \"Stompin' Ground\" with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Carlile's \"In These Silent Days\" wins best Americana album while Raitt take home a pair of awards: best Americana performance for \"Made Up My Mind\" and best roots song for \"Just Like That.\"\n\nCountry categories honor Willie Nelson, Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde\n\nNelson's \"Live Forever\" takes the honor for best country solo performance and Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde's \"Never Wanted to Be That Girl\" wins duo/group performance. \"This has transcended so many of my wildest dreams,\" Pearce says when accepting her first Grammy. And best country song goes to Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis' \"Till You Can't.\"\n\nNew artist nominee Wet Leg snags a pair of alternative honors\n\nThe British rock band – up for best new artist later in the night – wins a pair of Grammys: best alternative performance for \"Chaise Lounge\" and alternative music album for the group's self-titled debut.\n\nKendrick Lamar, Brandi Carlile, Ozzy Osbourne take home two honors each\n\nLamar's \"The Heart Part 5\" wins for best rap song and rap performance, while Carlile's \"Broken Horses\" snags best rock performance and rock song. Osbourne gets best metal performance for \"Degradation Rules\" with Tony Iommi and rock album for \"Patient Number 9.\"\n\nViola Davis officially becomes an EGOT winner, Beyoncé wins second Grammy\n\nThe actress makes history by earning her first Grammy Award, for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for \"Finding Me.\" \"I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma. It has been such a journey. I JUST EGOT!\" says Davis, adding to her Oscar, Emmy and Tony wins. And on the heels of that, Beyoncé takes best traditional R&B performance for \"Plastic Off the Sofa.\"\n\nOrchestral version of Christine McVie's 'Songbird,' Michael Bublé earn Grammy victories\n\nVince Mendoza pays tribute to the late Christine McVie when he wins for best arrangement, instrumental and vocals. \"I owe a debt of gratitude for so many of her beautiful stories and moments,\" says Mendoza, adding that he was 16 when the seminal 1977 Fleetwood Mac album \"Rumours\" was released. \"This record and this music has followed me all through my life.\" In addition, Michael Bublé's \"Higher\" conquers the best traditional pop album category.\n\nBeyoncé picks up first win of the show for best dance/electronic recording\n\n\"MJ the Musical\" Broadway star Myles Frost arrives to present the next group of honors. Best dance/electronic recording goes to Beyoncé – her first of what could be a historic day – for \"Break My Soul,\" Lizzo's \"About Damn Time\" snags the Grammy for best remixed recording (non-classical) and Harry Styles' \"Harry's House\" takes best engineered album. Plus, former The Police member Stewart Copeland's \"Divine Tides\" wins best immersive audio album.\n\nDisney's 'Encanto' begins the day with two Grammy Award wins\n\nThe first two Grammys of the day – best compilation soundtrack album for visual media and best score album – goes to Disney's animated musical \"Encanto,\" which featured songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. \"Assassin's Creed: Valhalla\" takes the victory for best score soundtrack for a video game.\n\nThis year's Grammy Awards have quite the guest list\n\nThe list of performers during the main Grammys show includes Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Lizzo and the \"Unholy\" duo of Sam Smith and Kim Petras.\n\nAs for presenters, first lady Jill Biden will be one of the main folks giving out hardware alongside Cardi B, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis (who could become an EGOT during the Premiere Ceremony), Olivia Rodrigo, Shania Twain and Dwayne Johnson.\n\nWho's ready for the Grammy Awards red carpet?\n\nThe Grammys are usually a place where musicians strut their most interesting stuff. (Lady Gaga's egg entrance, anyone?) You can get a look at all this year's looks during the Recording Academy's \"Live from the Red Carpet\" livestream scheduled to begin at 6 EST/3 PST on live.grammy.com. E!'s \"Live from the Red Carpet\" special is slated to start at the same time, co-hosted by Laverne Cox and Bobby Bones, and that's preceded by a \"Live From E!: Countdown to the Grammys\" pre-show at 4 EST/1 PST.\n\nHow to watch the 65th Grammy Awards\n\nIf you like watching musicians accept trophies, the Premiere Ceremony is for you as it doles out the vast majority – 81 of 91 Grammys – of the honors. Streaming on the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and live.grammy.com, the early event is hosted by Randy Rainbow and features performances by Blind Boys of Alabama, Samara Joy and more.\n\nOnce you've sat through that, or just want to see the major Grammys awarded, the more performance-heavy main show airs live on CBS and streams on Paramount+.\n\nRead more about this year's Grammy Awards ceremony and winners", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/11/17/latin-grammys-2022-full-winners-list-bad-bunny-rosalia/10714996002/", "title": "Latin Grammys 2022: Full winners list including Bad Bunny, Rosalía", "text": "Rosalía walked into the 2022 Latin Grammys with eight nominations and concluded the night with four honors including winning album of the year for \"Motomami,\" her third studio album.\n\nWhen accepting the award, the 30-year-old was in tears and said, in Spanish: \"Thank you so much. 'Motomami' was a record I had to fight really hard to create … but it's brought me so much happiness. Thank you for always supporting my music even when it's constantly changing.\"\n\nThe Spanish singer-songwriter was in good company, too, as she walked the red carpet with her sister as well as partner, reggaeton star Rauw Alejandro, ahead of the awards show ceremony, which took place at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.\n\nDuring her speech, the \"Hentai\" singer gave the \"love of my life\" a shoutout. \"Baby, I love you,\" she said to Alejandro.\n\nBad Bunny, who was not in attendance, won five Latin Grammys Thursday including for best urban music album for \"Un Verano Sin Ti.\"\n\nOn Twitter, the reggaeton star thanked the Latin Recording Academy for his honors and dedicated them to the Dominican Republic. \"And to the dembow movement, the artists, producers, dancers, and music video directors,\" he wrote. \"Thank you for the inspiration, this Grammy is yours.\"\n\nSee Bad Bunny's career in photos, including 'World's Hottest Tour' shows, best fashion moments\n\nThe night saw other historic moments, including Cuban singer-songwriter Angela Alvarez, 95, winning best new artist and proving it's never too late to chase after your dreams \"with faith and love.\" Alvarez is the oldest musician to be nominated in the best new artist category at the awards show.\n\nShe tied for the honor with 25-year-old Mexican singer Silvana Estrada.\n\n\"This year the majority of artists for best new artist were mainly women,\" the young singer said during her speech. \"This prize was already ours.\"\n\nRanchera royalty Ángela Aguilar follows 'in the footsteps of my dad' Pepe, but could also be its future\n\nOne of the night's highest honors belonged to one of the most lauded singer-songwriters in Latin music: Marco Antonio Solís.\n\nThe Mexican icon was honored with the 2022 Latin Recording Academy Award for Person of the Year. After being honored, he performed a medley of his greatest hits including \"Tu Carcel,\" \"Se Veía Venir\" and \"La Venia Bendita.\"\n\n\"My heart is flooded with gratitude. … Congratulations to all the nominees, all the winners, and to everyone who's dreaming of being up here one day,\" Solís said during his speech. \"Don't lose your faith. One day you'll be up here.\"\n\nThalía, Luis Fonsi, and Laura Pausini performed \"Si No Te Hubieras Ido\"; Sin Bandera and Carin León sang “¿A Dónde Vamos A Parar?”; and Goyo, Aymée Nuviola and Gente De Zona covered Solis' “Más Que Tu Amigo.”\n\nSee the full list:Beyoncé leads 2023 Grammy nominations, ties Jay-Z for most nods ever\n\nCheck out the biggest winners of the night below (in bold):\n\nRecord of the Year\n\n\"Pa Mis Muchachas\" - Christina Aguilera, Becky G, Nicki Nicole featuring Nathy Peluso\n\n\"Castillos de Arena\" - Pablo Alborán\n\n\"Envolver\" - Anitta\n\n\"Pa'lla Voy\" - Marc Anthony\n\n\"Ojitos Lindos\" - Bad Bunny and Bomba Estéreo\n\n\"Pegao\" - Camila\n\n\"Tocarte\" - Jorge Drexler and C. Tangana\n\n\"Provenza\" - Karol G\n\n\"Valelapena\" - Juan Luis Guerra\n\n\"La Fama\" - Rosalía featuring The Weeknd\n\n\"Te Felecito\" - Shakira and Rauw Alejandro\n\n\"Baloncito Viejo\" - Carlos Vives & Camilo\n\nAlbum of the Year\n\n\"Aguilera\" - Christina Aguilera\n\n\"Pa'lla Voy\" - Marc Anthony\n\n\"Un Verano Sin Ti\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"Deja\" - Bomba Estéreo\n\n\"Tinta y Tiempo\" - Jorge Drexler\n\n\"Ya No Somos Los Mismos\" - Elsa y Elmar\n\n\"Viajante\" - Fonseca\n\n\"Motomami\" - Rosalía\n\n\"Sanz\" - Alejandro Sanz\n\n\"Dharma\" - Sebastián Yatra\n\nRelated:Christina Aguilera updates 'Beautiful' music video to capture harm of social media\n\nSong of the Year\n\n\"A Veces Bien y A Veces Mal\" - Ricky Martin featuring Reik\n\n\"Agua\" - Daddy Yankee, Rauw Alejandro & Nile Rodgers\n\n\"Algo Es Mejor\" - Mon Laferte\n\n\"Baloncito Viejo\" - Carles Vives and Camilo\n\n\"Besos En La Frente\" - Fonseca\n\n\"Encontrarme\" - Carla Morrison\n\n\"Hentai\" - Rosalía\n\n\"Índigo\" - Camilo and Evaluna Montaner\n\n\"Pa Mis Muchachas\" - Christina Aguilera, Nicki Nicole and Becky G, featuring Nathy Peluso\n\n\"Provenza\" - Karol G\n\n\"Tacones Rojos\" - Sebastián Yatra\n\n\"Tocarte\" - Jorge Drexler and C. Tangana\n\nBest New Artist\n\nAngela Álvarez\n\nSofía Campos\n\nCande Y Paulo\n\nClarissa\n\nSilvana Estrada\n\nPol Granch\n\nNabález\n\nTiare\n\nVale\n\nYahritza Y Su Esencia\n\nNicole Zignago\n\nCarla Morrison, Pol Granch, The Marías, more Latin Grammys nominees to add to your playlist ASAP\n\nBest Pop Vocal Album\n\n\"Ya No Somos Los Mismos\" - Elsa Y Elmar\n\n\"Amor Que Merecemos\" - Kany García\n\n\"Clichés\" - Jesse and Joy\n\n\"El Renaciemnto\" - Carla Morrison\n\n\"Dharma\" - Sebastian Yatra\n\nBest Traditional Pop Vocal Album\n\n\"Aguilera\" - Christina Aguilera\n\n\"Viajante\" - Fonseca\n\n\"Filarmónico 20 Años\" - Marta Gómez\n\n\"La Vida\" - Kurt\n\n\"Frecuencia\" - Sin Bandera\n\nBest Pop Song\n\n\"Baloncito Viejo\" - Carlos Vives and Camilo\n\n\"Besos En La Frente\" - Fonseca\n\n\"Índigo\" - Camilo and Evaluna Montaner\n\n\"La Guerrailla De La Concordia\" - Jorge Drexler\n\n\"Tacones Rojos\" - Sebastían Yatra\n\nBest Urban Fusion/Performance\n\n\"Pa Mis Muchachas\" - Christina Aguilera, Nicki Nicole and Becky G, featuring Nathy Peluso\n\n\"Santo\" - Christina Aguilera and Ozuna\n\n\"Volví\" - Aventura and Bad Bunny\n\n\"Titi Me Preguntó\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"This Is Not America\" - Residente, featuring Ibeyi\n\nBest Reggaeton Performance\n\n\"Desesperados\" - Rauw Alejandro and Chencho Corlene\n\n\"Envolver\" - Anitta\n\n\"Yonaguni\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"Nicky Jam: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 41\" - Bizarrap and Nicky Jam\n\n\"Lo Siento BB:/\" - Tainy, Bad Bunny and Julieta Venegas\n\nBest Urban Music Album\n\n\"Respira\" - Akapellah\n\n\"Trap Cake Vol. 2\" - Rauw Alejandro\n\n\"Los Favorites 2.5\" - Arcangel\n\n\"Un Verano Sin Ti\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"Animal\" - Maria Becerra\n\nBest Rap/Hip Hop Song\n\n\"Amor\" - Akapellah\n\n\"Dance Crip\" - Santiago Ruiz, Brian Taylor and Trueno\n\n\"Demuseo\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"El gran robo, pt. 2\" - Daddy Yankee and Lito MC Cassidy\n\n\"Freestyle 15\" - Farina\n\nBest Urban Song\n\n\"Desesperados\" - Rauw Alejandro and Chencho Corleone\n\n\"Lo Siento BB:/\" - Bad Bunny\n\n\"MAMIII\" - Becky G and Karol G\n\n\"Ojos Rojos\" - Nicky Jam\n\n\"Titi Me Preguntó\" - Bad Bunny\n\nBest Salsa Album\n\n\"Será Que Se Acabó\" - Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera\n\n\"Pa'lla Voy\" - Marc Anthony\n\n\"Luis Figueroa\" - Luis Figueroa\n\n\"Y Te Lo Dice…\" - Luisito Ayala y La Puerto Rican Power\n\n\"Lado A Lado B\" - Víctor Manuelle\n\nBest Ranchero/Mariachi Album\n\n\"Mexicana Enamorada\" - Ángela Aguilar\n\n\"Mi Herencia, Mi Sangre\" - Majo Aguilar\n\n\"40 Aniversario Embajadores del Mariachi by Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez\" - Mariachi Sol de Mexico de José Hernández\n\n\"EP #1 Forajido\" - Christian Nodal\n\n\"Qué Ganas De Verte (Deluxe)\" - Marco Antonio Solis\n\nBest Short Form Music Video\n\n\"MIA\" - Cami\n\n\"This Is Not America\" - Residente featuring Ibeyi, Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz\n\n\"A Carta Cabal\" - Guitarricadelafuente\n\n\"Hentai\" - Rosalía\n\n\"Nadie\" - Sin Bandera\n\n\"Tocarte\" - Jorge Drexler, featuring C. Tangana\n\nBest Long Form Music Video\n\n\"Bailaora (Mis Pies Son Mi Voz)\" - Siudy Garrido\n\n\"Hasta la Raíz: El Documental\" - Natalia Lafourcade\n\n\"Motomami (Rosalía TikTok Live Performance) - Rosalía\n\n\"Romeo Santos: King of Bachata (Documentary)\" - Romeo Santos\n\n\"Matria\" - Vetusta Morla\n\nFor the full list of 2022 Latin Grammys winners go here.\n\nSnubbed! Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Megan Thee Stallion ignored in 2023 Grammy nominations", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/17"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/04/03/grammys-2022-live-updates-winners/7244155001/", "title": "Grammys 2022: Jon Batiste wins album of the year, Silk Sonic takes ...", "text": "Jon Batiste ruled on a Grammys night that celebrated young hitmaker Olivia Rodrigo and embraced the funk of Silk Sonic.\n\nBatiste, who went into music's biggest night with a leading 11 nominations, won five trophies including album of the year – the top prize of the night – for \"We Are\" at Sunday's 64th Grammy Awards. Silk Sonic, the super duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, took home record and song of the year – as well as R&B song and performance Grammys for \"Leave the Door Open.\" And Rodrigo was named best new artist as part of her three-win day, which also included best pop vocal album for \"Sour\" and pop solo performance for her hit \"Drivers License.\"\n\nIt was a night of many performances, by Justin Bieber, BTS, Lady Gaga and more, and also of important tributes. Billie Eilish wore a T-shirt honoring the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a prerecorded message at the Grammys paired with a rousing rendition of \"Free\" by John Legend.\n\nGrammy winners:See which stars took home gold on music's biggest night\n\nGrammys best dressed:Lil Nas X, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and more stars who made our hearts sing\n\nHere are all the highlights and winners from the prime-time Grammys:\n\nJon Batiste's 'We Are' wins album of the year\n\nAfter entering the night with 11 nominations and walking away with the Grammys' top prize. Batiste talks about how there shouldn't be such things as best new artist, best actor or best record because art is subjective. \"They have like a radar to reach that person when they need it the most,\" Batiste says. In regard to music, \"it's more than entertainment for me – it's a spiritual practice.\" He also left the crowd with a positive message: \"Be you. That's it. I love you even if I don't know you.\"\n\nGrammys red carpet:Hollywood still can't stop talking about Will Smith's Oscars slap\n\nCarrie Underwood debuts new song 'Ghost Story'\n\nHours after winning the Grammy for best roots gospel album, Underwood cranks up the wind machine so her dress can billow as she belts her new power ballad \"Ghost Story.\" (It's a'ight.)\n\nGrammy performances:Brutally honest reviews of everyone from BTS to Olivia Rodrigo\n\nBruno Mars, Anderson .Paak get a 'clean sweep' with Silk Sonic\n\nNot only did they win song of the year, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak take a second major Grammy. \"We're really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point,\" .Paak says. \"But in the industry, we call that a clean sweep.\"\n\nThe most memorable 2022 Grammy moments:From Gaga's Tony Bennett tribute to Zelenskyy's plea\n\nDoja Cat and SZA's 'Kiss Me More' wins a Grammy, H.E.R. bangs the drums\n\n\"I have never taken such a fast (pee) in my whole life,\" an out-of-breath Doja Cat says when accepting the honor for best pop duo/group performance. \"I'm glad you made it back in time!\" SZA adds. Doja Cat can't stop crying. \"This is a big deal,\" she says. Their win is followed by a performance from H.E.R., who sings \"Damage,\" plays drums on \"We Made It\" and is joined by Travis Barker and Lenny Kravitz for \"Are You Gonna Go My Way.\"\n\nJustin Bieber gets his ballad on at the Grammys\n\nDecked out in a backward baseball cap and hoodie, Justin Bieber sings his hit \"Peaches\" first at the piano when he's kicking it on the slow side and then is joined by R&B artists Daniel Caesar and Givēon.\n\nGrammys burning questions:What's Finneas' last name? How many BTS members are there? We answer 'em.\n\nJon Batiste gives a spirited rendition of 'Freedom'\n\nAfter going to town on the piano, Batiste joins a slew of backup dancers, his band and a bunch of candy-colored props for a joyful performance of \"Freedom.\"\n\n'In memoriam' segment honors Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Stephen Sondheim\n\nTrevor Noah begins the \"In memoriam\" sequence with a tribute to Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer, followed by an ode to Sondheim: Ben Platt performs \"Not a Day Goes By,\" Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom Jr. sing \"Send In the Clowns\" and \"West Side Story\" star Rachel Zegler comes in for \"Somewhere.\"\n\nBillie Eilish:Singer pays tribute to Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins during Grammys performance\n\nOlivia Rodrigo takes Grammy No. 3, for pop vocal album\n\nThe young singer's \"Sour\" wins the category, and Rodrigo thanks her parents, especially her mom \"for being supportive of my dreams, no matter how crazy.\"\n\nJazmine Sullivan wins best R&B album for 'Heaux Tales'\n\nBilly Porter presents Sullivan's win, though she responds in her acceptance speech, \"I don't know what I heard. I almost didn't believe it.\" Sullivan says the album was inspired by \"her own shame and decisions I made in my 20s that weren't favorable. But what it ended up being was a safe space for Black women to tell our stories.\" Backstage, Sullivan adds she was overwhelmed by her Grammy wins. (She also took best R&B performance.) “I’ve been wanting to win a Grammy since I was a kid,\" she says. \"After losing so many times, I kind of gave up, like maybe it’s not for me and I’ll just make my music. It’s surreal to hold these babies right now.\"\n\nLady Gaga gets jazzy for 'Love for Sale'\n\nTony Bennett couldn't appear but he introduces Gaga, who channels her inner swing goddess. She fronts a big band singing the uptempo \"Love for Sale\" then settles down for the string-laden ballad \"Do I Love You.\" She closes out her time with a message for Bennett: \"I love you, Tony. We miss you.\"\n\nUkrainian President Zelenskyy appears on screen at the Grammys\n\n\"Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos … but our music will break through anyway,\" Zelenskyy says in a virtual appearance asking to \"support us in any way you can\" as his country continues to fight the Russian invasion. John Legend then sings \"Free\" as he's joined by Mika Newton, whose sister is serving in the Ukrainian army, and Lyuba Yakimchuk, a poet from Donbas who fled Ukraine just days ago.\n\nZelenskyy addresses Grammys:'Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos'\n\nBaby Keem's 'Family Ties' wins rap performance Grammy, Chris Stapleton feels country 'Cold'\n\n\"Nothing could prepare me for this moment tonight,\" Baby Keem says of nabbing the best rap performance Grammy, which goes to his collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. From there, switching genres on a dime, Stapleton takes the stage to sing \"Cold\" – which won the best country song Grammy earlier in the day.\n\nNas brings old-school hip-hop back to the Grammys stage\n\nThe youngsters were gifted with an appearance from a legendary OG: With the help of a great horn section, rapper Nas performed a montage of tracks including \"I Can,\" \"Made You Look,\" \"One Mic\" and \"Rare.\"\n\nJoni Mitchell presents Brandi Carlile's performance of 'Right on Time'\n\nWith an opening from legends Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt, Carlile takes the stage to a stirring version of \"Right on Time,\" starting on piano and transitioning to guitar, accompanied by a string section.\n\nJoni Mitchell:MusiCares honors legendary singer as the 2022 Person of the Year\n\nOlivia Rodrigo (as expected) wins best new artist\n\nTwo previous winners in the Grammy category, Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion, welcome the next best new artist to their fold: Olivia Rodrigo. \"Whoa. This is my biggest dream come true,\" she says.\n\nGrammys:Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion recreate iconic Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey gag\n\nBillie Eilish performs 'Happier Than Ever' in the weirdest bedroom ever\n\nWith her brother Finneas on acoustic guitar, the multi-time Grammy winner first sings her hit tune in a room where a couch is on the ceiling and she's walking around in water and then winds up on the rooftop of this very strange home to rock out like a champ. Also of note: Eilish is wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters drummer who was unexpectedly found dead while on tour last month.\n\nChris Stapleton rules the country album category\n\nAfter winning two Grammys earlier in the day, Chris Stapleton wins best country album for \"Starting Over.\" The dad of five says it's his 4-year-old twins' birthday so \"I'm thinking a lot about sacrifices,\" he says. \"I don't know how it is for everybody. ... It hurts sometimes but I hope it's making the world a better place.\"\n\nLil Nas X performs and seemingly calls out his haters\n\nJoined by Jack Harlow and rocking multiple glitzy costume changes, Lil Nas X performs a montage of his hits \"Dead Right Now,\" \"Montero (Call Me By Your Name)\" and \"Industry Baby,\" with voiceovers from his critics and a very large bust of his head in the middle of the stage. He owns it all, though, dancing up a storm in what's best described as the coolest drum major outfit ever.\n\nBTS unleashes 'Butter,' screaming crowds respond\n\nAfter one of the K-pop crew shares a moment with Olivia Rodrigo, the mega-popular group launches into a performance of \"Butter\" with a whole bunch of smooth dancing to melt everyone's hearts.\n\nSilk Sonic wins song of the year for 'Leave the Door Open'\n\nQuestlove tosses out another Oscars slap joke – \"I'm going to present this award and I hope that you people stay like 500 feet away from me\" – before song of the year goes to Silk Sonic. \"Andy, I couldn't be prouder of doing this song with you,\" Bruno Mars says to partner Anderson .Paak. The duo's tune also won for R&B song and tied for R&B performance.\n\nOlivia Rodrigo breaks out the 'Drivers License,' J Balvin goes 'In da Getto'\n\nRodrigo begins seated behind the wheel of a spiffy car as she performs a tender-turned-rockin' version of her huge hit song \"Drivers License.\" She also sings walking down a faux street looking like she's lost on the way to the prom but she's emoting like a champ so it's OK. Noah jokes that Rodrigo captures \"how heartbreaking it is to go to the DMV\" before J Balvin is joined by Maria Becerra for \"Qué Más Pues?\" then launches into \"In da Getto\" with an army of dancing arms.\n\nSilk Sonic begins the Grammys show by bringing the funk\n\n\"Vegas, baby! I can smell the bad decisions up here already,\" host Trevor Noah says kicking off the Grammys broadcast on top of the MGM Grand. He sends it to the Grand Garden Arena, where Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) plays a brassy rendition of \"777\" – and evokes some James Brown feels – in a jam that feels right at home in the land of craps tables and roulette wheels. Afterward Noah makes the first Oscars slap joke of the night: \"We're going to be keeping people's names out of our mouths all night!\"\n\nSt. Vincent takes second best alternative music album Grammy\n\nA luminous St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) talks backstage about “Daddy’s Home,” her Grammy-winning best alternative music album. “I wanted the listener to feel like they were sitting in an old leather armchair with a glass of bourbon and luxuriate in the album,” she says.\n\nPosing in a floor-length pink gown accented with feathers, St. Vincent was proud that more women have landed in the category since her 2015 win there as the first female to do so since Sinead O’Connor 20 years prior. “I’m glad the times are a-changin’,” she says.\n\nKanye West rules two rap categories, Olivia Rodrigo gets her first Grammy\n\nYe wins for best melodic rap performance \"Hurricane\" and rap song (\"Jail\" with Jay-Z) but loses the rap album Grammy to Tyler, the Creator's \"Call Me If You Get Lost.\" Rodrigo's breakout \"Drivers License\" is named best pop solo performance while Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's \"Love for Sale\" wins for pop vocal album.\n\nFoo Fighters sweep rock Grammys in wake of Taylor Hawkins' death\n\nDave Grohl's band wins best rock performance (\"Making a Fire\"), best rock song (\"Waiting on a War\") and rock album (\"Medicine at Midnight\"). Foo Fighters were supposed to perform at the Grammys but canceled their appearance as well as the rest of their tour after drummer Hawkins died unexpectedly last month. In addition, H.E.R.'s \"Fight for You\" is named best traditional R&B performance and Silk Sonic's \"Leave the Door Open\" takes best R&B song and ties for R&B performance.\n\nCeCe Winans wins three, George Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass' anniversary album takes honor\n\nWinans pulls a hat trick and wins for gospel performance/song, contemporary Christian music performance/song and best gospel album while Carrie Underwood's \"My Savior\" is named best roots gospel album. Plus George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary Edition\" gets best boxed or special limited edition package, making it the first Grammy the former Beatle factored into since 2002, when “Marwa Blues,” from his final album “Brainwashed,” earned a nod for best pop instrumental performance.\n\n“This album has really endured,” his widow, Olivia Harrison, says backstage. “It’s full of hope and inspiration and good rock ‘n’ roll and great musicians. It’s George’s seminal work. He got his first Grammy 58 years ago (with The Beatles, who won best new artist) and it’s amazing that 58 years later I’m standing here. People have told me how (this music) has helped and healed them.\"\n\nJon Batiste runs his Grammy haul to four, 'Summer of Soul' gets Grammy love\n\nBatiste extends his streak, taking best music video for \"Freedom.\" \"We just wanted everybody to see it and be transformed by joy,\" he says of the video's New Orleans setting. And exactly seven days after winning best documentary at the Oscars, \"Summer of Soul\" snags the Grammy for best music film. \"What a journey for this film, from Sundance (Film Festival) until last week,\" director Ahmir \"Questlove\" Thompson says with a knowing laugh. (His Oscar win came directly after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.)\n\nJoni Mitchell gets Grammy for best historical album\n\nAfter making an emotional return to the stage at Friday's MusiCares pre-Grammys tribute, Mitchell receives a Grammy for \"Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967).\" \"I didn't expect this,\" the legendary singer says, thanking Cameron Crowe (who did the liner notes) and \"my angel,\" her physical therapist who's been helping her since she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015.\n\nChris Stapleton, Brothers Osborne win country Grammys\n\nStapleton shouts out the house band when accepting his best country solo performance for \"You Should Probably Leave.\" \"I was really slow so they had to play a long time,\" quips Stapleton, who also takes best country song for \"Cold.\" And Brothers Osborne takes the Grammy for country duo/group performance for “Younger Me,” written in response to T.J. Osborne coming out. “I never thought I would be able to do music professionally because of my sexual orientation,” says the first openly gay artist signed to a major country label. “And I never thought I’d be onstage accepting a Grammy after something I thought would be life-changing in a negative way. (But) I am here with a man I love and who loves me back. I don’t know what I did to be so lucky.”\n\nIn addition, Batiste runs his 2022 Grammy haul to three, winning for American roots performance and roots song.\n\nThe Police drummer Stewart Copeland takes new age album Grammy\n\n\"This has got to be a first: a rock drummer in a new age category,\" says Copeland, a founding member of The Police who wins for \"Divine Tides\" with Ricky Kej. Angelique Kidjo's \"Mother Nature\" takes the Grammy for global music album and the late Chick Corea receives two honors: best improvised jazz solo for \"Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)\" and Latin jazz album for \"Mirror Mirror\" with Eliane Elias and Chucho Valdés.\n\nJon Batiste snags Grammy win for 'Soul' soundtrack\n\n\"Tell the truth, you didn't expect Kunta to be this fine, did you?\" says host LeVar Burton, the \"Star Trek\" and \"Roots\" actor, to start the Grammys preshow. He points out the global unrest of the moment but also offers a positive message: \"Music is a balm for all our souls.\"\n\nBatiste grabs his first Grammy of the day – for \"Soul,\" which ties with \"The Queen's Gambit\" for score soundtrack for visual media. Bo Burnham's \"All Eyes on Me\" snags best song for visual media, \"The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical\" wins for best musical theater album and \"The United States vs. Billie Holiday\" takes the honor for compilation soundtrack for visual media.\n\nOlivia Rodrigo vs. Billie Eilish might be one for the ages\n\nTwo years after sweeping the major Grammy honors, Eilish returns with seven nominations this year, including album, song and record of the year for her “Happier Than Ever” and its title track. Rodrigo, the new kid on the scene, also has seven nods including those key categories. Plus she's favored for the prestigious best new artist – yep, which Eilish won in 2020 – against a field that includes Glass Animals, Saweetie and Eilish's own brother, Finneas.\n\nWondering how to watch the Grammy Awards? We got you\n\nYou can tune into the premiere ceremony – when about 70 of the 86 awards are distributed – starting at 3:30 EDT/12:30 PDT at grammy.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel. Red carpet arrivals will be streamed on grammy.com starting at 6:30 EDT/3:30 PDT; E! starts its coverage at 4 EDT/1 PDT, with \"Live From E!: Grammys\" starting at 6 EDT/3 PDT. And then there's the prime-time show: That airs live on CBS and Paramount+ at 8 EDT/5 PDT, and is also accessible via CBS.com and the CBS app (with a cable subscription).\n\nContributing: Melissa Ruggieri", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/04/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/11/16/who-won-most-grammys-georg-solti-beyonce/10426800002/", "title": "Who has won the most Grammys? Top award-winning artists of all time", "text": "Since 1958, the Grammys have recognized and awarded those in the music industry for outstanding achievements. Each year, music artists are given the chance to win a coveted Grammy from one or many categories, if nominated.\n\nAt the first annual Grammy Awards, there were 28 categories with winners including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The 65th Grammys had 91 categories for its awards, according to the Recording Academy.\n\nThousands of music creators have been recognized for their work by the Recording Academy, but who has the most Grammys? Here is the answer, plus other top Grammy Award winners.\n\nGrammys 2023:All the best (and worst) performances, ranked\n\n2023 Grammy winners: See the full list, from Beyonce to Harry Styles\n\nWho has the most Grammys?\n\nBeyoncé is the most Grammy-awarded artist, receiving 32 awards throughout her famed career. She surpassed Georg Solti, who formerly held the title for most Grammys, after multiple wins at the 65th Grammy Awards.\n\nOn Feb. 5, Beyoncé took home the awards for best dance recording for \"Break My Soul,\" best dance/electronica album for \"Renaissance,\" best traditional R&B vocal performance for \"Plastic Off the Sofa\" and best R&B song for \"Cuff It.\"\n\nBeyoncé's first three career Grammys were won with Destiny's Child, including best R&B performance by a duo or group for \"Survivor.\" Beyoncé went on to win five awards as a solo artist at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, taking home the award of best contemporary R&B album for \"Dangerously in Love.\"\n\nShe is also the most-nominated female artist in Grammy history with 88 career nominations and is tied with her husband Jay-Z for the most Grammy nominations in history.\n\nBeyoncé is officially queen of the Grammys:Breaks Georg Solti's record for all-time wins\n\nBeyoncé's 'Renaissance' album review:Unapologetic and raunchy as she beckons us to the dance floor\n\nTop 10 Grammy Award winners\n\nHere are the top 10 Grammy winners, according to the Recording Academy:\n\nThe most over-the-top looks on the Grammys red carpet: Harry Styles, Doja Cat, Sam Smith, more\n\n'It has been such a journey':Viola Davis joins EGOT club with first Grammy win\n\nWho won the most Grammys in one night?\n\nMichael Jackson, often referred to as the \"King of Pop,\" is tied for the record for most Grammys won in one night, receiving eight awards at the 26th Grammys in 1984. According to the Recording Academy, at the ceremony, Jackson took home the awards for:\n\nRecord of the year: \"Beat It\"\n\nAlbum of the year: \"Thriller\"\n\nBest pop vocal performance, male: \"Thriller\"\n\nBest rock vocal performance, male: \"Beat It\"\n\nBest R&B vocal performance, male: \"Billie Jean\"\n\nBest rhythm & blues song: \"Billie Jean\"\n\nBest recording for children: \"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial\"\n\nProducer of the year (non-classical)\n\nIn 2000, Santana tied Jackson's accomplishment, winning eight Grammys in one night at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Santana received awards for:\n\nRecord of the year: \"Smooth\"\n\nAlbum of the year: \"Supernatural\n\nBest pop performance by a duo or group with vocal: \"Maria Maria\"\n\nBest pop collaboration with vocals: \"Smooth\"\n\nBest pop instrumental performance: \"El Farol\"\n\nBest rock performance by a duo or group with vocal: \"Put Your Lights On\"\n\nBest rock instrumental performance: \"The Calling\"\n\nBest rock album: \"Supernatural\"\n\nAmong female artists, there is also a tie for who won the most Grammys in one night between Beyoncé and Adele, both winning six awards each.\n\nAt the 52nd Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won the following categories:\n\nSong of the year: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest female pop vocal performance: \"Halo\"\n\nBest female R&B vocal performance: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest traditional R&B vocal performance: \"At Last\"\n\nBest R&B song: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest contemporary R&B album: \"I Am... Sasha Fierce\"\n\nAt the 54th Grammy Awards, Adele won the following categories:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/16"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/06/beyonce-album-year-snub-proves-grammys-still-ignore-her-impact/11179647002/", "title": "Beyonce album of the year snub proves Grammys still ignore her ...", "text": "Beyoncé once again released one of the best albums of all time with last year's \"Renaissance.\" And while she set a Grammys record, winning more lifetime trophies than any other performer, the Recording Academy is still ignoring her influence.\n\nShe took home four trophies Sunday in dance and R&B categories but was snubbed in the major races she most deserved to win. Despite a record total of 32 Grammys, Beyoncé has never won album of the year, a blasphemous omission considering her unrivaled discography. Even Adele felt the need to apologize when her album \"25\" beat Beyoncé's \"Lemonade\" at the 2017 Grammys. And it was especially disappointing given the influence of her latest album.\n\nBeyoncé's losses this year in the top three categories – album, record and song of the year – are disappointing but not all that surprising in an industry that has made exclusion of Black artists feel inevitable.\n\n\"Renaissance,\" an unapologetic, genre-bending album that celebrated Black and queer joy while reconciling with grief and loss and honoring house and dance hall music, is trendsetting and defines today's cultural moment in a way that no other album of the year nominee has.\n\nMore:Beyoncé is officially queen of the Grammys, breaks Georg Solti's record for all-time wins\n\nAnd:The best moments of the 2023 Grammy Awards, from Harry Styles' superfan to a stunned Lizzo\n\nHarry Styles, who took home the trophy for album of the year, said in his acceptance speech that \"there is no such thing as best.\" Lizzo added during hers for record of the year: \"You clearly are the artist of our lives.\"\n\nIn some ways, the wide range of winners and nominees alike this year symbolizes the breadth of talent in the music industry, regardless of musical preference. But the repeated hesitancy to dole out big accolades and resort to giving mostly R&B, dance and rap awards to a woman who was repeatedly dubbed \"the GOAT\" during Sunday's show exemplifies a frustrating pattern: Grammy voters talking a big game about recognizing Black artists' impact but failing to back it up.\n\nBeyoncé's 'Renaissance' album review:Unapologetic and raunchy as she beckons us to the dance floor\n\nMore:Brutally honest reviews of every 2023 Grammys performance, including Harry Styles, Sam Smith, Stevie Wonder\n\nIt's difficult to categorize the 2023 Grammy Awards as a diversity win or fail. Important moments for diverse artists included Kim Petras becoming what is believed to be the first openly transgender artist to win a Grammy, Dr. Dre's honor with his eponymous Global Impact Award, Lizzo championing joy and body positivity, and standout performances from Bad Bunny and by the pioneering stars of hip hop in a star-studded 50th anniversary tribute to the genre.\n\nBut Beyoncé has long been viewed as a barometer for the industry's treatment of Black artists, and her shutout in the major categories is an unwelcome reminder that many of the most influential artists are not getting their proper due.\n\nBeyoncé deserved the 2023 album of the year award for a culture-defining piece of art. It's embarrassing that the industry still isn't properly recognizing her for it.\n\n2023 Grammys winners:See the full list, from Beyoncé to Harry Styles\n\nGrammys 2023 live:Harry Styles wins album of the year, Beyoncé breaks all-time record", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/05/grammys-2023-brutally-honest-reviews-every-performance-ranked/11193018002/", "title": "Grammys 2023: All the best (and worst) performances, ranked", "text": "Another Grammy Awards, another appalling upset.\n\nAfter making history Sunday night as the most Grammy-winning artist of all time, Beyoncé was egregiously passed over for album of the year for \"Renaissance\" in favor of Harry Styles' \"Harry's House.\" The snub put a dark cloud over an otherwise happy occasion, as the Recording Academy spread the awards love between A-list artists Adele, Lizzo and Bonnie Raitt.\n\nAnd with a few exceptions, the stacked performance lineup was also uniformly strong, even as the Trevor Noah-hosted telecast crept toward a fourth hour. Here are the best and worst musical moments from this year’s show:\n\nGrammys 2023 full rundown: Harry Styles wins album of the year, Beyoncé breaks all-time record\n\nFull list of winners! See which stars took home Grammy gold tonight\n\n12. Luke Combs, 'Going, Going, Gone'\n\nAfter the adrenaline high of the all-star hip-hop tribute, Combs brought the Grammys back down to earth with his tender rendition of his \"Growin' Up\" album single, delivering gravelly vocals and evocative lyrics against the backdrop of a night sky. It was a solid Grammys debut for the country artist, who unfortunately got seated with a third-hour time slot as viewers' attention spans wore thin.\n\n11. Harry Styles, 'As It Was'\n\nFresh off a win for best pop vocal album for \"Harry’s House,\" the British heartthrob commendably powered through his long-reigning No. 1 hit \"As It Was\" on the Grammys stage. Styles swapped his eye-popping jumpsuit from the red carpet for a frilly, metallic ensemble, hopping and darting across a giant turntable with his street clothes-clad backup dancers. The crooner sounded understandably tired, given his rigorous tour schedule this past year, and was further saddled by sound issues.\n\n10. Sam Smith and Kim Petras, 'Unholy'\n\nAfter her history-making Grammy win and an introduction from Madonna, Petras slinked onto the stage with Smith to perform their titillating chart-topper \"Unholy.\" Smith gyrated downstage in a devil horn-adorned top hat, but it was Petras who stole the show with a red-hot pyrotechnic display, mugging for the camera from inside a steel cage.\n\n9. DJ Khaled, 'God Did'\n\nIf that’s the last time we see Jay-Z on the Grammys, he certainly went out in style. The rap virtuoso closed out the ceremony just minutes after wife Beyoncé was shafted once more for the album of the year award, rapping DJ Khaled's \"God Did\" alongside John Legend, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Fridayy in a Last Supper-inspired setup. Even Jay knew he ran away with the otherwise lukewarm performance, raising a glass at the end of his five-minute verse saying, \"You’re welcome!\"\n\n8. Brandi Carlile, 'Broken Horses'\n\nAfter a sweet introduction from her wife, Catherine Shepherd, and two daughters, the Americana singer gave an electrifying performance of her \"In These Silent Days\" single. With just strobe lights and a backing band, Carlile let her thrilling voice do the heavy lifting – unleashing a truly incendiary guitar solo midsong and earning a standing ovation from Taylor Swift.\n\n7. Lizzo, 'About Damn Time' and 'Special'\n\nLizzo continually brings first-rate showmanship to awards show performances, and Sunday's Grammys presentation was no exception. Wearing a short black dress and bejeweled cross necklace, the R&B/pop hitmaker made the Crypto.com Arena her church with a soulful gospel choir as she belted through her affirmation-filled \"Special\" songs.\n\n6. Quavo, Kacey Musgraves and Bonnie Raitt, In Memoriam\n\nMusgraves kicked off the \"In Memoriam\" performance with an elegant, crystalline take on the late Loretta Lynn's \"Coal Miner’s Daughter,\" strumming an acoustic guitar with a bed of flowers at her bare feet. Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow also paid haunting tribute to Christine McVie, gorgeously harmonizing as Mick Fleetwood softly played the talking drum next to them. But the most emotional moment came from Quavo and Maverick City Music, who honored Migos member Takeoff with a heartbreaking mashup of \"Without You\" and \"See You Again.\" The memorial montage wasn't without its issues, though, as Twitter users complained that Aaron Carter and Gangsta Boo were omitted from the tribute.\n\n5. Steve Lacy, 'Bad Habit'\n\nThe TikTok sensation brought his funky-smooth viral hit \"Bad Habit\" to the Grammys telecast, radiating easy charm and suave stage presence as Kendrick Lamar and Machine Gun Kelly mouthed along lyrics from the crowd.\n\n4. Bad Bunny, 'El Apagón,' 'Después de la Playa'\n\nThe Puerto Rican rapper proved why he's one of the biggest stars in the world right now with his vibrant, infectious opening number. Bad Bunny paraded to the stage flanked by dancers, brass players and giant-sized puppets of Puerto Rican icons Tego Calderón and Andy Montañez. After a somewhat sluggish start, a red curtain lifted and revealed a stunning sunset backdrop, complete with palm trees and bongo drummers. The charismatic singer, clad in a baseball cap and jeans, proceeded to get the entire audience on its feet, with artists including Jack Harlow and Mary J. Blige dancing along.\n\n3. Mary J. Blige, 'Good Morning Gorgeous'\n\nThe Queen of R&B looked and sounded flawless singing the sumptuous title track from her 14th studio album, performing vocal acrobatics as she stood atop a pyramidal platform in a wide-brimmed hat and diamond-studded dress. In a night filled with massive set pieces, Blige proved that all you need to captivate a crowd is a stage, some strings and a spectacular voice.\n\n2. LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Black Thought and more, Hip Hop 50\n\nNearly three hours into an awards show, a production number this long and nostalgia-heavy shouldn't work as well as it did. But thanks to seamless transitions, and the palpable excitement of the more than two dozen artists on stage, the Grammys' 50th-anniversary hip-hop tribute was an undeniable highlight. Standouts of the history-spanning set included Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, Black Thought, Queen Latifah, and Busta Rhymes, whose lightning-fast \"Look at Me Now\" verse started trending on Twitter almost immediately after.\n\n1. Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and WanMor, Motown Medley\n\nLeave it to the legendary Wonder to give the performance of the night not even an hour into the show. Performing a medley of Motown hits to honor Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, Wonder kicked things off with the Temptations' joyous \"The Way You Do the Things You Do,\" trading off vocals with R&B group WanMor. He then dueted with Robinson on \"The Tears of a Clown,\" before blowing the roof off with his own \"Higher Ground,\" which featured blazing guitar riffs from country artist Chris Stapleton. The delighted audience ecstatically stood and grooved from their seats, with the likes of Jay-Z singing along.\n\nIn case you missed out on the Grammys fun:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/03/grammy-awards-2023-who-will-make-history/11154334002/", "title": "Will Beyonce and Jay-Z make history at the 2023 Grammy Awards?", "text": "While Sunday's Grammy Awards (CBS and Paramount+, 8 p.m. EST/5 PST) once again promise the possibility of surprises (will country singer Gayle beat long odds and take song of the year with her debut single, \"abcdefu\"?), they also are apt to cue up a few seriously historic moments.\n\nThink in terms of absolute all time Grammy Award champ, and most winning rapper of all time, to name a few possible highlight moments.\n\nNot surprisingly, those likely to hit those Grammy highs are for the most part boldfaced names largely known by one moniker only, from Beyoncé to Taylor to Adele. We run down who has the biggest shot at being etched into the Grammy record book.\n\nWill Beyoncé and Jay-Z steal the show? Might Viola Davis add the G to EGOT?\n\nLook for music's superstars – and one spectacular actress – to possibly make a splash:\n\nThe first couple of music, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, could etch their names in Grammy history as, respectively, most awarded artist and most awarded rapper.\n\nAs ubiquitous as Taylor Swift may be, this could be the year she finally takes song of the year honors and makes it an even dozen gramophone statuettes.\n\nPuerto Rican singer and actor Bad Bunny (aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) is looking to be the first artist to take album of the year honors for a Spanish-language record.\n\nActress Viola Davis is up for a Grammy for narrating her memoir \"Finding Me,\" which would put her in rare company of EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winners.\n\nCould Beyoncé become the most awarded artist in Grammy history?\n\nBeyoncé is likely to become the most awarded artist ever, given that she has nine nominations this year. Right now she has 28 awards from 79 previous nominations, tied in second place overall with producer Quincy Jones at 28 awards from his 80 nominations. Both of them sit behind Hungarian conductor Georg Solti, who has 31 Grammys in 74 nominations.\n\nBeyoncé won her first Grammy in 2001 for \"Say My Name\" when she was part of the trio Destiny's Child. Despite all that hardware, she has never won a Grammy in two of the most prestigious categories: album of the year and record of the year. She has nominations in both this year, for her album “Renaissance” and her song “Break My Soul.”\n\nWill Jay-Z become the most awarded rapper of all time?\n\nJay-Z, with 24 Grammy Awards, seems poised to take the title of most Grammy-laureled rapper in history, given his five nominations compared with none this year for the man he's looking to pass: Ye (Kanye West), who also has 24.\n\nThe Brooklyn-raised rapper has a staggering 88 nominations, including this year's quintet that includes nods for album of the year (for his work on Beyoncé's \"Renaissance\") and song (for \"God Did\" and \"Break My Soul\").\n\nHe's tied with his wife in total nominations, and both have rocketed past Paul McCartney, who has garnered 81 Grammy nominations to date.\n\nWill Taylor Swift win her first song of the year with the long version of ‘All Too Well’?\n\nSince winning her first Grammy in 2010 (for \"White Horse\" off \"Fearless\"), Taylor Swift has racked up 11 awards from 46 nominations, including four in 2023.\n\nBut this time she has a chance at making personal history. Having never won in the vaunted song of the year category (a songwriting award), Swift has a shot with the 10-minute short-film version of \"All Too Well,\" her song about the tumultuous relationship of a couple with a notable age difference.\n\nSwift has been nominated in the category six times, on par with past winners Lionel Richie and McCartney.\n\nBTS has another shot at becoming the first K-pop Grammy winner\n\nIn 2021, BTS became the first K-pop act to receive a Grammy nomination (their song “Dynamite” was bested by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” in best pop duo/group performance), while the year prior, their appearance with Lil Nas X made them the first Korean band to perform on the show.\n\nIn 2022, another attempt at that epic K-pop Grammy first with their hit song \"Butter\" was thwarted by Doja Cat and SZA's \"Kiss Me More.\"\n\nThis year, with three years of successive Grammy nominations, BTS has another shot at history with their song \"My Universe,\" a collaboration with Coldplay. The band is nominated in three categories: best pop duo/group performance, best music video (\"Yet to Come\") and best album (for their appearance on Coldplay's \"Music of the Spheres\").\n\nBad Bunny could be the first album of the year winner with a Spanish-language record\n\nBad Bunny had quite a year, from acting opposite Brad Pitt in the action thriller \"Bullet Train\" to releasing his hit-packed album \"Un Verano Sin Ti\" (\"A Summer Without You\").\n\nNow an album of the year nominee, Bad Bunny is on the brink of landing the first Spanish-language album of the year Grammy, which would serve as quite the marker in terms of the Recording Academy getting with the nation's multicultural reality.\n\nJust two Latin artists have had a shot at album of the year honors, though none for a slate of songs in Spanish. They are Mexican-born Carlos Santana, who won in 2000 with \"Supernatural,\" and Cardi B, who was nominated in 2019 for \"Invasion of Privacy\" but was bested by Kacey Musgraves' \"Golden Hour.\"\n\nAdele's outside shot at making Grammy history\n\nAdele is back in fighting form, with seven Grammy nominations for 2023 for her work on the album \"30.\" She has won 15 Grammys and has 25 nominations. But the competition is particularly stiff in all of Adele's categories this year.\n\nBut the British singer could make history by becoming the first songwriter to win three times in song of the year if she wins for “Easy On Me” (past wins were for “Rolling In The Deep” and “Hello”).\n\nIf she won record of the year for \"Easy On Me,\" she would join Bruno Mars and Paul Simon with that trifecta and be the first woman to hit that target. And a win for album of the year, which would be her third, allows her to join an elite group consisting of Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Taylor Swift, while being the only one to win for three consecutive albums.\n\nViola Davis shoots for the EGOT\n\nViola Davis, fresh off her starring role in \"The Woman King,\" is poised to make entertainment history if she wins a Grammy for her spoken word album nomination for \"Finding Me: A Memoir,\" which chronicles her journey from Rhode Island to Hollywood.\n\nA win at the Grammys would give her the G in EGOT, the coveted acronym reserved for those who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. That group includes performers such as Jennifer Hudson, Rita Moreno, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Robert Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg and Mike Nichols, to name a few.\n\nDavis won her Oscar in 2017 (for \"Fences\"), her Tonys in 2001 (\"King Hedley II\") and 2010 (\"Fences\"), and her Emmy in 2015 (\"How to Get Away With Murder\").\n\nTo help get you in the Grammy groove:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/06/2023-grammy-highlights-best-moments/11193610002/", "title": "Grammys highlights 2023: Harry Styles, Beyonce, Lizzo, more ...", "text": "The Grammys are always good for innumerable indelible moments, partly because unlike acting-related awards shows – that's you Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys – this telecast always features great artists doing what they do best on live television: rocking out.\n\nThe 65th annual awards, which were held Sunday inside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, were no exception. The all-star event, which kicked off with a wild mambo fiesta courtesy of nominee Bad Bunny, featured standout musical acts, one-of-a-kind outfits and historic Grammy wins.\n\nBeyoncé officially became the queen of the Grammys when her win for best dance/electronic album for \"Renaissance\" brought her all-time total to 32, one more than the late Hungarian classical conductor Georg Solti.\n\nThere also was Adele finally getting to meet The Rock, Viola Davis joining the exclusive EGOT club and Shania Twain looking like a witchy mushroom. Missed it all? No worries, we've got the best of the best moments right here.\n\nGrammys 2023:Follow every award with our minute-by-minute recap of the night\n\nWinners! See which stars took home Grammy gold\n\nAdele (finally!) meets Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson\n\nTrevor Noah sidled up to a table where Adele was sitting and divulged the fact that one of the superstar's secret desires was to meet Dwayne Johnson. Noah said that while he wasn't sure where that person was, he did want to introduce her to someone called The Rock.\n\nThat's when the actor strode into view, hulking in a brown suit, and embraced a visibly shocked Adele. Later, The Rock was the one to present Adele with the Grammy for best pop solo performance for \"Easy On Me.\"\n\n\"Get up here, best friend,\" The Rock called out as a soon-to-be teary Adele walked to the stage.\n\n50 years of hip-hop gets an outrageous star-filled tribute\n\nThe crowd rose to their feet for a lengthy tribute celebrating 50 years since the sounds of hip-hop first emanated from Bronx house parties. With rap icons ranging from Jay-Z to Dr. Dre taking in the action from the audience, The Roots backed an all-star cast of performers that began with pioneer Grandmaster Flash doing \"Flash to the Beat,\" followed by Run-DMC doing \"King of Rock.\"\n\nA torrent of rap talent followed, including DJ Jazzy Jeff (the other half of the duo that featured Will Smith), Salt-N-Pepa, Chuck D and Flavor Flav from Public Enemy, West Coast rap legend Ice-T and rapper-turned-beloved TV actress Queen Latifah.\n\nRepresenting more recent standouts were Swizz Beatz and Lil Wayne. LL Cool J and Lil Uzi Vert rapped things up with \"Just Wanna Rock\" and gave a shout-out to how hip-hop has gone from largely an urban American sound to being fully integrated into culture worldwide.\n\nHarry Styles superfan, 78, presents him with his album of the year Grammy\n\nIn what was undoubtedly a Grammy first, the vaunted album of the year award was announced by ... a 78-year-old grandmother from Sudbury, Ontario.\n\nHarry Styles superfan Reina Fafantaisie was one of several people who were invited to share their feelings on why their favorite performer should win. At the end of the telecast, Noah called all the superfans to the stage. After he opened the envelope, he turned to Fafantaisie and told her, \"You read it.\"\n\nA shocked Fafantasie, Grammy in hand, was rushed by Styles, who then wrapped his outstretched hands around the stunned woman.\n\nLizzo gives props to Prince and Beyoncé in her acceptance speech for record of the year\n\nA shook-up Lizzo bounded on the stage to accept record of the year for \"About Damn Time\" and thanked Prince, who embodied the musical essence of Minneapolis, the city where Lizzo broke out.\n\n“When we lost Prince, I decided to dedicate my life to making positive music,\" she said. Being misunderstood made her want to \"make the world a better place, so I had to be that change, to make the world a better place.”\n\nAt the end of her long speech, she sought out a standing Beyoncé in the crowd and, weeping, thanked the all-time Grammy champion for being her inspiration, starting back from when she cut class in fifth grade with her sister to see the icon in concert.\n\n“Thank you so much. You clearly are the artist of our lives!” Lizzo said as a smiling Beyoncé nodded in acknowledgement.\n\nViola Davis gets her EGOT\n\nActress Viola Davis reached an epic milestone by winning a Grammy for best audio book of her own memoir, \"Finding Me.\" That award allowed her to join the exclusive EGOT club, those artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Davis won her Oscar in 2017 (for \"Fences\"), her Tonys in 2001 (\"King Hedley II\") and 2010 (\"Fences\"), and her Emmy in 2015 (\"How to Get Away With Murder\").\n\n\"I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything,\" Davis said in her acceptance speech. \"And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!\"\n\nShe's only the third Black woman and 18th person to EGOT, a group includes performers such as Jennifer Hudson, Rita Moreno, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Robert Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg and Mike Nichols, to name a few.\n\nShania Twain wore a truly outrageous Grammy outfit\n\nCountry star Shania Twain, who presented the best country album Grammy to Willie Nelson for \"A Beautiful Time,\" showed up on the red carpet wearing an outfit that defied description. But if we had to try, we'd call it a cross between a benevolent witch and a cartoon mushroom.\n\nThe glittery outfit was a sequined white bell-bottomed suit with big black spots, crowned by a oversized hat in the same material. Shania spiced it all up by sporting shockingly red hair.\n\nKim Petras becomes first trans performer to win best pop duo/group Grammy\n\nGerman pop singer Kim Petras, who is transgender, and nonbinary British crooner Sam Smith made history together they took the stage to accept the award for best pop duo/group performance for the song “Unholy\" off Smith's new album \"Gloria.\"\n\nIt was the first time the award in this category was given to a trans performer, and follows three 1970 Grammy wins in classical music by Wendy Carlos.\n\nSmith stepped aside and let Petras take the microphone to give an impassioned acceptance speech in which she described growing up in Germany with a mother who accepted that her child, born male, was a woman.\n\nReplay the best of Grammy night:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/11/21/american-music-awards-2022-winners-list-taylor-swift/10746355002/", "title": "Taylor Swift sweeps 2022 American Music Awards, becomes top ...", "text": "The American Music Awards officially became the American Music Awards (Taylor's Version).\n\nPop juggernaut Taylor Swift became the top-awarded artist in AMAs history with her six wins at the awards show Sunday night, which included favorite female pop artist, favorite country album and artist of the year. In total, Swift has won 40 times at the AMAs.\n\n\"In the past few years, I have released more music than I did in the entire decade preceding that, and I really feel like that's down to the fact you, the fans, made it clear that you wanted to hear lots of music that I would make,\" Swift said while accepting artist of the year. \"You encouraged me.\"\n\nThe \"Midnights\" singer wasn't the only one to strike a chord with fans.\n\nBrutally honest rankings:Every 2022 AMAs performance, including Pink and Imagine Dragons\n\nBad Bunny, who scored eight nominations, clinched prizes for favorite male Latin artist and favorite Latin album. Meanwhile, Beyoncé boosted her career tally for AMA wins to 16, taking home awards for favorite female R&B artist and album.\n\nThe night was also full of tributes to titans in the music industry. Lionel Richie, recipient of the AMAs 2022 Icon Award, was introduced by Smokey Robinson.\n\nAfter a video tribute played onstage, Richie thanked his family, friends and manager during his acceptance speech and reflected on his long career and 40-year history with the AMAs.\n\nLegend Stevie Wonder and Charlie Puth continued with the tribute by performing some of Richie's biggest hits including \"Say You, Say Me,\" \"Easy,\" \"Brick House\" and concluded it with \"We Are the World.\"\n\nFor the latter, the duo was joined by Melissa Etheridge, Yola, Jimmie Allen and others.\n\nThe AMAs, hosted by actor and comedian Wayne Brady, also featured electrifying performances from some of the biggest stars in music, including Pink, who paid tribute to Olivia Newton-John with a powerful rendition of \"Hopelessly Devoted to You,\" Dove Cameron, GloRilla with Cardi B, Carrie Underwood, Lil Baby and Anitta.\n\n'Chill out':Kelly Rowland shuts down critics, praises Chris Brown at American Music Awards\n\nCheck out the biggest winners of the night below (in bold):\n\nArtist of the year\n\nAdele\n\nBad Bunny\n\nBeyoncé\n\nDrake\n\nHarry Styles\n\nTaylor Swift\n\nThe Weeknd\n\nNew artist of the year\n\nDove Cameron\n\nGayle\n\nLatto\n\nMåneskin\n\nSteve Lacy\n\nCollaboration of the year\n\n“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” - Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & the 'Encanto' cast\n\n“Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” - Elton John & Dua Lipa\n\n“Wait for U” - Future, Drake & Tems\n\n“Industry Baby” - Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow\n\n“Stay” - The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber\n\nWhat to know, where to watch his final show:Elton John bids farewell to America from Dodger Stadium\n\nFavorite touring artist\n\nBad Bunny\n\nColdplay\n\nEd Sheeran\n\nElton John\n\nThe Rolling Stones\n\nFavorite music video\n\n“Easy On Me” - Adele\n\n“Me Porto Bonito” - Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone\n\n“As It Was” - Harry Styles\n\n“Industry Baby” - Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow\n\n“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” - Taylor Swift\n\nFavorite male pop artist\n\nBad Bunny\n\nDrake\n\nEd Sheeran\n\nHarry Styles\n\nThe Weeknd\n\n2022 Latin Grammys winners list:Rosalía wins album of the year, 95-year-old wins best new artist\n\nFavorite female pop artist\n\nAdele\n\nBeyoncé\n\nDoja Cat\n\nLizzo\n\nTaylor Swift\n\n'I knew you were trouble': The Taylor Swift ticket fiasco is a sign to fix Ticketmaster\n\nFavorite pop duo or group\n\nBTS\n\nColdplay\n\nImagine Dragons\n\nMåneskin\n\nOneRepublic\n\nFavorite pop album\n\n“30” - Adele\n\n“Un Verano Sin Ti” - Bad Bunny\n\n“Renaissance” - Beyoncé\n\n“Harry’s House” - Harry Styles\n\n“Red (Taylor’s Version)” - Taylor Swift\n\nThe Weeknd - “Dawn FM”\n\nFavorite pop song\n\n“Easy On Me” - Adele\n\n“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” - Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast\n\n“As It Was” - Harry Styles\n\n“About Damn Time” - Lizzo\n\n“Stay” - The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber\n\nHarry Styes addresses probing on his sexuality:Singer says he's on his 'own journey'\n\nFavorite male country artist\n\nChris Stapleton\n\nCody Johnson\n\nLuke Combs\n\nMorgan Wallen\n\nWalker Hayes\n\nFavorite female country artist\n\nCarrie Underwood\n\nLainey Wilson\n\nMaren Morris\n\nMiranda Lambert\n\nTaylor Swift\n\nFavorite country duo or group\n\nDan + Shay\n\nLady A\n\nOld Dominion\n\nParmalee\n\nZac Brown Band\n\n2022 MTV EMAs:Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Harry Styles, more win big\n\nFavorite country album\n\n“Denim & Rhinestones” - Carrie Underwood\n\n“Human: The Double Album” - Cody Johnson\n\n“Growin’ Up” - Luke Combs\n\n“Red (Taylor’s Version)” - Taylor Swift\n\n“Country Stuff: The Album” - Walker Hayes\n\nHow the Taylor Swift debacle with Ticketmaster has ramped up fan and federal concerns\n\nFavorite country song\n\n“You Should Probably Leave” - Chris Stapleton\n\n“’Til You Can’t” - Cody Johnson\n\n“Thinking ‘Bout You” - Dustin Lynch ft. MacKenzie Porter\n\n“Buy Dirt” - Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan\n\n“Wasted on You” - Morgan Wallen\n\nFavorite male hip-hop artist\n\nDrake\n\nFuture\n\nKendrick Lamar\n\nLil Baby\n\nLil Durk\n\nFavorite female hip-hop artist\n\nCardi B\n\nGloRilla\n\nLatto\n\nMegan Thee Stallion\n\nNicki Minaj\n\nSnubbed! Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Megan Thee Stallion ignored in 2023 Grammy nominations\n\nFavorite hip-hop album\n\n“I Never Liked You” - Future\n\n“DS4EVER” - Gunna\n\n“Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” - Kendrick Lamar\n\n“7220” - Lil Durk\n\n“Hall of Fame 2.0” - Polo G\n\nFavorite hip-hop song\n\n“Wait for U” - Future ft. Drake & Tems\n\n“First Class” - Jack Harlow\n\n“Super Gremlin” - Kodak Black\n\n“Big Energy” - Latto\n\n“Industry Baby” - Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow\n\nMore:Judge orders Drake and 21 Savage to stop using fake Vogue magazine to promote 'Her Loss'\n\nFavorite male R&B artist\n\nBrent Faiyaz\n\nChris Brown\n\nGiveon\n\nLucky Daye\n\nThe Weeknd\n\nFavorite female R&B artist\n\nBeyoncé\n\nDoja Cat\n\nMuni Long\n\nSummer Walker\n\nSZA\n\nSee the full list:Beyoncé leads 2023 Grammy nominations, ties Jay-Z for most nods ever\n\nMore:Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' album leaks two days before scheduled release\n\nFavorite R&B album\n\n“Renaissance” - Beyoncé\n\n“Honestly, Nevermind” - Drake\n\n“An Evening with Silk Sonic” - Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak)\n\n“Still Over It” - Summer Walker\n\n“Dawn FM” - The Weeknd\n\nFavorite R&B song\n\n“Break My Soul” - Beyoncé\n\n“Hrs and Hrs” - Muni Long\n\n“Smokin Out the Window” - Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak)\n\n“I Hate U” - SZA\n\n“Essence” - Wizkid ft. Tems\n\nFavorite male Latin artist\n\nBad Bunny\n\nFarruko\n\nJ Balvin\n\nJhayco\n\nRauw Alejandro\n\nI'm not going to become boring':J Balvín says becoming a father won't change how he dresses\n\nTrailblazers:Women like Karol G, Natti Natasha, Becky G and Anitta are transforming reggaeton.\n\nFavorite female Latin artist\n\nAnitta\n\nBecky G\n\nKali Uchis\n\nKarol G\n\nRosalia\n\nFavorite Latin duo or group\n\nBanda MS de Sergio Lizárraga\n\nCalibre 50\n\nEslabon Armado\n\nGrupo Firme\n\nYahritza Y Su Esencia\n\nRelated:Apple Music honors Bad Bunny as the 2022 artist of the year\n\nFavorite Latin album\n\n“Un Verano Sin Ti” - Bad Bunny\n\n“La 167” - Farruko\n\n“Jose” - J Balvin\n\n“Vice Versa” - Rauw Alejandro\n\n“Motomami” - Rosalía\n\nFavorite Latin song\n\n“Me Porto Bonito” - Bad Bunny featuring Chencho Corleone\n\n“Mamiii” - Becky G x Karol G\n\n“Provenza” - Karol G\n\n“Todo de Ti” - Rauw Alejandro\n\n“Dos Oruguitas” - Sebastián Yatra\n\n'It's completely surreal':Sebastián Yatra is on his way to heartthrob status\n\nFavorite rock artist\n\nImagine Dragons\n\nMachine Gun Kelly\n\nMåneskin\n\nRed Hot Chili Peppers\n\nThe Lumineers\n\nFavorite rock song\n\n“Love Dies Young” - Foo Fighters\n\n“Enemy” - Imagine Dragons x JID\n\n“Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” - Kate Bush\n\n“Beggin’ ” - Måneskin\n\n“Black Summer” - Red Hot Chili Peppers\n\n'It's a bit of a dream':Måneskin seduces the US with style, sass and blistering rock 'n' roll\n\nFavorite rock album\n\n“Music of the Spheres” - Coldplay\n\n“Impera” - Ghost\n\n“Mercury – Act 1” - Imagine Dragons\n\n“mainstream sellout” - Machine Gun Kelly\n\n“Unlimited Love” - Red Hot Chili Peppers\n\nFavorite inspirational artist\n\nAnne Wilson\n\nfor KING & COUNTRY\n\nKaty Nichole\n\nMatthew West\n\nPhil Wickham\n\nFavorite gospel artist\n\nCeCe Winans\n\nDOE\n\nE. Dewey Smith\n\nMaverick City Music\n\nTamela Mann\n\nFavorite dance/electronic artist\n\nDiplo\n\nMarshmello\n\nSwedish House Mafia\n\nThe Chainsmokers\n\nTiësto\n\nFavorite soundtrack\n\n“Elvis”\n\n“Encanto”\n\n“Sing 2”\n\n“Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4”\n\n“Top Gun: Maverick”\n\nAppropriation or appreciation? How 'Elvis' highlights his complicated history with Black music\n\nElvis Presley's greatest songs: 20 essential cuts you need to hear now\n\nFavorite Afrobeats artist\n\nBurna Boy\n\nCKay\n\nFireboy DML\n\nTems\n\nWizkid\n\nFavorite K-pop artist\n\nBlackpink\n\nBTS\n\nSeventeen\n\nTomorrow X Together\n\nTwice\n\nContributing: Pamela Avila\n\nMore:BTS 'not taking a hiatus' after video says otherwise, but members to focus on solo projects", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/21"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/03/14/grammy-awards-2021-winners-live/6951157002/", "title": "Grammys 2021: Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé all win at awards", "text": "Pop wunderkind Billie Eilish won record of the year for the second time in a row while Taylor Swift and Beyoncé both made history at Sunday's Grammy Awards.\n\nSwift became the first female singer to win album of the year three times – taking this year's honor with \"Folklore\" – and Beyoncé set a new record for most wins by a female artist and most wins by a singer, male or female, at the ceremony hosted by Trevor Noah of \"The Daily Show.\" But it was Eilish who took the night's biggest prize, following up 2020's record of the year win for \"Bad Guy\" with a victory this year for \"Everything I Wanted.\"\n\nEilish, though, just wanted to give the honor to Megan Thee Stallion for \"Savage,\" the Houston rapper's collaboration with Beyoncé. \"This is really embarrassing for me ... you deserve this,\" Eilish told Megan Thee Stallion. \"You had a year that was untoppable. You are a queen. I want to cry thinking about how much I love you. You are so beautiful. You are so talented. You deserve everything in the world.\"\n\nGrammys 2021:Brutally honest reviews of every performance\n\nMore Grammys:Bow down! Beyoncé is now the most-winning female singer – like in history\n\nMegan Thee Stallion still had a great night, becoming the first female rapper to win the prestigious best new artist honor since Lauryn Hill in 1999. \"Savage\" won best rap song and best rap performance, and Beyoncé also took best R&B performance for \"Black Parade\" and best music video for \"Brown Skin Girl.\" With 28 Grammy wins in all, Beyoncé broke a mark set by Alison Krauss.\n\n\"Brown Skin Girl\" also featured Beyonce's 9-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, making her the second-youngest person to win a Grammy. \"I'm so proud of you and I'm so proud to be your mommy,\" Beyonce said.\n\nBritish singer Dua Lipa's \"Future Nostalgia\" was named best pop vocal album. H.E.R. won song of the year for \"I Can't Breathe,\" Miranda Lambert's \"Wildcard\" was named best country album, and Harry Styles wore a lavender feather boa to accept his pop solo performance award for \"Watermelon Sugar.\"\n\nCheck out all the Grammy winners below (in bold) from the pre-show and the televised main event.\n\nMore Grammys:Taylor Swift offers soothing vibes with cozy 'Cardigan' cabin performance\n\nJohn Prine:Folk legend's final song wins two posthumous Grammys\n\nRecord of the year\n\n“Black Parade” — Beyoncé\n\n“Colors” — Black Pumas\n\n“Rockstar” — DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch\n\n“Say So” — Doja Cat\n\nWINNER: “Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish\n\n“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa\n\n“Circles” — Post Malone\n\n“Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé\n\nAlbum of the year\n\n“Chilombo” — Jhené Aiko\n\n“Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition)” — Black Pumas\n\n“Everyday Life” — Coldplay\n\n“Djesse Vol. 3” — Jacob Collier\n\n“Women in Music Pt. III” — Haim\n\n“Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa\n\n“Hollywood’s Bleeding” — Post Malone\n\nWINNER: “Folklore” — Taylor Swift\n\nBest R&B performance\n\n“Lightning & Thunder” — Jhené Aiko featuring John Legend\n\nWINNER: “Black Parade” — Beyoncé\n\n“All I Need” — Jacob Collier featuring Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign\n\n“Goat Head” — Brittany Howard\n\n“See Me” — Emily King\n\nBest pop vocal album\n\n“Changes” — Justin Bieber\n\n“Chromatica” — Lady Gaga\n\nWINNER: “Future Nostalgia” — Dua Lipa\n\n“Fine Line” — Harry Styles\n\n“Folklore” — Taylor Swift\n\nBest rap song\n\n“The Bigger Picture” — Dominique Jones, Noah Pettigrew and Rai'shaun Williams, songwriters (Lil Baby)\n\n“The Box” — Samuel Gloade and Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)\n\n“Laugh Now, Cry Later” — Durk Banks, Rogét Chahayed, Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Ron LaTour and Ryan Martinez, songwriters (Drake featuring Lil Durk)\n\n“Rockstar” — Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Ross Joseph Portaro IV and Rodrick Moore, songwriters (DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch)\n\nWINNER: “Savage” — Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr., Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe and Anthony White, songwriters (Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé)\n\nSong of the year\n\n“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim \"Kaydence\" Krysiuk and Rickie \"Caso\" Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)\n\n“The Box” — Samuel Gloade and Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)\n\n“Cardigan” — Aaron Dessner and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)\n\n“Circles” — Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post and Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)\n\n“Don’t Start Now” — Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa and Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)\n\n“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)\n\nWINNER: “I Can’t Breathe” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)\n\n“If the World Was Ending” — Julia Michaels and JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels)\n\nBest pop solo performance\n\n“Yummy” — Justin Bieber\n\n“Say So” — Doja Cat\n\n“Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish\n\n“Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa\n\nWINNER: “Watermelon Sugar” — Harry Styles\n\n“Cardigan” — Taylor Swift\n\nBest country album\n\n“Lady Like” — Ingrid Andress\n\n“Your Life Is a Record” — Brandy Clark\n\nWINNER: “Wildcard” — Miranda Lambert\n\n“Nightfall” — Little Big Town\n\n“Never Will” — Ashley McBryde\n\nBest new artist\n\nIngrid Andress\n\nPhoebe Bridgers\n\nChika\n\nNoah Cyrus\n\nD Smoke\n\nDoja Cat\n\nKaytranada\n\nWINNER: Megan Thee Stallion\n\nBest pop duo/group performance\n\n“Un Dia (One Day)” — J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy\n\n“Intentions” — Justin Bieber featuring Quavo\n\n“Dynamite” — BTS\n\nWINNER: “Rain on Me” — Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande\n\n“Exile” — Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver\n\nBest country solo performance\n\n“Stick That In Your Country Song” — Eric Church\n\n“Who You Thought I Was” — Brandy Clark\n\nWINNER: “When My Amy Prays” — Vince Gill\n\n“Black Like Me” — Mickey Guyton\n\n“Bluebird” — Miranda Lambert\n\nBest country duo/group performance\n\n“All Night” — Brothers Osborne\n\nWINNER: “10,000 Hours” — Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber\n\n“Ocean” — Lady A\n\n“Sugar Coat” — Little Big Town\n\n“Some People Do” — Old Dominion\n\nBest country song\n\n“Bluebird” — Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby and Miranda Lambert, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)\n\n“The Bones” — Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz, songwriters (Maren Morris)\n\nWINNER: “Crowded Table” — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna, songwriters (The Highwomen)\n\n“More Hearts Than Mine” — Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland, songwriters (Ingrid Andress)\n\n“Some People Do” — Jesse Frasure, Shane McAnally, Matthew Ramsey and Thomas Rhett, songwriters (Old Dominion)\n\nBest rock album\n\n“A Hero’s Death” — Fontaines D.C.\n\n“Kiwanuka” — Michael Kiwanuka\n\n“Daylight” — Grace Potter\n\n“Sound & Fury” — Sturgill Simpson\n\nWINNER: “The New Abnormal” — The Strokes\n\nBest alternative music album\n\nWINNER: “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” — Fiona Apple\n\n“Hyperspace” — Beck\n\n“Punisher” — Phoebe Bridgers\n\n“Jaime” — Brittany Howard\n\n“The Slow Rush” — Tame Impala\n\nBest rock performance\n\nWINNER: “Shameika” — Fiona Apple\n\n“Not” — Big Thief\n\n“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers\n\n“The Steps” — Haim\n\n“Stay High” — Brittany Howard\n\n“Daylight” — Grace Potter\n\nBest metal performance\n\nWINNER: “Bum-Rush” — Body Count\n\n“Underneath” — Code Orange\n\n“The In-between” — In This Moment\n\n“Bloodmoney” — Poppy\n\n“Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe) – Live” — Power Trip\n\nBest rock song\n\n“Kyoto” — Phoebe Bridgers, Morgan Nagler and Marshall Vore, songwriters (Phoebe Bridgers)\n\n“Lost in Yesterday” — Kevin Parker, songwriter (Tame Impala)\n\n“Not” — Adrianne Lenker, songwriter (Big Thief)\n\n“Shameika” — Fiona Apple, songwriter (Fiona Apple)\n\nWINNER: “Stay High” — Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)\n\nBest rap performance\n\n“Deep Reverence” — Big Sean featuring Nipsey Hussle\n\n“Bop” — DaBaby\n\n“What’s Poppin” — Jack Harlow\n\n“The Bigger Picture” — Lil Baby\n\nWINNER: “Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé\n\n“Dior” — Pop Smoke\n\nBest rap album\n\n“Black Habits” — D Smoke\n\n“Alfredo” — Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist\n\n“A Written Testimony” — Jay Electronica\n\nWINNER: “King’s Disease” — Nas\n\n“The Allegory” — Royce Da 5’9\"\n\nBest R&B album\n\n“Happy 2 Be Here” — Ant Clemons\n\n“Take Time” — Giveon\n\n“To Feel Love/d” — Luke James\n\nWINNER: “Bigger Love” — John Legend\n\n“All Rise” — Gregory Porter\n\nBest traditional R&B performance\n\n“Sit On Down” — The Baylor Project featuring Jean Baylor & Marcus Baylor\n\n“Wonder What She Thinks of Me” — Chloe X Halle\n\n“Let Me Go” — Mykal Kilgore\n\nWINNER: “Anything for You” — Ledisi\n\n“Distance” — Yebba\n\nBest R&B song\n\nWINNER: “Better Than I Imagine” — Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello and Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)\n\n“Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim \"Kaydence\" Krysiuk and Rickie \"Caso\" Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)\n\n“Collide” — Sam Barsh, Stacy Barthe, Sonyae Elise, Olu Fann, Akil King, Josh Lopez, Kaveh Rastegar and Benedetto Rotondi, songwriters (Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG)\n\n“Do It” — Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Anton Kuhl, Victoria Monét, Scott Storch and Vincent Van den Ende, songwriters (Chloe X Halle)\n\n“Slow Down” — Nasri Atweh, Badriia Bourelly, Skip Marley, Ryan Williamson and Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Skip Marley & H.E.R.)\n\nBest Latin pop or urban album\n\nWINNER: “YHLQMDLG” — Bad Bunny\n\n“Por Primera Vez” — Camilo\n\n“Mesa Para Dos” — Kany García\n\n“Pausa” — Ricky Martin\n\n“3:33” — Debi Nova\n\nBest Latin rock or alternative album\n\n“Aura” — Bajofondo\n\n“Monstruo” — Cami\n\n“Sobrevolando” — Cultura Profética\n\nWINNER: “La Conquista del Espacio” — Fito Paez\n\n“Miss Colombia” — Lido Pimienta\n\nBest American roots performance\n\n“Colors” — Black Pumas\n\n“Deep In Love” — Bonny Light Horseman\n\n“Short and Sweet” — Brittany Howard\n\n“I’ll be Gone” — Norah Jones and Mavis Staples\n\nWINNER: “I Remember Everything” — John Prine\n\nBest American roots song\n\n“Cabin” — Laura Rogers and Lydia Rogers, songwriters (The Secret Sisters)\n\n“Ceiling to the Floor” — Sierra Hull and Kai Welch, songwriters (Sierra Hull)\n\n“Hometown” — Sarah Jarosz, songwriter (Sarah Jarosz)\n\nWINNER: “I Remember Everything” — Pat McLaughlin and John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)\n\n“Man Without a Soul” — Tom Overby and Lucinda Williams, songwriters (Lucinda Williams)\n\nBest song written for visual media\n\n“Beautiful Ghosts” from “Cats” — Andrew Lloyd Webber and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)\n\n“Carried Me With You” from “Onward” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)\n\n“Into the Unknown” from “Frozen 2” — Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel & AURORA)\n\nWINNER: “No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas Baird O'Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)\n\n“Stand Up” from “Harriet” — Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo, songwriters (Cynthia Erivo)\n\nBest compilation soundtrack for visual media\n\n“A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood”\n\n“Bill & Ted Face the Music”\n\n“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”\n\n“Frozen 2”\n\nWINNER: “Jojo Rabbit”\n\nBest comedy album\n\nWINNER: “Black Mitzvah” — Tiffany Haddish\n\n“I Love Everything” — Patton Oswalt\n\n“The Pale Tourist” — Jim Gaffigan\n\n“Paper Tiger” — Bill Burr\n\n“23 Hours to Kill” — Jerry Seinfeld\n\nBest musical theater album\n\n“Amélie” — Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Caolan McCarthy and Jez Unwin, principal soloists; Michael Fentiman, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Barnaby Race and Nathan Tysen, producers; Nathan Tysen, lyricist; Daniel Messe, composer and lyricist (original London cast)\n\n“American Utopia on Broadway” — David Byrne, principal soloist; David Byrne, producer (David Byrne, composer and lyricist) (original cast)\n\nWINNER: “Jagged Little Pill” — Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding, Lauren Patten and Elizabeth Stanley, principal soloists; Neal Avron, Pete Ganbarg, Tom Kitt, Michael Parker, Craig Rosen and Vivek J. Tiwary, producers (Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette, lyricists) (original Broadway cast)\n\n“Little Shop of Horrors” — Tammy Blanchard, Jonathan Groff and Tom Alan Robbins, principal soloists; Will Van Dyke, Michael Mayer, Alan Menken and Frank Wolf, producers (Alan Menken, composer; Howard Ashman, lyricist) (the new off-Broadway cast)\n\n“The Prince of Egypt” — Christine Allado, Luke Brady, Alexia Khadime and Liam Tamne, principal soloists; Dominick Amendum and Stephen Schwartz, producers; Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist (original cast)\n\n“Soft Power” — Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Alyse Alan Louis and Conrad Ricamora, principal soloists; Matt Stine, producer; David Henry Hwang, lyricist; Jeanine Tesori, composer and lyricist (original cast)\n\nBest spoken word album\n\n“Acid for the Children: A Memoir” — Flea\n\n“Alex Trebek – The Answer Is …” — Ken Jennings\n\nWINNER: “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth” — Rachel Maddow\n\n“Catch and Kill” — Ronan Farrow\n\n“Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)” — Meryl Streep (and full cast)\n\nSee the rest of the winners at grammy.com.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/03/14"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_2", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:38", "search_result": []}
{"question_id": "20230210_3", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:38", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/11/earthquake-rescues-turkey-syria-how-long-can-people-survive/11237289002/", "title": "130+ hours after Turkey, Syria earthquake, rescues continue. How ...", "text": "Six days after an enormous earthquake struck a border region of Turkey and Syria, rescue crews continue to find survivors.\n\nSeveral dramatic rescues occurred Saturday, some broadcast on Turkish television. A family of five were pulled from debris in the hard-hit town of Nurdagi, in the Gaziantep province in the southern part of country, 4 miles from where the 7.8 magnitude quake hit early Monday last week.\n\nLater in the day, a family of three – parents and their 12-year-old child – were saved to the north in central Kahramanmaras. That rescue took place 133 hours after the quake hit.\n\nOn Sunday, a young girl was pulled from the rubble \"in the 150th hour\" in Hatay, Turkey, the country's health minister said on Twitter.\n\nWhile these successful rescues offer a glimmer of hope amid dire conditions, experts have warned that chances of survival for those trapped in earthquake rubble decreases significantly as more time passes. Below-freezing temperatures across the region has further reduced the odds of finding survivors.\n\nTurkey, Syria earthquake left devastation\n\nIn addition to the climbing death toll, tens of thousands of injuries were reported and millions have been left homeless.\n\n\"Apartment buildings houses have been flattened. People are homeless in freezing temperatures with nowhere else to stay,\" Avril Benoît, executive director of Doctors Without Borders USA, said in a video posted on Twitter Friday.\n\nBenoît also added that more relief is needed in northwest Syria. \"We're concerned that there's really been only one access point to bring emergency relief supplies (from Turkey into northwest Syria),\" she said.\n\nAccording to the United Nations, the first earthquake-related aid convoy crossed from Turkey into northwestern Syria on Friday. The region has already suffered greatly from the ongoing civil war – complicating earthquake relief efforts. Many areas of Syria have reportedly been isolated from receiving relief this week.\n\nHere's what you need to know about the urgency of rescue efforts following a disaster like an earthquake and the chances of survival for people who remain trapped.\n\nAerial view of earthquake damage:Aerial images show scale of Turkey's devastation\n\nHow long do rescuers usually have to find survivors after an earthquake or disaster?\n\nAfter a disaster like an earthquake, most rescues occur in the first 24 hours. Survival rates drop significantly after that – especially for individuals who have been severely injured.\n\nChances of survival for people trapped in buildings after earthquakes and/or tsunamis \"decreases dramatically after 5 days and is null after 9 days,\" according to a 2017 study from researchers at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. However, the researchers noted there have been cases where people have survived longer.\n\n\"The survival ratio on average within 24 hours is 74%, after 72 hours it is 22% and by the fifth day it is 6%,\" Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England, told CBS News.\n\nHow long can people survive after a disaster?\n\nThe amount of time people are able to survive after an earthquake varies significantly. For a person who is trapped under rubble following a quake, survival depends largely on their injuries, where and how they are trapped, their age, preexisting health, weather conditions and other factors.\n\nGenerally speaking, people trapped in the rubble of an earthquake can only survive about a week, experts say.\n\n“Typically, it is rare to find survivors after the fifth to seventh days, and most search and rescue teams will consider stopping by then,″ Dr. Jarone Lee, an emergency and disaster medicine expert at Massachusetts General Hospital, told The Associated Press.\n\n“There are many stories of people surviving well past the seven-day mark,\" Lee added. \"Unfortunately, these are usually rare and extraordinary cases.”\n\nWhat's the longest someone has survived after a disaster?\n\nAgain, it is rare to find survivors who have been trapped in earthquake rubble after more than a week, but there are some extraordinary cases.\n\nAfter the 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck the northeastern coast of Japan, for example, a teenager and his 80-year-old grandmother were found alive after nine days trapped in their flattened home. In 2010, a 16-year-old Haitian girl was rescued from earthquake rubble after 15 days in Port-Au-Prince.\n\nSecurity concerns, 'extreme fatigue' impacting rescue efforts\n\nFreezing temperatures and \"extreme fatigue\" are affecting rescue workers, Belit Tasdemir, the AKUT Search and Rescue Association's U.N. liaison officer told CNN.\n\nBut some international relief efforts have also cited security concerns in southern Turkey because of clashes between local groups and looting.\n\nAs a result, the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief stopped its rescue and relief work in the Hatay region and “will resume their work as soon as (Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, AFAD) deems the situation to be safe,” the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief said Saturday, according to CNN.\n\nThe Austrian Armed Forces also halted its rescue efforts because of \"increasing aggression between factions in Turkey,\" Lt. Colonel Pierre Kugelweis of the Austrian Armed Forces told the BBC. \"The chances of saving a life bears no reasonable relation to the safety risk.\"\n\nContributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/11"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/14/turkey-syria-earthquake-updates-death-toll/11253616002/", "title": "Turkey earthquake updates: Desperation as rescue efforts continue", "text": "Desperation and loss were growing Tuesday as frantic rescue workers continue their increasingly futile efforts to recover survivors trapped by the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria.\n\nTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll in Turkey from last week’s earthquake increased to 35,418; Syrian officials have said at least 5,800 have died there.\n\nRescue worker Salam Aldeen spent a week digging through the rubble in Antakya, Turkey, about 40 miles south of the coastal city of Iskenderun in a region of about 500,000 people.\n\nSpeaking with USA TODAY from a car leaving the city after a week of rescues, Aldeen said international aid groups are helping desperate Turkish rescue teams working around the clock.\n\n\"I have never seen so much death and so many dead bodies in my entire life,\" he said, crying as he spoke. \"The conditions are like in an Armageddon movie; it’s unbelievable. The whole city smells of dead people.\"\n\nHe said he helped free four people, including a boy found alive Monday, and recovered 35 bodies.\n\nIn a video he shared, red-helmeted fire department workers carefully clear rubble from around the boy, one worker cradling his hand between the metal reinforcing bars embedded in the concrete surrounding him.\n\nAldeen, the founder of Team Humanity, is a veteran aid and rescue worker who has operated in Greece, Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6.\n\nHOW TO HELP:Relief efforts ongoing after deadliest earthquake in years\n\nNew developments:\n\nThe impact area of the earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and Syria on Monday was equivalent to about twice the entire area of neighboring Lebanon – which covers about 4,000 square miles, according to Lebanese geologist Tony Nemer.\n\nKing Charles met with members of the Syrian and Turkish communities in London, a show of support as they packed aid boxes bound for the earthquake region.\n\nTurkish authorities said more than 150,000 survivors have been moved to shelters outside the affected provinces.\n\n100 YEARS OF EARTHQUAKES:Turkey, Syria disaster could be among this century's worst\n\nRemains of infants, children add to rescue workers' pain\n\nAldeen recounted finding a dead man trapped beneath rubble, his body cradling a blanket-swaddled infant who also died. In another instance, he said, a woman escaped out a door when a collapse began but lost her husband and two children.\n\n\"Her husband, he was holding each child in a hand. When I found them, when I saw the first body, I was begging that it was not them, that I would find them alive,\" Aldeen said, describing how he clambered through the rubble. \"He died while he was still holding his children, a child in each hand.\"\n\nAldeen said he and his friends worked nearly 24 hours straight to extricate the bodies, and then he built a fire to keep warm. He and his team lived on crackers and bread for a week, he said, taking occasional naps in their rental car.\n\n\"I was watching the bodies in front of me by the fire and I just started crying,\" he said. \"There are bodies everywhere you walk. And they're just on the street, bodies.\"\n\nTURKEY ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS:Building contractors probed after thousands of buildings toppled\n\nUN: Nearly 9 million Syrians affected by deadly earthquake\n\nNearly nine million people in Syria have been affected by last week's deadly earthquake, according to the United Nations.\n\nAs the organization launched a funding appeal on Tuesday, it said humanitarian agencies will need almost $400 million to respond to \"the most pressing humanitarian needs\" over the next three months.\n\n\"This is a crisis of colossal proportions, one which will be a true litmus test for global generosity, solidarity and diplomacy,\" said Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, after visiting Syria and Turkey.\n\nThe funding will be needed to provide shelter, health care, food, water, sanitation, education, nutrition and protection services, the UN said. It also added that funds will be used to repair basic services such as lighting, water and sanitation, agriculture and education as well as create new supply chains.\n\nThe UN also hopes the funds will create jobs for residents who want to help move debris.\n\nGriffiths also tweeted Tuesday that 11 UN trucks have just gone through the newly opened Syria-Turkey border crossing of Bab al-Salam. The organization said the vehicles are carrying blankets, gas cans and mattresses.\n\nThe UN also said 58 trucks crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria through the Bab al Hawa crossing point in the last five days carrying aid ranging from food and tents to cholera testing kits.\n\nRescuers still hear voices underneath the rubble\n\nMore than a week later, search teams say they are still hearing voices from under the rubble, offering some hope that more earthquake victims may be alive.\n\nSeveral people were pulled from the debris in Southern Turkey Tuesday, CNN reported.\n\nAmong those rescued was a 35-year-old woman who was believed to have been buried for more than 200 hours in the Kahramanmaraş region, citing state broadcaster TRT Haber. It is also believed that the woman's husband was also pulled from the rubble, the networks reported.\n\nAlso two brothers, a 21-year-old and a 17-year-old, were pulled from collapsed buildings on Tuesday, the Turkish state broadcaster said.\n\nAnd in the city of Adıyaman, workers pulled an 18-year-old boy and a man alive from the rubble, while Ukraine’s rescue team rescued pulled a woman in the southern province of Hatay, according to CNN's Turkish affiliate.\n\nMore than 8,000 people have been rescued alive from rubble in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, Al Jazeera reported.\n\nGeologist warns that Turkey could see another quake soon\n\nTony Nemer, a geologist at Beirut American University in the Lebanese capital, told Anadolu news agency that the fault line that broke in Turkey is more than 200 miles long. But Nemer said that only part of the East Anatolian fault line was broken in the recent earthquake. Almost half the fault line saw no activity, he said.\n\n\"Now authorities in Turkey need to pay attention to the ... the eastern part of the fault line,\" Nemers said. \"It’s unpredictable when there will be activity in this part. It may be right now, in a short time, or in a few years.\"\n\nMIRACLE RESCUES:Some survived a week under rubble; Assad to allow more aid into rebel land; death toll surpasses 36,000: Updates", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/10/turkey-earthquake-updates-rescues-syria/11227413002/", "title": "Turkey, Syria earthquake updates: Dramatic rescues of 10-day-old ...", "text": "A series of dramatic rescues Friday brought rare moments of relief amid the devastation left by the catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 23,000.\n\nMeanwhile, the death toll continued to rise as Turkey’s disaster management agency said Friday more than 19,300 people had been confirmed dead with more than 77,000 injured. More than 3,300 have been confirmed dead in Syria.\n\nRescuers searched mountains of rubble for a fifth day as hopes of finding survivors faded. Experts say people trapped under rubble can live for a week or more, but freezing temperatures dim the chances.\n\nStill, emergency crews Friday rescued several people trapped under crushed buildings for nearly 100 hours or more.\n\nAdnan Muhammed Korkut, 17, was pulled from a basement in western Turkey’s Gaziantep Province. While trapped for 94 hours, Korkut was forced to drink his own urine to survive. Relatives wept as he was rescued, and he embraced his mother and others as he was taken to an ambulance.\n\nIn Adıyaman, a city in southeastern Turkey, a 4-year-old was given a jelly bean to calm him as he was rescued from the remnants his home 105 hours after the earthquake struck. Six people in a high-rise in the coastal city of Iskenderun were rescued after crews identified nine people trapped in the debris. And in hard-hit Kahramanmaras, an emergency worker played a pop song to distract to teenage sisters as they were rescued.\n\nWhile touring Adıyaman on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said search-and-rescue efforts would continue until no one is left trapped under the rubble. He also renewed promises to rebuild buildings within a year and said the government would subsidize people's rents for one year.\n\nPREVIOUS UPDATES:Turkey evacuates thousands; UN aid reaches Syria\n\nDevelopments:\n\n►The bodies of about 720 Syrians who died in Turkey were brought home for burial through a border crossing, Mazen Alloush, an official on the Syrian side of the border, said Friday.\n\n►The United Nation's World Food Program announced Friday it has appealed for $77 million to provide food rations and hot meals for 874,000 people affected by the deadly earthquake in Syria and Turkey.\n\n►State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed Thursday the deaths of three American citizens in the earthquake. Price could not say if the Americans were killed in Turkey or Syria.\n\n►The U.S. pledged to provide $85 million in initial aid. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department said Thursday it would lift sanctions on Syria for six months to allow aid to reach the war-torn nation.\n\n►As of Thursday afternoon, 95 countries have offered help, and 6,479 rescuers from 56 countries are working in areas affected by the earthquake, Turkey's foreign ministry said.\n\nHOW TO HELP:Relief efforts ongoing after deadliest earthquake in years\n\n10-day-old baby rescued in Turkey\n\nYağız Ulaş and his mother were rescued 90 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria.\n\nHe was 10 days old at the time of his rescue — 90 hours after the quake, according to the mayor of Istanbul.\n\n— Marina Pitofsky\n\nMore details:10-day-old baby boy, mother rescued from rubble\n\nThree pulled from rubble alive in Syria\n\nParamedics successfully extracted three family members from the ruins of a building in coastal Jablah, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.\n\nA 60-year-old mother and her two adult children were rushed away in ambulances late Friday, five days after the earthquake.\n\nChances of finding survivors are narrowing, although experts say people can live for a week or more. The rescues Friday provided reasons for joy amid the misery gripping the region. Cemeteries and morgues were overwhelmed as the death toll continued to climb.\n\nDeath on an unimaginable scale\n\nWith morgues and cemeteries overwhelmed, bodies were wrapped in blankets and tarps along city streets as Turkey grappled with a death toll of unimaginable scale.\n\nA sports hall in the hard-hit city of Kahramanmaras was turned into a makeshift morgue where family members gathered to identify the bodies of loved ones. One man wept over a black body bag.\n\n\"I’m 70 years old,\" he cried, \"God should have taken me, not my son.\"\n\nDEATH TOLL RISES:Some areas will be 'uninhabitable for years'\n\nSyrian president accuses Western countries of politicizing crisis\n\nSyrian President Bashar Assad accused Western countries of politicizing the crisis in the country, during his first public appearance Friday in a disaster area since the earthquake.\n\n\"The West has no humanitarianism, therefore politicizing the situation in Syria is something they would naturally do,\" Assad said during a trip to visit survivors in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city.\n\nAleppo was among the worst-hit Syrian cities, and had already suffered damage from years of heavy bombardment during the country's civil war.\n\nMeanwhile, the Syrian government announced Friday it will allow earthquake aid to all parts of the country, including areas held by insurgent groups in the northwest.\n\nThe first U.N. aid trucks reached northwestern Syria, a spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press on Friday. The delay underscored the difficulties getting help to the region. The U.N. drew criticism from local crews for not working harder to deliver aid more quickly.\n\nWinter weather and damage to roads and airports also have hampered aid to both Turkey and Syria.\n\nTURKEY EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE:Photos capture devastating aftermath\n\nMillions of Syrians left homeless\n\nAs many as 5.3 million people may have been left homeless in Syria as authorities in both countries rush to distribute hot meals, tents and blankets, struggling to reach many people in need amid freezing temperatures, the U.N. refugee agency said.\n\nThe destruction of homes in Syria exacerbates displacement in the country after 6.8 million people had already been displaced after war broke out in 2011, driving Syrians from their homes.\n\nBuilding codes partially blamed for devastation\n\nExperts are pointing to poor construction and ignored building codes for exacerbating the devastation.\n\nTurkey has for years not enforced modern construction codes, including earthquake-engineering standards, amid real estate booms in earthquake-prone areas, engineers have said. They say the problem was largely ignored because addressing it would be expensive and hinder economic growth.\n\n\"This is a disaster caused by shoddy construction,\" said David Alexander, a professor of emergency planning at University College London.\n\nWHY IS TURKEY A HOTSPOT FOR EARTHQUAKES?:Deadly earthquakes have hit Turkey before\n\nEyup Muhcu, president of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, said many buildings that crumbled in the earthquake were built with inferior materials and methods, often not complying with construction standards.\n\n\"The building stock in the area was weak and not sturdy, despite the reality of earthquakes,\" Muhcu said.\n\nTurkish president admits to slow government response\n\nGovernment response to earthquakes in the country's southern regions was not as fast as authorities wanted, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, according to Al Jazeera.\n\n\"So many buildings were damaged that unfortunately, we were not able to speed up our interventions as quickly as we had desired,\" Erdogan said while visiting the hard-hit southern city of Adiyaman.\n\nThe day before, Erdogan conceded there were \"shortcomings\" in government disaster response, Al Jazeera reported.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press\n\nContact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/10"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/07/turkey-syria-earthquake-death-toll-updates/11201023002/", "title": "Turkey, Syria earthquake updates: Death toll rises; search continues", "text": "The death toll surpassed 11,000 people across Turkey and Syria early Wednesday as the frantic search for survivors from two powerful earthquakes and a series of violent aftershocks continued.\n\nThe temblors on Monday toppled more than 6,000 buildings. In Turkey alone, more than 24,000 rescue workers from around the world were picking through mammoth heaps of debris seeking signs of life in a battle against time and pulling 8,000-plus people out of the rubble.\n\nAmid the overwhelming suffering and destruction there were moments of joy, such as the rescue of several survivors under rubble for more than a day in the hard-hit Hatay province of Turkey, and the discovery of a newborn clinging to life while still attached to his dead mother's umbilical cord in northwest Syria.\n\nBut there was also a lot of despair and frustration that rescues are taking so long.\n\n“It’s like we woke up to hell,” said Osman Can Taninmis, whose family members were still buried in debris in Hatay. “Help isn’t coming, can’t come. We can’t reach anyone at all. Everywhere is destroyed.”\n\nTurkey’s emergency management agency said the country's death count has surpassed 5,400, with about 31,000 injured. An estimated 380,000 survivors have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels.\n\n\"We are facing one of the biggest disasters not only of the history of the Turkish Republic but also of ... the world,\" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.\n\nQUAKE DAMAGE:Photos capture devastating aftermath of powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake\n\nHOW YOU CAN HELP: These groups are taking donations\n\nDevelopments:\n\n►Adelheid Marschang, a senior emergencies officer with the World Health Organization, said up to 23 million people could be affected in the entire area hit by the earthquake, calling it a “crisis on top of multiple crises.”\n\n►Turkish Airlines said it shuttled 80 flights with almost 12,000 volunteers into the earthquake zone in southern Turkey on Tuesday. CEO Bilal Eksi said the flights would continue as long as necessary.\n\n►The Palestinian Authority says 57 Palestinian refugees have died in the earthquake, 43 in Syria and 14 in Turkey.\n\n►More than a dozen people in Turkey faced investigation for alleged “provocative” earthquake social media postings authorities said tried to foment “fear and panic,” local news media reported.\n\n►Christian Atsu, a former striker with Chelsea and Newcastle in the British Premier League, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building and being treated, the Ghana Football Association tweeted. Atsu, 31, signed with a Turkish team last year.\n\nBaby rescued after being born under rubble\n\nResidents digging through a collapsed building in northwest Syria discovered a crying baby whose mother appeared to have given birth while buried beneath the rubble, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday. The newborn girl’s umbilical cord was still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who died in the collapse, they said.\n\nThe baby was the only member of her immediate family to survive in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleiman, a relative, told The Associated Press.\n\nThe newborn, her umbilical cord still dangling after a neighbor cut it, was rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of Afrin and kept in an incubator. She had a large bruise on her back but was in stable condition, said Dr. Hani Maarouf, who was treating her.\n\nMaarouf estimated the baby was born several hours before being found, given how much her temperature had dropped. “Had the girl been left for an hour more, she would have died,” he said.\n\nAlso in Jinderis, a toddler girl was found alive buried in concrete under the wreckage of her home.\n\nCalifornia quakes not unlike those in Turkey\n\nCalifornia and Turkey are not drastically different when it comes to earthquakes, except they should be more frequent in California, said Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at the risk management firm Moody’s RMS. Earthquakes in Turkey are big, principally \"strike-slip and on a broad plate boundary,” he said. Faults that move horizontally are known as strike-slip faults.\n\nEarthquake residential insurance penetration in Turkey is higher than in California, but building code compliance is much better in California, Muir-Wood said.\n\n\"Such earthquakes should be at least twice as common in California,\" he said.\n\nDavid Oglesby, a seismologist and professor of geophysics at the University of California-Riverside, pointed out the notorious San Andreas fault that crosses most of the state from north to south is also of the strike-slip variety.\n\nOglesby said buildings collapsing in a major earthquake are less of a danger in California than objects falling on people. He cited a 2008 study by the U.S. Geological Survey that estimated a magnitude 7.8 earthquake like Monday's would cause more than 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damage if it struck in Southern California.\n\n\"Downtown Los Angeles is built on a basin filled with soft sediment that would act like a bowl full of Jell-O in a big earthquake,'' Oglesby said. \"It’s not a matter of if but when a quake of roughly this size hits Southern California. People need to take precautions and be prepared.''\n\n30 hours after collapse, survivors freed from rubble\n\nIn Turkey's southernmost Hatay province, the Daily Sabah reported that a 16-year-old girl was rescued after being trapped under the debris of a five-story building for nearly 22 hours. Five more survivors were found in the downtown Antakya district nearly 30 hours after the quake. Rescue teams also dug out four other people in two separate piles of wreckage nearby. A few hours later, teams extricated a mother and her two daughters alive from under a building.\n\nCrews also rescued a child and his big sister. Rescuers said they heard their cries of “I’m scared, I can’t get out” as workers rushed to free them.\n\nHealth Minister Fahrettin Koca said more than 1,600 people were killed in Hatay, the most of any of the 10 affected provinces and 30% of the Turkish total so far. Koca said more than 1,800 have been rescued but efforts to come to the victims' aid have been complicated by the airport closing after its runway was destroyed.\n\nIn Syria, no end in sight to suffering\n\nIn northwest Syria, the quake leveled towns in a region already under siege. Millions of people have been displaced by a civil war that has dragged on for more than a decade.\n\nThe death toll in Syria has exceeded 1,800 -- about 1,000 of them in the war-torn northwest region held by the opposition -- and the number was expected to rise. International sanctions have made rebuilding difficult amid the fighting, and the task just became more daunting.\n\nThe United Nations released $25 million from its emergency fund as part of the humanitarian response for both countries but faces large obstacles reaching those affected in northwest Syria.\n\nFor one, the road leading to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey -- the only one allowed for U.N. aid -- was damaged by the quake, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. In addition, the Hatay airport in southern Turkey is closed because of runway damage. Dujarric said the U.N. was preparing a convoy to cross the conflict lines within Syria.\n\nAnd the conflict between the rebels and Bashar Assad's government in Damascus further complicates sending assistance, said Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.\n\n“It is extremely logistically and administratively difficult to get the approvals (from Damascus),” she said. Coordination of aid is also hampered “because the government of Syria doesn’t recognize the non-governmental organizations working in northwest Syria.”\n\nElectric, natural gas infrastructure severely damaged\n\nTurkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said the quakes severely damaged electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution lines. State pipeline operator BOTAŞ and major power supplier Enerjisa said they were examining and repairing damage around the clock “under very difficult weather and terrain conditions.”\n\nSome repair work has been completed, yet some regions were not supplied with power for safety reasons, Engerjis said.\n\nTurkey declares 3-month state of emergency\n\nErdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 southern provinces. Flags were lowered to half-staff as the country observes seven days of national mourning. He said 13 million of the country’s 85 million people were affected in some way by the disaster.\n\n\"Our biggest relief is that over 8,000 of our citizens have been rescued from the rubble so far,\" Erdogan said.\n\nChildren among the most vulnerable\n\nUNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, said its immediate focus is on ensuring children and families have access to safe drinking water and sanitation services, reuniting kids with families, providing \"psychological first aid\" and getting schools, now many of them being used for temporary housing, reopened. Displaced families in northwest Syria and Syrian refugee families living in Turkey in informal settlements are among the most vulnerable, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said.\n\n\"Communities are grappling with an ongoing cholera outbreak and heavy rain and snow,\" Elder said. \"In this context, and one of more than a decade of conflict, this earthquake is utterly unbearable.\"\n\nWintry weather impedes search for the living\n\nAttempts to reach survivors were hindered by temperatures near freezing and close to 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous.\n\nNurgul Atay told The Associated Press she could hear her mother’s voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, but efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any rescue crews and heavy equipment to help.\n\n“If only we could lift the concrete slab we’d be able to reach her,” Atay said. “My mother is 70 years old; she won’t be able to withstand this for long.”\n\nThe relief operation often struggled to reach devastated towns, and voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.\n\n“We could hear their voices, they were calling for help,” said Ali Silo, whose two relatives could not be saved in the Turkish town of Nurdag.\n\nPREVIOUSLY:Frantic search for survivors after massive earthquake rocks Turkey, Syria; Over 5,000 dead\n\nThousands left homeless\n\nIn Turkey’s Hatay province, thousands of people sheltered in sports centers or fair halls, while others spent the night outside, huddled in blankets around fires. In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, a provincial capital about 20 miles southeast of the epicenter, people took refuge in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centers.\n\nOn the Syrian side, the affected area is divided between government-controlled territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Strained medical centers overflowed with the wounded, rescue workers said. Some buildings remained standing but were no longer structurally sound and had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the Syrian American Medical Society.\n\n\"We’ve been receiving victims of the quake as they come in, all while simultaneously working to guarantee the well-being of our over 1,700 staff members in Syria, and the 90 at the epicenter near Gaziantep,” said Dr. Amjad Rass, the SAMS president.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/11/turkey-syria-earthquake-survivors-still-being-rescued/11236294002/", "title": "Turkey, Syria earthquake survivors still being rescued", "text": "Justin Spike, Abdelrahman Shaheen and Suzan Fraser\n\nThe Associated Press\n\nANTAKYA, Turkey — Rescue crews on Saturday pulled more survivors, including entire families, from toppled buildings despite diminishing hopes as the death toll of the enormous quake that struck a border region of Turkey and Syria five days ago surpassed 25,000.\n\nDramatic rescues were being broadcast on Turkish television, including the rescue of the Narli family in central Kahramanmaras 133 hours after the 7.8-magnitude temblor struck Monday. First, 12-year-old Nehir Naz Narli was saved, then both of her parents.\n\nThat followed the rescue earlier in the day of a family of five from a mound of debris in the hard-hit town of Nurdagi, in Gaziantep province, TV network HaberTurk reported. Rescuers cheered and chanted, \"God is Great!\" as the last family member, the father, was lifted to safety.\n\nEXPLAINED:130+ hours after Turkey, Syria earthquake, rescues continue. How long can people survive after a disaster?\n\nTurkish President Recep Tayypi Erdogan, on a tour of quake-stricken cities, raised the death toll in Turkey to 21,848, which pushed the total number of dead across the region, including government and rebel-held parts of Syria, to 25,401.\n\nErdogan said a disaster of this scope is rare, affecting an area so large that is home to so many people. He referred to it as the \"disaster of the century\" and said it had affected an area 310 miles in diameter that is home to 13.5 million people in Turkey and an unknown number in Syria.\n\n\"In some parts of our settlements close to the fault line, we can say that almost no stone was left standing,'' he said earlier Saturday from Diyarbakir.\n\nStill, the day brought one astonishing rescue after another, numbering more than a dozen.\n\n100 YEARS OF EARTHQUAKES:Turkey, Syria disaster could be among this century's worst\n\nChildren among rescued survivors\n\nMelisa Ulku, a woman in her 20s, was extricated from the rubble in Elbistan in the 132th hour since the quake, following the rescue of another person at the same site in the same hour. Ahead of her rescue, police announced that people shouldn't cheer or clap in order to not interfere with other rescue efforts nearby. She was covered in a thermal blanket on a stretcher. Rescuers were hugging. Some shouted \"God is great!\"\n\nJust an hour earlier, a 3-year-old girl and her father were pulled from debris in the town of Islahiye, also in Gaziantep province, and soon after a 7-year-old girl was rescued in the province of Hatay.\n\nThe rescues brought shimmers of joy amid overwhelming devastation days after Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake and a powerful aftershock hours later caused thousands of buildings to collapse, killing nearly 26,000, injuring another 80,000 and leaving millions homeless.\n\nNot everything ended so well. Rescuers reached a 13-year-old girl inside the debris of a collapsed building in Hatay province early Saturday and intubated her. But she died before the medical teams could amputate a limb and free her from the rubble, Hurriyet newspaper reported.\n\nEven though experts say trapped people can live for a week or more, the odds of finding more survivors were quickly waning amid freezing temperatures. Rescuers were shifting to thermal cameras to help identify life amid the rubble, a sign that any remaining survivors could be too weak to call for help.\n\nHOW TO HELP:Relief efforts ongoing after deadliest earthquake in years\n\nInjured treated in field hospital\n\nAs aid continued to arrive, a 99-member group from the Indian Army's medical assistance team began treating the injured in a temporary field hospital in the southern city of Iskenderun, where a main hospital was demolished.\n\nOne man, Sukru Canbulat, was wheeled into the hospital in a wheelchair, his left leg badly injured with deep bruising, contusions and lacerations.\n\nWincing in pain, he said he had been rescued from his collapsed apartment building in the nearby city of Antakya within hours of the quake on Monday. But after receiving basic first aid, he was released without getting proper treatment for his injuries.\n\n\"I buried (everyone that I lost), then I came here,'' Canbulat said, counting his dead relatives: \"My daughter is dead, my sibling died, my aunt and her daughter died, and the wife of her son\" who was 8 ½ months pregnant.\n\nBABY BORN AMID RUBBLE:Newborn baby saved following birth under Syrian earthquake rubble, family says\n\nMass burials begin\n\nA large makeshift graveyard was under construction on the outskirts of Antakya on Saturday. Backhoes and bulldozers dug pits in the field on the northeastern edge of the city as trucks and ambulances loaded with black body bags arrived continuously.\n\nSoldiers directing traffic on the busy adjacent road warned motorists not to take photographs.\n\nThe hundreds of graves, spaced no more than 3 feet apart, were marked with simple wooden planks set vertically in the ground.\n\nA worker with Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs who did not wish to be identified because of orders not to share information with the media said that around 800 bodies were brought the cemetery on Friday, its first day of operation. By midday on Saturday, he said, as many as 2,000 had been buried.\n\n\"People who are coming out from the rubble now, it's a miracle if they survive. Most of the people that come out now are dead, and they come here,\" he said.\n\nTemperatures remained below freezing across the large region, and many people have no shelter. The Turkish government has distributed millions of hot meals, as well as tents and blankets, but is still struggling to reach many people in need.\n\nOVER 25,000 DEAD:Death toll in Turkey, Syria among worst in history, surpassing 2011 Japan disaster\n\nParts of Syria isolated from aid\n\nThe disaster compounded suffering in a region beset by Syria's 12-year civil war, which has displaced millions of people within the country and left them dependent on aid. The fighting sent millions more to seek refuge in Turkey.\n\nThe conflict has isolated many areas of Syria and complicated efforts to get aid in. The United Nations said the first earthquake-related aid convoy crossed from Turkey into northwestern Syria on Friday, the day after an aid shipment planned before the disaster arrived.\n\nThe U.N. refugee agency estimated that as many as 5.3 million people have been left homeless in Syria.\n\nPresident Bashar Assad and his wife have visited injured quake victims in a hospital in the coastal city of Latakia, a base of support for the Syrian leader.\n\nSyrian state TV said Assad and his wife Asma on Saturday morning visited Duha Nurallah, 60, and her son Ibrahim Zakariya, 22, who were pulled out of rubble the night before in the nearby coastal town of Jableh.\n\nThe head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, bringing with him 35 tons of medical equipment, state news agency SANA reported. He said another plane carrying an additional 30 tons of medical equipment will arrive in the coming days.\n\nThe opposition Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said Saturday that it \"is almost impossible to find people alive.\"\n\nThe total death toll in Syria's northwestern rebel-held region has reached 2,166 many of them women and children. The total dead in Syria was 3,553, while in Turkey, officials counted 21,043 dead through Saturday.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/11"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/22/asia/afghanistan-khost-earthquake-intl-hnk/index.html", "title": "Afghanistan earthquake: More than 1,000 people killed after ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAfghanistan was rocked by its deadliest earthquake in decades on Wednesday when a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the country’s east, killing more than 1,000 people and wounding many more, according to a regional official.\n\nThe humanitarian disaster comes at a difficult time for the Taliban-ruled country, currently in the throes of hunger and economic crises.\n\nThe shocks hit at 1:24 a.m. local time on Wednesday (4:54 p.m. ET on Tuesday) around 46 kilometers (28.5 miles) southwest of the city of Khost, which lies close to the country’s border with Pakistan, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).\n\nA man sits on the debris of a building after an earthquake in Paktika , Afghanistan on June 22. The magnitude 5.9 quake struck during the early hours of Wednesday near the city of Khost and the death toll has risen to over 1000 people. Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Men stand around the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP An Afghan man looks for his belongings amid the ruins of a house damaged by an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images A man carries supplies in an area affected by the earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ali Khara/Reuters A child stands besides a house damaged by an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images Afghan people set up tents as a temporary shelters amid the ruins of houses damaged in the earthquake in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images Afghan men search for survivors amidst the debris of a house that was destroyed by an earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ali Khara/Reuters A Taliban fighter stands guard next to a helicopter in Gayan, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ali Khara/Reuters An Afghan man stands besides a door of a house damaged by an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images Members of a Taliban rescue team return from affected villages following an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images A man stands near debris of a building after the quake shakes border provinces of Paktika, Afghanistan on June 23. Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A Taliban military helicopter flies over an earthquake-damaged area in the Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images Children sit near their home that has been destroyed in an earthquake in the Spera District of southwest of the city of Khost, Afghanistan, on June 22. AP People help in search and rescue operations amid the debris of a building after the earthquake in Afghanistan on June 22. Sardar Shafaq/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A villager collects his belongings from under the rubble of his home that was destroyed in the earthquake in Afghanistan on June 22. AP An injured victim of the earthquake receives treatment at a hospital in Paktia, Afghanistan, on June 22. Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Afghans evacuate wounded people in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan, on June 22. AP Search and rescue operations continue after the earthquake on June 22. Sayed Khodaberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Taliban guards outside the district hospital where victims of the earthquake were brought in Paktia, Afghanistan, on June 22. Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock An old man sits near his house that was destroyed in the earthquake on June 22. AP An ambulance assists earthquake victims on June 22. Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock People queue up in a line to donate blood for the earthquake victims being treated at a hospital in Paktika, Afghanistan, on June 22. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images A girl stands near a house that was damaged by the earthquake on June 22. AP People sit outside a tent after their house was damaged in the earthquake on June 22. AP In photos: Deadly earthquake hits Afghanistan Prev Next\n\nThe quake registered at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to USGS, which designated it at yellow alert level – indicating a relatively localized impact.\n\nMost of the deaths were in Paktika province, in the districts of Giyan, Nika, Barmal and Zirok, according to the State Ministry for Disaster Management.\n\nThe death toll stands at more than 1,000 and at least 1,500 people have been injured “in Gayan and Barmal districts of Paktika province alone,” Mohammad Amin Hozaifa, head of Paktika province’s information and culture department, told CNN in a phone call Wednesday.\n\nThe official expects the number of casualties to rise as search and effort missions continue.\n\nIn this photo released by state-run news agency Bakhtar, Afghans evacuate the wounded following the quake in Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan. AP\n\nIn neighboring Khost province, 25 people were killed and several others were injured, and five people were killed in Nangarhar province, the disaster management authority said.\n\nPhotos from Paktika province, just south of Khost province, show houses turned to rubble with only a wall or two still standing amid the rubble, and broken roof beams.\n\nNajibullah Sadid, an Afghan water resources management expert, said the earthquake had coincided with heavy monsoon rain in the region – making traditional houses, many made of mud and other natural materials, particularly vulnerable to damage.\n\n“The timing of the earthquake (in the) dark of night … and the shallow depth of 10 kilometers of its epicenter led to higher casualties,” he added.\n\nA team of medics and seven helicopters have been sent to the area to transport injured people to nearby hospitals, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense said in a tweet on Wednesday.\n\nThis comes as almost half the country’s population – 20 million people – are experiencing acute hunger, according to a United Nations-backed report in May. It is a situation compounded by the Taliban seizing power in August 2021, which led the United States and its allies freezing about $7 billion of the country’s foreign reserves and cutting off international funding.\n\nThe situation has crippled an economy already heavily dependent on aid. Following the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, its economy has gone into freefall with the World Bank forecasting in April that a “combination of declining incomes and increasing prices has driven a severe deterioration in household living standards.”\n\nMany of the areas' traditional houses are made of mud and other natural materials, making them vulnerable to damage. Abdul Wahid Rayan\n\nThe earthquake hit at 1.24 a.m. about 46 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost. Pajhwok Afghan News\n\nThe Taliban held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to organize providing transportation to the injured and material aid to the victims and their families, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said.\n\nPrime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund called the meeting at the country’s Presidential Palace to instruct all relevant agencies to send emergency relief teams to the affected area, Mujahid said in a tweet.\n\n“Measures were also taken to provide cash assistance and treatment,” Mujahid said and added that agencies were “instructed to use air and land transport for the delivery of food, clothing, medicine and other necessities and for the transportation of the wounded.”\n\nAfghanistan’s Deputy Minister of State for Disaster Management, Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, said Wednesday that “the Islamic Emirate will pay 100,000 AFN ($1,116.19) for the families of those who were killed in the earthquake and 50,000 ($558.10) will be paid to families of those injured.”\n\nThe government also highlighted the need for foreign aid.\n\n“Islamic Republic of Afghanistan calls for the generous support of all countries international organizations individuals and foundations to provide and deliver urgent humanitarian aid,” a press statement from the country’s diplomatic missions read.\n\nIn a tweet on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said its teams were on the ground for emergency response, including providing medicine, trauma services and conducting needs assessments.\n\nBut a WHO official told CNN’s Eleni Giokos that logistics were stretched. “All of the resources have been mobilized, not just from the nearby provinces but also from Kabul including medical supplies, medics, nurses, health workers, ambulances and emergency officers who are trained in dealing with such situations,” said Alaa AbouZeid, emergencies team lead and incident manager at WHO’s Afghanistan office.\n\n“The situation is still evolving, and we are pushing more resources as the situation needs,” he said. “The resources are overstretched here, not just for this region, but we are expecting the situation to evolve in the coming hours.”\n\nAccording to to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), heavy rain and wind is “hampering efforts with helicopters reportedly unable to land this afternoon.”\n\n“Immediate needs identified include emergency trauma care, emergency shelter and non-food items, food assistance and WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene] support,” said the UNOCHA in a statement published Wednesday.\n\nAfghan Red Crescent Society volunteers help people affected by the eartquake in Giyan district. Abdul Wahid Rayan/Twitter\n\nPakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended his condolences and an offer of support in a tweet on Wednesday. “Deeply grieved to learn about the earthquake in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of innocent lives,” he wrote. “People in Pakistan share the grief and sorrow of their Afghan brethren. Relevant authorities are working to support Afghanistan in this time of need.”\n\nIndia expressed “sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families,” according to a tweet by the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday.\n\nPope Francis said he was praying “for those who have lost their lives and for their families,” during his weekly audience on Wednesday. “I hope aid can be sent there to help all the suffering of the dear people of Afghanistan.”\n\nAfghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which happen in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders with Pakistan.\n\nIn 2015, a quake that shook parts of South Asia killed more than 300 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.\n\nMore than 1,000 people died in 2002 after two earthquakes in the Nahrin region of northwestern Afghanistan. A powerful earthquake struck the same region in the 1998, killing about 4,700 people, according to records from National Centers for Environmental Information.", "authors": ["Masoud Popalzai Jessie Yeung Ehsan Popalzai Tara John", "Masoud Popalzai", "Jessie Yeung", "Ehsan Popalzai", "Tara John"], "publish_date": "2022/06/22"}, {"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/959594/turkey-syria-earthquake-rescue-pictures", "title": "Turkey-Syria earthquake - in pictures | The Week UK", "text": "Survivors continue to be pulled from the rubble across southern Turkey and northern Syria after Monday’s earthquakes and aftershocks.\n\nThe “frantic rescue effort” continued through the night and into a third day following “one of the region’s worst disasters in decades”, said the Financial Times (FT).\n\nThe death toll has risen to more than 11,000 and is expected to increase significantly as more victims are found.\n\n“More than 10,000 people are involved in rescue operations,” said the FT, “but freezing weather conditions, snow and damaged infrastructure have made it challenging to transport heavy machinery, personnel and aid.”\n\nThe 7.8-magnitude quake is “already one of the deadliest of the 21st century”, but “glimmers of hope” have “punctuated the despair”, said The Washington Post.", "authors": ["Hollie Clemence"], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/05/china/china-earthquake-sichuan-intl-hnk/index.html", "title": "China earthquake: Death toll rises to 65 in Sichuan as aftershocks ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAt least 65 people are confirmed dead after an earthquake hit China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, according to Chinese broadcaster CCTV.\n\nAftershocks were still being felt on Tuesday, state media said, a day after the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said a 6.6-magnitude quake shook the region southwest of Sichuan’s capital Chengdu around 1 p.m. Monday.\n\nSo far 248 injuries have been reported and at least 12 people remain missing, according to state media.\n\nImages showed rescue workers carrying injured residents over makeshift bridges in Luding County, near the quake’s epicenter.\n\nRescuers transfer injured people in Luding county, Ganzi prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, Sept 5, 2022. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images\n\nThe USGS said quake’s epicenter was about 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Kangding, a city of around 100,000 people. Over a million residents in surrounding areas are estimated to have experienced moderate tremors in the aftermath of the quake, it added.\n\nSome homes were severely damaged in the quake, with images appearing to show whole buildings had collapsed into piles of bricks and wooden beams.\n\nHouses collapse in Luding county, Ganzi prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, Sept 5, 2022. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images\n\nChina activated a Level 3 emergency response and dispatched rescue workers to Luding County on Monday, according to China’s State Council. Chinese broadcaster CGTN said rescue workers were helping to clear roads blocked by landslides triggered by the quake.\n\nSichuan, a province of 84 million people, was already facing a very challenging summer before the powerful quake. In the last two months, the province has endured drought and its worst heatwaves in 60 years.\n\nGoogle\n\nThe landlocked area is prone to earthquakes because of the Langmenshan Fault which runs through Sichuan’s mountains.\n\nA 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan in 2008 was one of the country’s most devastating. Almost 90,000 people were killed and tremors were felt in cities more than 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) away.\n\nLast year, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, killing three people and injuring 60, according to state media at the time.", "authors": ["Alex Stambaugh Kathleen Magramo Philip Wang", "Alex Stambaugh", "Kathleen Magramo", "Philip Wang"], "publish_date": "2022/09/05"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/asia/afghanistan-earthquake-rescue-aid-efforts-intl/index.html", "title": "Afghanistan earthquake: 'What do we do when another disaster hits ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAid groups scrambled on Thursday to reach victims of a powerful earthquake that rocked eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people in an area blighted by poor infrastructure, as the country faces dire economic and hunger crises.\n\nThe slow response, exacerbated by international sanctions and decades of mismanagement, concerns people working in the humanitarian space, like Obaidullah Baheer, lecturer in Transitional Justice at the American University of Afghanistan. “This is a very patchwork, band-aid solution for a problem that we need to start thinking (about) mid to long term… what do we do when (another disaster) hits?” he told CNN by phone.\n\nThe magnitude 5.9 quake struck during the early hours of Wednesday near the city of Khost by the Pakistan border and the death toll is expected to rise as many of the homes in the area were flimsily made out of wood, mud and other materials vulnerable to damage.\n\nHumanitarian agencies are converging on the area, but its remote location has complicated rescue efforts.\n\nThe United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has successfully dispatched humanitarian aid and assistance to families in Paktika and Khost provinces to cover the needs of about 4,000 people, a spokesperson for UN Secretary General António Guterres said during a Thursday press briefing.\n\nSpokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the “priority needs include emergency shelter and non-food items, food assistance, health and water and sanitation, as well as hygiene support.”\n\nHe added that the World Food Program (WFP) has confirmed stocks of food will be able to serve at least 14,000 in the hardest-hit Paktika province.\n\n“At least 18 trucks are making their way to the earthquake-affected areas carrying emergency supplies, including high-energy biscuits and mobile storage units,” a WFP statement released Thursday said.\n\nUNICEF Afghanistan tweeted that they were able to distribute “hygiene kits, winter kits, emergency family kitchen kits, tents, blankets, warm clothes and tarpaulin” to affected individuals in Paktika and Khost.\n\nMen stand around the bodies of people killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 23. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP\n\nThe quake coincided with heavy monsoon rain and wind between June 20 and 22, which has hampered search efforts and helicopter travel.\n\nAs medics and emergency staff from around the country attempt to access the site, help is expected to be limited as a number of organizations pulled out of the aid-dependent country when the Taliban took power in August last year.\n\nThose that remain are stretched thin. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it had mobilized “all of the resources” from around the country, with teams on the ground providing medicine and emergency support. But, as one WHO official put it, “the resources are overstretched here, not just for this region.”\n\n‘Very bleak’\n\nThe international community’s hesitancy to deal with the Taliban and the group’s “very messy bureaucracy where it becomes difficult to gain information from one source” has led to a communication gap in the rescue efforts, Baheer – who is also the founder of aid group Save Afghans from Hunger – said.\n\n“At the core of everything is how the politics has translated into this gap of communication, not just between countries and the Taliban, but international aid organizations and the Taliban as well,” he added.\n\nBaheer gives an example of how he has been acting as a conduit of information with the WFP and other aid organizations, informing them that Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense were offering to airlift aid from humanitarian organizations to badly hit areas.\n\nIn the meantime, some people spent the night sleeping in makeshift outdoor shelters, as rescuers scoured for survivors by flashlight. The United Nations says 2,000 homes are thought to have been destroyed. Pictures from the badly hit Paktika province, where most of the deaths have been reported, show homes reduced to dust and rubble.\n\nHsiao-Wei Lee, WFP deputy country director in Afghanistan, described the situation on the ground as “very bleak,” where some the villages in heavily affected districts “are completely decimated or 70% are collapsed,” she said.\n\nMembers of a Taliban rescue team return from affected villages following an earthquake. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images\n\n“There will be months and potentially years of building back,” she said. “The needs are so much more massive than just food… It could be shelter for example, to be able to facilitate the movement of that food as well as the customs clearance, logistics would be helpful.”\n\nOfficials say aid is reaching the affected areas.\n\nThe government has so far distributed food, tents, clothing, and other supplies to the quake-hit provinces, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense’s official Twitter account. Medical and relief teams deployed by the Afghan government are already present in the quake-hit areas, and attempting to transport the wounded to medical facilities and health centers by land and air, it added.\n\n‘Carpet sanctioning a whole country and a whole people’\n\nAlthough the economic crisis in Afghanistan has loomed for years, the result of conflict and drought, it plunged to new depths after the Taliban takeover, which prompted the United States and its allies to freeze about $7 billion of the country’s foreign reserves and cut off international funding.\n\nThe US no longer has a presence in Afghanistan following the hasty withdrawal of its troops and collapse of the previous US-backed Afghan government. Like nearly all other nations, it does not have official relations with the Taliban government.\n\nSanctions have crippled the Afghan economy and sent many of its 20 million people into a severe hunger crisis. Millions of Afghans are out of work, government employees haven’t been paid, and the price of food has soared.\n\nHumanitarian aid is excluded from sanctions, but there are impediments, according to draft remarks by Martin Griffiths, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ahead of a UN Security Council in the situation in Afghanistan.\n\nThis includes a major need in funding, Taliban authorities “seeking to play a role in the selection of beneficiaries and channeling assistance to people on their own priority lists,” and the “formal banking system continues to block transfers,” he writes.\n\nThis means “around 80% of organizations (who responded to OCHA’s monitoring survey) are facing delays in transferring funds, with two thirds reporting that their international banks continue to deny transfers. Over 60% of organizations cite lack of available cash in-country as a programmatic impediment.”\n\nA child stands beside a house damaged by an earthquake in Bernal district, Paktika province, on June 23. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images\n\nBaheer says sanctions “are hurting us so much” that Afghans are struggling to send money to families affected by the earthquake.\n\n“The fact that we barely have a banking system, the fact that we haven’t had new currency printed or brought into the country in the past nine to 10 months, our assets are frozen… these sanctions don’t work,” he said.\n\nHe added: “The only sanctions that make moral sense is targeted sanctions on specific individuals rather than carpet sanctioning a whole country and a whole people.”\n\nWhile “sanctions have affected a lot of the country, there’s an exemption for humanitarian aid so we’re getting it in to support those most in need,” Mort, from UNICEF, told CNN.\n\nThe Taliban “isn’t preventing us from distributing anything like that, on the contrary they are enabling us,” she added.\n\nExperts and officials say the most pressing immediate needs include medical care and transportation for the injured, shelter and supplies for the displaced, food and water, and clothing.\n\nAn Afghan man looks for his belongings amid the ruins of a house damaged by an earthquake. Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP/Getty Images\n\nThe UN has distributed medical supplies and sent mobile health teams to Afghanistan – but warned that it does not have search and rescue capabilities.\n\nBaheer told CNN on Wednesday that the Taliban were only able to send out six rescue helicopters “because when the United States was leaving it disabled most of the aircraft whether it belonged to Afghanistan forces or to them.”\n\nPakistan has offered to help, opening border crossings in its northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa and allowing injured Afghans to come into the country visa-free for treatment, according Mohammad Ali Saif, a regional government spokesperson.\n\n“400 injured Afghans have moved into Pakistan this morning for treatment and a stream of people is continuing, these numbers are expected to rise by the end of day, Saif told CNN.\n\nPakistan has kept a tight limit on Afghans entering the country via the land border crossing since the Taliban took power.", "authors": ["Tara John Akanksha Sharma Jo Shelley Ehsan Popalzai", "Tara John", "Akanksha Sharma", "Jo Shelley", "Ehsan Popalzai"], "publish_date": "2022/06/23"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_4", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/02/06/amc-ticket-prices-seat-location-movies/11196849002/", "title": "AMC ticket prices will soon be different depending on seat location", "text": "You may have to pay extra to get good seat at AMC Theatres.\n\nThe country's largest movie theater chain announced Monday plans to price tickets based on seat location within the auditorium, meaning moviegoers will pay different prices depending on their proximity to the screen.\n\nThink concert ticket pricing – the closer you are to the stage the more you're going to pay. In this case, the closer you are to the screen, the cheaper your ticket. How much more exactly? AMC hasn't announced yet.\n\nBut the new pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, already kicked off in select locations and will roll out nationwide by the end of the year, AMC said.\n\nSightline at AMC offers three tiers of seats:\n\nStandard Sightline: The \"most common\" seats, which are available for \"the traditional cost of a ticket.\"\n\nValue Sightline – Seats in the front row, which are \"available at a lower price than Standard Sightline seats\"\n\nPreferred Sightline – Seats typically in \"the middle of the auditorium,\" which are priced at \"a slight premium to Standard Sightline seats.\"\n\nValue sightline pricing is only available to members of the AMC Stubs loyalty club, including the free tier, while paid members can reserve preferred sightline seats at no additional cost.\n\nDiscounted tickets:AMC theaters celebrates Black History Month with $5 tickets for select movies\n\nBox-office record breakers:What is the highest grossing movie of all time?\n\nThe ticketing initiative represents the latest attempt by a major movie theater chain to boost attendance and revenue after the COVID-19 pandemic forced theaters to shutter.\n\nSightline ticketing applies to all showtimes after 4 p.m. at participating locations. It's not applicable on Tuesdays, when AMC sells tickets at a discount.\n\nAMC said theaters that offer variable pricing will provide a detailed seat map that will outline each option when patrons purchase tickets online, on the AMC app and at the box office.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/06/30/movie-theaters-reopening-expect-mandatory-masks-empty-seats/3259421001/", "title": "AMC, Regal, and more: Here's what to expect as movie theaters ...", "text": "Movie theaters are finally ready to unlock their doors for the shortened summer movie season. But what will the experience feel like in the midst of a global pandemic?\n\nMost indoor theaters are taking precautions to ensure proper social distancing and reduce in-person contact while allowing moviegoers to enjoy new Hollywood films such as Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller \"Tenet\" (Sept. 3). Sanitation measures include contactless payment options and reduced auditorium capacities.\n\nTheaters will have to be extra cautious, says Phil Contrino, director of media and research for the National Association of Theatre Owners. But he's still optimistic about bringing back an “experience that a lot of people miss.”\n\n“It’s just about conveying to customers right now that they’re taking the safety precautions that customers want to see,” he says. “The experience is obviously going to be different when people come back, but it will evolve to meet how things change from moment to moment as more guidance comes out.”\n\nWondering whether you need to pack your face mask? Hesitant to carry cash? We've put together a list of the COVID-19 protocols in place at seven of the most popular theater chains, along with their reopening dates.\n\nMasks with your ticket? Moviegoing could look quite different post-pandemic\n\nPostponed:'Mulan,' 'Bill & Ted,' more movies delayed by coronavirus spikes\n\nAMC Theatres\n\nReopening date: 100 locations will reopen Aug. 20, with 15-cent tickets on opening day only for catalog films like \"Ghostbusters\" and \"Back to the Future.\"\n\nNumber of theaters: 8,043 screens in 634 locations\n\nMask policy: Guests are required to wear face masks at all times and can remove them only while eating or drinking. Disposable masks will be available at the box office for $1 for those who arrive without.\n\nSeating: Auditoriums will be reduced to 30% capacity or less, based on municipality guidelines, and every other row will be empty for social distancing. AMC encourages moviegoers to leave an empty seat between their party and other guests.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash won't be accepted at concession stands but may be used to purchase an AMC gift card for food and drinks.\n\nTickets: Contactless payment methods are preferred, such as credit, debit or AMC gift cards.\n\nConcessions: A limited menu will be offered to ensure quicker service, but popcorn and soft drinks will be available. Refills are temporarily unavailable.\n\nComing soon: New releases such as \"Tenet,\" \"Unhinged\" and \"Antebellum.\"\n\nRegal Cinemas\n\nReopening date: Aug. 21\n\nNumber of theaters: 7,178 screens in 546 theaters\n\nMask policy: Guests will be required to wear face masks in the lobby, hallways and restrooms, but can remove them inside the auditorium while eating and drinking.\n\nSeating: Depending on state and county mandates, auditorium capacities will be reduced 50%, and two empty seats will be left between groups to maintain social distancing. Group sizes will be limited where required by state or county.\n\nCash or credit cards? Contactless payment is preferred; guests can purchase concession items with the Regal mobile app or cash.\n\nTickets: Available ahead of time on the app, but customers can pay at the theater with cash or credit card.\n\nConcessions: Every other register will be closed to maintain social distancing, and a reduced menu will be available. Self-service condiment stands are closed, and refills on drinks and popcorn are suspended. Diners, restaurants and in-theater ordering are temporarily suspended, and bars will be open only for walk-up service. Vending machines and water fountains will be closed.\n\nComing soon: New Hollywood films such as \"Tenet,\" \"Antebellum\" and \"Unhinged,\" as well as recent pre-pandemic films such as \"Saint Maud\" and \"The Burnt Orange Heresy.\"\n\nCinemark Theatres\n\nReopening date: Six theaters are open in Texas or Florida; most others anticipate reopening in mid-August.\n\nNumber of theaters: 4,630 screens in 344 theaters\n\nMask policy: Guests are required to wear face masks at all times, except when eating and drinking inside the auditorium.\n\nSeating: Auditorium capacities will be reduced, and showtimes will be staggered to permit physical distancing.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash won't be accepted for snack purchases, but can be used to purchase gift cards, which are redeemable at the concession stand. Cinemark prefers contactless payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay.\n\nTickets: Customers are encouraged to pre-purchase tickets online.\n\nConcessions: Popcorn and drink refills won't be offered, but previously refillable sizes will be discounted. Popcorn, soda and candy will still be offered, but favorites such as Pizza Hut may not be available.\n\nComing soon: A mix of new films and older classics such as \"Scream\" and \"The Lord of the Rings.\"\n\nMarcus Theatres\n\nReopening date: Six locations are open, with the rest returning at a future date.\n\nNumber of theaters: 1,106 screens in 91 theaters\n\nMask policy: Guests are encouraged but not required to wear masks.\n\nSeating: Auditorium capacities will be reduced, and there will be two empty seats between groups for proper social distancing. Showtimes will be staggered to allow a limited number of customers in the theater at a time.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash will be accepted, but contactless payment, such as credit and debit cards, is encouraged.\n\nTickets: You can purchase tickets at the box office or order in advance on the Marcus Theatres app or website.\n\nConcession: Popcorn, soda and candy will be available. Food orders may be placed before arriving at the theater and retrieved at the designated pick-up area. Concession stands will be open for those who prefer to order onsite. Theater bars and lounges will be open limited hours.\n\nComing soon: Marcus will start by showing movies that were popular when theaters closed, such as “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Bad Boys for Life” and “Jumanji: The Next Level.” Retro classics will also be shown. Tickets will cost $5 and will return to standard pricing once new movies are released.\n\nB&B Theatres\n\nReopening date:A dozen locations have reopened in Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Iowa. No date has been set for the rest of the chain's theaters.\n\nNumber of theaters: 418 screens in 48 theaters\n\nMask policy: Guests are encouraged but not required to wear masks.\n\nSeating: Showtimes are spread out to limit occupancy in common areas. When a guest reserves a seat, the surrounding seats will be unavailable to ensure a 6-foot distance. Recliner auditorium rows are already 7 feet apart.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash won't be accepted to limit interaction.\n\nTickets: Guests are encouraged to purchase tickets online, but they can be purchased in person at the box office.\n\nConcession: Traditional concessions, along with extended menu options, will be available.\n\nComing soon: Fan favorites such as \"Avengers\" and \"The Greatest Showman\" until newer titles are released.\n\nMalco Theatres\n\nReopening date: 6 locations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky are open on the weekends. All other theaters are expected to reopen in August.\n\nNumber of theaters: 363 screens in 35 theaters\n\nMask policy: Face masks aren't required in the auditorium but must be worn in the lobby and restrooms. Thermal temperature checks will be conducted on guests at the door.\n\nSeating: Every other row will be left empty for social distancing.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash will be accepted, but credit cards are encouraged.\n\nTickets: Advance ticket are suggested, purchased online or on the Malco app.\n\nConcession: A limited menu will be offered, but food and drink won't be delivered to your seat. Refills are available in fresh new containers.\n\nComing soon: A mix of classic films (\"Jaws,\" \"Back to the Future\"), pre-COVID-19 releases (\"The Hunt,\" \"The Invisible Man\") and new releases (\"The High Note,\" \"Irresistible\").\n\nBow Tie Cinemas\n\nReopening date: Connecticut and Colorado locations are already open; New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia theaters will reopen next.\n\nNumber of theaters: 220 screens in 32 theaters.\n\nMask policy: Guests must adhere to local requirements for the use of face coverings.\n\nSeating: Auditorium capacity will be reduced 50%, and each patron will have an empty seat on either side. Showtimes will be staggered to facilitate enhanced cleaning of auditoriums between shows.\n\nCash or credit cards? Cash will be accepted, but guests are encouraged to purchase tickets and concessions through the Bow Tie mobile app.\n\nTickets: Online purchase online or via the app. Plexiglass partitions will be in use for those who prefer to pay at the theater.\n\nConcessions: Popcorn, fountain drinks, candy, pretzels, grab and go nachos, hot dogs and limited kitchen items will be available from luxury theater menus. Bar service will be open.\n\nComing soon: Classic movies ($5 per ticket) are showing until Hollywood resumes new releases.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/06/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2020/08/25/movie-theaters-vs-drive-ins-what-you-should-know/5621823002/", "title": "Movie theaters vs. drive-ins: What a drive-in does (or doesn't) offer", "text": "Summer may be ending, but many drive-in movie theaters will be with us through fall.\n\nThe nation's big theater chains are cautiously reopening, but not everyone is able to relish the air-conditioned moviegoing experience just yet. States such as New York and California are holding off on indoor theaters for the most part, and not all movie fans are comfortable returning to cinemas during the coronavirus pandemic.\n\nBut that shouldn't stop you from seeing \"Tenet,\" \"New Mutants, \"Unhinged\" or any other long-delayed film finally hitting the big screen.\n\nI recently visited a drive-in theater for the first time to see “Peninsula” (the latest film in the “Train to Busan” horror franchise) in the Bay Area, where inside cinemas are still closed. For those of you interested in trying it out, here are a few takeaways from my drive-in experience.\n\n'We have our masks on':Movie fans cautiously return to AMC and Regal's reopened theaters\n\nStaying safe and having fun:A user's guide to drive-in movie theaters\n\nPro: Yes, you can see the movie just fine\n\nYou are further from the screen when you're sitting in your car in a parking lot, but the drive-in screen is big enough to provide a high-quality viewing experience.\n\nCon: Some movies are harder to see than others\n\nWhile the screen size wasn't a problem, movies with darker lighting (example: \"The Dark Knight\") are harder to see than more colorful films (say, \"Inside Out\") because of surrounding light from other cars or nearby buildings.\n\nRemember going to the movies? 15 things we miss most about theaters\n\nPro: It's nice to have privacy that you don't get at an indoor theater\n\nWhile constant chit-chat during a movie is annoying, it's comforting to be able to occasionally add your commentary without disturbing anyone else's viewing experience. The occasional \"Whoa, why did he do that?\" or \"Wait, I don't get what just happened?\" is something that would get you shushed at your local indoor theater.\n\n'Tenet':Christopher Nolan's COVID-delayed thriller will screen early to boost movie theaters\n\nCon: While 6 people can fit in most cars, the drive-in experience is better with fewer viewers\n\nThe best way to view a drive-in screening is either from the front seat or an open hatchback, so it may be best to avoid placing anyone in the back seats. Even for larger cars, only two or three people can comfortably sit in the trunk.\n\nPro: You don't have to wear a mask for the entire two hours\n\nMany theater chains such as AMC and Regal Cinemas are mandating that moviegoers keep their masks on during the whole film, but drive-in theaters only obligate face coverings when exiting the vehicle. So sit back, take your mask off and enjoy the show comfortably.\n\nMovies and masks:AMC, the largest movie theater chain, reverses optional face mask policy after public outcry\n\nCon: It's first come, first served for seating\n\nUnlike an indoor movie theater, in which you're often able to reserve specific seats while purchasing tickets, your parking arrangement is usually first come, first served, which may mean you have to arrive an hour early for the best spot.\n\nPro: Some drive-ins let you bring your own snacks\n\nSay goodbye to overpriced popcorn and soda, as you can sometimes bring your own snack stash to munch on during the movie. Note, though, that certain drive-ins prohibit outside food and drinks, so make sure to check your drive-in's website for details.\n\nSnacks:From banana bread-flavored popcorn to apple chips, kids will give these healthy treats an A+\n\nCon: The bathroom accommodations are less than ideal\n\nBecause you're in a parking lot, not all drive-ins have bathrooms. Many offer portable toilets for those who need to use the restroom – which probably isn't your dream scenario. So try not to drink too much!\n\nPro: Leaving is easy ... just drive off!\n\nIndoor movie theaters have many safety protocols to ensure you leave the theater while following social distancing, such as having moviegoers exit row by row.\n\nDrive-ins eliminate that hassle: Once the movie ends, you're free to just back out of your parking spot and drive on home!\n\n'Unhinged':New Russell Crowe movie gets off to a surprisingly strong start as movie theaters cautiously reopen\n\nMissing movie theaters in quarantine?:Head to drive-ins at Sony Pictures and Walmart", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/08/25"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2016/03/22/carolina-cinemas-sells-national-theater-chain-cinemark/82121066/", "title": "Carolina Cinemas sells to national theater chain Cinemark", "text": "Hayley Benton\n\nhbenton@citizen-times.com\n\nCarolina Cinemas announced to its vendors that the luxury theaters owned by the Charlotte-based company will transfer hands to national theater chain Cinemark USA, on Wednesday.\n\nCarolina Cinemas Director of Operations Hope Branch confirmed the transfer of ownership set for March 23, and on Wednesday, the small Carolina theater chain posted about the sale on its Facebook: \"The Carolina Asheville has been acquired by Cinemark, a national theatre circuit operating more than 500 movie theatres across the country. We have known the Cinemark folks for many years and have always been impressed with their strong focus on customer service. Under Cinemark's ownership, the theatre will offer the latest technological advances in the movie theatre industry and will continue to provide the absolute best entertainment experience for years to come. ... We sincerely thank you for being our guest and enjoying your entertainment experience with us. We are confident that this will remain your favorite place to enjoy the magic of the movies.\"\n\nCarolina Cinemas operated four theaters, including The Carolina on Hendersonville Road in South Asheville. Other theaters affected by this change are the Charlotte and Raleigh theaters, as well as the Movies10 theater, in the Charlotte suburb of Matthews. Similar posts went up on the other theaters' pages.\n\nCinemark owns and operates more than 300 theaters across the country - three of which are located in North Carolina. The company, headquartered in Plano, Texas, owns theaters in Salisbury, Greensboro and Asheboro.\n\nPending a statement from Cinemark, it's unclear whether any changes will be made to the local theaters, which are known for their unique, \"gourmet\" menus, selection of local craft beer and wine, sofa-style theater seating and, in Asheville, special showings of art films. In the last few months, however, the national company announced that it added luxury seating to several of its existing Texas theaters -- and, as of October, a Cinemark theater in Colorado now offers an \"in-theater dining experience\" to its customers. Still no say on the future of art films yet.\n\nCinemark is the third largest theater chain in the country, with 337 theaters and 4,518 screens across 41 states - and an additional 176 international theaters across 14 countries in Latin America.\n\nEarlier this month, in other theater-related news, AMC Entertainment announced its $1.1 billion acquisition of Carmike Cinemas, pushing AMC ahead of Regal as the largest theater chain in the country.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2016/03/22"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/media/2021/09/07/phoenix-movie-theaters-opening/5624984001/", "title": "Big changes coming to movie theaters in Phoenix: Harkins, Touchstar", "text": "Things are changing in movies in the Valley this fall — and not just what's on the screen.\n\nA host of changes are underway at several movie theater chains in metro Phoenix. Some of them have new names or ownership, while others are undergoing renovations and closures. Many of the changes were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed theaters completely for a long stretch. The impact was financially devastating on many businesses, movie theaters in particular. No audience meant no income.\n\nOf course, all of this does not affect what you see when you're inside, but in some cases, it will change the way you experience the movies.\n\nHarkins closes its north Phoenix theater as renovations continue\n\nHarkins Theatres has said it will close its North Valley 16 location by the end of 2021.\n\nIn making the announcement, Harkins suggested it might open a new location in the area.\n\n“While we are closing this chapter,” the company said in a statement, “stay tuned for exciting information about our future plans for a new state-of-the-art theatre nearby.”\n\nIt hasn’t announced what or where that theater will be.\n\nHarkins has been remodeling several of its theaters in recent years. In the last year, the company has finished renovations on its SanTan Village and Arizona Mills locations in the Valley. It is currently renovating its Tempe Marketplace theater.\n\nThe company also announced that it will be building its first dine-in theater at Lake Pleasant Towne Center in Peoria — a 40,000-square-foot theater scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2022. Harkins’ website says face coverings are strongly encouraged.\n\nDetails: Multiple locations. 2298 E. Williams Field Rd, Gilbert. 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe. harkins.com.\n\nLook Dine-In Theaters is coming to Chandler\n\nLook Dine-In Theaters is taking over the theater left empty when Flix Brewhouse Chandler closed for good during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's scheduled to open Oct. 14. The theater offers in-theater and bar dining and drinking. It shows first-run films, and private screenings are available for $199.\n\nDetails: 1 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. Lookcinemas.com.\n\nPass the popcorn:10 must-see movies this fall\n\nGoodbye, Alamo Drafthouse. Hello, Majestic Theaters\n\nAlamo Drafthouse Cinema theaters have a new name in Arizona — Majestic Theaters. Local franchise owners Craig and Kim Paschich, who declared bankruptcy in 2020, reached an agreement to split from the Texas-based Alamo. Now, they'll operate the former Alamo theaters under the new name. Majestic Theaters in Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe are set to open under the new name on Sept. 3.\n\n\"If you've been to one of our locations before, it will feel familiar, even if the name has changed,\" the owners say on the company's website. The company’s website doesn’t list COVID-19 protocols.\n\nDetails: Multiple locations. 4955 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler. 5478 S. Power Road, Gilbert. 1140 E. Baseline Road, Tempe. majesticphx.com/phoenix/home.\n\nLandmark Theatres replaces the iPic\n\nLandmark Theatres will open in Scottsdale Quarter, the former home of iPic Theatre, which closed in January 2020. The company’s website does not give a specific date for opening.\n\nThe California-based Landmark specializes in independent films, operating 220 screens in 23 markets. The dine-in options will disappear, but the Arizona theater will have a concession menu.\n\n\"The theatre features plush, luxury recliner seating and concessions will range from all the usual movie theatre snacks to an expanded menu of gourmet items and a full-service bar and lounge,\" the company's website says. Landmark says on its website that it is tailoring COVID-19 restrictions to local guidelines.\n\nDetails: 15257 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. landmarktheatres.com.\n\nTouchstar Cinemas comes to Scottsdale\n\nTouchstar Cinemas, based in Florida, will open in Scottsdale in the Sonora Village shopping center the former location of Studio Movie Grill. The latter closed in 2020 due to the pandemic and never reopened. The company’s website does not list a specific opening date.\n\nTouchstar theaters offer a dine-in option with food delivery to your seat, according to its website. The company’s website doesn’t list COVID-19 protocols.\n\nDetails: 15515 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale. touchstarcinemas.com.\n\nReach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.\n\nSubscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/09/07"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/media/cineworld-regal-bankruptcy/index.html", "title": "Cineworld, the world's second largest movie theater chain, files for ...", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nCineworld Group — the world’s second largest movie theater chain and owner of Regal Cinemas — said Wednesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.\n\nThe British company, which owns more than 500 movie theaters across the United States, said that it commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to shed company debt. It also expects the action will “strengthen its balance sheet and provide the financial strength and flexibility to accelerate, and capitalize on, Cineworld’s strategy in the cinema industry.”\n\nThe company added that it has access to nearly $2 billion in financing from existing lenders to keep operating. Cineworld also said in the filing that it “expects to operate its global business and cinemas as usual throughout this process.”\n\nThe company warned late last month that a voluntary Chapter 11 filing was one of the options it was reviewing to reduce its debt.\n\n“We have an incredible team across Cineworld laser focused on evolving our business to thrive during the comeback of the cinema industry,” Mooky Greidinger, Cineworld’s CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our business, with the enforced closure of cinemas and huge disruption to film schedules that has led us to this point.”\n\nGreidinger added that the bankruptcy filing is “part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our financial position and is in pursuit of a de-leveraging that will create a more resilient capital structure and effective business.”\n\n“This will allow us to continue to execute our strategy to reimagine the most immersive cinema experiences for our guests through the latest and most cutting-edge screen formats and enhancements to our flagship theatres,” he added. “Our goal remains to further accelerate our strategy so we can grow our position as the ‘Best Place to Watch a Movie.’”\n\nLike many theaters, Cineworld has struggled during the pandemic, which devastated the industry and is still impacting exhibition. The global health crisis caused theaters around the world to close and the company lost $2.7 billion in 2020 and another $566 million in 2021.\n\nThe economics have improved for theaters, but a return to normal is still far off.\n\nThe domestic box office rebounded this summer thanks to big hits like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic Park: Dominion” as well as smaller hits like “Elvis” and “The Black Phone.” Yet, movie attendance has dried up in recent weeks amid a dearth of new films and supply chain issues hitting Hollywood and many features going straight to streaming.\n\n— Mark Thompson and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.", "authors": ["Frank Pallotta"], "publish_date": "2022/09/07"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/16/investing/amc-popcorn/index.html", "title": "AMC may sell you popcorn outside of movie theaters | CNN Business", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nAMC Entertainment, the theater chain and darling of the meme stock crowd, is hoping to profit as more people stay home to watch movies on streaming networks like Netflix and Disney+. How? In the immortal words of NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens: Getcha popcorn ready.\n\nAMC announced last week that it hired a veteran consumer products executive to try to ramp up its business of selling its popcorn at retail stores, not just in theaters.\n\nEllen Copaken, previously an executive at Pepsi’s (PEP) Frito-Lay snack unit and Twinkies owner Hostess Brands (TWNK), will start at AMC Friday as the company’s vice president of growth strategy. It’s a new position for AMC and Copaken will report to the chief strategy officer, Mark Pearson.\n\nAMC first said in November that it was planning to make a bigger bet on the popcorn business.\n\nCEO Adam Aron told investors on AMC’s earnings conference call that month that the company planned to open up popcorn kiosks at retailers this year to take advantage of the fact that “we have terrific long-standing business relationships with the biggest and best mall operators around.”\n\nAron added that AMC was in discussions to start selling an AMC-branded line of microwave popcorn and also partner with food delivery services to make its popcorn a take-out option.\n\nAMC said in an email to CNN Business it had no further comment about the Copaken hiring or plans to expand its popcorn business.\n\nBut AMC’s decision to go all-in on popcorn outside the theater is a bold call. In some respects, it’s an admission that the movie industry has fundamentally changed.\n\nAlthough viewers are still willing to go out to see big blockbusters like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in theaters, the combination of the pandemic and an abundance of streaming options have led to a change in consumer habits.\n\nMore to AMC than big screens at the multiplex\n\nAMC, to its credit, is trying to adapt to this new reality. In addition to its popcorn plans, the company also announced in November that it hopes to profit from strong demand for cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the digital assets which have taken the collectibles world by storm.\n\n“This is the 21st century after all, and it would seem that there may be a real opportunity for AMC in these areas,” Aron said.\n\nAron noted that the company is looking into partnerships that would let it accept cryptocurrencies as payment for movie tickets and concession stand items. AMC is even thinking about launching its own cryptocurrency.\n\nAron added that the theater chain is “in conversation with multiple major Hollywood studios about the concept of joint venturing commemorative NFTs related to major film titles that show in our theaters.”\n\nThese are some of the reasons why investors, particularly meme stock fans on Reddit, have fallen in love with AMC. They appreciate that Aron is thinking outside the (popcorn) box.\n\nShares of AMC soared nearly 1,200% last year while the stocks of rivals Cinemark (CNK), IMAX (IMAX) and UK-based Regal and United Artists owner Cineworld all fell.\n\nBut it’s a different story this year. AMC, along with other meme stocks such as GameStop (GME), have fallen out of favor. AMC is down 25% so far in 2022 while the other three movie theater stocks have rallied.\n\nAMC still faces many challenges. Even though revenue is expected to nearly double in 2022, analysts are forecasting that the company will lose money again after racking up red ink in 2020 and 2021. (AMC reported a preliminary net loss for the fourth quarter of 2021 earlier this month.)\n\nIt’s also not certain that AMC will be able to make a huge dent in the retail popcorn market.\n\nThe company faces formidable competition from consumer product giants who have established relationships with grocery stores. Campbell Soup (CPB) owns Pop Secret while ConAgra (CAG) is the parent company of Orville Redenbacher, stove top favorite Jiffy Pop and microwave brand Act II.\n\nAnalysts aren’t fans of the stock either. According to Refinitiv, three analysts have AMC rated a hold and six are recommending a sell. No analysts surveyed have a buy on the stock and the consensus price target is about $10.45 a share, nearly 50% below current levels.\n\nBut it may be a mistake to count AMC out. An army of individual investors still love to rankle Wall Street pros and short sellers who bet against the stock.", "authors": ["Paul R. La Monica"], "publish_date": "2022/02/16"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/media/netflix-glass-onion-knives-out-theaters/index.html", "title": "In a first, Netflix's 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' will play in ...", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nNetflix is going to the movies, but only for a week.\n\n“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” the new whodunit starring Daniel Craig, will debut at the three major US theater chains — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — for a week one month before it streams on Netflix, the company announced on Thursday. “Glass Onion” will be the first film to ever to do so, according to the streaming giant.\n\nThe sequel to the 2019 hit “Knives Out” will play in 600 theaters in the United States from November 23 to 29 before debuting on Netflix (NFLX) globally on December 23.\n\nThe news is notable given the fraught relationship between theaters and Netflix in the past. While some of the streamer’s films have played in theaters, most major chains have balked at putting Netflix’s films on the big screen since the two sides could never agree on how long a film should play exclusively in theaters.\n\nThe move to put “Glass Onion” in theaters, even for just a week, is a win for both sides.\n\nFor Netflix, theaters will likely help turn the film into an event, with the potential of giving it far more cultural relevancy than if it just played in homes. It can also build word of mouth for the movie, which has gotten rave reviews after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.\n\nThe film would play only for a week in theaters, but it’s an *exclusive* week. If you want to see “Glass Onion,” a month early you’ll have to buy a ticket, which could bring in more foot traffic and boost concession sales to theaters.\n\n“We’re excited to offer fans an exclusive sneak preview of Rian’s incredible film,” Scott Stuber, Netflix’s head of global film said in a statement on Thursday. “Given the excitement surrounding the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, we hope fans will enjoy this special theatrical event in celebration of the film’s global debut on Netflix in December.”\n\nDirector Rian Johnson added that he is “over the moon that Netflix has worked with AMC, Regal and Cinemark to get Glass Onion in theaters for this one-of-a-kind sneak preview.”\n\n“These movies are made to thrill audiences, and I can’t wait to feel the energy of the crowd as they experience ‘Glass Onion,’” he said. “Between this and the release on Netflix in December, I’m excited that audiences around the world will be able to enjoy the film.”\n\nTickets go on sale on October 10.\n\nIt’s not clear if this is a one-time only arrangement or a first step for theaters and Netflix.\n\nIf it’s the latter, it could help both sides. Netflix, which has had a rough year, could use theaters’ help in giving its films greater impact and an additional revenue stream while theaters, which had a solid summer at the box office before seeing its slate dry up in the last few months, could use more movies.", "authors": ["Frank Pallotta"], "publish_date": "2022/10/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/20/us-industries-being-devastated-by-the-coronavirus-travel-hotels-food/111431804/", "title": "Industries hit hardest by coronavirus in the US include retail ...", "text": "Grant Suneson\n\n24/7 Wall Street\n\nThe novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which has been designated a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, is having a devastating impact on the U.S. economy. After peaking at 29,000 in February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 21,000 by mid-March – a nearly 30% drop. On March 16, the Dow fell by nearly 3,000 points, the largest single-day drop in history.\n\nAs the U.S. tries to stem the spread of the virus and contain the outbreak, life is slowly grinding to a halt – and with it much of the economy. While all industries have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, some bear the brunt of the downturn much more than others. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed industry publications and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine the U.S. industries being devastated most by the outbreak.\n\nThe restaurant industry is one of the most exposed industries to major upheaval as a result of the pandemic, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended avoiding groups of over 50 people. Some cities and states have told restaurants to switch to takeout only. Millions of jobs in the sector could either be lost or severely impacted by the outbreak.\n\nSocial Security offices closed:How to get help with benefits during coronavirus pandemic\n\nDow, S&P 500 keep falling:So how will we know when the stock market drop is over?\n\nSome American workers have already been laid off or furloughed, and more job cuts are likely. As people start to socially distance themselves, those in white collar jobs will more easily be able to work from home, while hourly workers in sectors like hospitality and retail may be let go as their companies get less business. This further jeopardizes some of the least financially secure workers in the country – jobs in these fields are often part-time and typically pay low wages.\n\nGambling\n\nMuch of the nation's $261 billion casino gaming industry has been shuttered because of measures taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other major gaming destinations have been closed, and some staff members have been furloughed or laid off. All casinos in Massachusetts and Illinois were ordered to close for two weeks, and Maryland's casinos, racetracks, and other betting facilities were ordered to close indefinitely.\n\nThe novel coronavirus also hit the U.S. just before the beginning of one of the industry's biggest events – the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. During the 2019 tournament, Americans wagered an estimated $8.5 billion on games. With the NBA, NHL, European soccer, and nearly every other major sporting event canceled for the foreseeable future, the sports betting industry has essentially dried up.\n\nSports books in Las Vegas typically handle $500 million worth of bets in a given month. Though some UFC events are still ongoing as of March 16, Joe Asher, CEO of sports bookmaker William Hill, told Sports Illustrated that the entire sports betting industry will have \"pretty much zero revenue\" until sporting events resume. This could take at least six weeks.\n\nUSA TODAY analysis:America's coronavirus 'curve' may be at its most dangerous point\n\nCasinos during coronavirus pandemic:Sports books in Las Vegas are getting creative to offset March Madness betting losses\n\nAirlines\n\nThe airline industry will likely be especially hard hit by the pandemic, as international and even domestic flights are restricted. The International Air Transport Association projected that the U.S. and Canadian airline industry could lose as much as $21.1 billion in revenue. The worldwide industry could see a decline in passenger revenue of nearly 20% under the extensive spread scenario, which would result in an estimated $113 billion in lost revenue. The CAPA - Centre for Aviation said most airlines in the world will likely go bankrupt by the end of May 2020.\n\nUnited Airlines said it was bracing for a $1.5 billion revenue drop in March 2020 compared to March 2019. It also plans to cut capacity in half for April and May. Other U.S. airlines are planning similar actions, as well as freezing hiring and asking employees to take unpaid leave. In what may be a sign of things to come, Norwegian Airlines laid off 90% of staff on March 16. As of 2018, there were over 445,000 workers in the airline industry. A group representing many of the country's largest airlines asked the government for $25 billion in grants and $25 billion in low or no-interest loans.\n\nRunning out of toilet paper?:These are the places where you can still some\n\nTesla and coronavirus:Elon Musk says automaker is working on ventilators for patients\n\nHotels\n\nThe U.S. hotel industry employs over 1.6 million Americans, making it the ninth-largest sector in the U.S. in terms of total workers. But as people have stayed home, demand for hotels has declined sharply. In the first week of March, there was an 11.6% decline in revenue per room available in U.S. hotels compared to the same week of 2019, according to hotel research firm STR.\n\nIn response, hotels in New York City, Seattle, Knoxville, Tennessee, and more have begun to lay off dozens of workers. Hotel workers in major tourist destinations have been told to brace for job losses as well. The hotel chain Marriott just announced plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers. Industry groups urged Congress to pass a supplemental aid package to help hotels through the pandemic.\n\nMovie theaters\n\nIt's been some time now that health officials nationwide have urged social distancing, and movie theaters felt the impact of that recommendation. Now that the CDC has requested that Americans avoid gathering in groups of 50 or more, movie theaters have no choice but close down. U.S. box office revenue for the weekend of March 13-15 came in at just over $54 million, the lowest since September 2000. For context, no weekend box office in 2020 pulled in less than $80 million.\n\nThe effects could stretch for months, as blockbusters like \"Mulan,\" \"A Quiet Place Part II,\" \"Fast 9,\" and the latest James Bond film, \"No Time to Die,\" were slated to be released in the coming weeks, but all these releases were pushed back. Over 100 theaters have closed, and more are expected to follow suit. Major theater chain AMC has announced the closure of all U.S. theaters. Regal announced it would close all of its theaters until further notice, more than 500 in total, leaving over 25,000 employees without work.\n\nLive sports\n\nThe postponement or suspension of sports leagues like the NBA, NHL, XFL, and more have created a huge vacuum not just for the leagues and players, but also the wide-ranging ecosystem that has cropped up around them. FiveThirtyEight estimates that, since about 21% of the NBA season remained when games were halted, the league stands to lose $350 million-$450 million from ticket sales alone if those games are not played – and that does not even include lost playoff revenues.\n\nThe league could also lose up to $200 million in non-ticket revenue, from sources like parking, concessions, merchandise, and more. Still, many NBA franchises – along with their owners and star players – have committed millions of dollars to ensure that arena staff hourly workers are paid during the pandemic. There are an estimated 300 staff workers in a 20,000-seat arena, like those that host NBA games.\n\nThe NHL does not make as much as the NBA but could lose a larger share of its expected yearly revenue. Because the league does not draw as many TV viewers, it relies more heavily on ticket sales. The MLB could be affected as well, as it will not begin games until mid-May, at the earliest.\n\nMarch Madness:'Heartbroken' over decision to cancel because of coronavirus concerns\n\nFood delivery:Lyft looking to add food, medical supplies to delivery service\n\nCruises\n\nAfter a luxury Diamond Princess ship became the first large outbreak cluster outside China, with at least 634 confirmed COVID-19 infections among passengers and crew and two deaths, the cruise industry has taken a huge hit. More recently, a Grand Princess cruise docking in Oakland resulted in 28 cases of the disease. As of March 16, there were at least seven cruise ships in limbo because passengers tested positive or were showing symptoms of the virus and no country was willing to take them in.\n\nShares of three major cruise companies – Royal Caribbean, Carnival Corp., and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings – dropped over 50% in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry group Cruise Lines International Association said the cruise industry contributes $53 billion to the U.S. economy every year. The White House has made clear it intends to help the industry weather the financial difficulty with some sort of relief bill.\n\nShipping\n\nA supply management survey found that three out of every four American businesses experienced a disruption to some part of their supply line due to the irregularities in the shipping industry stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. China is one of the world's foremost shipping hubs, but COVID-19 has forced the country to close ports and send factory workers home. The International Chamber of Shipping said the pandemic has cost the worldwide industry around $350 million per week.\n\nThe outbreak has affected everyone in this highly globalized industry, and Americans are no exception. In January, North American transport volume was down 9.4% compared to the same month of 2019. There are over 225,000 Americans working in the freight transportation industry, and the disruption has jeopardized over billions in wages for these workers.\n\nFilm production\n\nOscar-winning actor Tom Hanks announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus. Consequently, production of the film he was shooting at the time was shut down. Hanks' film was one of a dozens of films and TV shows that halted production – either out of caution or because a cast or crew member had symptoms, tested positive, or came into contact with someone who did. These films likely would have likely contributed billions of dollars to the U.S. box office and economy in other ways.\n\nEach time a production shuts down, it puts hundreds of crew members and cast out of work. Movies often have well over 500 crew members, including drivers, lighting technicians, directors, production assistants, camera operators, and more. Some of the larger films that have extensive visual effects have thousands of people credited. There are over 220,000 Americans working in the film production industry.\n\nAutomakers\n\nAs the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, the demand for cars is decreasing. Workers who are concerned about their job security and try to save their money for emergency use are less likely to buy a car. This jeopardizes the jobs of the nearly 1.3 million Americans who work in new and used car dealerships. Researchers have predicted that American auto sales could decline year-over-year by as much as 20% in 2020. The shares of General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler have all lost over 25% of their value since the beginning of March.\n\nAutomakers have also faced serious supply chain disruptions as parts imports from China have become much more difficult as the country grapples with the disease. Four out of every five cars made in the world rely on parts manufactured in China.\n\nOil and gas\n\nAs people continue to work from home and avoid travel, the demand for oil and gas has plummeted. The International Energy Agency projects a decline in demand of 90,000 barrels of oil in 2020 compared to 2019. Prior to the pandemic, the IEA projected an increase in demand of over 800,000 barrels. The effects on the oil industry have been especially dire because China, the world's top energy consumer, was the first to be hit as the source of the outbreak. The price of oil has been in an unprecedented freefall, selling for under $30 per barrel as of March 16.\n\nRetail\n\nThe U.S. retail industry has been devastated by the coronavirus outbreak, and a number of stores have already had to close their doors. Apple has closed all stores outside of China until at least March 27, and other major retailers in fashion, sporting goods stores, and tech have made similar announcements, with more coming in every day.\n\nUrban Outfitters, Nike, and other companies have announced plans to pay workers at least in the short term for lost wages. This is good news for the employees, many of whom are among the lowest-paid American workers, but it will, of course, mean the companies' bottom lines will take a hit. One Jefferies analyst told CNBC, \"With stores accounting for 75% of sales for most retailers, we anticipate massive EPS [earnings per share] declines for 1Q, especially as most retailers appear to be paying employees during the 2 week closures.\"\n\nConfined amid coronavirus?:Here are best practices for remote-managing your small business\n\nTech\n\nMany Chinese factories in locked-down areas have closed operations since late January. This has had a major impact on the ability of many American tech companies to continue producing their products regularly. Production of video game consoles, smartphones, and smartwatches are all predicted to drop by over 10%. Apple could lose as much as $67 billion because of an iPhone shortage. Graphics card producer Nvidia lowered its projected earnings for the first quarter of 2020 by $100 million, saying the pandemic is disrupting its supply chain.\n\nApple, Samsung, and Google all closed corporate offices and factories in China. Many major tech companies are headquartered in and around Seattle – one of the areas hardest hit by the virus. Microsoft said it would continue to pay its 4,500 hourly employees, even as it sent many workers home.\n\nConventions\n\nAs mass gatherings of people have been declared unsafe, many of the massive conventions that draw thousands of attendees from across the globe have been canceled. The cancellations of tech conferences like E3, SXSW, and more have likely cost local economies over $1.1 billion. In 2019 alone, SXSW's full-time and seasonal workers had an economic impact of over $150 million on the Austin, Texas, economy, according to consulting firm Greyhill Advisors and SXSW.\n\nThe cancellation of the E3 conference has also cost the video game industry its biggest week of the year. New games and consoles are often unveiled at the event, which usually hosts over 65,000 guests a year. Facebook and Google also had to scrap their own conventions. This moratorium on large gatherings could devastate the 55,000-person industry of convention and trade show organizers in the U.S.\n\nFood service\n\nBetween full- and limited-service restaurants, caterers, buffets, and more, well over 10 million Americans work in the food service industry. Major cities have ordered restaurants to only offer takeout options as a preventive measure. This could jeopardize billions in wages for employees, many of whom are hourly workers. Chinese restaurants have been particularly hard hit over unfounded stigmas related to the outbreak.\n\nNation's Restaurant News reported that in Seattle, restaurants were expected to lose 20% of sales in the first week of March. By March 16, a dozen states had imposed restrictions on restaurants hosting dine-in customers. On the weekend of March 14, restaurants in most of America's major cities reported a decline in occupancy of anywhere from 30%-64%. Research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that over 600 food service industry job cuts were directly related to the pandemic, and that 7.4 million jobs in the sector could either be cut or severely impacted.\n\nTheme parks\n\nLarge theme parks have stopped welcoming guests in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, closing a massive industry for the foreseeable future. Disney is by far the largest theme park operator in the world, with six parks – all of which were shuttered initially as the outbreak spread. Disney reported over $26.2 billion revenue from its parks in fiscal 2019. Dividing this evenly throughout the year would mean the company could lose revenue of around $500 million per week that its parks were closed, assuming the same earnings this year.\n\nOther prominent parks have been affected as well. All SeaWorld parks are closed; Six Flags temporarily closed 10 of its parks; and Universal Studios closed its Orlando and Hollywood parks through the end of March. Nationwide, there are nearly 200,000 people who work at theme parks, many of whom could be out of work throughout the worst of the coronavirus outbreak.\n\nGyms\n\nGyms were already facing challenges from home exercise companies like Peloton, and social distancing recommendations and the fear of the spread of the coronavirus have further added to the challenges large gyms and group fitness classes face. Gyms and boutique fitness classes have ballooned into a $94 billion industry that is now in jeopardy.\n\nEquinox had to close its gyms in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and Barry's Bootcamp cut capacity in half. In Los Angeles, the mayor ordered all gyms to be closed. Gold's Gym and Orangetheory shuttered all corporate-owned locations. Planet Fitness stock lost 48% of its market value.\n\nConsumers:Don't overpay for these common items\n\nWork at home?:Charter, MicroStrategy reverse policies, allow it during coronavirus outbreak\n\nConstruction\n\nAs the coronavirus devastates the U.S. economy, companies will likely pull back on expansion, leaving a huge gap in the construction industry. Two large airlines, Delta and United, each announced plans to reduce capital investment by $2 billion each as a result of the pandemic's economic impact. Companies in many other sectors are expected to follow suit.\n\nSmaller construction companies may have to lay off workers as their supply of equipment and parts from China is disrupted. There are an estimated 7.6 million Americans working in the construction sector who could be affected by these changes.\n\nTransportation\n\nWith Americans working from home and staying in instead of visiting bars and restaurants, ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft are seeing their potential ridership dissipate. Both companies announced they would stop letting different users share the same car.\n\nUber has pledged financial assistance to drivers who are quarantined and not able to work, though this would likely not impact most of the estimated 900,000 U.S. drivers. Many drivers are reporting 50% declines in income as fewer people use ride sharing services. Uber's stock has also cratered, going from over $40 per share in February to less than $19 as of March 17.\n\n24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/03/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2020/03/13/coronavirus-wisconsin-latest-confirmed-cases-cancelations/5040483002/", "title": "Blog Recap: Coronavirus updates from around Wisconsin on Sunday", "text": "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel\n\nUpdates on coronavirus and how it's affecting life in Wisconsin from reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the USA Today Network-Wisconsin.\n\nUpdated Live Blog: Monday's coverage of coronavirus around Wisconsin\n\nRelated Coverage: What you need to know about coronavirus in Wisconsin\n\nMore Coverage: Coronavirus in the U.S. and around the world\n\nSUNDAY, MARCH 15\n\n9:50 p.m. Colectivo selling food and beverages only 'to-go'\n\nOne of metro Milwaukee's popular coffee cafes, Colectivo, is closing all of it's in-cafe seating areas and selling food and beverages only \"to-go\" starting Monday.\n\nTransactions for all take-out service will be cashless and touchless. Payment will be accepted by credit card, Apple Pay or the Colectivo app. There will be no swiping of Colectivo loyalty cards. Instead points can be gained through the app or by requesting a receipt and contacting the company later.\n\nThere are 13 Colectivo locations in southeastern Wisconsin.\n\n- Meg Jones\n\n9:40 p.m. Advocate Aurora Health hospitals and clinics adopt no-visitor policy\n\nTo prevent the spread of coronavirus, Advocate Aurora Health is restricting visitors from inpatient areas with a few exceptions.\n\nThe health care nonprofit serves nearly 3 million patients each year in Wisconsin and Illinois including hospitals and clinics in the metro Milwaukee area.\n\nSunday night Advocate Aurora Health issued new guidelines for its hospitals and clinics starting on Monday. No visitors will be allowed in any inpatient areas until further notice.\n\nExceptions include pediatric caregivers, partners and midwives of mothers in labor, end of life situations, companions for people in emergency departments and outpatient areas and professionals assigned to assist with procedures.\n\nVisitors who meet those exceptions must pass health screenings at checkpoints in the medical facilities.\n\n- Meg Jones\n\n9:20 p.m. Green Bay suspends public transit\n\nGreen Bay is suspending all public transportation starting Monday until further notice.\n\nParatransit services will remain available for \"all medically necessary trips,\" according to Green Bay Metro. Those riders should call 920-448-3185 to schedule trips.\n\nMayor Eric Genrich called the decision difficult in a Facebook post but said he believes it's the right move as officials emphasize social distancing and work to contain the spread of COVID-19. Genrich encouraged residents to help each other, particularly those who use public transit or are otherwise in need.\n\n- Haley BeMiller\n\n8:45p.m. CDC recommending 8-week ban on events with more than 50 people\n\nThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending an eight-week ban on events with 50 or more people.\n\nNew guidance issued Sunday night calls for organizers to cancel or postpone mass gatherings to include \"conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies.\"\n\nThe recommendations do not apply to schools or businesses, the CDC noted.\n\nThat could mean severely abbreviated seasons for sports leagues and myriad events ranging from music festivals to weddings planned a year or more in advance.\n\n8:15 p.m. Wauwatosa resident tests positive for coronavirus\n\nA Wauwatosa resident who recently returned home from international travel has tested positive for coronavirus, the city's Health Department said Sunday evening.\n\nWhen the person returned to the U.S. and experienced symptoms consistent with exposure to COVID-19, they went to a Milwaukee area hospital for testing. After the test, the person returned home and has remained under self-quarantine.\n\nWauwatosa Health Department officials are working to identify anyone who had close contact with the person so they can be monitored.\n\n- Meg Jones\n\n6:20 p.m. Almost one third of Wisconsin cases in Fond du Lac County\n\nAlmost one third of Wisconsin’s coronavirus cases are in Fond du Lac County, nine of which are linked to an Egyptian river cruise.\n\nFond du Lac County health officials said Sunday morning the county had five new positive coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 11. The state of Wisconsin has had 33 positive cases.\n\nFour of the new cases announced Sunday were tied to an Egyptian river cruise, which had 22 people on board a small boat, not all of whom were from Wisconsin.\n\nIn Wood County, one person has tested positive after returning recently from a cruise. It was unclear whether that person was on the same Egyptian river cruise.\n\nThe Wood County Health Department is investigating how the person got infected and who had close contact with them to follow up with monitoring of those individuals.\n\n-Benita Mathew, Fond du Lac Reporter\n\n3:30 p.m. No cash payments for Illinois toll road\n\nFolks traveling on the Illinois Tollway will not be able to pay with cash, only online or with an I-PASS, until further notice.\n\nOver the weekend Illinois Tollway announced that it is temporarily implementing all-electronic tolling to limit the spread of coronavirus to travelers and tollway employees.\n\nToll collection will be entirely handled via I-PASS, E-ZPASS and through the Tollway's online payment portal.\n\nTravelers who don’t have an I-PASS can either buy one at a Jewel-Osco store in Illinois or pay online. Don’t try to purchase one at Illinois Tollway customer service centers at oases because they’re now closed.\n\nTolls can be paid online at illinoistollway.com. I-PASS customers can manage their accounts online - getipass.com\n\nBecause of an expected higher than normal call volume due to the changes, Illinois Tollway officials encourage customers to pay missed tolls online and manage their I-PASS accounts.\n\n- Meg Jones\n\n2:58 p.m. Number of Wisconsin cases hits 33, including 5 in Fond du Lac\n\nThe number of positive coronavirus cases in Wisconsin grew to 33 on Sunday according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.\n\nThat is up from 27 positive cases on Saturday.\n\nThe DHS numbers include five news cases that Fond du Lac County reported Sunday morning before the state department updated its count online just before 3 p.m.\n\nThis sixth new case of coronavirus in Wisconsin is from an individual in Milwaukee County, which currently has seven positive coronavirus cases.\n\nThe count also includes one person who has since recovered from the disease in Dane County.\n\n- Jordyn Noennig\n\n1:55 p.m. Pick 'n Save, Walmart to reduce hours\n\nMilwaukee-area stores are reducing hours to have time to replenish shelves as customers continuously deplete stores from items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer.\n\nCustomers have been rushing to local stores to buy staples as the number of cases of coronavirus grow in Wisconsin. As of Sunday there were 32 confirmed cases within the state.\n\nWisconsin Kroger stores like Pick 'n Save and Metro Market will close at 10 p.m., effective immediately, in order to clean and replenish shelves, according to a statement from the grocery chain.\n\nMany store closing times were at 10 p.m. but a few Pick 'n Save stores in Milwaukee usually close at 11 p.m.\n\nWalmart also will be reducing time open at stores that were previously open 24 hours.\n\n-Jordyn Noennig\n\n10:37 a.m. Milwaukee, Waukesha Courts close for 3 to 6 weeks\n\nCourts in the area will be virtually closed starting Monday for three to six weeks.\n\nMilwaukee and Waukesha county circuit courts as well as federal courts have postponed nearly all in-person events and hearings. Some that can be done be phone of video conferencing will proceed as scheduled, but no one need report for jury duty.\n\nIn an eight-page order Saturday, Milwaukee County Chief Judge Mary Triggiano listed numerous steps that will effectively close most courts to normal business until April 3, and some until April 30, as part of the wide-ranging efforts to thwart the spread of the COVID-19 virus.\n\nWaukesha County’s circuit judges signed issued nearly the same order Sunday, though it extends to April 12.\n\nMatters not suspended include: Placement hearings for children in protective services or delinquency actions, mental health commitment hearings, initial appearances for jailed defendants, bench trials for jailed defendants and hearings on petitions for domestic violence, harassment and child abuse injunctions.\n\nCivil and probate cases are suspended until April 30, except for matters that can be addressed by phone. Any appearance in a small claims case is suspended until April. Weddings scheduled for the courthouse before April 3 are also canceled.\n\nIn Milwaukee County, anyone arrested on most misdemeanors will not be booked at the jail and will instead be ordered to appear at intake court after April 3.\n\nIn addition, face-to-face contact and drug testing through JusticePoint are canceled in favor of telephone supervision.\n\n\"These guidelines are in place to assure the continuous performance of the courts' essential functions and operations yet seek to minimize the exposure and further spread of the virus,\" Triggiano wrote.\n\nFederal courts for the Eastern District of Wisconsin late Friday announced they are drastically reducing in-person activity until May, postponing all jury trials, sentencings, revocation hearings and naturalization ceremonies.\n\nChief U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper signed the order, citing the quickly changing assessment of the seriousness of public health threats posed by the COVID-19 virus.\n\nThe downtown Milwaukee courthouse will remain open, she said, but tasks from search warrant reviews to initial appearances will be done electronically. Judges will continue ruling on written pleadings.\n\nDane County was the first to announce major courthouse restrictions last week. Other counties are expected to adopt variations on the restrictions soon. Check you county's Clerk of Courts website.\n\n- Bruce Vielmetti\n\nSATURDAY, MARCH 14\n\n7:34 p.m.: Milwaukee Public Schools say employee has virus\n\nOne of Milwaukee's coronavirus cases is a Milwaukee Public Schools employee at Hopkins-Lloyd Community School, the school district confirmed Saturday.\n\nThe Milwaukee Health Department is still awaiting a confirmed test about the individual from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but health officials believe the presumptive results are actionable, the district said in a news release.\n\nThe patient is an adult who is under medical supervision, the release said, and health officials are following up with anyone who may have had contact with the individual.\n\n“The Milwaukee Board of School Directors are working diligently to make sure families are fully informed regarding this matter,\" said school board President Larry Miller. \"We will continue to work with the administration and all agencies to keep families and staff informed as updates become available.”\n\n- Elliot Hughes\n\n6:17 p.m.: Milwaukee Public Museum and Milwaukee Art Museum close\n\nThe Milwaukee Public Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum announced Saturday they will close to the public, effective immediately.\n\nThe public museum will stay closed until further notice, while the art museum set April 7 as a tentative reopening date. All events scheduled at the art museum through April 14 will be canceled, however.\n\n- Elliot Hughes\n\n5:36 p.m.: City of Franklin confirms a case\n\nOf the four new confirmed cases of coronavirus announced in Milwaukee County on Saturday, one of them is in Franklin, the city confirmed in a press release.\n\nThe individual had recently returned from travel and learned they may have been exposed to the virus. The individual has remained at home in isolation after receiving testing, the release said.\n\nThe city's health department is following up on any contacts the infected person had prior to their isolation.\n\n- Elliot Hughes\n\n3:12 p.m. Eight new cases in Wisconsin including 4 in Milwaukee County\n\nWisconsin's confirmed cases of coronavirus increased by eight Saturday, including four new cases in Milwaukee County.\n\nSaturday's update comes after a week in which the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic set in many places around the U.S., including Wisconsin.\n\nConfirmed cases in Wisconsin included six in Milwaukee County, six in Fond du Lac County, six in Dane County, three in Sheboygan and Waukesha counties and one each in Winnebago, Racine and Pierce counties.\n\n- Matt Piper\n\n1:40 p.m.: Milwaukee County closes zoo and county parks buildings\n\nThe Milwaukee County Zoo is closing immediately, County Executive Chris Abele said Saturday. He said Milwaukee County Parks facilities and Milwaukee County Senior Centers will also be closed to the public until further notice.\n\n“The health and safety of Milwaukee County residents and visitors is our top priority, so we must continue to put our full weight behind ensuring we are prepared for COVID-19,” Abele said. “Closing our large public facilities is the best way to serve our residents and protect our community at this time, and we look forward to re-opening as soon as it is safe to do so.”\n\nOutdoor park facilities are open, according to the statement. Milwaukee County Parks public venues will close until further notice and public events, rentals and programs scheduled to be held at these venues have also been canceled. Closed facilities include Mitchell Park Domes, Noyes Indoor Pool, Pulaski Indoor Pool, King Community Center, Kosciusko Community Center, Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Wehr Nature Center visitor center, Boerner Botanical Gardens Visitor Center, Wilson Recreation Center & Ice Arena, and Wil-O-Way facilities at Grant and Underwood.\n\n- Mary Spicuzza\n\n12:31 p.m.: Every Buck on the roster donates to help arena's hourly workers\n\nBy Saturday morning everyone on the Milwaukee Bucks roster had joined the cause of making sure the 1,000-plus hourly workers at Fiserv Forum are taken care of during the NBA's hiatus. Those contributions will be matched by the organization to create a fund to pay workers during what will be at least a 30-day period without NBA games, a stretch that includes about 10 postponed home games.\n\n- More from Matt Velazquez\n\n8:52 a.m.: Despite Trump's support all Wisconsin GOP members vote against economic relief bill\n\nWisconsin Republicans were some of the few members of Congress to vote against a bill to provide economic relief to Americans affected by coronavirus, which the House overwhelmingly passed early Saturday. The vote came after President Donald Trump said he would support the sweeping measure.\n\nThe Families First Coronavirus Response Act was adopted 363-40, with every Democrat and most Republicans voting in favor of the measure. The vote, which was taken shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, followed two days of negotiations between Democratic leaders and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.\n\n“I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers,” Trump tweeted Friday.\n\nDespite Trump's support, all of Wisconsin's Republican congressmen voted against the measure. That includes Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman, Jim Sensenbrenner and Bryan Steil.\n\nThe bill now heads to the Senate for an expected vote Monday.\n\n- Mary Spicuzza\n\n8:04 a.m., March 14: Homeless shelters need cleaning supplies\n\nAs human nature to hoard safety supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic may arise, homeless shelters are asking Milwaukee-area residents to please consider sharing cleaning and sanitation products.\n\nThe Rescue Mission, which provides shelter to 300 people and serves more than 1,200 meals a day, has suspended volunteer activities and donations of home-made food items and is asking the public to help instead by donating soap, disposable gloves, disinfectants, face masks, bleach and hand sanitizer.\n\nRescue Mission president Patrick Vanderburgh, said the shelter is stepping up sanitation measures and expects to run thin on supplies. In a note on the agency’s website, Vanderburg also urged those wanting to give to use their discretion.\n\n“We understand and appreciate your eagerness to help, but we encourage you to consider your own health before making an in-person donation.”\n\nVanderburg also asked for prayers.\n\n“Know that we are also praying for you. Know that God is in control and that we can continue to trust in him, as he has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:4 NIV),” he wrote. “Strengthened by God’s promises, we can encourage and comfort one another to remain fearless in the face of danger, and joyful in spite of uncertainty.”\n\nSojourner Family Peace Center, too, is increasing cleaning procedures and also limiting business travel by employees. The agency, which provides shelter and services for those affected by domestic violence, said it will not turn away clients\n\n“Sojourner will not deny safety and support services based on an individual’s health status, Carmen Pitre, president and CEO wrote in a statement.\n\nAnd that: “We are committed to safeguarding staff, visitors and clients from illness.”\n\nPitre said the agency will not be changing hours of operation unless ordered to do so by the health department.\n\n“This unprecedented event is already having a significant impact on our economy and the nonprofit community,” Pitre wrote. “Sojourner’s clients are at a higher risk of contracting widespread illnesses. Consider making a gift to help us serve our clients during this difficult time.”\n\n- Raquel Rutledge\n\nFRIDAY, MARCH 13\n\n10 p.m.: Waukesha County Jail suspends visitation\n\nThe Waukesha County Sheriff's Office announced Friday night that it was suspending visitation at the county jail starting Monday.\n\nThe only exceptions are for professional/attorney visits, it said.\n\nThe move was being made \"to protect the health and wellbeing of all who live, work at, and visit the Waukesha County Jail,\" the sheriff's office said in a news release.\n\nThere are 480 jail inmates and 147 jail staff members, the sheriff's office said.\n\n— Ricardo Torres\n\n9 p.m.: State says prices may rise with high demand\n\nIt's common for prices of consumer goods to increase during times of high demand, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection said.\n\nBut the rises should be \"reasonable,\" according to a state statute that went into effect with Gov. Tony Evers' public health emergency declaration.\n\n\"Often, when demand for specific products is extremely high, or supplies are limited, prices will rise. This can be frustrating, and consumers may feel like they are being taken advantage of,\" the department said in a statement.\n\nGenerally, the price increases are legitimate because the sellers' costs go up too, the department said.\n\nBut anyone worried about price gouging should contact the state's consumer protection hotline: DATCPHotline@wisconsin.gov or (800) 422-7128.\n\n— Sophie Carson\n\n8 p.m.: Downtown Milwaukee employee is a COVID-19 patient\n\nA worker at 330 Kilbourn, a large downtown Milwaukee office building, has tested positive for coronavirus, the property manager said Friday.\n\nThe worker has been in self-quarantine since testing positive for COVID-19, property manager Sherry King wrote in an email to tenants.\n\nKing said the Milwaukee Health Department has been notified, and that property managers are “undertaking deep cleaning measures in the tenant space and all common spaces in the building to ensure the safest possible working environment.”\n\nThere are no plans to close the building, she said.\n\n“We have been advised by the health department that no closures are necessary,” she wrote. “They find the case very low risk since the individual is exhibiting no symptoms and that they were not within the CDC guidelines for exposure risk.”\n\nIt was not immediately clear where the worker resides.\n\n— Mary Spicuzza\n\n7:30 p.m.: Milwaukee's first coronavirus case confirmed\n\nThe Milwaukee Health Department on Friday evening confirmed the city's first coronavirus case in a resident who was a close contact to someone with a confirmed case.\n\nThe resident is a woman between 30 and 35 years old. She is currently isolating at home, according to the Health Department.\n\nThe Health Department is working to identify and contact everyone she may have been in contact with, and people who had close contact with her will be quarantined for 14 days from the time they were exposed and monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms, according to the department.\n\n“MHD is awaiting confirmatory testing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but health officials consider the presumptive results actionable,” the department said in a statement.\n\nMilwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik is assuming the responsibility for the coronavirus response for both the city and the county.\n\n— Alison Dirr\n\n5:30 p.m.: Racine County Jail limits inmates to violent offenders\n\nThe Racine County Jail is limiting the number of inmates it accepts amid the coronavirus outbreak.\n\nThe jail will only accept people arrested on violent felonies and misdemeanors, Sheriff Chris Schmaling said in a news release. Anyone else arrested will be told to appear at a mandatory court date.\n\n\"I firmly believe with these proactive steps, we will keep our law enforcement professionals healthy while continuing to protect our most valuable asset, our community,\" Schmaling said.\n\n— Sophie Carson\n\n5:12 p.m.: North Shore patient was exposed to virus while in Europe\n\nHealth department officials shared more details in a news conference about a male COVID-19 patient who lives on the North Shore.\n\nHealth Officer Ann Christiansen would not name the community in which the man resides. But she did say the man returned home from travel in Europe, learned he was exposed while abroad and then developed symptoms of the virus.\n\nWithin three days, he went to a local hospital for a test, which today came back positive.\n\n\"Based on the actions of this individual, we're confident that the risk to the community is low,\" Christiansen said.\n\nThe man did not have any connections to area school districts, Christiansen said. The North Shore Health Department is working to create a list of people the patient came into contact with. The list is expected to be short, she said, containing only immediate family members.\n\nThe man is one of two coronavirus patients in Milwaukee County.\n\nRead more here.\n\n— Sophie Carson\n\n5 p.m.: State says nursing home visits should be limited\n\nIn an effort to protect nursing home residents from the coronavirus, visits to the facilities should be largely limited to \"end of life situations or when a visitor is essential for the resident’s emotional well-being and care,\" according to state guidelines issued late Friday.\n\n\"Older and medically vulnerable adults have significantly increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, necessitating that we take all reasonable efforts to prevent introduction of this infectious disease into residential care facilities,\" Division of Public Health Administrator Jeanne Ayers wrote in the four-page memo. The guidelines were sent to local and tribal health care officers, health care providers and long-term and assisted living facilities statewide.\n\nOther recommendations by Ayer include screening all visitors to the facilities including health care workers, consultants and family members; ban visitors who show symptoms of coronavirus; make hygiene supplies such as masks, tissues and hand sanitizer available and do not allow employees who show \"signs and symptoms of a respiratory infection\" to work.\n\nIf an employee shows symptoms of a respiratory infection while on the job, they should \"immediately stop work, put on a facemask and self-isolate at home,\" Ayers wrote, adding the local health department should be notified.\n\n— Cary Spivak\n\n4:50 p.m.: Evers closes all public, private schools\n\nGov. Tony Evers directed the Department of Health Services to issue an order mandating the closure of all K-12 Wisconsin schools, both public and private.\n\n“Closing our schools is not a decision I made lightly, but keeping our kids, our educators, our families, and our communities safe is a top priority as we continue to work to respond to and prevent further spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin,” Evers said.\n\nThe mandated closure will begin on Wednesday, March 18.\n\nRead the full story here.\n\n— Evan Casey\n\n4:29 p.m. UW-Madison announces employee has been diagnosed with coronavirus\n\nUW-Madison said in a news release Friday afternoon that an employee who works in the School of Veterinary Medicine building was diagnosed with COVID-19 after traveling to a country with widespread transmission of the disease.\n\nNon-essential employees who work in that building were asked Friday afternoon to go home and monitor themselves for symptoms.\n\nThe affected employee is isolated at home, the news release said, and will be asked to monitor symptoms while Dane County Public Health tries to identify close contacts.\n\n— Matt Piper\n\n4:20 p.m.: UW-Madison creates student support fund\n\nUW-Madison created an emergency support fund to help students in difficult financial situations as a result of the coronavirus.\n\n\"We understand that these rapid changes may result in a multitude of complications for students and families, particularly for those who are financially vulnerable,\" a statement from the school reads.\n\n\"Many of our students will have unexpected travel costs, limited opportunities to work and earn funds for daily living costs, and/or decreased funding available for basic resources.\"\n\nTo donate, click here.\n\n— Sophie Carson\n\n4:15 p.m.: Milwaukee Marathon canceled\n\nThe Milwaukee Marathon, set for April 11, is canceled because of a state ban on large gatherings, organizers said.\n\nIt will not be rescheduled, but organizers will give competitors a chance to run the race on their own and log their times online by April 30. Learn more about the virtual run here.\n\n3:30 p.m.: North Shore resident is one of the positive Milwaukee County cases\n\nThe North Shore Health Department says it received notification from state officials that a person in Milwaukee County has tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).\n\nThe person returned from international travel and received notification from people they were with overseas that they had tested positive. Officials said the person immediately went to a Milwaukee-area hospital for evaluation, and after being tested, returned home and has remained under self-quarantine.\n\nHealth department officials did not say where on the North Shore the resident lives. A news conference was scheduled for 4 p.m.\n\n— Mary Spicuzza\n\n3:10 p.m.: Charter offers Spectrum access to students without internet\n\nCharter Communication announced Friday morning it will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a subscription.\n\nThe move comes as many Wisconsin schools have rescheduled online courses and video instruction to temporarily replace brick and mortar classrooms.\n\nCharter will partner with school districts to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help students learn remotely, the company said.\n\nA service of up to 100 megabytes per second will be provided.\n\nThe offer begins Monday. Those interested in enrolling are asked to call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households.\n\nCharter will also open Wi-Fi hot spots across its footprint for public use.\n\nRead the full story here.\n\n— Sophie Carson\n\n3 p.m.: AMC Theatres limits ticket sales to 50% capacity\n\nAMC Theatres, the nation's largest movie theater chain, announced Friday that it was limiting ticket sales in its theaters to 50% of capacity to allow for more social distance between patrons.\n\nThe chain, which operates the AMC Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa and in five other Wisconsin markets, said the new limits would go into effect Saturday. Regal Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in the United States, quickly followed suit. (Regal doesn't have any theaters in Wisconsin.)\n\nOn Thursday, Milwaukee Film said it would limit ticket sales to 33% of capacity. Read the story here.\n\n2:40 p.m.: Worried your child has the virus? Here's what to do\n\nParents who believe their children are showing symptoms of the new coronavirus (fever, cough, shortness of breath), or have been exposed to the virus, should call their doctor or go to this web page to set up a video visit with a doctor, Children Wisconsin hospital said Friday.\n\nChildren who are showing symptoms should avoid any contact with at-risk populations, including the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and people with other serious health conditions.\n\nThe hospital also announced that its primary and specialty care clinics will only allow one caregiver (and no siblings) to accompany a child to an appointment.\n\n\"In our Surgicenter and hospitals in Milwaukee and Neenah, patients can only have two individuals over the age of 12 visit,\" the hospital said.\n\nThe hospital stressed that families should only come to the emergency department if a child is experiencing a medical emergency or is directed to go there by a doctor. Children’s Wisconsin is not a testing site for COVID-19.\n\nChildren's will offer updates on this page.\n\n— Mark Johnson\n\n2:34 p.m.: Teachers call for Gov. Evers to close all public schools\n\nThe Milwaukee Teachers Education Association on Friday called on Gov. Tony Evers to close schools beginning Monday, citing the \"health of our students, workers and their families.\"\n\nThe union, which represents about 6,000 employees in Milwaukee and Racine, said it believes the number of students and staff in the state who may already have the virus is likely higher than has been reported because of the shortage and lack of access to test kits.\n\n\"Every day that students and staff are sent to school is another day where thousands of people are potentially exposed to this virus, to be taken home and spread to their siblings, parents, grandparents and others,\" MTEA President Amy Mizialko said in the letter.\n\nWhile children are at lower risk for the virus, she said, many students have conditions that put them in a higher risk category. And she said many volunteers are older, higher-risk individuals.\n\nThe union said schools don't have adequate staffing to clean and disinfect their buildings and there have been shortages of soap, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and paper towels.\n\nSuperintendent Keith Posley said earlier in the week that the district had added additional staff to clean buildings.\n\nThe MTEA letter acknowledged that many students depend on the schools for regular meals and said schools would need to continue to provide those meals if closed.\n\n— Annysa Johnson\n\n1:53 p.m.: Giannis pledges $100,000 to Fiserv Forum workers\n\nOn Friday, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo tweeted that he would pledge $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff, helping to offset costs related to loss of earning for hourly workers.\n\nIt's an identical amount pledged by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love to the workers in his home arena. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also said he planned to pay arena workers as if the suspended NBA games were actually taking place.\n\n\"It's bigger than basketball!\" Giannis wrote. \"And during this tough time I want to help the people that make my life, my family's lives and my teammates lives easier. Me and my family pledge to donate $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff. We can get through this together.\"\n\nGiannis and the Bucks had the best record in the NBA when play was suspended because of coronavirus concerns.\n\n— JR Radcliffe\n\n1:46 p.m.: Eleven new cases reported in Wisconsin, including two in Milwaukee County\n\nAfter an uptick in confirmed coronavirus cases in Wisconsin, the state now has 19 confirmed cases (18 active, one has recovered). Read our full story here.\n\n1:17 p.m.: Children's Hospital enhances visitor restrictions\n\nFrom Children's Hospital of Wisconsin: \"We have enhanced our visitor restrictions for clinic appointments and hospital visits to reduce the risk of exposure. In our primary and specialty care clinics, only one caregiver (and no siblings) will be allowed to accompany a child to an appointment. In our Surgicenter and hospitals in Milwaukee and Neenah, patients can only have two individuals over the age of 12 visit.\"\n\n1:03 p.m.: Milwaukee County declares public health emergency\n\nMilwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has declared a local public health emergency due to COVID-19. He said Milwaukee County was taking immediate preventative to help slow the spread of the virus.\n\n“Our top priority is to keep Milwaukee County residents and visitors safe, and we will use every tool and resource at our disposal to ensure we continue our efforts to be the healthiest county in Wisconsin,” Abele said.\n\nAbele said the proclamation gives Milwaukee County the necessary tools to act quickly in response to the virus.\n\n“We will continue to monitor the situation and provide all resources necessary to respond,” said Director of the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management Christine Westrich. “We are partnering with the city and state to prepare and respond as the virus spreads and will continue to communicate fully with Milwaukee County residents as we move forward.”\n\nEffective immediately, two administrative orders are being implemented for Milwaukee County employees.\n\nA supplemental paid leave administrative order applies to all employees, and provides a separate bank of hours to use in response to COVID-19. All full-time, part-time, seasonal and hourly workers will be granted a minimum of 40 hours of SPL bank time to use.\n\nThe travel administrative order, which follows the recommendation of federal public health authorities, restricts out-of-state travel for Milwaukee County employees effective immediately. Any employee that is currently traveling or elects to travels out of state must self-quarantine for 14 days upon return, Abele said.\n\n“We continue to actively monitor the spread of COVID-19 closely while we work to ensure our public health response is in line with the seriousness of this virus,” said the Emergency Medical Services Medical Director for Milwaukee County Dr. Ben Weston. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are taking serious, necessary steps to ensure we are prepared to work efficiently and effectively if and when this is at our doorstep. This is not a time for panic, but rather for preparation.”\n\nMany county departments will cancel or reschedule upcoming public events and will continue to communicate these preventative measures on an ongoing basis, officials said.\n\nFor example, the Milwaukee County Department on Aging has postponed all social programming at Milwaukee-County owned senior centers and will continue providing congregate meal programming at these sites.\n\nMilwaukee County Transit has implemented an extra daily disinfecting process on all buses, in addition to the standard cleaning that vehicles receive on a regular basis, officials said.\n\nThe airport has instituted enhanced cleaning procedures and are following all guidance from the CDC and the Milwaukee Health Department.\n\nMilwaukee County Parks has posted information detailing the preventative actions recommended by the CDC have been posted throughout Park facilities, hand sanitizer is being made widely available, and frequent handwashing is encouraged.\n\nOfficials said the Milwaukee County Zoo is performing regular cleaning and disinfecting. There are additional alcohol-based hand sanitizers at the zoo, as well as additional sanitary wipes available in highly trafficked areas, officials said.\n\nUpdate: Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow on Friday also declared a state of emergency. Farrow asked all county residents to follow the CDC’s guidelines for washing their hands, not to expose themselves to large gatherings of people, and remember to call elderly neighbors or other high risk populations and check in on them.\n\n- Mary Spicuzza\n\n12:55 p.m.: Absentee voting encouraged by municipalities\n\nMany municipalities are encouraging absentee voting due to coronavirus concerns. To request an absentee ballot online or to download a form to mail in, visit https://myvote.wi.gov and navigate to \"Vote Absentee\" in the upper right corner of the website.\n\nThe clerk needs to receive the absentee application by Thursday, April 2 for the spring election. The completed ballot must be received by 8 p.m. April 7. A copy or picture of voter identification is needed with the application.\n\n12:45 p.m.: Merton, Menomonee Falls close schools\n\nThe Merton Community School District is closed today after it learned of a possible case of coronavirus.\n\nMerton Superintendent Ron Russ said in a letter to families Thursday evening that both Merton Primary and Merton Intermediate schools would be closed today for a deep cleaning. The closure also applies to after-school care and all activities.\n\nMenomonee Falls also announced it would be suspending classes. On Thursday, Elmbrook announced it would be moving classes online, starting March 16.\n\nView our updating list of all school closures in the Milwaukee area.\n\n12:38 p.m.: First case reported in Racine County\n\nThe Racine County Health Department confirmed Friday that a county resident has contracted the coronavirus.\n\nState and local officials are working to identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with the infected individual, according to a news release. Those people are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days from their exposure and will be monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms.\n\nThe press release said the infected person had recently traveled internationally.\n\n- Elliot Hughes\n\n11:50 a.m.: Can you help? Milwaukee teacher builds spreadsheet to connect those in need with helpers\n\nAngela Harris, a first grade teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools, created a Google form through which people can offer or request help for a variety of needs, as schools shut down and people become isolated.\n\nAnyone who fills out the form can offer to help with childcare, meal preparation and delivery, running errands, signing people up for health insurance, checking on more vulnerable people, mediating conflicts, transportation, emotional support and monetary donations. People can also make requests for help through the form.\n\nHarris said she was inspired to create the form by a friend in another city who’d done the same thing after a school district closed. Harris was worried about her own students given a potential shut down at MPS.\n\n“One of my biggest worries is about my students,” she said. “I’m just really concerned about where they’ll get their food and the things they need.”\n\nHarris created the form last night, went to work to teach this morning and recently saw more than 200 people have already responded, including several organizations offering to help her organize the inflow of responses.\n\nHarris said she’s planning to meet with these organizations in the coming days to collaborate and facilitate connections between those who’ve filled out the form.\n\n“This is way bigger than me and something I can’t do by myself,” she said. “I welcome the assistance and support.”\n\n— Rory Linnane\n\n11:13 a.m.: Breweries take steps to keep consumers safe\n\nBreweries are taking steps to make sure consumers are safe. Lakefront continues its suspension of tours and special events and the beer hall and restaurant remain closed to the public.\n\nThird Space has suspended tours as well and customers can get a refund online or redeem tour tickets in the taproom for two beers and a pint glass. The brewery is also suspending growler refills. The taproom remains open to the public.\n\nGathering Place Brewing will pour beers into single-used recyclable plastic cups for the foreseeable future. It has also suspended the weekly joint tour bus it shares with Company Brewing, Black Husky Brewing and Lakefront. Gathering Place will continue to hold tours in the brewery but will cap the number at 12.\n\nUpdate: As a result of the suspension of the NBA season and the numerous large-scale event cancellations in Milwaukee, Good City Brewing will be closing its downtown taproom until further notice. It will continue to book and host private events, and the eastside taproom will remain open.\n\n- Kathy Flanigan\n\n11:11 a.m. NCAA Division II and III sports canceled for winter and spring season\n\nThe NCAA has shut down all Division II and Division III sports – for the winter and spring. That move has affected several Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams that were competing in national postseason tournaments.\n\nThe UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team was scheduled to play Loras (Iowa) in the Elite Eight at 4 p.m. Friday in Holland, Mich.\n\nThe Titans finished in fourth place in the regular season but won the WIAC tournament title to secure the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.\n\nThe UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey team was scheduled to host an NCAA quarterfinal game on March 21. Eau Claire won the regular-season and tournament titles.\n\nUW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire were scheduled to meet Saturday in Eau Claire in the second round of the NCAA women’s hockey tournament.\n\nRiver Falls on Wednesday night defeated visiting Gustavus Adolphus, 4-1, in the opening round in front of an announced crowd of 608.\n\n“They might have been one of the last schools to play an NCAA contest in front of a full crowd,” said Matt Stanek, WIAC assistant commissioner for media relations. “Because their crowd wasn’t limited.”\n\nNCAA Division I championships for the spring season were canceled Thursday.\n\n— Jeff Potrykus\n\n10:36 a.m. State board bans utilities from disconnections during health emergency\n\nHomes in Wisconsin will not be disconnected from water, electric or natural gas services for unpaid bills during Gov. Tony Evers' public health emergency period under an order from the state board that regulates utilities in Wisconsin.\n\nThe Public Services Commission, which regulates utilities, also asked utility providers to reconnect any home that is disconnected currently.\n\n\"Once the public health emergency is lifted, the utility may disconnect service to a property that was reconnected during this period without further notice if an appropriate payment or payment arrangement has not been established,\" the commission said in a statement.\n\nWisconsin homes are currently not in danger of being disconnected due to overdue bills under a longstanding moratorium during winter months. That ban expires April 15, however. Friday's order from the PSC extends the moratorium until the health emergency ends.\n\nA key to preventing the spread of coronavirus is frequent washing and bathing, and staying indoors.\n\n— Molly Beck\n\n10:31 a.m.: Sen. Johnson considers self quarantining\n\nU.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is considering quarantining himself just hours after telling the New York Times people weren’t hearing enough about success stories amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.\n\nThe Republican from Oshkosh met with a member of the Spanish parliament on March 2 who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus spreading around the world, according to Johnson’s office. He is consulting with a doctor about whether to go into quarantine but feels well, a statement from his office said.\n\nHours earlier, told the New York Times that journalists weren’t doing enough to tell the public about people who have survived after being infected.\n\n“One thing the press has not covered at all is the people who have really recovered,” Johnson told the newspaper. “Right now all people are hearing about are the deaths. I’m sure the deaths are horrific, but the flip side of this is the vast majority of people who get coronavirus do survive.”\n\n- Patrick Marley\n\n10:12 a.m. Jury trials canceled for Milwaukee County circuit court\n\nMany jury trials in Milwaukee County circuit court have been canceled for the next three weeks, and other operations will pare down and rely on phone appearance.\n\nThose summoned for jury duty before March 16 are still expected to show, and ​all other court proceedings that don't involve juries are still scheduled\n\nThe plan is to book new inmates only for the most serious felonies; others arrested would be ordered to show up at Out of Custody Intake Court.\n\nAs of Thursday, even lawyers had to visit clients at the Milwaukee County Jail via phone booths on each floor, unless a face-to-face contact is authorized by a shift commander for particular reasons.\n\nAll aspects of courthouse operations were under review this week, with an eye on how to reduce operations to a minimal staff. That would likely mean a temporary end to nearly all jury trials, closed branches of the court and increased use of court appearances and hearings by phone.\n\nUpdate: Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas announced Friday that restricted all non-essential access to the jail, including lawyers who must meet with incarcerated clients; they will have to use booths that allow video conferencing.\n\nLucas also said his office has \"aggressively enforced internal social distancing measures, including suspending face-to-face meetings and large gatherings\" and implemented \"a detailed three-phase strategy for infectious disease prevention, containment, and mitigation.\"\n\n— Bruce Vielmetti and Elliot Hughes\n\n10:03 a.m. Masters, Boston Marathon postponed\n\nThe sporting world continued to see its spotlighted events postponed or canceled. The Masters, one of the premier events in professional golf, announced that it would not begin on April 9 in Georgia as scheduled and would be postponed indefinitely.\n\nThe Boston Marathon, which was originally slated to take place April 20, has been postponed until Sept. 14.\n\n— JR Radcliffe\n\n9:55 a.m. Limits on reusable mugs and other changes at coffee vendors\n\nWith COVID-19 keeping customers from congregating as usual over morning coffee, Colectivo and other local and regional cafes are limiting reusable mugs, removing condiment areas and encouraging customers to order and pay on mobile apps. Starbucks is also suggesting the company might trim operations in some areas to drive-thrus.\n\nTo find a Starbucks drive-thru near you, click here.\n\nCoffee shop owners say they are increasing sanitation, requiring workers to wash their hands more frequently and urging employees who feel sick to stay home. “So please be patient with us if we seem a little shorthanded,” Mike Wroblewski, owner of Fiddleheads Coffee, wrote in a news release.\n\n— Raquel Rutledge\n\n9:22 a.m. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker imposes self-quarantine\n\nFormer Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is reportedly under voluntary self-quarantine.\n\nWalker reportedly attended the Conservative Political Action Conference, where at least one attendee who came into contact with a number of high-profile politicians and other officials was confirmed to have coronavirus.\n\nBut Walker is reportedly still giving speeches, including on Friday to the Teton County GOP, according to the Jackson Hole News & Guide.\n\n\"I commend the governor for being responsible and cautious given what’s going on everywhere,\" Teton County GOP Chairman Alex Muromcew told the newspaper. \"It is what it is and we’ve just got to roll with the punches.\"\n\nUpdate: Here is a statement from a Walker spokesperson:\n\n\"The governor attended the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, February 27 and Friday, February 28 and spoke with the person identified by the American Conservative Union as having unfortunately tested positive for the coronavirus. Upon learning of the information -- as a precaution -- the governor cancelled all events and has been staying in his home in Milwaukee through today, March 13, which will be two weeks since he attended the CPAC conference. The governor consulted medical professionals and there was no concern that he had contracted the virus.”\n\n— Mary Spicuzza\n\n7:23 a.m. Waukesha County Technical College suspends face-to-face classes with exceptions\n\nWaukesha County Technical College spring break is March 16-22. The following week, March 23-29, there will be no face-to-face in-class instruction with the exception of truck driving, criminal justice-law enforcement academy and Small Business Center courses. Clinicals and protective services courses may meet; instructors will contact students with details. Students are encouraged to monitor their email and online learning management system for changes.\n\nAll internal and external events are canceled through May 1, with the exception of graduation – a decision about that will be made soon.\n\nAll international travel, including education abroad classes, have been canceled through May 31.\n\nStudents traveling outside the county must self-quarantine for 14 days after their return before returning to class. Anyone returning for spring break outside the state must self-monitor for 14 days.\n\n— Debi Eimer\n\n6:25 a.m. Coronavirus starting to affect Kohl's business\n\nKohl's Corp. has experienced a \"softening of customer demand particularly in those areas most affect by the virus,\" the retailer said in a disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Digital demand has not been affected, Kohl's said.\n\nKohl's has all together canceled its investor day planned for Monday. The Menomonee Falls-based retailer had announced that the meeting would take place via webinar instead of in-person in New York City.\n\n\"As the spread of COVID-19 has continued, the Company believes it is most important to prioritize the immediate safety and well-being of its customers and Associates and the day-to-day operations of the business,\" Kohl's said in a filing.\n\nKohl's ended 2019 with flat sales in the fourth quarter, putting the chain down 1.3% for the fiscal year. Kohl's has more than 1,100 of its department stores across the country.\n\n\"The Company is maintaining its strong focus on expense management and cost control, while leveraging the strength of its balance sheet,\" Kohl's said.\n\n- Sarah Hauer", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/03/13"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_5", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/biden-state-of-the-union-2022-transcript/index.html", "title": "READ: President Biden's State of the Union address transcript | CNN ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPresident Joe Biden delivered his 2022 State of the Union address on Tuesday. Here’s his speech as prepared for delivery and released by the White House.\n\nMadam Speaker, Madam Vice President, our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Congress and the Cabinet. Justices of the Supreme Court. My fellow Americans.\n\nLast year COVID-19 kept us apart. This year we are finally together again.\n\nTonight, we meet as Democrats Republicans and Independents. But most importantly as Americans.\n\nWith a duty to one another to the American people to the Constitution.\n\nAnd with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.\n\nSix days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated.\n\nHe thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined.\n\nHe met the Ukrainian people.\n\nFrom President Zelensky to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world.\n\nGroups of citizens blocking tanks with their bodies. Everyone from students to retirees teachers turned soldiers defending their homeland.\n\nIn this struggle as President Zelensky said in his speech to the European Parliament “Light will win over darkness.” The Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States is here tonight.\n\nLet each of us here tonight in this Chamber send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world.\n\nPlease rise if you are able and show that, Yes, we the United States of America stand with the Ukrainian people.\n\nThroughout our history we’ve learned this lesson when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos.\n\nThey keep moving.\n\nAnd the costs and the threats to America and the world keep rising.\n\nThat’s why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2.\n\nThe United States is a member along with 29 other nations.\n\nIt matters. American diplomacy matters. American resolve matters.\n\nPutin’s latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked.\n\nHe rejected repeated efforts at diplomacy.\n\nHe thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And he thought he could divide us at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready. Here is what we did.\n\nWe prepared extensively and carefully.\n\nWe spent months building a coalition of other freedom-loving nations from Europe and the Americas to Asia and Africa to confront Putin.\n\nI spent countless hours unifying our European allies. We shared with the world in advance what we knew Putin was planning and precisely how he would try to falsely justify his aggression.\n\nWe countered Russia’s lies with truth.\n\nAnd now that he has acted the free world is holding him accountable.\n\nAlong with twenty-seven members of the European Union including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and many others, even Switzerland.\n\nWe are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever.\n\nTogether with our allies – we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions.\n\nWe are cutting off Russia’s largest banks from the international financial system.\n\nPreventing Russia’s central bank from defending the Russian Ruble making Putin’s $630 Billion “war fund” worthless.\n\nWe are choking off Russia’s access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come.\n\nTonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime no more.\n\nThe U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs.\n\nWe are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts your luxury apartments your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.\n\nAnd tonight I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American air space to all Russian flights – further isolating Russia – and adding an additional squeeze – on their economy. The Ruble has lost 30% of its value.\n\nThe Russian stock market has lost 40% of its value and trading remains suspended. Russia’s economy is reeling and Putin alone is to blame.\n\nTogether with our allies we are providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom. Military assistance. Economic assistance. Humanitarian assistance.\n\nWe are giving more than $1 Billion in direct assistance to Ukraine.\n\nAnd we will continue to aid the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and to help ease their suffering.\n\nLet me be clear, our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.\n\nOur forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO Allies – in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west.\n\nFor that purpose we’ve mobilized American ground forces, air squadrons, and ship deployments to protect NATO countries including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.\n\nAs I have made crystal clear the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of territory of NATO countries with the full force of our collective power.\n\nAnd we remain clear-eyed. The Ukrainians are fighting back with pure courage. But the next few days weeks, months, will be hard on them.\n\nPutin has unleashed violence and chaos. But while he may make gains on the battlefield – he will pay a continuing high price over the long run.\n\nAnd a proud Ukrainian people, who have known 30 years of independence, have repeatedly shown that they will not tolerate anyone who tries to take their country backwards.\n\nTo all Americans, I will be honest with you, as I’ve always promised. A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world.\n\nAnd I’m taking robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at Russia’s economy. And I will use every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers.\n\nTonight, I can announce that the United States has worked with 30 other countries to release 60 Million barrels of oil from reserves around the world.\n\nAmerica will lead that effort, releasing 30 Million barrels from our own Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And we stand ready to do more if necessary, unified with our allies.\n\nThese steps will help blunt gas prices here at home. And I know the news about what’s happening can seem alarming.\n\nBut I want you to know that we are going to be okay.\n\nWhen the history of this era is written Putin’s war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger.\n\nWhile it shouldn’t have taken something so terrible for people around the world to see what’s at stake now everyone sees it clearly.\n\nWe see the unity among leaders of nations and a more unified Europe a more unified West. And we see unity among the people who are gathering in cities in large crowds around the world even in Russia to demonstrate their support for Ukraine.\n\nIn the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security.\n\nThis is a real test. It’s going to take time. So let us continue to draw inspiration from the iron will of the Ukrainian people.\n\nTo our fellow Ukrainian Americans who forge a deep bond that connects our two nations we stand with you.\n\nPutin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people.\n\nHe will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.\n\nWe meet tonight in an America that has lived through two of the hardest years this nation has ever faced.\n\nThe pandemic has been punishing.\n\nAnd so many families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food, gas, housing, and so much more.\n\nI understand.\n\nI remember when my Dad had to leave our home in Scranton, Pennsylvania to find work. I grew up in a family where if the price of food went up, you felt it.\n\nThat’s why one of the first things I did as President was fight to pass the American Rescue Plan.\n\nBecause people were hurting. We needed to act, and we did.\n\nFew pieces of legislation have done more in a critical moment in our history to lift us out of crisis.\n\nIt fueled our efforts to vaccinate the nation and combat Covid-19. It delivered immediate economic relief for tens of millions of Americans.\n\nHelped put food on their table, keep a roof over their heads, and cut the cost of health insurance.\n\nAnd as my Dad used to say, it gave people a little breathing room.\n\nAnd unlike the $2 Trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefitted the top 1% of Americans, the American Rescue Plan helped working people—and left no one behind.\n\nAnd it worked. It created jobs. Lots of jobs.\n\nIn fact—our economy created over 6.5 Million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year\n\nthan ever before in the history of America.\n\nOur economy grew at a rate of 5.7% last year, the strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the first step in bringing fundamental change to an economy that hasn’t worked for the working people of this nation for too long.\n\nFor the past 40 years we were told that if we gave tax breaks to those at the very top, the benefits would trickle down to everyone else.\n\nBut that trickle-down theory led to weaker economic growth, lower wages, bigger deficits, and the widest gap between those at the top and everyone else in nearly a century.\n\nVice President Harris and I ran for office with a new economic vision for America.\n\nInvest in America. Educate Americans. Grow the workforce. Build the economy from the bottom up\n\nand the middle out, not from the top down.\n\nBecause we know that when the middle class grows, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy do very well.\n\nAmerica used to have the best roads, bridges, and airports on Earth.\n\nNow our infrastructure is ranked 13th in the world.\n\nWe won’t be able to compete for the jobs of the 21st Century if we don’t fix that.\n\nThat’s why it was so important to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—the most sweeping investment to rebuild America in history.\n\nThis was a bipartisan effort, and I want to thank the members of both parties who worked to make it happen.\n\nWe’re done talking about infrastructure weeks.\n\nWe’re going to have an infrastructure decade.\n\nIt is going to transform America and put us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st Century that we face with the rest of the world—particularly with China.\n\nAs I’ve told Xi Jinping, it is never a good bet to bet against the American people.\n\nWe’ll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, and waterways all across America.\n\nAnd we’ll do it all to withstand the devastating effects of the climate crisis and promote environmental justice.\n\nWe’ll build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, begin to replace poisonous lead pipes—so every child—and every American—has clean water to drink at home and at school, provide affordable high-speed internet for every American—urban, suburban, rural, and tribal communities.\n\n4,000 projects have already been announced.\n\nAnd tonight, I’m announcing that this year we will start fixing over 65,000 miles of highway and 1,500 bridges in disrepair.\n\nWhen we use taxpayer dollars to rebuild America – we are going to Buy American: buy American products to support American jobs.\n\nThe federal government spends about $600 Billion a year to keep the country safe and secure.\n\nThere’s been a law on the books for almost a century\n\nto make sure taxpayers’ dollars support American jobs and businesses.\n\nEvery Administration says they’ll do it, but we are actually doing it.\n\nWe will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails are made in America.\n\nBut to compete for the best jobs of the future, we also need to level the playing field with China and other competitors.\n\nThat’s why it is so important to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act sitting in Congress that will make record investments in emerging technologies and American manufacturing.\n\nLet me give you one example of why it’s so important to pass it.\n\nIf you travel 20 miles east of Columbus, Ohio, you’ll find 1,000 empty acres of land.\n\nIt won’t look like much, but if you stop and look closely, you’ll see a “Field of dreams,” the ground on which America’s future will be built.\n\nThis is where Intel, the American company that helped build Silicon Valley, is going to build its $20 billion semiconductor “mega site”.\n\nUp to eight state-of-the-art factories in one place. 10,000 new good-paying jobs.\n\nSome of the most sophisticated manufacturing in the world to make computer chips the size of a fingertip that power the world and our everyday lives.\n\nSmartphones. The Internet. Technology we have yet to invent.\n\nBut that’s just the beginning.\n\nIntel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who is here tonight, told me they are ready to increase their investment from\n\n$20 billion to $100 billion.\n\nThat would be one of the biggest investments in manufacturing in American history.\n\nAnd all they’re waiting for is for you to pass this bill.\n\nSo let’s not wait any longer. Send it to my desk. I’ll sign it.\n\nAnd we will really take off.\n\nAnd Intel is not alone.\n\nThere’s something happening in America.\n\nJust look around and you’ll see an amazing story.\n\nThe rebirth of the pride that comes from stamping products “Made In America.” The revitalization of American manufacturing.\n\nCompanies are choosing to build new factories here, when just a few years ago, they would have built them overseas.\n\nThat’s what is happening. Ford is investing $11 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 11,000 jobs across the country.\n\nGM is making the largest investment in its history—$7 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan.\n\nAll told, we created 369,000 new manufacturing jobs in America just last year.\n\nPowered by people I’ve met like JoJo Burgess, from generations of union steelworkers from Pittsburgh, who’s here with us tonight.\n\nAs Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown says, “It’s time to bury the label “Rust Belt.”\n\nIt’s time.\n\nBut with all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth and higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills.\n\nInflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel.\n\nI get it. That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control.\n\nLook, our economy roared back faster than most predicted, but the pandemic meant that businesses had a hard time hiring enough workers to keep up production in their factories.\n\nThe pandemic also disrupted global supply chains.\n\nWhen factories close, it takes longer to make goods and get them from the warehouse to the store, and prices go up.\n\nLook at cars.\n\nLast year, there weren’t enough semiconductors to make all the cars that people wanted to buy.\n\nAnd guess what, prices of automobiles went up.\n\nSo—we have a choice.\n\nOne way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer.\n\nI have a better plan to fight inflation.\n\nLower your costs, not your wages.\n\nMake more cars and semiconductors in America.\n\nMore infrastructure and innovation in America.\n\nMore goods moving faster and cheaper in America.\n\nMore jobs where you can earn a good living in America.\n\nAnd instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let’s make it in America.\n\nEconomists call it “increasing the productive capacity of our economy.”\n\nI call it building a better America.\n\nMy plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit.\n\n17 Nobel laureates in economics say my plan will ease long-term inflationary pressures. Top business leaders and most Americans support my plan. And here’s the plan:\n\nFirst – cut the cost of prescription drugs. Just look at insulin. One in 10 Americans has diabetes. In Virginia, I met a 13-year-old boy named Joshua Davis.\n\nHe and his Dad both have Type 1 diabetes, which means they need insulin every day. Insulin costs about $10 a vial to make.\n\nBut drug companies charge families like Joshua and his Dad up to 30 times more. I spoke with Joshua’s mom.\n\nImagine what it’s like to look at your child who needs insulin and have no idea how you’re going to pay for it.\n\nWhat it does to your dignity, your ability to look your child in the eye, to be the parent you expect to be.\n\nJoshua is here with us tonight. Yesterday was his birthday. Happy birthday, buddy.\n\nFor Joshua, and for the 200,000 other young people with Type 1 diabetes, let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month so everyone can afford it.\n\nDrug companies will still do very well. And while we’re at it let Medicare negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs, like the VA already does.\n\nLook, the American Rescue Plan is helping millions of families on Affordable Care Act plans save $2,400 a year on their health care premiums. Let’s close the coverage gap and make those savings permanent.\n\nSecond - cut energy costs for families an average of $500 a year by combatting climate change.\n\nLet’s provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax credit; double America’s clean energy production in solar, wind, and so much more; lower the price of electric vehicles, saving you another $80 a month because you’ll never have to pay at the gas pump again.\n\nThird – cut the cost of child care. Many families pay up to $14,000 a year for child care per child.\n\nMiddle-class and working families shouldn’t have to pay more than 7% of their income for care of young children.\n\nMy plan will cut the cost in half for most families and help parents, including millions of women, who left the workforce during the pandemic because they couldn’t afford child care, to be able to get back to work.\n\nMy plan doesn’t stop there. It also includes home and long-term care. More affordable housing. And Pre-K for every 3- and 4-year-old.\n\nAll of these will lower costs.\n\nAnd under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in new taxes. Nobody.\n\nThe one thing all Americans agree on is that the tax system is not fair. We have to fix it.\n\nI’m not looking to punish anyone. But let’s make sure corporations and the wealthiest Americans start paying their fair share.\n\nJust last year, 55 Fortune 500 corporations earned $40 billion in profits and paid zero dollars in federal income tax.\n\nThat’s simply not fair. That’s why I’ve proposed a 15% minimum tax rate for corporations.\n\nWe got more than 130 countries to agree on a global minimum tax rate so companies can’t get out of paying their taxes at home by shipping jobs and factories overseas.\n\nThat’s why I’ve proposed closing loopholes so the very wealthy don’t pay a lower tax rate than a teacher or a firefighter.\n\nSo that’s my plan. It will grow the economy and lower costs for families.\n\nSo what are we waiting for? Let’s get this done. And while you’re at it, confirm my nominees to the Federal Reserve, which plays a critical role in fighting inflation.\n\nMy plan will not only lower costs to give families a fair shot, it will lower the deficit.\n\nThe previous Administration not only ballooned the deficit with tax cuts for the very wealthy and corporations, it undermined the watchdogs whose job was to keep pandemic relief funds from being wasted.\n\nBut in my administration, the watchdogs have been welcomed back.\n\nWe’re going after the criminals who stole billions in relief money meant for small businesses and millions of Americans.\n\nAnd tonight, I’m announcing that the Justice Department will name a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud.\n\nBy the end of this year, the deficit will be down to less than half what it was before I took office.\n\nThe only president ever to cut the deficit by more than one trillion dollars in a single year.\n\nLowering your costs also means demanding more competition.\n\nI’m a capitalist, but capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism.\n\nIt’s exploitation—and it drives up prices.\n\nWhen corporations don’t have to compete, their profits go up, your prices go up, and small businesses and family farmers and ranchers go under.\n\nWe see it happening with ocean carriers moving goods in and out of America.\n\nDuring the pandemic, these foreign-owned companies raised prices by as much as 1,000% and made record profits.\n\nTonight, I’m announcing a crackdown on these companies overcharging American businesses and consumers.\n\nAnd as Wall Street firms take over more nursing homes, quality in those homes has gone down and costs have gone up.\n\nThat ends on my watch.\n\nMedicare is going to set higher standards for nursing homes and make sure your loved ones get the care they deserve and expect.\n\nWe’ll also cut costs and keep the economy going strong by giving workers a fair shot, provide more training and apprenticeships, hire them based on their skills not degrees.\n\nLet’s pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and paid leave.\n\nRaise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and extend the Child Tax Credit, so no one has to raise a family in poverty.\n\nLet’s increase Pell Grants and increase our historic support of HBCUs, and invest in what Jill—our First Lady who teaches full-time—calls America’s best-kept secret: community colleges.\n\nAnd let’s pass the PRO Act when a majority of workers want to form a union—they shouldn’t be stopped.\n\nWhen we invest in our workers, when we build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out together, we can do something we haven’t done in a long time: build a better America.\n\nFor more than two years, Covid-19 has impacted every decision in our lives and the life of the nation.\n\nAnd I know you’re tired, frustrated, and exhausted.\n\nBut I also know this.\n\nBecause of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say\n\nwe are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines.\n\nWe’ve reached a new moment in the fight against Covid-19, with severe cases down to a level not seen since last July.\n\nJust a few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the CDC—issued new mask guidelines.\n\nUnder these new guidelines, most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free.\n\nAnd based on the projections, more of the country will reach that point across the next couple of weeks.\n\nThanks to the progress we have made this past year, Covid-19 need no longer control our lives.\n\nI know some are talking about “living with Covid-19”. Tonight – I say that we will never just accept living with Covid-19.\n\nWe will continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases. And because this is a virus that mutates and spreads, we will stay on guard.\n\nHere are four common sense steps as we move forward safely.\n\nFirst, stay protected with vaccines and treatments. We know how incredibly effective vaccines are. If you’re vaccinated and boosted you have the highest degree of protection.\n\nWe will never give up on vaccinating more Americans. Now, I know parents with kids under 5 are eager to see a vaccine authorized for their children.\n\nThe scientists are working hard to get that done and we’ll be ready with plenty of vaccines when they do.\n\nWe’re also ready with anti-viral treatments. If you get Covid-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90%.\n\nWe’ve ordered more of these pills than anyone in the world. And Pfizer is working overtime to get us 1 million pills this month and more than double that next month.\n\nAnd we’re launching the “Test to Treat” initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they’re positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost.\n\nIf you’re immunocompromised or have some other vulnerability, we have treatments and free high-quality masks.\n\nWe’re leaving no one behind or ignoring anyone’s needs as we move forward.\n\nAnd on testing, we have made hundreds of millions of tests available for you to order for free.\n\nEven if you already ordered free tests tonight, I am announcing that you can order more from Covidtests.gov starting next week.\n\nSecond – we must prepare for new variants. Over the past year, we’ve gotten much better at detecting new variants.\n\nIf necessary, we’ll be able to deploy new vaccines within 100 days instead of many more months or years.\n\nAnd, if Congress provides the funds we need, we’ll have new stockpiles of tests, masks, and pills ready if needed.\n\nI cannot promise a new variant won’t come. But I can promise you we’ll do everything within our power to be ready if it does.\n\nThird – we can end the shutdown of schools and businesses. We have the tools we need.\n\nIt’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again. People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.\n\nWe’re doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.\n\nOur schools are open. Let’s keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school.\n\nAnd with 75% of adult Americans fully vaccinated and hospitalizations down by 77%, most Americans can remove their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom, and move forward safely.\n\nWe achieved this because we provided free vaccines, treatments, tests, and masks.\n\nOf course, continuing this costs money.\n\nI will soon send Congress a request.\n\nThe vast majority of Americans have used these tools and may want to again, so I expect Congress to pass it quickly.\n\nFourth, we will continue vaccinating the world.\n\nWe’ve sent 475 Million vaccine doses to 112 countries, more than any other nation.\n\nAnd we won’t stop.\n\nWe have lost so much to Covid-19. Time with one another. And worst of all, so much loss of life.\n\nLet’s use this moment to reset. Let’s stop looking at Covid-19 as a partisan dividing line and see it for what it is: A God-awful disease.\n\nLet’s stop seeing each other as enemies, and start seeing each other for who we really are: Fellow Americans.\n\nWe can’t change how divided we’ve been. But we can change how we move forward—on Covid-19 and other issues we must face together.\n\nI recently visited the New York City Police Department days after the funerals of Officer Wilbert Mora and his partner, Officer Jason Rivera.\n\nThey were responding to a 9-1-1 call when a man shot and killed them with a stolen gun.\n\nOfficer Mora was 27 years old.\n\nOfficer Rivera was 22.\n\nBoth Dominican Americans who’d grown up on the same streets they later chose to patrol as police officers.\n\nI spoke with their families and told them that we are forever in debt for their sacrifice, and we will carry on their mission to restore the trust and safety every community deserves.\n\nI’ve worked on these issues a long time.\n\nI know what works: Investing in crime prevention and community police officers who’ll walk the beat, who’ll know the neighborhood, and who can restore trust and safety.\n\nSo let’s not abandon our streets. Or choose between safety and equal justice.\n\nLet’s come together to protect our communities, restore trust, and hold law enforcement accountable.\n\nThat’s why the Justice Department required body cameras, banned chokeholds, and restricted no-knock warrants for its officers.\n\nThat’s why the American Rescue Plan provided $350 Billion that cities, states, and counties can use to hire more police and invest in proven strategies like community violence interruption—trusted messengers breaking the cycle of violence and trauma and giving young people hope.\n\nWe should all agree: The answer is not to Defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.\n\nI ask Democrats and Republicans alike: Pass my budget and keep our neighborhoods safe.\n\nAnd I will keep doing everything in my power to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns you can buy online and make at home—they have no serial numbers and can’t be traced.\n\nAnd I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence. Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon?\n\nBan assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.\n\nRepeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued.\n\nThese laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment. They save lives.\n\nThe most fundamental right in America is the right to vote – and to have it counted. And it’s under assault.\n\nIn state after state, new laws have been passed, not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert entire elections.\n\nWe cannot let this happen.\n\nTonight. I call on the Senate to: Pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And while you’re at it, pass the Disclose Act so Americans can know who is funding our elections.\n\nTonight, I’d like to honor someone who has dedicated his life to serve this country: Justice Stephen Breyer—an Army veteran, constitutional scholar, and retiring Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Breyer, thank you for your service.\n\nOne of the most serious constitutional responsibilities a President has is nominating someone to serve on the United States Supreme Court.\n\nAnd I did that 4 days ago, when I nominated Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. One of our nation’s top legal minds, who will continue Justice Breyer’s legacy of excellence.\n\nA former top litigator in private practice. A former federal public defender. And from a family of public school educators and police officers. A consensus builder. Since she’s been nominated, she’s received a broad range of support—from the Fraternal Order of Police to former judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans.\n\nAnd if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the Border and fix the immigration system.\n\nWe can do both. At our border, we’ve installed new technology like cutting-edge scanners to better detect drug smuggling.\n\nWe’ve set up joint patrols with Mexico and Guatemala to catch more human traffickers.\n\nWe’re putting in place dedicated immigration judges so families fleeing persecution and violence can have their cases heard faster.\n\nWe’re securing commitments and supporting partners in South and Central America to host more refugees and secure their own borders.\n\nWe can do all this while keeping lit the torch of liberty that has led generations of immigrants to this land—my forefathers and so many of yours.\n\nProvide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.\n\nRevise our laws so businesses have the workers they need and families don’t wait decades to reunite.\n\nIt’s not only the right thing to do—it’s the economically smart thing to do.\n\nThat’s why immigration reform is supported by everyone from labor unions to religious leaders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.\n\nLet’s get it done once and for all.\n\nAdvancing liberty and justice also requires protecting the rights of women.\n\nThe constitutional right affirmed in Roe v. Wade—standing precedent for half a century—is under attack as never before.\n\nIf we want to go forward—not backward—we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose. And let’s continue to advance maternal health care in America.\n\nAnd for our LGBTQ+ Americans, let’s finally get the bipartisan Equality Act to my desk. The onslaught of state laws targeting transgender Americans and their families is wrong.\n\nAs I said last year, especially to our younger transgender Americans, I will always have your back as your President, so you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.\n\nWhile it often appears that we never agree, that isn’t true. I signed 80 bipartisan bills into law last year. From preventing government shutdowns to protecting Asian-Americans from still-too-common hate crimes to reforming military justice.\n\nAnd soon, we’ll strengthen the Violence Against Women Act that I first wrote three decades ago. It is important for us to show the nation that we can come together and do big things.\n\nSo tonight I’m offering a Unity Agenda for the Nation. Four big things we can do together.\n\nFirst, beat the opioid epidemic.\n\nThere is so much we can do. Increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery.\n\nGet rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments. And stop the flow of illicit drugs by working with state and local law enforcement to go after traffickers.\n\nIf you’re suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery.\n\nSecond, let’s take on mental health. Especially among our children, whose lives and education have been turned upside down.\n\nThe American Rescue Plan gave schools money to hire teachers and help students make up for lost learning.\n\nI urge every parent to make sure your school does just that. And we can all play a part—sign up to be a tutor or a mentor.\n\nChildren were also struggling before the pandemic. Bullying, violence, trauma, and the harms of social media.\n\nAs Frances Haugen, who is here with us tonight, has shown, we must hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit.\n\nIt’s time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children.\n\nAnd let’s get all Americans the mental health services they need. More people they can turn to for help, and full parity between physical and mental health care.\n\nThird, support our veterans.\n\nVeterans are the best of us.\n\nI’ve always believed that we have a sacred obligation to equip all those we send to war and care for them and their families when they come home.\n\nMy administration is providing assistance with job training and housing, and now helping lower-income veterans get VA care debt-free.\n\nOur troops in Iraq and Afghanistan faced many dangers.\n\nOne was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic smoke from “burn pits” that incinerated wastes of war—medical and hazard material, jet fuel, and more.\n\nWhen they came home, many of the world’s fittest and best trained warriors were never the same.\n\nHeadaches. Numbness. Dizziness.\n\nA cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.\n\nI know.\n\nOne of those soldiers was my son Major Beau Biden.\n\nWe don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops.\n\nBut I’m committed to finding out everything we can.\n\nCommitted to military families like Danielle Robinson from Ohio.\n\nThe widow of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson.\n\nHe was born a soldier. Army National Guard. Combat medic in Kosovo and Iraq.\n\nStationed near Baghdad, just yards from burn pits the size of football fields.\n\nHeath’s widow Danielle is here with us tonight. They loved going to Ohio State football games. He loved building Legos with their daughter.\n\nBut cancer from prolonged exposure to burn pits ravaged Heath’s lungs and body.\n\nDanielle says Heath was a fighter to the very end.\n\nHe didn’t know how to stop fighting, and neither did she.\n\nThrough her pain she found purpose to demand we do better.\n\nTonight, Danielle—we are.\n\nThe VA is pioneering new ways of linking toxic exposures to diseases, already helping more veterans get benefits.\n\nAnd tonight, I’m announcing we’re expanding eligibility to veterans suffering from nine respiratory cancers.\n\nI’m also calling on Congress: pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they deserve.\n\nAnd fourth, let’s end cancer as we know it.\n\nThis is personal to me and Jill, to Kamala, and to so many of you.\n\nCancer is the #2 cause of death in America–second only to heart disease.\n\nLast month, I announced our plan to supercharge\n\nthe Cancer Moonshot that President Obama asked me to lead six years ago.\n\nOur goal is to cut the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years, turn more cancers from death sentences into treatable diseases.\n\nMore support for patients and families.\n\nTo get there, I call on Congress to fund ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.\n\nIt’s based on DARPA—the Defense Department project that led to the Internet, GPS, and so much more.\n\nARPA-H will have a singular purpose—to drive breakthroughs in cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and more.\n\nA unity agenda for the nation.\n\nWe can do this.\n\nMy fellow Americans—tonight, we have gathered in a sacred space—the citadel of our democracy.\n\nIn this Capitol, generation after generation, Americans have debated great questions amid great strife, and have done great things.\n\nWe have fought for freedom, expanded liberty, defeated totalitarianism and terror.\n\nAnd built the strongest, freest, and most prosperous nation the world has ever known.\n\nNow is the hour.\n\nOur moment of responsibility.\n\nOur test of resolve and conscience, of history itself.\n\nIt is in this moment that our character is formed. Our purpose is found. Our future is forged.\n\nWell I know this nation.\n\nWe will meet the test.\n\nTo protect freedom and liberty, to expand fairness and opportunity.\n\nWe will save democracy.\n\nAs hard as these times have been, I am more optimistic about America today than I have been my whole life.\n\nBecause I see the future that is within our grasp.\n\nBecause I know there is simply nothing beyond our capacity.\n\nWe are the only nation on Earth that has always turned every crisis we have faced into an opportunity.\n\nThe only nation that can be defined by a single word: possibilities.\n\nSo on this night, in our 245th year as a nation, I have come to report on the State of the Union.\n\nAnd my report is this: the State of the Union is strong—because you, the American people, are strong.\n\nWe are stronger today than we were a year ago.\n\nAnd we will be stronger a year from now than we are today.\n\nNow is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time.\n\nAnd we will, as one people.\n\nOne America.\n\nThe United States of America.\n\nMay God bless you all. May God protect our troops.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/01/state-of-the-union-live-updates/6884795001/", "title": "State of the Union recap: Biden aims to reset presidency, addresses ...", "text": "President Joe Biden fulfilled a constitutional request when he delivered a State of the Union address – his first – to Congress on Tuesday.\n\nThe president kicked off his speech strongly condemning Russia for its \"unprovoked\" invasion of Ukraine, including closing off U.S. airspace to Russia planes.\n\nDomestically, he hailed a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, urging Americans to see the virus, and not each other, as the enemy.\n\nAnd he also addressed inflation, with price jumps hitting 40-year highs recently pressuring American families and making it harder to afford everything from rent to food to schooling.\n\nHere's what else you need to know, along with some history on the speech.\n\nLive updates:660K people have fled Ukraine as Russia resumes attacks on crowded cities\n\nHistoric moment:For first time in history, two women sat behind president at State of the Union\n\nWhat does the progressive response to the State of the Union mean?\n\nRep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called for student loan debt forgiveness and passage of the Build Back Better Act and voting rights legislation during her Working Families Party's response to President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address Tuesday.\n\n\"The majority of the Build Back Better agenda is stalled Mr. President. Our work is unfinished. We are ready to jumpstart our work again,\" Tlaib, a Democrat, said on behalf of the independent political party.\n\nTlaib also touted the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill during her address but said her fellow Democrats need to do more work.\n\n– Mabinty Quarshie\n\nRead the whole story here:What does the progressive response to President Biden's State of the Union address mean?\n\nRepublican rebuttal: GOP deploys campaign-style attacks on Biden's State of the Union speech\n\nRepublicans used President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to launch campaign-style attacks Tuesday on what many GOP members see as the congressional elections' top issue: Biden himself.\n\n\"Weakness on the world stage has a cost and the president's approach to foreign policy has consistently been too little too late,\" said Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa., in the Republican Party's formal response to the State of the Union.\n\nReynolds accused Biden of bringing the nation back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, a time when \"runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing on our cities, and the Soviet army was trying to redraw the world map.\"\n\n-- David Jackson\n\nRead the whole story here:Republican rebuttal: GOP deploys campaign-style attacks on Biden's State of the Union speech\n\nWhat Biden said about Ukraine, COVID, the economy in his first State of the Union: full transcript\n\nPresident Joe Biden gave his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. The roughly hour-long speech started a little after 9 p.m.\n\nBiden spoke about several of his administration's domestic priorities such as voting rights, combatting rising inflation, the electrification of the transportation system to fight climate change and other challenges facing the nation.\n\nHe also addressed Russia's ongoing invasion into Ukraine.\n\nHere's a transcript of Biden's speech.\n\nMore:What Biden said about Ukraine, COVID, the economy in his first State of the Union: full transcript\n\nAnalysis: Biden seeks his footing as his agenda and the landscape are transformed\n\nEverything has changed.\n\nFor President Joe Biden, his State of the Union address Tuesday night was dominated by issues he had scarcely mentioned in his first speech to a joint session of Congress a year ago – issues of inflation at home and Russian aggression abroad, on which his presidency will now be judged.\n\nSpeaking at length and at times with emotion, the president described Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as a historic challenge to European stability and security that demanded a strong and united response. Even as Biden climbed to the dais in the House of Representatives, Kyiv was bracing for an all-out Russian assault that could lead to the occupation of the capital and the overthrow of the nation's democratically elected government.\n\nRead the whole story here:A world of change: Biden seeks his footing as his agenda and the landscape are transformed\n\nWho heckled Biden?\n\nA notable moment in the State of the Union came when Biden talked about talked about the flag-draped coffins of fallen service members, including his son, Beau, who died in 2015 of brain cancer at age 46.\n\nAs Biden spoke about Beau, people inside the House chambers reported someone shouting, “You put them in there, 13 of them.\" After the comment was made, attendees in the chambers began to boo and groan at the comment, as Biden paused for a brief moment and continued his address.\n\nBoebert later confirmed on Twitter she in fact made the comment, in reference to the 13 U.S. soldiers who were killed in a suicide bombing attack at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in August as the Taliban took over Afghanistan and Afghans attempted to flee the country.\n\n--Jordan Mendoza\n\nBiden touts Justice Breyer, Ketanji Brown Jackson\n\nIn one of the more touching moments of Biden’s remarks Tuesday, the president briefly recognized Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced he will step down from the Supreme Court after nearly three decades.\n\nBreyer, holding his hands over his heart and, at one point, his face, appeared to be embarrassed by the attention. Breyer, who will retire in June, approached Biden after the address and the two spoke for several minutes and shared a laugh.\n\n“Thank you for your service,” Biden said to Breyer during the speech. “Thank you. Thank you.”\n\nBiden nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for Breyer’s seat on Friday, and the Miami native, who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since June, has started to meet with members of the Senate who will vote on her confirmation later spring.\n\nThe president described Jackson as a “consensus builder” but made no mention, as he has in other venues, of what makes Jackson a historic candidate: She would be the first Black woman ever to serve on the nation’s highest court.\n\nAt 51, Jackson could serve on the Supreme Court for decades. Democrats are seeking to confirm Jackson by early April.\n\n-- John Fritze\n\nWho is Joshua Davis? Here's more about the 13-year-old who stole the show at State of the Union\n\nOf all the guests invited to President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address, one of the few mentioned was 13-year-old Joshua Davis. Davis, who is from Midlothian, Virginia, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just 11 months old, according to the White House.\n\nAt the age of four, Davis began advocating for the Virginia General Assembly to make \"school safer for kids with Type 1 diabetes.\"\n\nEarlier this month, the seventh-grader at Swift Creek Middle School introduced President Biden at an event on prescription drug costs at a community college in Virginia.\n\n--Jordan Mendoza\n\nBiden's report on the State of the Union: Strong\n\nThe president struck an optimistic tone in his concluding remarks, praising American values and calling the moment a \"test of resolve and conscience, of history itself.\"\n\n\"It is in this moment that our character is formed. Our purpose is found. Our future is forged,\" he said. \"We will meet this test.\"\n\nBiden acknowledged while the country has faced a challenging period, he is \"more optimistic about America today than I have been my whole life.\"\n\nThe president waited until the end of his speech, which lasted more than an hour, to deliver his report on the state of the union: \"strong.\"\n\n\"Because you, the American people, are strong,\" he said as the crowd erupted in cheers. \"We are stronger today than we were a year ago. And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today.\"\n\n-- Courtney Subramanian\n\nBiden says Americans can order more COVID tests from the government starting next week\n\nAmericans will be able to order more free coronavirus tests from the government starting next week, President Joe Biden announced during Tuesday's State of the Union address.\n\n\"Even if you already ordered free tests, tonight, I am announcing that you can order more from covidtests.gov starting next week,\" Biden said, adding the government has made hundreds of millions of tests available for free.\n\nAmericans were able to start ordering the free tests from the Covidtests.gov website on Jan. 18.\n\n-- Kelly Tyko\n\nRead the rest here:Biden says Americans can order more COVID tests from the government starting next week\n\nBiden vows to address soldiers’ exposure to ‘burn pits’\n\nBiden announced that his administration is expanding eligibility to veterans suffering from respiratory cancers and promised to examine the issue of troops’ exposure to “burn pits.”\n\nBurn pits are used to incinerate jet fuel, medical materials and other wastes of war. Many soldiers who breathe smoke from them develop headaches, numbness, dizziness and even cancer, Biden said.\n\n“I know,” he said. “One of those soldiers was my son Major Beau Biden.”\n\nBeau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer at age 46.\n\n“We don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer or the diseases of so many of our troops,” Biden said. “But I’m committed to finding out everything we can.”\n\n-– Michael Collins\n\nBiden: ‘Let's end cancer as we know it’\n\nBiden highlighted his announcement last month to relaunch the Cancer Moonshot, an issue close to the president’s heart after his son, Beau, died of brain cancer.\n\n“Let's end cancer as we know it,” he said.\n\nBiden noted that the fight to end cancer is personal for him and First Lady Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother died of colon cancer.\n\n“So many of you lost someone you love: Husband wife, son, daughter, mom, dad,” Biden added.\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nLawmakers react in the chamber following speech\n\nFollowing the speech, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., walked towards the front of the chamber to take a photo of Vice President Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. \"Most powerful ladies in the world,\" Gillibrand shouted as she took the picture.\n\nBiden was swarmed by lawmakers as he exited the chamber. Rep. Adam Schiff shook his hand, and Biden placed his hand on Schiff's shoulder. Others took selfies and photos with the president in the background as he spoke to members on his way to the exit.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nMaking history:For first time, two women sat behind president at State of the Union\n\nBiden slams social media for effects on children\n\nBiden connected young people’s mental health to social media platforms, saying they must be held accountable for what he called a “national experiment” being conducted on children for profit.\n\nUnder the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration funneled millions into schools to hire teachers and help students make up for lost learning during the coronavirus pandemic.\n\n“Children were also struggling before the pandemic,” he said “Bullying, violence, trauma, and the harms of social media.”\n\n“It’s time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children,” he said.\n\nProposals mentioned by the president include strengthening privacy protections, banning targeted advertising to children and stopping the collection of personal data on children.\n\nBiden also acknowledged Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in the chamber and thanked her for her courage.\n\n— Phillip M. Bailey, Chelsey Cox\n\nBig tech:Did Facebook ignore warnings that Instagram is unhealthy for kids? States are investigating\n\nBiden: We can secure the border and fix the immigration system\n\nBiden renewed calls for immigration reform while also bolstering security at the U.S. southern border, remarks that drew chants of \"build the wall,\" from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.\n\n\"And if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the border and fix the immigration system,\" Biden said. \"We can do both.\"\n\nThe president said the U.S. implemented new technology to better detect drug smuggling, set up joint patrols with Mexico and Guatemala to catch human traffickers and is supporting partners in South and Central America to host more refugees and secure their own borders.\n\nBiden also called for obtaining legal status for so-called Dreamers, or undocumented immigrations who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, as well as those who have temporary status, farm workers and essential workers.\n\n\"It’s not only the right thing to do—it’s the economically smart thing to do,\" he added.\n\n-- Courtney Subramnaian\n\nBiden calls for ‘proven measures’ to reduce gun violence\n\nBiden vowed to cut down on gun trafficking and called on Congress to pass what he called “proven measures” to reduce gun violence.\n\nSpecifically, he urged lawmakers to pass universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and repeal liability shield that mean gun makers can’t be sued.\n\n“These laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment,” he said. “They save lives.”\n\n–- Michael Collins\n\nBiden: Nominee Jackson a ‘consensus builder’\n\nBetween the crisis in Ukraine, soaring inflation and a stalled domestic agenda, Biden doesn’t have a lot of good news to tout at his State of the Union address this year.\n\nOne exception: His recently announced historic nominee to the Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.\n\nBiden called Jackson “one of our nation’s top legal minds” and a “consensus builder.” Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.\n\nThe president tried to signal bipartisan support for Jackson as she begins meeting with senators ahead of a confirmation hearing this spring.\n\n“Since she’s been nominated, she’s received a broad range of support -- from the Fraternal Order of Police to former judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans,” Biden said.\n\nSenate Democrats hope to confirm Jackson to the high court by early April.\n\n-- John Fritze\n\nBiden: Right to vote ‘under assault’\n\nBiden called on Congress to pass voting rights legislation, saying that the right to vote is “under assault.”\n\n\"The most fundamental right in America is the right to vote – and to have it counted,” Biden said. “And it’s under assault.”\n\nHe added that he would like to see Congress pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Act.\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nAmerican Rescue Plan essential to keep neighborhoods safe, Biden says\n\nPresident Biden touted his American Rescue Plan as an asset to community safety.\n\nThe plan, which was approved by Democrats in Congress last March, provides $350 billion in direct aid to cities, states and counties that can be used to hire more police and invest in proven strategies like community violence interruption.\n\n“We should all agree, the answer is not to defund the police, it’s to fund the police,” Biden said to cheers and applause.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nMore:President Joe Biden's COVID stimulus bill explained in 6 charts\n\nCOVID-19 reset\n\nBiden reflected on how COVID-19 has challenged the country since 2020, but that with roughly three-fourths of Americans fully vaccinated, and hospitalizations down by 77%, “most Americans can removed their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom and move forward safely.”\n\nThe president touched on how that has been the result of free vaccines, treatments, tests and masks. But Biden noted how this is a pivotal moment for Americans to stay focused in the face of the contagion’s possible resurgence.\n\n“Let’s use this moment to reset,” he said. “Let’s stop looking at COVID-19 as a partisan dividing line and see it for what it is: A God-awful disease.”\n\nBiden noted how many lives have been lost, and that Americans cannot let the contagion divide them further.\n\n“We can’t change how divided we’ve been,” he said. “But we can change how we move forward—on COVID-19 and other issues we must face together.”\n\n— Phillip M. Bailey\n\nTracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution by state:How many people have been vaccinated in the US?\n\nBiden: End the 'partisan dividing line'\n\nIn his speech, Biden asked Republicans to stop using the COVID pandemic as a \"partisan dividing line\" – and to lower the temperature on a whole host of important issues.\n\n\"Let’s stop seeing each other as enemies,\" the president said, \"and start seeing each other for who we really are: Fellow Americans.\"\n\n-- David Jackson\n\nBiden: Bring an end to shutdowns of schools and businesses\n\nThe president called for bringing COVID-19-related shutdowns of schools and businesses to an end as the country moves into a new phase of living with the pandemic.\n\n\"It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again. People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office,\" he said. \"Our schools are open. Let’s keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school.\"\n\nBiden also noted that with 75% of adult Americans fully vaccinated and hospitalizations down by 77%, most Americans can remove their mask as they return to classrooms and offices.\n\nHe told the mostly maskless crowd that continuing his administration COVID-19 response efforts would cost more money and he intended to send Congress a request for more funds.\n\n-- Courtney Subramanian\n\nBiden outlines plans to lower deficit\n\nThe president urged lawmakers to confirm his nominees to head the Federal Reserve, calling it crucial to his plan to fight inflation.\n\nBiden said his plan is designed to “monitor and lower costs” and “give families a fair shot” while also lowering the deficit.\n\n“The previous administration not only ballooned the deficit, it undermined the watchdogs of those pandemic relief funds,” Biden said, and added that his administration reprioritized going after criminals who commit pandemic relief-related fraud.\n\nBiden also stated that he is the only president to have cut the deficit by more than $1 trillion dollars in a single year and vowed to even the economic playing field for Americans.\n\n“Capitalism without competition is not capitalism. Capitalism without competition is exploitation,” Biden said.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nBiden on COVID: ‘We’re moving forward’\n\nBiden said the United States has made progress to move past COVID-19, noting the updated mask guidelines issued by the CDC last week.\n\n“Because of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines,” he said. “We’ve reached a new moment in the fight against COVID-19.\"\n\n“COVID-19 need no longer control our lives,” he added.\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nBiden vows to crack down on price gouging\n\nBiden announced a crackdown on companies that practice price gouging.\n\nDuring the coronavirus pandemic, foreign-owned companies raised prices by as much as 1,000% and made record profits, he said.\n\n\"I’m a capitalist,” he said. “But capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. It’s exploitation – and it drives up prices.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\n‘Secret ballot’ on taxes?\n\nBiden challenged Congress to adopt his plan at reforming the tax code, promising that under his plan no one earning less than $400,000 a year would “pay an additional penny in new taxes.”\n\n“I may be wrong but my guess is if we took a secret ballot on this floor that we’d all agree that the president tax system ain’t fair,” Biden said. “We have to fix it.”\n\nThe president’s remarks received a more lukewarm response, especially from congressional Republicans, who have resisted his idea.\n\nBut Biden’s pitch to the American people argued that his tax plan would grow the economy and doesn’t “punish anyone” but rather seeks to even the playing field by ensuring U.S. companies and its wealthiest individuals to “start paying their fair share.”\n\n“Just last year, 55 Fortune 500 corporations earned $40 billion in profits and paid zero dollars in federal income tax,” Biden said. “That’s simply not fair. That’s why I’ve proposed a 15% minimum tax rate for corporations.”\n\n-- Phillip M. Bailey\n\nSome Republicans take notes, joke to colleagues during Biden's speech\n\nSome Republican Senators appear to be taking notes on Biden's remarks, including Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.\n\nSen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., turned to Scott and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and moved his hand up and down, appearing to point out Democrats standing up and down in applause, garnering laughter from his colleagues.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nBiden calls for reviving plan for child care and universal pre-kindergarten\n\nThe president reiterated his longstanding call to cut the cost of child care for parents, pointing out that most American families pay up to $14,000 a year for child care per child. A recent report by Child Care Aware of America found the price of child care has exceeded the annual inflation rate by 4 percent in 2020.\n\n\"Middle-class and working families shouldn’t have to pay more than 7% of their income for care of young children,\" he said.\n\nBiden's child care plan is part of his Build Back Better bill that was effectively killed after Sen. Joe Manchin announced late last year he wouldn't vote to pass it. The president also called for reviving plans to cut the cost of home and long-term care and creating a plan for universal pre-kindergarten for every 3- and 4-year-old.\n\n-- Courtney Subramanian\n\nBiden pushes for climate investments as part of his inflation pitch\n\nBiden called for several climate investments that he said will save families money as part of his efforts aimed at tackling rising inflation.\n\nThat included investment tax credits for Americans to weatherize their homes, doubling clean energy production and lowering the price of electric vehicles.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nMore:UN panel's grim climate change report: 'Parts of the planet will become uninhabitable'\n\nBiden touts ‘revitalization’ of American manufacturing\n\nBiden praised what he said is the revitalization of the American manufacturing and said he agreed with Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown that it’s time to bury the “Rust Belt” label.\n\nCompanies are choosing to build new factories in the United States when just a few years ago they would have built them overseas, he said.\n\nFord is investing $11 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 11,000 jobs across the country, he said. GM is making the largest investment in its history – $7 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan.\n\nBiden said the revitalization is being driven by people like Joseph “JoJo” Burgess, a Pennsylvania steelworker who was seated in the first lady’s viewing box.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nBiden called on lowering the cost of drug prices, such as insulin.\n\nThe president shouted out Joshua Davis, a 13-year-old with diabetes, who attended the address.\n\n“For Joshua & the 200,000 other young people with Type 1 diabetes, let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month so everyone can afford it,” Biden said.\n\nHe added that he spoke with Joshua’s mom about how hard it's been to afford the drug.\n\n“Imagine what it's like to look at your child who needs insulin to stay healthy and have no idea how in God's name you're going to be able to pay for it,” Biden said.\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\n'It is legal extortion':Diabetics pay steep price for insulin as rebates drive up costs\n\nBiden aims for investment in Intel, competitiveness with China\n\nIntel, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, recently unveiled plans to build a $20 billion complex outside of Columbus, Ohio, a move Biden hailed as a major sign of progress in his administration's work to boost U.S. production of the critical microchips at a time of rising competition with China.\n\n“That's why it's so important to pass the bipartisan (Innovation and Competition Act) in Congress that will make record investments in emerging technologies and American manufacturing,” Biden said. The president also acknowledged Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who was invited to the speech.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nBiden: We can cut inflation by making more things in the U.S.\n\nBiden said one way to reduce inflation – one of his biggest political problems – is to make more products in the United States, reducing rely on blocked supply chains.\n\n\"Instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let’s make it in America,\": he said.\n\nThe president was not very specific about how to do that; Republicans say his proposed environment regulations will choke industry.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nBiden touts ‘infrastructure decade’\n\nShifting from Ukraine, Biden touted his American Rescue Plan legislation and infrastructure law, the latter of which he got support from Republicans to pass in the evenly divided Senate.\n\n“I want to thank members of both parties who helped make it happen,” Biden said. “We’re done talking about infrastructure week. We’re talking about the infrastructure decade.”\n\nHe pointed to broadband expansion, roadway and bridge repairs and lead pipe replacement among the projects that will be funded.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nBiden says Putin ‘will never gain the hearts’ of Ukrainians\n\nBiden said that Democracies are “rising to the moment” as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.\n\n\"Putin may be able to circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people,” he said. \"He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.\"\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nBiden: U.S. to release 30 million barrels from Strategic Petroleum Reserve\n\nBiden said the U.S. is working with 30 countries to release 60 million barrels of oil from reserves around world to ease the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy markets.\n\nThe U.S. is leading the effort by releasing 30 million barrels from its own Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said.\n\n“These steps will help blunt gas prices here at home,” he said.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nStanding ovation for Biden’s vow to defend NATO countries\n\nDespite Russia’s devastating attack on Ukraine, President Biden reiterated support in the form of economic sanctions, not the deployment of U.S. troops, to the vulnerable area.\n\n“We have mobilized American ground forces, air squadron, ship deployments to protect NATO countries including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. And as I’ve made crystal clear, the United States and our allies will defend every inch of territory that is NATO territory with the full force of our collective power,” Biden said.\n\nHis remarks received a standing ovation from lawmakers in the chamber.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nWhat is NATO?:Military alliance in spotlight as Russia tries to forbid Ukraine membership\n\nBiden: Sanctions are strangling Putin's Russia\n\nBiden outlined a strict set of sanctions meant to choke the Russian economy in retribution for Putin’s invasion.\n\n“Tonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime no more,” he said.\n\nThe president, who praised Ukraine’s resolve on the battlefield, said the Justice Department is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian’s wealthiest people. He pledged that the U.S., along with European allies, will look seize Russian yachts, luxury apartments and private jets.\n\n“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” Biden said.\n\nAmerica has seen immediate dividends with its economic sanctions and $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to the president, who said that along with closing U.S. air space to all Russian flights the Ruble has lost 30% of its value; its stock has dipped by 40% and trading with the foreign country has been halted.\n\n-- Phillip M. Bailey\n\nMore:Biden threatens devastating sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. Here's what that might look like.\n\nBiden says 'no more' to Russian oligarchs, announces closure of US airspace to Russian aircraft\n\nBiden said the U.S. and western allies are enforcing \"powerful economic sanctions,\" including cutting off Russia's largest banks from international financial systems, preventing Russia's central bank from shoring up the Russian ruble and \"making Putin's $260 billion war fund worthless.\"\n\nHe announced the U.S. is closing off airspace to all Russian flights, joining a growing number of countries around the world that have made similar moves in recent days.\n\nThe president also said coordinated sanctions are \"choking off Russia's access to technology\" that will weaken its military and undermine its economic strength.\n\nU.S. and European sanctions also target Putin and his inner circle as well as Russian oligarchs.\n\n\"Tonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime: no more,\" he said. \"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts your luxury apartments your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.\"\n\n-- Courtney Subramanian\n\nZelenskyy government:What happens if Kyiv falls? What would a government in exile look like?\n\nPutin more ‘isolated from the world’ than ever, Biden says\n\nBiden hailed the united response of the U.S. and western allies against Russia President Vladimir Putin as Russia continues its war in Ukraine.\n\nBiden called the attack “premeditated and totally unprovoked,” adding that Putin thought he could divide the world.\n\n“But Putin was wrong. We are ready. We are united,” Biden said. “Now that he’s acted, the free world is holding him accountable.”\n\n“Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been,” he said.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nMore:Poor planning, low troop morale and a fierce Ukrainian resistance. Why Russia is getting bogged down\n\nBiden says Ukraine “inspires the world”\n\nBiden said during his speech that the Ukrainian people are inspiring the world as they face Russia’s attacks.\n\n“(Putin) thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined,” Biden said.\n\n“He met the Ukrainian people,” Biden continued. “From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world.”\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nMore:Why is the White House releasing US intelligence on Putin's moves in Ukraine? Behind the unusual strategy\n\nBiden arrives at House chamber\n\nBiden was introduced in the House chamber at 9:05 p.m. and walked into the room to a loud chorus of cheers.\n\nBiden shook hands of several lawmakers seated along the aisle and chatted briefly with a few of them as he made his way to the rostrum, where he will deliver his remarks.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nJill Biden, Cabinet members have arrived for SOTU\n\nFirst Lady Jill Biden entered the House chamber with her guests for this evening's speech, including the Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S.\n\nThe group stood and applauded as the president's cabinet entered the chamber next. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, a former member of the House, blew kisses as she walked down the aisle, before taking her place next to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Fudge is sitting across the aisle from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nSome lawmakers noticeably absent from State of the Union\n\nAs President Biden addressed lawmakers and the nation Tuesday, the absence of some who were invited to the speech did not go unnoticed.\n\nSen. Marco Rubio said during a February appearance on conservative news network Newsmax that he would not attend due to the COVID-19 testing mandate and that he would watch replays of the speech on television.\n\n\"I'm just tired of all that COVID theater crap,” Rubio said.\n\n“Same,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy tweeted Monday in response to a post about Rubio’s absence. “I will not attend.”\n\nFour other Republican members of Congress, Mary Miller, R-Ill., Bob Good, R-Va., Matt Rosendale, R-MT and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told Newsmax Tuesday they would also skip the speech due to health safety precautions.\n\nAt least five Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. And Ted Deutch, D-Fla., tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the address.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nFive Supreme Court justices show for speech\n\nBiden is getting something for his State of the Union address that’s been hard to come by for much of his presidency: a majority of the Supreme Court.\n\nChief Justice John Roberts, joined by four associate justices, filed into the House chamber before the president's remarks Tuesday, the first time five members of the nine-member court have appeared for a presidential address to Congress since President Donald Trump’s remarks in 2017.\n\nIn addition to Roberts, Associate Justices Stephen Breyer -- set to retire in June -- Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are attending the address, taking their traditional front-row seats.\n\nBiden has had a series of setbacks at the nation's highest court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 advantage. A majority of the justices sided against the administration’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium in August. Last month, the court blocked a requirement that large companies implement vaccine-or-testing mandates to fight the virus.\n\n-- John Fritze\n\nMore:Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to step down, giving Biden a chance to make his mark\n\nMembers sporting Ukraine flags and colors\n\nThere are signs of support for Ukraine in the House chamber.\n\nUkraine-born Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN 05) is wearing a yellow dress and blue blazer, the colors of Ukraine.\n\nSome other members on the floor are holding small Ukrainian flags, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the House GOP conference chair.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nBiden leaves White House for Capitol\n\nBiden pulled out of the White House in the presidential motorcade at 8:32 p.m. EST to make the short drive to the Capitol.\n\nThe president is expected to arrive in just a few minutes.\n\nPennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol is lined with American and Ukrainian flags in a show of support for Ukrainians amid Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nDesignated Survivor State of the Union: Gina Raimondo\n\nAnd the lucky Cabinet member is ... Gina Raimondo\n\nThe Commerce Secretary is being held back from the State of the Union in case disaster strikes the U.S. Capitol and she has to assume the presidency.\n\nThe concept of the \"designated survivor\" has fascinated entertainers for years.\n\nThriller writer Tom Clancy used an attack on the U.S. Capitol as a plot device in one of his Jack Ryan novels (Ryan became the president).\n\nThere was also a television show based on the idea. Its title: \"Designated Survivor.\"\n\n-- David Jackson\n\nMembers of Congress in the chamber ahead of SOTU\n\nMembers of Congress have begun to gather in the House chamber ahead of Biden’s remarks.\n\nMany, but not all, are taking advantage of the new Congressional guidelines on mask usage, which no longer requires that they wear a mask in the chamber during the State of the Union.\n\nSpeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke with Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, before walking across the House aisle to speak to Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.\n\nMembers are assigned seats this evening, separated by one empty seat between, but ahead of the remarks most are gathered talking in small groups around the floor.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nThese are the Dems who will escort Biden at his State of the Union address\n\nHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven Democratic members of the House to the Escort Committee for tonight’s State of the Union, who will help escort President Biden to the House chamber.\n\nThe members of leadership on the committee are Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Chairman of the Democratic caucus Hakeem Jeffries of New York.\n\nDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the head of the House Democrats campaign arm, will also serve on the committee, as will Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.\n\nDemocratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio is also part of the group. Kaptur is the co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nMore:Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Could it be the start of WWIII? Here's what we know\n\nBiden will call on Congress for DOJ Task Force resources in SOTU\n\nPresident Biden will use his State of the Union address to ask Congress for resources for the Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to expand prosecutions of pandemic fraudsters, the White House announced.\n\nBiden will also ask Congress for more serious penalties for criminals who commit fraud related to pandemic relief.\n\nThe DOJ has already prosecuted cases where PPP loans meant for small businesses undergoing difficulties due to the pandemic were fraudulently obtained and where unemployment insurance was stolen by identity thieves.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nMore:Americans are at higher risk of Russian cyberattacks after Ukraine invasion: What you should do right now\n\nThese are the twelve Representatives with prime aisle seating at the SOTU\n\nSix Democrats and six Republicans have the premium aisle seats that allow close proximity to President Biden as he enters the House chamber to deliver his remarks.\n\nDemocratic Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Benny Thompson of Mississippi and Mark Takano of California have the seats on the Democratic side.\n\nGOP Reps. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, Gary Palmer of Alabama, Kevin Brady of Texas, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, and Debbie Lesko of Arizona are the Republicans on the aisle.\n\n-- Dylan Wells\n\nFollow along:What Biden will say: excerpts from his first State of the Union address to Congress\n\nBiden to issue executive order on identity theft in public benefits programs\n\nBiden is set to speak on a new executive order targeting identity theft during the State of the Union.\n\nThe order, which will expand upon steps taken in 2021 to prevent and detect identity theft of public benefits and direct new actions to support fraud victims, will be announced in the coming weeks, according to The White House.\n\n-- Chelsey Cox\n\nBiden to announce new chief prosecutor to pandemic relief crimes\n\nBiden will roll out new efforts to prevent identity theft and other pandemic-related fraud crimes during the State of the Union, according to the White House, including the addition of a chief prosecutor to the Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.\n\nThe COVID-19 task force was implemented by Attorney General Merrick Garland in May 2021 and has charged over 1,000 criminal cases and opened over 200 civil investigations across 1800 individuals and entities involving billions of dollars in suspected fraud.\n\nThe new chief prosecutor will help prosecute reports of identity theft involving public pandemic benefits from 2019 to 2020, as reported by the Federal Trade Commission.\n\n--Chelsey Cox\n\nLive updates:U.S. to ban Russian planes from American airspace; shells pound Ukrainian city of Kharkiv\n\nBiden to say ‘defund the police’ is not the answer\n\nAmid rising crime in cities across the nation, albeit from historical lows, President Joe Biden will tout his administration’s efforts to fund local police departments and to tackle gun control during Tuesday’s State of the Union, according to the White House.\n\nBiden will highlight how he’s urged local and state governments to use American Rescue Plan funds to add police officers. He’s also expected to urge Congress to pass his $300 million budget request to more than double the size of the Department of Justice’s COPS community policing grant program.\n\nRepublicans have sought to tie Biden and other Democrats to the “defund the police” mantra on the left, even though Biden has repeatedly rejected that phrase.\n\n“He'll make clear that the answer is not to defund the police, it’s to put more police – with better training and more accountability – out to take back our streets and make our neighborhoods safer,” a White House official said.\n\nAlthough Republicans in the Senate have refused to pass sweeping gun reform measures, Biden will point to his administration's unilateral efforts. That includes creating five new Justice Department gun trafficking strike forces to target the illegal; an executive order aimed at “ghost guns,” and new ATF rules.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nU.S. to close airspace to Russian planes\n\nBiden will announce in his State of the Union address that the U.S. is closing its airspace to Russian planes in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, three sources told USA TODAY.\n\nThe U.S. joins a growing list of countries that have announced plans to close their airspace to Russian aircraft in response to the invasion.\n\nThe E.U. banned all Russian aircraft from its airspace after several European countries including France, Italy and Denmark as well as Canada announced the move Sunday. Neutral Sweden and Austria also joined the international move to cut off Russian aircraft.\n\n– Michael Collins and Courtney Subramanian\n\nWhat time is the State of the Union address?\n\nBiden will start speaking at 9 p.m. ET.\n\nTalking points:From Ukraine to historic Supreme Court nominee: 5 things to watch for in Biden's State of the Union address\n\nWhere can I watch the SOTU?\n\nIt will be carried by all major TV news networks (CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS) and cable news networks including Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, MSNBC and C-SPAN.\n\nNPR will also carry the address.\n\nThe speech will also be live-streamed by the White House and many organizations, including USA TODAY. Readers can follow live updates on the speech from USA TODAY.\n\n– Chelsey Cox\n\nFirst lady Jill Biden's State of the Union guest list\n\nPer tradition, first lady Jill Biden will sit in the House gallery with a group of distinguished Americans to watch her husband deliver his State of the Union address.\n\nIn addition to Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Mrs. Biden's guest list includes people who work in education, health care, technology, and a steelworkers union.\n\n\"The President and I are honored to welcome an extraordinary group of Americans and H.E. Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, to sit with me and @SecondGentleman for the State of the Union,\" Mrs, Biden tweeted.\n\nThe White House posted the full guest list.\n\n-- David Jackson\n\nGOP, Dems to wear Ukrainian colors\n\nBrandishing Ukraine’s flag colors will be a bipartisan affair during Biden’s first State of the Union address, as several members from both parties plan to either wear ribbons or other clothing in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.\n\nRepublican Rep. Victoria Spartz, of Indiana, who was born in Ukraine, will wear a blue suit and yellow blazer to draw attention to the crisis. She took to Twitter ahead of the president’s remarks calling on the Biden administration to do more.\n\n“Putin’s war is not a war but a genocide of the Ukrainian people who wanted to be free and with us,” Spartz said. “We cannot let him embarrass our great nation and slaughter these brave people under our watch.\"\n\nRep. Brett Guthrie, of Kentucky, showed off how dozens of members from both parties had gathered on the Capitol steps before the address with a flag merging the U.S. and Ukrainian colors.\n\n“Today I joined my colleagues to show solidarity for the Ukrainian people,” Guthrie, a Republican, said. “Their bravery in the fight against Putin's unlawful and unprovoked invasion is inspiring. I support sending more aid to Ukraine and crushing Putin and his associates with a powerful arsenal of sanctions.”\n\nThe Democratic Women’s Caucus earlier Tuesday announced its members plan to “wear bright and colorful attire” in support Ukraine.\n\n-- Phillip M. Bailey\n\nSOTU comes as inflation soars\n\nBiden delivers his State of the Union address at a time when inflation has soared to its highest level in four decades.\n\nConsumer prices jumped 7.5% last month compared with 12 months earlier, the steepest year-over-year increase since February 1982, the Labor Department reported last month. The increase was driven by shortages of supplies and workers, heavy doses of federal aid, low interest rates and robust consumer spending, the department said.\n\nThe steady surge in prices has left many Americans less able to afford food, gas, rent, child care and other necessities.\n\n-- Michael Collins, Associated Press\n\nExplained:What is inflation and how does it affect you? Increase in prices for gas, food, energy raise concern\n\nCongresswoman to pass out ribbons to show Ukraine solidarity\n\nRep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, will pass out blue and yellow ribbons to members of congress at Biden’s State of the Union to “wear tonight in solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” the Democratic Women’s Caucus said.\n\nKaptur is leader of the Ukraine Caucus.\n\nIn addition, some congresswomen were seen wearing blue and yellow, the color of Ukraine’s flag, in a photo posted by Michelle Moreno-Silva, communications director of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.\n\nMoreno-Silva said members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus are planning to “wear bright and colorful attire to the State of the Union in celebration of the strength and diversity of the Caucus.”\n\nThe caucus first asked members to don white at the 2019 State of the Union in honor of the Women's Suffrage Movement that led to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. The lawmakers wanted to acknowledge voters who gave Democrats a majority in the House that year.\n\nThe tradition continued in 2020 in protest \"against President Trump's backwards agenda.\"\n\n-- Rebecca Morin and Chelsey Cox\n\nBiden to deliver speech as Russian convoy inches toward Kyiv\n\nBiden's State of the Union speech comes on day six of Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the international crisis is expected to be a focal point of his speech.\n\nA 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and vehicles appeared to stall about 15 miles outside of Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. Troops appeared to run out of gas and food, but it's also possible the Russians are pausing to regroup and reassess their attack, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told reporters earlier Tuesday.\n\nUkrainians are bracing for continued attacks after at least 11 people were killed and 35 others wounded in an apparent rocket strike in Kharkiv. Earlier, Russian strikes hit Kyiv's main broadcasting tower and the nearby Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial site, where Nazis killed thousands of Jews during World War II. Ukraine's foreign minister confirmed the attack.\n\nAhead of his remarks, Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for more than 30 minutes. The president said he discussed continued U.S. support, including security assistance and humanitarian aid, and vowed to hold Russia accountable.\n\nFor more updates on the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, follow USA TODAY's live coverage here.\n\n-- Courtney Subramanian\n\nMore:Satellite images show huge Russian convoys in Ukraine\n\nWhat will Biden talk about?\n\nBiden’s remarks to a joint session of Congress will give him a chance to trumpet his administration’s accomplishments during his first year in office and lay out policy goals for the coming year.\n\nA prominent Democratic strategist urged Biden to use the opportunity to offer Americans hope for better days.\n\n“What Americans want to hear is genuine understanding of what we have been through together and a clear path forward – less about Mr. Biden’s accomplishments than about the heroic, unsung sacrifices so many have made to see their families and communities through,” David Axelrod, who helped shape many of President Barack Obama’s addresses to Congress, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times.\n\nWhat else is bound to come up? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will cast a long shadow over Biden’s State of the Union address. Biden will seek to reassure the country that it's entering a new phase in the fight against COVID-19. And the president wants Americans to know that he feels their pain when it comes to rising prices.\n\nRead more here on expectations for the address.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nBiden to address Russian invasion of Ukraine\n\nBiden will address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during his address, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks released by the White House.\n\n“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising,” he is expected to say.\n\n“That’s why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2. The United States is a member along with 29 other nations.\n\n“It matters. American diplomacy matters.\n\n“Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home.\n\n“Putin was wrong. We were ready,” he will say.\n\nMore:Russia has been accused of using 'vacuum bombs' in Ukraine. What are those?\n\nBiden to talk about inflation and the US economy\n\nBiden will also address inflation — an issue that is a top concern for the American people -- according to prepared remarks released by the White House.\n\n“We have a choice. One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation,” he is expected to say.\n\n“Lower your costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And, instead of relying on foreign supply chains – let’s make it in America.\n\n“Economists call it “increasing the productive capacity of our economy.” I call it building a better America,” he will say.\n\n“My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit,” he is expected to say.\n\n-- Rebecca Morin\n\nBiden speech focus: The U.S. and Europe must be united against Russia\n\nPreviewing his State of the Union speech to a group of journalists, President Joe Biden said he will stress the importance of unity between the United States and Europe in confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.\n\nIn a lunch with television anchors and others, Biden said he would re-emphasize \"my determination to see to it that the EU, NATO, all of our allies are on the same exact page in terms of sanctions against Russia and how we deal with the invasion – and it is an invasion – of Ukraine.\"\n\nThis from a tweet by CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who also reported that Biden declared global unity \"the one thing that gives us power to impose severe consequences on Putin for what he’s done.\"\n\nPresidents host these kinds of lunches with television anchors before every State of the Union address. The sessions are off the record, but White Houses often put a few comments on the record.\n\nIn this case, Biden wanted to make clear his message on Ukraine.\n\n-- David Jackson\n\nMore:Americans are at higher risk of Russian cyberattacks after Ukraine invasion: What you should do right now\n\nBiden will roll out mental health crisis strategies\n\nBiden will outline his plan for tackling the mental health crisis during his first State of the Union.\n\nThe White House said Tuesday that Biden will call on Congress to pass legislation to support those policies that increase the capacity of the mental health system to provide care, make it easier for those who need care to get it and address the determinants of health.\n\nAmong the policies he will pitch, according to the White House:\n\nA plan to spend $700 million on training, scholarship and loan repayment for those who pursue careers in mental health and substance abuse treatment in rural communities and other underserved areas.\n\nA proposal that health plans cover \"robust behavioral health services with an adequate network of providers, including three behavioral health visits each year without cost-sharing.\"\n\nTo address concerns about digital technology and social media damage to the mental health of young people, Biden wants to ban targeted advertising for children online and stop online algorithms from returning results that damage their mental well-being.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nPelosi won’t be wearing a mask during State of the Union\n\nAs she sits behind President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be mask-less.\n\n“I’m not going to be wearing a mask tonight,” Pelosi told MSNBC Tuesday. “If I had little children, or if I were around little grandchildren I would because some of them would not be vaccinated.”\n\nDemocratic House leadership lifted its mask mandate in the House in time for the president’s first State of the Union. It comes as the rate of positive COVID-19 test results dropped to 2.7% at the Capitol’s testing site, according to Politico, and as the District of Columbia dropped its indoor mask mandate as COVID-19 cases have plummeted in Washington.\n\nThe White House on Tuesday ended its mask requirement for vaccinated staff members. But White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said she hadn’t spoken to Biden on whether he will wear a mask when he walks into the House Chamber.\n\n“He will certainly not be wearing a mask when he's speaking,” Psaki said.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nWhat was the shortest State of the Union? the longest?\n\nWhich presidents delivered the longest and the shortest State of the Unions? It depends on your measuring stick.\n\nBased on word count, President George Washington’s delivered the shortest speech on record in 1790, before the annual message was even dubbed the State of the Union. Washington’s speech to a joint session of Congress measured in at 1,089 words, according to the Congressional Research Service.\n\nNot every president has delivered an oral message, however. After President Thomas Jefferson eschewed a speech in favor of a written message to Congress in 1801, it took more than a century before President Woodrow Wilson revived the tradition of an in-person speech in 1913.\n\nDating back to 1964, the shortest oral delivery of a State of the Union was President Ronald Reagan’s 31-minute speech in 1986, according to The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Congressional Research Service noted that speech still had a word count about three times as long as Washington’s inaugural annual message.\n\nThe longest written message to date belongs to President Jimmy Carter, who delivered a 33,667-word written State of the Union in 1981. In his final State of the Union in 2000, President Bill Clinton set the high watermark for an in-person speech at just under 90 minutes.\n\nPresident Donald Trump’s 80-minute average is the longest of all presidents dating to 1964, according to the American Presidency Project.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nWhy is this Biden’s first State of the Union?\n\nThe concept of an annual update from the president to members of Congress has existed as long as the presidency. President George Washington delivered the first of what was then called the “Annual Message” in 1790.\n\nThat is rooted in the constitutional requirement to provide an update “from time to time.” The speech was not formally named the State of the Union until 1947, according to the Congressional Research Service.\n\nBut recent tradition has been for presidents to not deliver a formal State of the Union in the year they were inaugurated but instead to simply speak before a joint session of Congress.\n\nPresident Joe Biden did that in 2021, as the six presidents before him had done in their inauguration years. That means Biden’s 2022 address will be his first formal State of the Union.\n\n– Rick Rouan", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/17/state-of-the-union-sotu-explained/6818213001/", "title": "State of the Union time: First Biden speech starts at 9 p.m. Tuesday", "text": "President Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on March. 1\n\nThe address is a constitutionally-mandated message to a joint session of Congress.\n\nThe speech is later than scheduled due to the congressional schedule.\n\nPresident Joe Biden accepted an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. in January to deliver the State of the Union before a joint session of Congress on March 1.\n\nBiden addressed the chamber on April 28, 2021, the eve of his first 100 days in office, but the upcoming speech will be his first annual message since taking the Oath of Office over a year ago.\n\nThe last State of the Union was delivered by former President Donald Trump on Feb. 4, 2020. The speeches are typically scheduled during the first or second month of the year, but Congress is out of session the last week of February.\n\nState of the Union:Biden to condemn Putin's 'premeditated and unprovoked' war on Ukraine - live updates\n\nBiden is expected to speak on legislation presently stalled in the Senate, including his monumental $1.75 billion infrastructure package and voting rights protections, as well as continuing efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nWhy else is the State of the Union so important? And why does it play a pivotal role in the presidency? Here's what to know:\n\nMore:Biden to deliver his first State of the Union address on March 1\n\nMore:The (Not) State of the Union: Why Joe Biden's speech is not officially the annual address\n\nWhat is the State of the Union?\n\nThe State of the Union is an annual message from the President to a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The address dates back to the founding of the United States and is mandated in Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 U.S. Constitution, which states the President \"shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”\n\nMore:Fact check: No deadline is in place for delivering State of the Union\n\nHow has the State of the Union evolved?\n\nIn 1789, President George Washington combined his Inaugural Address with the State of the Union — then known as the Annual Message. His first regular annual address was held just under a year later, on January 8, 1790. Washington also holds the record for the shortest State of the Union address.\n\nPresidents have not always made a habit of delivering the address in person. Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, started the practice of sending written annual addresses separately to the House and Senate on December 8, 1801.\n\nIt was President Woodrow Wilson who revived the custom for delivering the Annual Message in person in 1913, though he sent written messages to the House and Senate instead in 1919 and 1920.\n\nIn 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the first speech known as the \"State of the Union.\" The moniker was formally applied in 1947, under President Harry Truman.\n\nThere have been 97 in-person State of the Union addresses between 1790 and 2020. The 1945 address delivered to a joint session of Congress on Truman's behalf was not considered an in-person speech, since Truman did not deliver it.\n\nThe first televised broadcast of the speech also occurred during the Truman administration in 1947. The new medium gave presidents a platform to trumpet their accomplishments and agendas directly to the American people every year.\n\nWho is invited to the State of the Union?\n\nInvitations to the address are extended to members and former members of the House and Senate, the President’s Cabinet — save for the \"designated survivor,\" or cabinet official in the line of succession in case of an unforeseen calamity — the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief Justice of the United States and the Justices of the Supreme Court and the Diplomatic Corps. The president may also invite personal guests to sit in the first lady's \"viewing box\" in the gallery overlooking the House floor.\n\nWill there be COVID-19 safety protocols at the State of the Union?\n\nThe State of the Union is delivered in the House chamber, which is under the purview of the Office of the Attending Physician.\n\nUnder current guidance, masks and social distance requirements are at the discretion of individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These safety protocols are required for individuals who are not fully vaccinated or vaccine indeterminate.\n\nUnlike last year, where social distancing was still in force and no more than 200 people were permitted in a chamber that holds up to 1,500, all members have been invited to attend Biden's speech this year.\n\nReach out to Chelsey Cox on Twitter at @therealco.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/17"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/22/kim-reynolds-state-union-2022-address-republican-response-joe-biden-iowa-governor/6893425001/", "title": "Kim Reynolds to deliver State of the Union Republican rebuttal", "text": "Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican Party's rebuttal to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address next week.\n\nSenate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy made the announcement in a release Tuesday morning.\n\n“While Washington Democrats fail working Americans, Republican governors are fighting and winning for families,\" McConnell said in a statement. \"Gov. Kim Reynolds’ brave, bold, and successful leadership for Iowans has put her right at the front of that pack.\"\n\nReynolds has been on the front lines of Republican governors pushing back against what they call government overreach throughout the pandemic, and it's garnered her national attention.\n\nWho is Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds? What to know about the Republicans' State of the Union response speaker\n\nIn the early days of the pandemic, Reynolds was one of only a few governors who did not order a statewide \"stay at home\" order, and she refused calls for a statewide mask mandate until hospital admissions reached their height. Unlike in other states, bars and restaurants remained mostly open. She has said moving K-12 classes online for several months was her biggest regret of the pandemic, and she has signed legislation requiring schools to offer a 100% in-person learning option.\n\nBiden, a Democrat, has faced plummeting approval ratings in Iowa. According to a November Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, 62% of Iowans disapproved of the job Biden was doing as president. Another third, 33%, approved, and 6% were not sure.\n\nGet more politics news:The Register's free politics newsletter is delivered daily!\n\n\"Republican governors across America are leading the charge in defending liberty and securing unmatched economic prosperity in our states,\" Reynolds said in a statement. \"The Biden administration is governing from the far-left, ignoring the problems of working-class Americans while pushing an agenda that stifles free speech, free thought, and economic freedom. The American people have had enough, but there is an alternative and that's what I look forward to sharing on Tuesday evening.\"\n\nReynolds is widely expected to seek reelection in 2022, though she has not formally announced a campaign.\n\nMore:How to watch Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union\n\nReynolds is not the first Iowan to enjoy the national honor. Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst delivered the rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech in 2015. She called for changing the direction of the country, but the Internet remembered her for her viral reference to the folksy tradition of wearing bread bags over shoes in the winter.\n\nBiden's State of the Union Speech will be at 8 p.m., March 1.\n\nMore:What the high-profile job of delivering the State of the Union response could mean for Kim Reynolds\n\nBrianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/22"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/republicans-state-of-the-union-response/index.html", "title": "Republicans State of the Union response: Iowa governor says ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nIowa Gov. Kim Reynolds went after President Joe Biden over rising inflation, foreign policy and the Democratic Party’s handling of the pandemic in the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.\n\nReynolds outlined a lengthy list of GOP criticisms, arguing that reckless government spending has triggered inflation, that Democrats have mishandled the pandemic by imposing overly restrictive mandates and that Biden has projected weakness on the world stage.\n\n“Instead of moving America forward, it feels like President Biden and his party have sent us back in time,” Reynolds said.\n\nOn foreign policy, the Iowa Republican called the US withdrawal from Afghanistan under Biden’s watch “disastrous.” Referencing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Reynolds called for unity and solidarity with Ukraine, but argued, “we shouldn’t ignore what happened in the run-up to Putin’s invasion.”\n\n“Weakness on the world stage has a cost, and the President’s approach to foreign policy has consistently been too little too late,” she said.\n\n“We can’t project strength abroad if we’re weak at home,” she said, charging that Biden and his party “have spent the last year either ignoring the issues facing Americans or making them worse.”\n\nAs she lamented high inflation and its impact on Americans, Reynolds said: “The Biden administration believes inflation is a ‘high class problem,’ I can tell you it’s an everybody problem.” Reynolds said the American people share the view that “enough is enough” on ambitious Democratic spending plans.\n\nReynolds also went after Democrats over their handling of the pandemic nationwide and cited her own record on the issue. The Iowa governor has made a name for herself as a proponent of limiting government mandates amid the pandemic and Republican congressional leaders praised her handling of Covid-19 when they announced she would deliver the GOP response.\n\n“Republican governors faced the same Covid-19 virus head on, but we honored your freedoms and saw right away that lockdowns and school closures, they came with their own significant costs; that mandates weren’t the answer,” she said.\n\n“What happened and is still happening to our children over the last two years is unconscionable: learning loss, isolation, anxiety, depression. In so many states, our kids have been left behind and many will never catch up,” she added.\n\nReynolds signed legislation into law last year that blocks mask mandates from being implemented in K-12 schools and prohibits cities and counties from requiring facial coverings in businesses. She also signed a bill into law last year that grants unemployment benefits to those who lose their jobs because they refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19.\n\nThe speech gave the Iowa governor a prominent national platform to speak to the country and offer up a critique of the Biden administration agenda. It comes as Republicans work to make their case to the American public ahead of pivotal midterm elections that will determine which party controls the House and Senate.\n\nIt’s Washington tradition for the party locked out of power at the White House to pick a rising star within their ranks to give a rebuttal speech following the President’s annual State of the Union. The nationally televised speech serves as a way to counter-program and draw a contrast.\n\nAt the same time, the format – the rebuttal is typically delivered straight to a camera – can prove challenging and comes with a far less dynamic backdrop than the House chamber, where presidents deliver the State of the Union and are greeted by cheers and applause from members of their party.\n\nBiden is confronting challenges on a number of fronts, including facing some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency just months before the critical upcoming midterm elections.\n\nThe State of the Union also unfolded under the looming threat of the biggest military crisis in Europe since the Cold War as Russia continues its assault on Ukraine after launching an unprovoked attack on the nation.\n\nWhile Democrats hope the State of the Union address will give Biden, and by extension their party, a boost, Republicans are looking to use the opportunity to spotlight what they see as the major flaws and weaknesses in the President’s agenda and his tenure to date.\n\nThis story and headline have been updated with additional developments Tuesday.", "authors": ["Clare Foran"], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/sotu-biden-2022/index.html", "title": "Biden confronts Putin and tries to kickstart his domestic agenda in ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPresident Joe Biden closed his first State of the Union address Tuesday night with a resounding sense of optimism and unity as the world watches Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying his confidence in the American people is what gives him assurance that democracy will prevail at this critical moment.\n\n“Now is the hour, our moment of responsibility. Our test of resolve and conscience, of history itself. It is in this moment that our character is formed. Our purpose is found. Our future is forged,” Biden said in closing.\n\n“Well, I know this nation. We will meet the test. To protect freedom and liberty, to expand fairness and opportunity. We will save democracy. As hard as these times have been, I am more optimistic about America today than I have been my whole life,” he continued.\n\nThe President said, “The state of the union is strong, because you, the American people, are strong.”\n\n“We are stronger today than we were a year ago,” Biden said. “And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today. Now is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time. And we will, as one people. One America. The United States of America.”\n\nSpeaking to political leaders in Washington, Biden began the address by underscoring unity against Russia within the US and among its allies.\n\nAmid such a crucial time for global politics, Biden sent a message to the world: The West is united in its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemns the Russian leader for his aggression. And he also encouraged all in the chamber to show that support with a resounding standing ovation and said the US and its allies have “an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.”\n\nBiden argued that Putin’s aggression had only made the world’s democracies strengthen their resolve to counter rising autocracies.\n\n“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated,” Biden said. “He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.”\n\nThe President also boasted of the West’s unanimity in the face of Russia’s aggression, saying their united front is “inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine” and “choking off Russia’s access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come.”\n\n“Putin’s latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected repeated, repeated, efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. He thought he could divide us at home, in this chamber and in this nation. Putin was wrong. We were ready,” Biden said.\n\n“We spent months building a coalition of other freedom-loving nations from Europe and the Americas to Asia and Africa to confront Putin. I spent countless hours unifying our European allies. We shared with the world in advance what we knew Putin was planning and precisely how he would try to falsely justify his aggression. We countered Russia’s lies with truth. And now that he has acted the free world is holding him accountable.”\n\nThe President celebrated the impact actions will have on “Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime no more.”\n\n“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.\n\nHe also asserted that “Russia’s economy is reeling and Putin alone is to blame.”\n\nPutin, for his part, was not expected to watch the speech, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. “The President usually does not watch TV addresses,” Peskov said in response to a question from CNN.\n\nAs Tuesday unfolded ahead of Biden’s primetime speech, the President, his administration and its allies have made it clear that Ukraine has been top of mind.\n\nThe US and its allies announced early Tuesday that they have agreed to a release of 60 million barrels from their reserves, the White House and International Energy Agency, as leaders seek to dampen the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on gas prices at home. Vice President Kamala Harris held five separate calls with European leaders and Biden held a half-hour call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.\n\nBiden acknowledged that many Americans are worried about how gas prices are being affected by the war.\n\n“I know the news about what’s happening can seem alarming. But I want you to know that we are going to be OK,” he said. “When the history of this era is written Putin’s war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger.”\n\nA return to domestic concerns\n\nThrough the remainder of his speech Biden delivered a more traditional State of the Union address – pitching his domestic agenda to the American people for the upcoming year and calling on Congress to approve a number of his proposals which have stalled despite Democrats’ control of both chambers.\n\nHe tried to highlight areas of bipartisan unity across a number of policy issues, and in the context of the pandemic and the state of the economy – two of the largest issues on Americans’ minds – the President sought to relay a sense of empathy and understanding.\n\nThe President used the speech to celebrate last year’s passage of his first two major legislative agenda items, the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as their effects on Americans. In addition, he repeatedly called on the audience of lawmakers in the room to move on his stalled priorities, such as passing the laundry list of items from the Build Back Better social spending bill and confirming his Federal Reserve nominees.\n\nBiden outlined his plan to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, calling for a bipartisan “reset” from the polarization of the last two years as the nation begins the return to normal.\n\nHe acknowledged that Americans are “tired, frustrated, and exhausted” with the pandemic, highlighting the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently updated mask guidelines, which show that “most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free,” and outlining steps the US will take to “move forward safely.”\n\n“Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, Covid-19 need no longer control our lives,” he added. “I know some are talking about ‘living with Covid-19.’ Tonight – I say that we will never just accept living with Covid-19. We will continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases. And because this is a virus that mutates and spreads, we will stay on guard.”\n\nIn another area that has affected everyday life, the President sought to recalibrate his economic message to acknowledge the hardships many Americans are facing, saying, “The pandemic has been punishing. And so many families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food, gas, housing, and so much more. I understand.”\n\n“(W)ith all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth and higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills,” Biden said. “Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel.”\n\nIn remarks meant to address a concern of Americans across the nation, Biden said his plan to fight inflation would include investing in jobs at home, allowing Americans to get back to work while also making more of the products needed domestically.\n\n“Lower your costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And, instead of relying on foreign supply chains – let’s make it in America,” Biden said. “Economists call it ‘increasing the productive capacity of our economy.’ I call it building a better America. My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit.”\n\nThe President revealed what he called “a Unity Agenda for the Nation” – a broad-sweeping list of efforts with four main points: beat the opioid pandemic, take on mental health, support veterans and end cancer.\n\nBiden announced new efforts to combat identity theft and criminal fraud in pandemic relief programs, including the appointment of a Justice Department prosecutor tasked with identifying and prosecuting pandemic fraud. He’ll also announce higher penalties and more resources to prosecute fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI). Biden, the White House says, will sign an executive order in the coming weeks tasking federal agencies to address fraud and theft in their respective purviews.\n\nBiden highlighted efforts his administration has taken to reduce gun violence, reiterate his call on Congress to pass “common-sense gun violence legislation that will save lives,” and urge Congress to pass his proposed budget, which includes hundreds of millions in funding for community violence intervention programs and community policing, according to a White House official.\n\nDespite the President’s efforts to unify Americans in his speech, the night was not without politically contentious moments.\n\nSeveral Republicans boycotted the speech over a Covid testing requirement. As Biden was discussing the border and immigration, at least one person in the chamber was heard chanting, “Build the wall.” And as he paid tribute to members of the armed forces who were sickened by burn pits, Biden was interrupted by Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who audibly interrupted, “You put them there – 13 of them” – an apparent reference to soldiers killed during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. She was quickly shushed by lawmakers.\n\nAs is tradition, first lady Jill Biden has invited guests that represent policies and themes the President will talk about during the speech, her office said. This year’s invitations included Ukraine Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova, along with educators, a union representative, members of the tech community, an organizer of Native American causes, a health care worker and a military spouse have also been invited to sit with the first lady in her box above the dais.\n\nCommerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was the designated survivor for Tuesday’s address, meaning she was the member of the Cabinet assigned to remain outside the House chamber during the State of the Union in case disaster strikes.\n\nThis story has been updated with additional developments on Tuesday.", "authors": ["Maegan Vazquez"], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/28/how-watch-kim-reynolds-republican-response-state-union-2022-tv-livestream/6973100001/", "title": "How to watch, stream Kim Reynolds' State of the Union GOP response", "text": "Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is set to give the Republicans' response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address on March 1 after Biden's speech.\n\nSenate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy announced the Iowa governor as the one to deliver the response early last week.\n\nWhile not the first Iowan to deliver the Republican response to the address, Reynolds was mentioned for her \"brave, bold, and successful leadership for Iowans\" as party leaders called on Republican governors for \"fighting and winning for families.\"\n\nHere's how you can watch the Republican 2022 State of the Union response.\n\nMore:What the high-profile job of delivering the State of the Union response could mean for Kim Reynolds\n\nWhat time is the State of the Union Address 2022?\n\nPresident Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union Address at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 1.\n\nWhen will Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds give the State of the Union response?\n\nGov. Kim Reynolds is expected to deliver the Republican response to the 2022 State of the Union Address after President Joe Biden has spoken.\n\nMore:Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver Republicans' State of the Union response\n\nHow to watch the Republicans' response to the State of the Union Address\n\nThe Republican State of the Union response is expected to be aired by TV networks and streaming platforms airing President Joe Biden's speech.\n\nTV channels:\n\nAll major TV news networks are set to air the State of the Union Address including CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, MSNBC and C-SPAN, according to USA Today.\n\nWhere to watch online and livestream:\n\nThe White House will stream the 2022 State of the Union Address on its website, as well as YouTube. You'll also be able to view the livestream from many news outlets, including on The Des Moines Register, provided by USA Today.\n\nMore:Who is Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds? What to know about the Republicans' State of the Union response speaker\n\nWho is Kim Reynolds?\n\nKim Reynolds currently serves as Iowa's governor, where she was elected in 2018 as the state's first female governor.\n\nAt 62-years-old Reynolds' political career has taken her from Iowa state senator, lieutenant governor to governor. She is expected to run for reelection as governor in the 2022 elections, however, an official announcement has not been made.\n\nReynolds has been in the national spotlight before, garnering national attention as one of the Republican governors who have pushed back against the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/28"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/politics/state-of-the-union-biden-pelosi/index.html", "title": "State of the Union: Biden accepts Pelosi's invitation to give address ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPresident Joe Biden has accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress on March 1.\n\nOn Friday, Pelosi sent Biden a letter inviting him to give the speech on that day “to share your vision of the State of the Union.”\n\nThe White House announced later in the afternoon that Biden had accepted.\n\n“The President has accepted the invitation of the Speaker of the House to deliver the State of the Union address on Tuesday, March 1, 2022,” principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with the President to Colorado Friday.\n\nThe State of the Union address is a tradition that offers Presidents a chance to highlight their priorities and agenda at the start of a new year.\n\nIf Biden gives the speech on March 1, that would be about a month later than is typical for the annual address. Since 1934, all State of the Union speeches have happened in January or February.\n\nDelivering the State of the Union in March would give Biden more time to try to accomplish some of his legislative goals before addressing Congress and the nation.\n\nThe Build Back Better Act – a key part of Biden’s domestic agenda that aims to expand the social safety net and fight climate change – has hit a roadblock in Congress amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and it is not clear whether the legislation will be able to move forward.\n\nWhile the Constitution mandates a president to update Congress on the “state of the union,” it does not provide a timing requirement beyond “from time to time.”\n\nBiden delivered his first address to Congress as President in April 2021. That was not designated a “State of the Union” speech because since 1977, new presidents have not referred to the first speech before a joint session of Congress that way, instead typically calling them an annual message or address.\n\nA number of health and safety protocols were put in place for that speech due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including a limit on the number of lawmakers allowed in the House chamber.\n\nThis story and headline have been updated with additional developments Friday.", "authors": ["Clare Foran Kevin Liptak", "Clare Foran", "Kevin Liptak"], "publish_date": "2022/01/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/07/biden-state-of-the-union-sotu-address-updates/11204405002/", "title": "State of the Union 2023 address recap: Biden lays out ambitious ...", "text": "WASHINGTON, D.C — President Joe Biden took credit Tuesday for what he said was the country's economic revival while pushing an agenda of reducing prescription drug costs, protecting abortion rights and banning assault weapons.\n\nThe economy was reeling two years ago, Biden said in his second State of the Union address delivered in a packed House chamber. In a preview of an expected reelection campaign announcement, he noted that the unemployment rate was at 50-year low while inflation has been easing.\n\n“We’ve been sent here to finish the job,” Biden said, invoking a phrase he used several times in his speech.\n\nBut the rancorous atmosphere in the House chamber telegraphed fights ahead, including over budget priorities and avoiding a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt. At several points in Biden’s speech, was interrupted by Republicans, who criticized his handling of border policy and pushed back when he accused them of trying to cut popular entitlements.\n\nSOTU analysis:Pivot point: Joe Biden faced a different chapter of his presidency in his State of the Union\n\nHeckles, spats and deflection:The biggest moments you missed from Biden's State of the Union\n\nState of the Union takeaways:Blue-collar Joe, GOP boos and a 2024 preview\n\nThe latest on Biden's speech:\n\nBlue-collar pitch: Promoting his economic plan, Biden assured Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten,” arguing that “too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible.”\n\nPromoting his economic plan, Biden assured Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten,” arguing that “too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible.” Biden calls Pelosi 'greatest speaker’ ever: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway.\n\nFormer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway. Biden touts progress on insulin prices while pushing for more: Biden renewed his call to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American.\n\nBiden renewed his call to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American. Biden spars with GOP over Social Security and Medicare: The president prompted protests in the chamber from Republican lawmakers when he repeated his accusation that the GOP was trying to cut entitlements. When the protests continued, Biden said he wasn’t arguing that all Republicans back reviewing entitlement programs every five years. “But it’s being proposed,” he said.\n\nSanders: Biden has 'failed' American people; calls for 'new generation'\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, at age 40 the youngest governor in the country, didn't hesitate to point out that 80-year-old Joe Biden is the oldest president in history – and added that it is time for a \"new generation\" of Republican leadership.\n\n\"Biden and the Democrats have failed you,\" Sanders said in the formal GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address. \"It's time for a change.\"\n\nSpeaking from the governor's mansion in Little Rock, Ark., Sanders cited domestic issues like inflation, immigration, and crime. Also criticizing the president's foreign policy, Sanders said Biden is \"unfit\" to be Commander-in-Chief.\n\nCiting the Republican majority in the House, Sanders said: \"We will hold the Biden administration accountable.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nThe GOP:In Republican response to Biden's State of the Union, a vow to block the president's agenda\n\nBiden calls Paul Pelosi 'tough'\n\nBiden called out the political violence that was unleashed in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.\n\n“With democracy, everything is possible. Without it, nothing is,” he said.\n\nBiden introduced Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was violently attacked in their home by an intruder, saying the assailant was “unhinged by the Big Lie” that the election was stolen.\n\n“Here tonight in this chamber is the man who bears the scars of that brutal attack, but is as tough and strong and as resilient as they get. My friend, Paul Pelosi,\" he said. “But such a heinous act never should have happened.”\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nPaul Pelosi attack:Video footage of violent home attack on Paul Pelosi released\n\nBiden gets personal and celebrates Cancer Moonshot initiative\n\nBiden celebrated the Cancer Moonshot initiative, aimed at advancing cancer prevention and treatment,\n\n“Our goal is to cut the cancer death rates at least by 50% in the next 25 years. Turn more cancers from death sentences to treatable diseases. Provide more support for patients and their families.” The issue is also deeply personal to Biden, as one of his sons, Beau Biden, passed away due to brain cancer. “It’s personal to so many of us.”\n\nBiden also singled out Maurice and Kandice Barron, a pair of guests invited by First Lady Jill Biden. Their daughter, Ava Barron, was diagnosed with a form of kidney cancer when she was one year old. “She turns four next month,” Biden said to wide cheers from the audience. “They just found out Ava’s beating the odds and is on her way to being cured from cancer.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nCancer treatment:New cancer therapy takes personalized medicine to a new level\n\nBiden says US stood up to China\n\nFacing Republicans who’ve accused him of being too soft on China, Biden said he responded clearly last week when a Chinese surveillance balloon floated over the United States.\n\nChina knows that if U.S. sovereignty is threatened, Americans will act to protect the country.\n\n“And we did,” Biden said, an apparent reference to his decision to shoot down the balloon.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nChinese spy balloon:Chinese spy balloon went over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says\n\nBiden: Stop production, trafficking of fentanyl\n\nCiting Americans’ growing dependence on prescription drugs, Biden called for a major campaign to stop the production, sale and trafficking of fentanyl.\n\nBiden noted that fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year. But his remarks were met with contempt from some members of Congress.\n\n“It’s your fault!” several Republicans shouted.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\nBiden says VA working to end 'the silent scourge of suicide'\n\nBiden said when he first appointed Denis McDonough to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, the country was losing up to 25 veterans a day to “the silent scourge of suicide,” and continues to lose 17 per day.\n\n“The VA is doing everything it can, including expanding mental health screenings and a proven program that recruits veterans to help other veterans understand what they’re going through and get the help they need,”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nMilitary suicide:Amid suicide crisis, the Army says it will rush mental health providers to Alaska\n\nBiden calls for higher teacher pay\n\nBiden hasn't touched much on education issues during the address but did take a moment to outline several priorities on that front. Among them: expanding access to preschool and raising teacher pay.\n\nIn 2021, teachers made less than 77 cents on the dollar compared with other college graduates. Yet surveys show teachers work more than 50 hours a week on average. Close to 1 in 5 work elsewhere at another job. It's no surprise that nearly half of U.S. schools are short teachers. Some states and districts have proposed or enacted pay bumps but they've been modest at best.\n\nFederal legislation again before Congress this session would set a teacher salary floor of $60,000. While raising teacher pay has garnered the support of some Republicans, the American Teacher Act is unlikely to get far. In some states teachers make less than $50,000 on average.\n\n– Alia Wong\n\nTeacher shortage:Amid crippling teacher shortages, some schools are turning to unorthodox solutions\n\nBiden urges lawmakers to protect abortion rights\n\nBiden called on lawmakers to “restore” abortion rights after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.\n\n“The vice president and I are doing everything to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient safety,” Biden said, noting that states across the country have implemented abortion bans and restrictions.\n\n“Make no mistake about it. If Congress passes a national ban, I will veto it,” the president vowed.\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nRoe v. Wade overturned:Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion\n\nAbortion pills:20 Republican attorneys general warn CVS, Walgreens against selling abortion pills by mail\n\nBiden renews call to stand with Ukraine 'as long as it takes'\n\nCalling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “test for the ages,” Biden said the U.S. passed that test by standing for sovereignty.\n\nThat matters, Biden said, because it “prevents open season for would-be aggressors.”\n\nHis argument – and promise to stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes” – comes as some Republicans are calling for greater scrutiny, or even a curtailment, of U.S. involvement.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nUkraine latest:Ukraine pushes to exclude Russia from 2024 Paris Olympics\n\nBono at the SOTU:Here's why musician, advocate Bono is at Biden's State of the Union address\n\nAmerica’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts, said Biden.\n\nSince launching a new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%, Biden said.\n\n“We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” he said.\n\nHe urged Congress to pass his plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. He also asked Congress to pave a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nBorder politics:Republicans said Biden wasn't doing enough on the border. New GOP-led House is demanding answers\n\nBiden highlights ‘courage’ of Brandon Tsay and calls for assault weapon bans\n\nBiden singled out Brandon Tsay’s heroism two weeks ago when he disarmed the Monterey Park shooter who killed 11 people who attended a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. Tsay, who is in attendance, received a standing ovation from lawmakers as Biden acknowledged him.\n\n“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same as well,” Biden said. “Ban assault weapons once and for all.”\n\nMass shootings typically lead lawmakers to call for such actions but it’s unlikely that a ban will pass in a divided Congress with many Republican lawmakers who have vowed that they will not waver on gun control.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\n'Still too high':Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders independent panel to study military suicide\n\nMarjorie Taylor Greene yells at Biden multiple times\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a fervent opponent of Biden who has called for his impeachment, yelled at him twice during the State of the Union address.\n\nThe first time came as Biden said Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare – an accusation that Greene refuted when she stood up yelled “Liar!”\n\nGreene later yelled, “China spied on us!” near the end of Biden’s speech.\n\nShe also yelled to “close the border” and “it’s your fault” when the president talked about the fentanyl crisis.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nHeckling lawmakers:Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nBiden on Tyre Nichols’ death: ‘Something good must come from this’\n\nBiden used his speech to pay tribute to Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers.\n\nBiden called for more police training and more resources to reduce violent crime, along with more investments in housing, education and training.\n\nNoting that Nichols’ mother and stepfather were seated in the first lady’s box, Biden urged lawmakers to commit themselves to making the words of Nichols’ mother come true: “Something good must come from this.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nTyre Nichols killing:7 more Memphis police employees under investigation in Tyre Nichols' death, city attorney says\n\nBiden invokes Uvalde massacre in call for gun reform\n\nIn a call to action on gun violence, Biden invoked his trip to Uvalde, Texas, after the Robb Elementary School shooting where 19 students and two teachers were killed.\n\n“Do something, do something. That was the plea of parents who lost their children in Uvalde, I met with everyone.” Biden said, then pointing to the bipartisan gun reform law he signed. “Thank god we did. Passing the most sweeping gun safety law in three decades.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nUvalde shooting:Her daughter was killed in Uvalde. She's suing police, the school district and a gunmaker.\n\nCOVID is under control but vigilance necessary, says Biden\n\nWhile COVID-19 deaths are down nearly 90%, and the end of the public health emergency is close, Biden said the country will remember the pain of losing loved ones will never go away for many.\n\n“Families grieving. Children orphaned. Empty chairs at the dining room table. We remember them, and we remain vigilant,” he said.\n\nBiden said it was important to remain vigilant and monitor dozens of variants and support new vaccines and treatments. He urged Congress to fund these efforts and keep America safe.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nThe COVID emergency declaration is ending:What it means for tests, vaccines, treatment\n\nBiden: Police departments 'must be held accountable'\n\nSaying Tyre Nichols’ mother wants something good to come from his death at the hands of police officers in Memphis, Biden called for police reform.\n\n“When police officers or departments violate the public trust, they must be held accountable,” he said.\n\nBiden also pointed to an executive order he signed affecting federal officers that banned chokeholds, restricted no-knock warrants, and implemented “other key elements of the George Floyd Act.”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nTyre Nichols:Ex-Memphis police officer took a photo of Tyre Nichols after beating, document says\n\nBiden urges Congress to act on labor reform\n\nBiden called for Congress to take up labor reform and worker protections as he touted his support for unions and his pledge to be “the most pro-union president.”\n\n“I’m so sick and tired of companies breaking the law by preventing workers from organizing,” said Biden. “Workers have a right to form a union.”\n\nBiden also urged action on additional worker protections and benefits, including paid family and medical leave and affordable child care, specifically calling for the return of the expanded Child Tax Credit.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nLabor secretary makes move:Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh stepping down as Biden Labor Secretary for job with NHL union\n\nBiden calls for rebooting the expanded Child Tax Credit\n\nParents who qualify for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) won’t be getting as hefty checks as last year. That’s because the enhanced CTC, which parents could also opt to receive in installments rather than waiting to receive it in a lump sum payment when they file their taxes, expired.\n\nThe enhanced CTC increased payments from $2,000 per qualifying child to $3,600 for children ages 5 and under and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17. This year it will go back to $2,000 for qualifying children of all ages.\n\nIn his remarks, Biden vowed to “restore the full Child Tax Credit which gave tens of millions of parents some breathing room and cut child poverty in half, to the lowest level in history.”\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nChild tax credit this year:How much is the Child Tax Credit for 2023? Here's what you need to know about qualifying.\n\nBiden: Ban ‘junk fees’ on hotel bills, other services\n\nBiden urged Congress to pass legislation to ban excess fees that companies often tack onto hotel bills, airline tickets and other services.\n\n“Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” he said.\n\nThe Junk Fee Prevention Act, if approved, would bar so-called “resort fees” that can add up to $90 a night on hotel bills, stop cable internet and cell phone companies from charging up to $200 more when a customer switches providers, and prohibit airlines from charging up to $50 roundtrip for families to sit together, Biden said.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nJunk fees:Biden moves to limit credit fees to $8 for missed payments in latest \"junk fee\" crack down\n\nSocial Security and Medicare benefits draw tension during speech\n\nBiden’s State of the Union address comes as he and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have started talks on the debt ceiling and government spending.\n\nTension has been building between the two parties over Social Security and Medicare benefits. McCarthy said Republicans aren’t going to cut those programs, but Democrats say the math will force those cuts if the GOP demands lowered government spending.\n\nBiden in his speech said Republicans want to cut the programs, to which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up and yelled “Liar!” as other members booed the president.\n\n“OK, so we agree,” Biden said. “Social Security and Medicare is off the books.”\n\nBipartisan cheers returned to the chamber.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nMedicare:Medicare launches plan to negotiate prices for the costliest drugs. Here's what to know.\n\nBiden takes credit for deficit cuts\n\nBiden celebrated the government’s deficit cuts seen under his administration in his State of the Union address.\n\n“For the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion, the largest deficit reduction in American history,” Biden said. The deficit’s cut was partly a result of higher tax revenues that Biden touted but also the end of spending related to the pandemic.\n\nBiden also took a jab at former President Donald Trump for increases in the federal deficit under Trump’s administration. “Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row,” Biden said, to boos and jeers from Republican lawmakers.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nWhat happens if the US hits the debt ceiling?:Here's what to expect if we reach debt limit.\n\nBiden says Republicans want to ‘take the economy hostage’ in debt ceiling talks\n\nBiden accused Republicans of wanting to “take the economy hostage” unless he agrees to their demands for spending cuts during debt ceiling talks.\n\nBiden demanded Republicans show “what their plans are.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has not specified what Republicans want axed.\n\n“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” Biden said, prompting loud boos from Republicans in Congress.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nMedicare and debt ceiling fight:How Medicare and Social Security benefits factor into the Kevin McCarthy debt ceiling fight\n\nBiden defends Inflation Reduction Act\n\nPresident Biden touted the Inflation Reduction Act which he signed into law, saying he was taking on powerful interest to bring health care costs down.\n\n“You know, we pay more for prescription drugs than any major country on earth,” he said. “Big Pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars – and making record profits.”\n\nHaving capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare, Biden said it was time to help Americans not on Medicare, including 200,000 young people with Type I diabetes who need insulin to save their lives. “Let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it,” he said. The law also caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at a maximum $2,000 per year.\n\nHe also promised to veto any attempts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nCredit fees:Biden moves to limit credit fees to $8 for missed payments in latest \"junk fee\" crack down\n\nBiden tangles with GOP lawmakers over Social Security and Medicare\n\nBiden got into an unusual back and forth with Republicans over whether GOP lawmakers want to end the automatic continuation of Social Security and Medicare.\n\nWhen some vocally protested, Biden responded: “Anyone who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”\n\nWhen the protests continued, Biden said he wasn’t arguing that all Republicans back reviewing entitlement programs every five years.\n\n“But it’s being proposed,” he said.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nMedicare debate:How Medicare and Social Security benefits factor into the Kevin McCarthy debt ceiling fight\n\nCheers and boos for Biden\n\nProgressive members of the House, known as “the Squad,” cheered as President Joe Biden pushed for fair taxes and called out low tax rates for billionaires.\n\n“You tell ‘em, Joe,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.\n\nHe also had plenty of jeers from the Republican side of the chamber when he slammed former President Donald Trump’s fiscal record and accused the House GOP of trying to cut Social Security and Medicare. The latter attracted loud boos.\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up and yelled, “Liar!” from the back of the chamber.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nTalkative Biden:On average, Biden is most talkative president in six decades of State of Union addresses\n\nBiden repeats call for ‘billionaire’s tax’\n\nBiden used his speech to call again for Congress to pass a so-called “billionaire’s tax,” saying some of the biggest corporations in the country are raking in billions of dollars in profits but paying no federal income taxes.\n\n“That’s simply not fair,” he said.\n\nBiden did not spell out the specifics of his proposal. But in the past, he has called for a 20% levy on households with a net worth of more than $100 million.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nWhat are the tax brackets?:What are the 2022 US federal tax brackets? What are the new 2023 tax brackets? Answers here\n\nBiden calls climate crisis ‘an existential threat’\n\nBiden said “the climate crisis doesn't care if you're in a red or blue state” as he touted his administration’s work to take on what he called “an existential threat.”\n\nHe pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the largest climate package ever, and investments from his infrastructure law.\n\nHe later went off-script, saying, “We’re still going to need oil and gas for a while.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nUN Secretary-General::'No more baby steps' on climate change\n\nBiden to Congress: Continue insurance subsidies that lowered uninsured rates\n\nBiden celebrated the fact that a record number of Americans have health insurance while calling on Congress to continue expanded insurance subsidies that helped boost that rate.\n\nThose enhanced subsidies for people who purchase insurance on their own, instead of getting coverage from the government or an employer, expire after 2025.\n\n“Let’s finish the job and make the savings permanent,” Biden said as he also called for extending expanded Medicaid coverage to all states.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nBiden takes made in America a step further\n\nBiden touted American manufacturing gains and a campaign promise to move more production to the U.S. from foreign countries. Biden then announced, “new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America.”\n\n“American-made lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cables,” he said. “And on my watch, American roads, American bridges, and American highways will be made with American products.”\n\nBiden’s message echoes former President Donald Trump’s prior State of the Union addresses where he boasted about initiatives to bring back manufacturing jobs that have been lost over the years.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nInsulin costs:Medicare caps insulin costs at $35 a month. Can Biden get that price for all Americans?\n\nBiden touts legislative victories in infrastructure and manufacturing\n\nBiden championed his series of legislative victories that ranged from tackling the country’s supply chain shortage and sweeping investments in domestic manufacturing and infrastructure.\n\n“We’re gonna make sure the supply chain for America begins in America,” Biden said, touting a bipartisan bill he signed that made investments to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductors.\n\n“To maintain the strongest economy in the world, we need the best infrastructure in the world,” said Biden, pointing to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. “Folks, we’re just getting started.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nWhy Bono is at SOTU:Here's why musician, advocate Bono is at Biden's State of the Union address\n\nBiden appeals to middle and working class people on manufacturing\n\nIn an appeal to middle class and working class people, Biden said he ran for president “to make sure the economy works for everyone” so that everyone can have pride in what they do for a living.\n\n“For decades, the middle class was hollowed out,” he said. “Too many good-paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas. Factories at home closed down. Once-thriving cities and towns that many of you represent became shadows of what they used to be.”\n\nBiden then spoke about his administration’s accomplishments in the manufacturing sector.\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\nMore:As Biden prepares 2024 reelection run, Dems worry blue-collar voters are slipping away\n\nBiden: ‘COVID no longer controls our lives’\n\nBiden said the nation’s economy is roaring back from the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n“Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much,” he said. “Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”\n\nBiden said his administration has created 12 million jobs, “more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nA full House – literally – for State of the Union\n\nPresident Joe Biden entered a full House chamber Tuesday.\n\nThe capacity crowd included House and Senate members, current and former Supreme Court justices, family and honored guests.\n\nBiden’s first words were met with a standing ovation, as he honored Republican and Democratic leaders – but also as he described the state of the union.\n\nThe applause came from Democrats and Republicans, and the standing ovations were sometimes led by a row of powerful Senate moderates, including Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Kyrsten Sinema, who recently changed her party affiliation to independent.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nBiden: Pelosi is 'greatest speaker’ ever\n\nFormer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway.\n\n“I want to give special recognition to someone who I think will be considered the greatest speaker in the history of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi,” Biden said.\n\nPelosi stepped down from Democratic leadership after the midterm elections. Biden also congratulated her successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black American to be House minority leader.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nWhat are burn pits?:Why were burn pits used? Toxic fumes, medical risks explained.\n\nBiden begins speech telling McCarthy he looks forward to ‘working together’\n\nBiden began his remarks congratulating Kevin McCarthy, the new Republican House speaker, and saying he looks forward to “working together.”\n\nBiden also congratulated Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies, the first African American man to lead a party, and gave shout outs to Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.\n\n“The story of America is a story of progress and resilience. Of always moving forward. Of never giving up,” Biden said.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nLabor Secretary Marty Walsh is designated survivor for 2023 State of the Union\n\nSecretary of Labor Marty Walsh is the designated survivor for this year's State of the Union address.\n\nEvery year, a top government official is chosen as the “designated survivor” as a way to maintain the presidential line of succession in case of a catastrophic event where multiple officials in the line are unable to assume office.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nMarty Walsh:Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh stepping down as Biden Labor Secretary for job with NHL union\n\nBono is at the State of the Union\n\nBono, the Irish lead singer of U2, is attending the State of the Union as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.\n\nBono is a longtime social justice advocate who co-founded the nonprofit ONE Campaign to address poverty and preventable diseases and Prouct RED to address HIV and AIDS in Africa.\n\nHe’s sitting next to Paul Pelosi, husband of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\n2 Californians will sit behind Biden\n\nVice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may not share a political party. But they do have something in common. Both are from California.\n\nThat gave them at least one thing to talk about as they stood on the rostrum, waiting for Biden’s speech to begin.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nBiden gets a Supreme Court majority for speech, if not policies\n\nAt least for tonight, President Joe Biden landed a majority of the Supreme Court.\n\nFive sitting Supreme Court justices stepped into the House chamber before the president’s remarks: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.\n\nThat’s a decent turnout for an event some current and former justices have derided as a “political pep rally” and a “childish spectacle.”\n\nWhether the president can cobble together a majority for any of his policies pending at the court – on immigration, student loan debt relief or environmental rules – remains to be seen.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nBiden to get bipartisan escort into House chamber\n\nBiden will be escorted into the House chamber by a bipartisan group of House and Senate officials, including Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.\n\n–Michael Collins\n\nFace masks uncommon as pre-pandemic normality returns\n\nFew lawmakers were wearing face masks as they filed onto the House floor for Biden’s State of the Union speech.\n\nAnd unlike last year, members of Congress were allowed to bring guests, a return to pre-pandemic normality.\n\n“Today, COVID no longer controls our lives,” Biden will declare, according to speech excerpts the White House released in advance.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nState of the economy:A look at economy's strengths, weaknesses as Biden sets to boast of record job growth in State of Union\n\nBiden arrives at Capitol\n\nBiden’s motorcade arrived at the Capitol at 8:40 p.m. ahead of his 9 p.m. State of the Union speech.\n\n“Great shape, getting better,” Biden said when a reporter asked him, “What’s the state of the union?” before he departed the White House.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\n5 big questions for Biden's speech:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nPoll: Republicans want GOP leaders to 'stand up’ to Biden\n\nIf Biden doesn’t find a receptive audience to his call for the two parties to work together, Republican voters could be the reason.\n\nMost Republicans (64%) want GOP congressional leaders to “stand up” to Biden on matters important to GOP, even if that makes it harder to address critical problems facing the country, according to recent polling from the Pew Research Center.\n\nAnd more are concerned that GOP lawmakers won’t focus enough on investigating the administration than the share worried that they will focus too much on investigations.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nBiden approval rating hovering in low 40s ahead of speech\n\nBiden’s second State of the Union address Tuesday comes as he remains under water politically, with more than half of voters disapproving of his job performance, according to most polls.\n\nA Washington Post-ABC poll released this week found 42% of voters approve of Biden’s job performance, while 53% disapprove. That closely matches the FiveThirtyEight average of polls.\n\nBiden’s job performance has stayed below since August 2021 in most polls. Even more troubling for Biden, most Americans can’t identify his achievements. Sixty-two percent of Americans said Biden has accomplished \"not very much\" or “little or nothing,\" in the same Washington Post-ABC News poll, while only 36% said he has accomplished \"a great deal\" or \"a good amount.\"\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nWhat to watch for:The State of the Union is Tuesday: Here's what you can expect from Joe Biden's speech\n\nVice President Kamala Harris chats with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ahead of speech\n\nVice President Kamala Harris shook hands with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the two chatted, as they stood behind the rostrum waiting for Biden to enter the House chamber.\n\nThis will be the first State of the Union with McCarthy as speaker since Republicans took control of the House during the midterm elections.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nBiden heads to the Capitol\n\nBiden left the White House at 8:30 p.m. en route to the Capitol. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived ahead of him along with the majority of his Cabinet.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nPaul Pelosi arrives at State of the Union\n\nPaul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived at the State of the Union about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.\n\nThis marks his first visit to a joint session of Congress since a video release of a brutal October attack that left him with head and hand injuries requiring surgery.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nLawmakers arrive for State of the Union\n\nIf handshakes across the aisle are any reliable indication, there was a hint of bipartisanship in the air as lawmakers arrived for President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union before a divided Congress.\n\nThere was also the smell of cigars in the House gallery hallways on the third floor, a sign of the changing guard and new House rules.\n\nSeveral guests and congresswomen were wearing white, as a nod to the suffragettes. That included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who despite earlier posts did not bring a white balloon into the chamber to troll Biden about what she describes as a delayed response in taking down the Chinese spy balloon.\n\n- Candy Woodall\n\nBiden traveling to Wisconsin and Florida after speech\n\nBiden administration officials will hit the road this week, holding events in at least 20 states to highlight parts of the president’s message.\n\nBiden himself will talk about his economic agenda in Wisconsin Wednesday and will discuss Social Security and Medicare in Florida Thursday.\n\nVice President Kamala Harris is heading to Georgia and Minnesota. Multiple other cabinet members are also fanning out across the country.\n\n- Maureen Groppe\n\nHow would Biden’s billionaire tax work?\n\nTonight Biden will resurface his plan to levy more taxes on the ultra-wealthy. But how would that work?\n\nUnder the current tax system, you don’t have to pay taxes on assets like stocks, homes and artwork that can appreciate over time until you sell it. But if you hold onto them until you die, you won’t have to pay any taxes. And on top of that, heirs that inherit your assets won’t have to pay taxes if they sell them.\n\nThe Biden Administration refers to this as a tax loophole, as billionaires benefit the most since they’re more likely than working-class Americans to get compensated via stocks or other assets that appreciate over time or inherit them.\n\nTo end the practice, Biden is proposing “minimum income tax” on American households worth more than $100 million. His plan calls for the wealthiest Americans to pay a tax rate of at least 20% on their full income, including unrealized gains from assets that have increased in value since their purchase.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nTaxing billionaires:Should the wealthy pay taxes on expensive art and wine? Joe Biden thinks so. Here's how it would work\n\nOcasio-Cortez lays out expectations for Biden’s speech, working with Republicans\n\nAhead of Biden’s address, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.-N.Y., said she’s hoping to “hear a really strong vision” from Biden and explained how Democrats and Republicans could find common ground after the GOP gained control of the House during the midterm elections.\n\nThe New York lawmaker told CNN she hopes to hear “about not just what we've done so far, but also our plans on executing on the enormous bills and successes that we've had in the last one to two years,\" saying “There still is implementation and execution on these plans to address our priorities around climate, taxing the rich and so much more.”\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nBiden's 'finish the job' call in State of the Union echoes FDR\n\nHistorian Michael Beschloss hears echoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt in Biden’s State of the Union address.\n\nBiden will call on Republicans to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the country, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House.\n\n“Finish the job” was used as a rationale for FDR's reelection, Beschloss tweeted about the phrase’s historical lineage. It was also a slogan for the World War I effort. And in a famous radio address during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed to “finish the job.”\n\nAt the start of Biden’s administration, many comparisons – not all of them favorable – were made between the size and scope of Biden’s ambitions, Roosevelt’s programs and the World War II spending that lifted the nation out of the Great Depression.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders: Biden is more interested in 'woke fantasies' than concerns of everyday Americans\n\nIn delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sander plans to attack Biden and the Democrats over a panoply of issues that include inflation, taxes, education and so-called \"culture wars.\"\n\n\"And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day,\" Sanders plans to say, according to speech excerpts released by her office.\n\nAnother excerpt: \"Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nHow long does the State of the Union last? What it will take for Biden to set a SOTU record\n\nBiden’s first State of the Union address in 2022 was somewhere between the longest and shortest speeches ever given, according to The American Presidency Project. Will he keep his second address tonight short and sweet, or will he be long-winded?\n\nIf he intendeds to break the record for the shortest speech ever, he’d have it keep it under 28 minutes and 55 seconds. That was the time Richard Nixon took to deliver his address in 1972. To beat the longest address ever, he’d have to outdo his fellow Democrat former President Bill Clinton, who went on for 1 hour, 28 minutes and 40 seconds for his final State of the Union speech in 2000. Clinton also claims the spot for the second longest address, clocking in at 1 hour, 24 minutes and 58 seconds in 1995.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nBiden to promise investment in ‘places and people that have been forgotten’\n\nBiden will spend part of his address promoting his economic plan and assuring Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten.”\n\nAmid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible, he will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House.\n\n“Maybe that’s you watching at home,” Biden will say. “You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away. I get it. That’s why we’re building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nBiden to praise recovery from Jan. 6 riot, COVID\n\nPresident Joe Biden will say “the story of America is a story of progress and resilience” in his State of the Union address as he touts a rebounding economy, COVID-19 recovery and democracy that survived the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, according to excerpts of the speech provided by the White House.\n\nBiden will tout 12 million new jobs created under his presidency – many that came back following the pandemic – to claim economic progress. And he will reflect on a period two years ago when businesses and schools closed at the height of the pandemic.\n\n“Today, COVID no longer controls our lives,” Biden plans to say. “And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nBiden to ask Republicans to work with him in SOTU speech\n\nPresident Joe Biden will make a plea to Republicans in Congress to work with him. He said after the November elections that Americans sent a divided Congress to Washington because they want them to work together.\n\n“The people sent us a clear message,” Biden will say, according to excerpts released from the White House. “Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhy Sen. Patty Murray and other lawmakers will be wearing crayons at State of the Union\n\nWashington Sen. Patty Murray and some of her Democratic colleagues will be wearing crayon pins to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday to signal their support for greater investments in child care. Such care now costs more than $10,000 a year on average, and roughly half of Americans live in a child care desert. Insufficient child care takes a toll on America's economy, recent research shows, costing taxpayers $122 billion annually.\n\nPartisan gridlock has prevented progress on major child care reforms, such as Murray's Child Care for Working Families Act, which would generally cap child care expenses at 7% of a family's household income. Biden, who alluded to that cap in his last State of the Union, has also struggled to gain traction on his child care proposals.\n\n– Alia Wong\n\nLawmakers to highlight key social issues through guests\n\nTuesday night’s State of the Union address will be the first year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic where lawmakers are allowed to bring their own guests. As part of tradition, lawmakers tend to invite guests that draw attention to issues important to them.\n\nSeveral Democratic lawmakers have invited guests to champion abortion access such as Roslyn Roger Collins, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Metropolitan New Jersey, who will attend the address alongside Rep. Bob Mendendez, D-N.J., according to Planned Parenthood.\n\nIn the wake of the brutal beating and subsequent death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are bringing guests who have been impacted by police violence. House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has invited Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died at the hands of a New York police officer in 2014.\n\n– Christine Fernando and Ken Tran\n\nRepublican response: Sarah Huckabee Sanders follows in historic footsteps with her State of the Union response\n\nArkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the first former White House press secretary to deliver a formal State of the Union response – she is not, however, the first governor of Arkansas to do the honors.\n\nBack in 1985, the Democrats picked a young governor of Arkansas to deliver their response to President Ronald Reagan.\n\nHis name? Bill Clinton ... then-future President Bill Clinton.\n\nSanders will give the Republican rebuttal after Biden's speech.\n\n– David Jackson\n\n5 big questions for the SOTU:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden and China: Spy balloon likely to be addressed\n\nThe speech is a chance for Biden to respond to those who have criticized how he handled the suspected Chinese spy balloon that drifted over the United States last week – and to send a public message to China. Republicans have accused Biden of showing weakness by not shooting down the balloon sooner.\n\nTensions have been rising with China, which the U.S. considers its biggest strategic and economic competitor. The nations have clashed over Taiwan, technology, human rights, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other disputes.\n\nThe Biden administration has been trying to stabilize the relationship, building what it’s called “guardrails” as it normalizes interaction. But one effort to do that – sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China – was postponed because of the balloon incident.\n\n– Maureen Groppe and Michael Collins\n\nIntel chair: China balloon flew over nuke sites\n\nBiden to lay out 'forceful approach’ to combatting fentanyl\n\nThe Biden administration will launch a national campaign to educate young people on the dangers of fentanyl, part of the “forceful approach” for going after fentanyl trafficking and reducing overdose deaths.\n\nOther steps include:\n\nUsing new large-scale scanners to improve efforts to stop fentanyl from being brought into the U.S. through the southern border.\n\nWorking with package delivery companies to catch more packages containing fentanyl from being shipped around the country.\n\nWorking with Congress to make permanent a temporary tool that that’s helped federal agents crack down on drugs chemically similar to fentanyl.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\n5 big questions on Biden's speech:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden to plug job market as recession looms\n\nPresident Joe Biden is expected to take credit for a booming job market and easing inflation when he speaks to the nation Tuesday night.\n\nBut he’ll likely leave out a litany of trouble spots, including a slumping housing market, a monthslong manufacturing downturn and elevated recession risk this year. Meanwhile, inflation is still high and economists pin at least some of the blame on Biden for showering Americans with cash in early 2021 while the economy was already healing.\n\n– Paul Davidson\n\nState of the economy:A look at economy's strengths, weaknesses as Biden sets to boast of record job growth in State of Union\n\nWho is Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Arkansas governor to giver Republican response to Biden's State of the Union address\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders, one-time White House press secretary for former President Trump and current governor of Arkansas, will deliver the Republican rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address tonight.\n\nSanders, the youngest governor in the U.S., hails from a prominent political family. Her father Mike Huckabee was the 44th governor of Arkansas, serving from 1996 to 2007 before launching an unsuccessful presidential bid during the 2008 election. The younger Sanders has since cut out her own place in GOP politics, emerging as one of the more high-profile members of the Trump administration.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nBono, Tyre Nichols’ family members among guests sitting with first lady Jill Biden Tuesday night\n\nThe lead singer for the rock group U2, Bono, and Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, are among the White House guests attending President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday.\n\nGuests are chosen to highlight themes of the president’s speech or because they represent his policy initiatives.\n\nBono is the cofounder of the ONE campaign to fight poverty and preventable diseases, and (RED), which fights HIV/AIDS in Africa. Other guests who will be sitting with first lady Jill Biden during the speech include:\n\nThe mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers.\n\nBrandon Tsay, the man who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman who killed 11 people and injured 10 others during a Lunar New Year celebration.\n\nA Texas woman who almost died because doctors were concerned that intervening when her pregnancy ran into difficulties would violate the state’s abortion ban.\n\nOne of the Massachusetts same-sex couples who sued the state for the right to marry in 2001.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nWhat to expect from tonight's speech:Here's what you can expect from Joe Biden's speech\n\nBiden's speech comes amid job gains\n\nOne accomplishment Biden is sure to bring up tonight is the level of job gains under his presidency. Since he took office the unemployment rate went from 6.3% to 3.4%, per the latest jobs data.\n\nDespite recession fears and massive tech layoffs, U.S. employers added 517,000 new jobs last month, well exceeding economists' expectations of around 180,000 new jobs.\n\nThe blowout jobs report paved the way for the Federal Reserve to pass more rate hikes aimed at lowering inflation, Fed Chairman Powell said in remarks he delivered earlier today. But the rate hikes could push the economy closer to a recession, which the central bank has avoided so far.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nBiden’s student loan forgiveness plan remains stalled\n\nBiden has yet to fulfill his campaign promise of canceling at least $10,000 in student loan debt. Last year he unveiled a plan to make good on his promise.\n\nHowever the plan is being stalled by legal challenges. Six states – Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina – formed a coalition to fight the proposal. They argue that canceling student loan debt extends beyond the administration’s legal authority.\n\nThe Supreme Court is set to hear arguments for the case later this month. The Biden administration claims it is well within their legal realm to proceed with its plan. It cannot do so unless the Court rules in its favor, however.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nStock market under Biden\n\nSince President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10%. Last year the index fell into a bear market, meaning it dropped 20% below a market peak set last January.\n\nDuring former President Donald Trump's time in office, the Dow gained 56%. That represents an annualized gain of close to 12%, one of the best stock market performances under a Republican president according to data from LPL Financial.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nWhat time is the State of the Union speech tonight?\n\nBiden’s State of the Union speech is Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.\n\nHow to stream the SOTU\n\nThe speech will be livestreamed by USA TODAY.\n\nWho is the designated survivor tonight?\n\nThe State of the Union address, delivered to a joint session of Congress and a crowd that includes all nine Supreme Court justices, poses a unique scenario in which every key member of the nation’s leadership is in one room.\n\nThat makes it both a momentous affair, and a significant national security risk. For this reason, each year one member of the president’s Cabinet dubbed the \"designated survivor\" hangs back.\n\nThe practice dates back to the Cold War, during which fears of a Soviet Nuclear attack abounded and a fresh urgency surrounded protocols for the order of presidential succession. The designated survivor for 2023 has not yet been announced, but heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy have most frequently been chosen.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nWhat channel is the State of the Union on?\n\nThe major TV networks and other news outlets, such as Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and PBS, are providing live coverage of the address.\n\nWhat is the State of the Union address?\n\nThe State of the Union address isn’t just a tradition in the nation’s capital. It's rooted in the Constitution.\n\nArticle II of the Constitution says the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.\"\n\nThat doesn’t mean the president has to give a speech – as they often do today.\n\n\"From that very general mandate in the Constitution has evolved into what we recognize today as a yearly event, with lots of pomp and circumstance,\" Claire Jerry, a curator of political history at the National Museum of American History, told USA TODAY.\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nWhen did the annual message become known as State of the Union address?\n\nFrom 1790 to 1946, the speech delivered by the president to Congress was known simply as the \"Annual Message.\"\n\nIn 1947 is became the ‘State of the Union’ and has since been referred to by that name.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nWhat is the origin of the state of the union address?\n\nArticle II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that the president will “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”\n\nThis language birthed the practice, allowing the executive to deliver to a joint session of Congress and the American people.\n\nIn the modern era, the speech has become a vehicle for administrations to roll out their policy priorities for the coming year and spotlight key agenda issues.\n\n– Anna Kaufman", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/gallery/state-of-the-union-biden-first-address/index.html", "title": "Photos: Biden's first State of the Union address | CNN Politics", "text": "President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, March 1. Behind him are Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.\n\nPresident Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and he used his biggest platform of the year to blast Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.\n\n\"Putin's latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked,\" Biden said. \"He rejected repeated, repeated, efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn't respond. He thought he could divide us at home, in this chamber and in this nation. Putin was wrong. We were ready.\"\n\nBiden's speech also acknowledged the economic challenges Americans have continued to face as a result of rising inflation, global supply-chain issues and higher prices at the gas pump. The President laid out a four-point plan to lower costs for American families and continue the country's economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.\n\nBiden also addressed the evolution of the pandemic and America's response to it. His comments came ahead of the release of a new Covid strategy document.\n\nThis was Biden's first State of the Union, but his second speech to a joint session of Congress. In April last year, he spoke in front of a House chamber that featured a masked audience and many empty seats. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, only a limited number of lawmakers were in the chamber.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_6", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/03/02/registers-list-50-best-iowa-high-school-boys-basketball-stars-all-time/385075002/", "title": "Here's the list: The Register's top 50 boys' basketball players of all time", "text": "Editor's note: This story was originally published in March 2018.\n\nFrom Barnes to Wieskamp. Raef to the Roland Rocket.\n\nThe Des Moines Register took on an ambitious project — to select the 50 greatest Iowa high school boys' basketball players of all time.\n\nIt's a list with a lot of challenges. How do you consider players from different eras that span more than a century of basketball history?\n\nPlayers were selected based on criteria similar to those used for the Register's top 50 wrestlers and for the top 50 girls' basketball players.\n\nCollege and professional careers were not considered in our selections. So even if you were a player who went on to star in the NBA, you weren't guaranteed a spot. We weighed factors like performance, honors and the legacy that accompanied individuals.\n\nHarrison Barnes and Doug McDermott, Ames teammates who won back-to-back state championships in 2009-10, are on the list. They're now side by side with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.\n\nMuscatine's Joe Wieskamp, who will lead his team to the state tournament this week, is the only current player to be selected.\n\nRaef LaFrentz of MFL/Mar-Mac of Monona, who stood 6-11, is one of the tallest chosen. Gary Thompson, who earned the nickname \"The Roland Rocket,\" stood more than a foot shorter.\n\nIOWA'S GREATEST:\n\nStatistics were considered, but they were not the sole determining factor in our selections — long a Register policy when choosing our all-state teams.\n\nWe also reached out to the public, offering readers a chance to provide their own nominees. Two well-known coaches, Tom Goodman and Don Hicks, submitted their own 50-member lists.\n\nMore than 100 names were suggested by readers. Hundreds of past players were considered.\n\nMORE:John Naughton recalls 30 years and 30 sports memories at the Des Moines Register\n\nThe Register welcomes feedback on our list. But if you think we missed anyone, it's likely they simply didn't make the cut.\n\nThe earliest athlete among the 50 is Marcellus McMichael of Des Moines Roosevelt, a 1933 graduate who was the first four-time Des Moines Register all-state selection. The most recent is Iowa recruit Wieskamp. Every decade between them is represented on the list.\n\nHere they are, in alphabetical order:\n\nHARRISON BARNES, AMES\n\nBarnes guided the Little Cyclones to a 53-game winning streak and two state championships. He scored 1,787 points in his career. Barnes went on to play at North Carolina and in the NBA.\n\nHURL BEECHUM, D.M. NORTH\n\nBeechum provided size (6-6) with outside shooting abilities. He scored nearly 1,600 points in his career. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.\n\nJOE BERGMAN, CLINTON ST. MARY\n\nA dominant post in the mid-1960s, Bergman went on to play at Creighton and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He led St. Mary to a state runner-up finish in 1965 when Iowa has a one-class state tournament.\n\nTODD BERKENPAS, MAPLE VALLEY (MAPLETON)\n\nBerkenpas set the state's career scoring record with 2,536 points from 1978 to 1981. A guard who could hit from inside or outside. In 1981, he was named as the state's first Mr. Iowa Basketball.\n\nJORDAN BOHANNON, LINN-MAR (MARION)\n\nAs a senior, Bohannon averaged 25.8 points a game. He was named Mr. Iowa Basketball in 2016. Chose to attend Iowa. One of four Bohannon brothers to play for Linn-Mar.\n\nLeistikow:Why Bohannon's biggest fan — his older brother — hasn't missed one of his games\n\nMATT BULLARD, W.D.M. VALLEY\n\nBullard grew to stand 6-10 but was best known as a great outside shooter. Perhaps one of the best centers to play a high post. Helped Valley to a state runner-up finish in 1984. Had an 11-year NBA career.\n\nSTEVE BURGASON, AMES\n\nA tall and strong presence, he scored led Ames to a state championship and a 26-1 record in 1973. He scored a tournament best 63 points in three games. Burgason went on to play at Iowa State.\n\nCARY COCHRAN, TRI-CENTER (NEOLA)\n\nCochran set the state's all-time scoring record in 1997 with 2,650 points. That mark held up until 2003, when it was broken by Wapsie Valley's Brooks McKowen. A prolific 3-point shooter.\n\nNICK COLLISON, IOWA FALLS\n\nLed his school to back-to-back state championships in 1997-98. Topped the Class 2A state tournament field both seasons. Shared Mr. Iowa Basketball honors in 1999. Later starred at Kansas and a lengthy NBA career.\n\nBRIAN DAVID, CARROLL KUEMPER\n\nNamed Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1985 after leading Kuemper to a state championship. Dominant and tall (6-9), he went on to play for Arizona. He was named to the state's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.\n\nMIKE DAVIS, WATERLOO EAST\n\nA three-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-stater, Davis led East to a 1990 big school state championship. Davis was named Mr. Iowa Basketball as a senior. Combined good height with agility.\n\nRICKY DAVIS, DAVENPORT NORTH\n\nDavis was an electrifying player who loved to dunk. He scored more than 1,600 career points. Davis went on to play at Iowa and in the NBA. A three-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-state selection.\n\nJOE DYKSTRA, D.M. HOOVER\n\nDykstra was one of the top players in Des Moines history. A three-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-state selection who graduated in 1978. A gifted shooter who has been inducted into the state Basketball Hall of Fame.\n\nBILL EVANS, NEVADA\n\nA two-time Des Moines Register all-state selection in 1941-42. A versatile athlete who played basketball and baseball at Drake. Led Nevada to a state title in 1942, when he led the tournament in scoring.\n\nNEIL FEGEBANK, PAULLINA\n\nFegebank was part of one of the most successful runs in Iowa high school history. Paullina won three consecutive state titles (1968-70) and 76 straight games. He was a three-time all-stater.\n\nRAY FONTANA, ANKENY\n\nA 1950 graduate, Fontana scored nearly 2,000 points during an era when players rarely reached 1,000 in a career. He led Ankeny to a state runner-up finish in 1950 when the state tournament had one class.\n\nCHRIS GAINES, WATERLOO WEST\n\nA 6-3 guard who could drive or shoot from the outside, Gaines was named Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1986. Went on to play at Hawaii. Named to the Iowa Basketball Hall of Fame.\n\nMARK GANNON, IOWA CITY REGINA\n\nGannon stood 6-7 but could run the court with much smaller players. A two-time Des Moines Sunday Register first team all-state selection. Led Regina to a 50-game winning streak in the late 1970s.\n\nMATT GATENS, IOWA CITY HIGH\n\nA tremendous scorer, Gatens compiled nearly 2,000 career points. Named captain of the 2008 Class 4A all-tournament team. City High went 25-1 and won a state title. He earned Mr. Iowa Basketball honors.\n\nTOMMY GOODMAN, SIOUX CITY NORTH\n\nGoodman comes from a basketball family, the son and grandson of coaches. The 1985 graduate scored 27 points a game as a senior. A two-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-state guard.\n\nADAM HALUSKA, CARROLL\n\nScored 2,209 points in his career. A three-time first-team Class 3A all-state selection. Stood 6-5 but could handle the ball extremely well. As a senior in 2002, averaged 30 points and 10 rebounds.\n\nBOB HANSEN, W.D.M. DOWLING CATHOLIC\n\nTook Dowling to a state championship in 1979. Stood 6-5 and shot from outside, but could go inside, too. A two-time all-stater. Played on Iowa's NCAA Final Four team and won an NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls.\n\nKIRK HINRICH, SIOUX CITY WEST\n\nOne of the greatest players from northwest Iowa, Hinrich both handled the ball and scored. Guided West to a state championship in 1999. Hinrich went on to play at Kansas and in the NBA.\n\nFRED HOIBERG, AMES\n\nBefore he became known as The Mayor of Ames during his Iowa State career, Hoiberg was a high school star. He totaled 1,759 points in his career. Named Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1991.\n\nJEFF HORNER, MASON CITY\n\nScored 2,194 points in his high school career and earned Mr. Iowa Basketball honors in 2002. A three-time first team Des Moines Sunday Register all-state selection. After playing at Iowa, he went into coaching.\n\nDICK IVES, DIAGONAL\n\nA big scorer in his day, Ives scored 640 in the 1942-43 season. Earned four letters at Iowa, where he was a three-time All-American. Elected to the state Basketball Hall of Fame.\n\nPETER JOK, W.D.M. VALLEY\n\nJok's story of coming to Iowa as a South Sudanese refugee is inspiring. He learned to play basketball and developed incredible long range shooting skills. Mr. Iowa Basketball in 2013. Started his career at Roosevelt.\n\nRANDY KRAAYENBRINK, PAULLINA\n\nLed his team to back-to-back state championships in 1981 and 1982. Kraayenbrink tied for Mr. Iowa Basketball honors in 1982. A guard who could score outside or drive. Went on to play at Northern Iowa.\n\nRAEF LAFRENTZ, MFL/MAR-MAC (MONONA)\n\nA big man who could drive to the basket. Compiled 2,148 points in his career. Named Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1994. Went on to play at Kansas, earning All-American honors, and in the NBA.\n\nBILL LOGAN, KEOKUK\n\nA remarkable talent in the early 1950s. Led Keokuk to state in 1951 and 1952, leading the tournament in scoring both years. He had a whopping 190 points in those two seasons.\n\nWADE LOOKINGBILL, FORT DODGE\n\nMr. Iowa Basketball of 1988, Lookingbill helped the Dodgers to a 23-1 record and a state championship as a senior. A two-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-state selection, picking up first team honors in 1988.\n\nAL LORENZEN, C.R. KENNEDY\n\nLorenzen was one of the most decorated Iowa high school players of his generation. He was Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1984, taking his team to the state championship. He was an All-American and a major recruit.\n\nDOUG MCDERMOTT, AMES\n\nMcDermott was a key piece of Ames' back-to-back title teams in 2009 and 2010. One of the greatest shooters for a man his size, McDermott stood 6-8 and was nearly unstoppable near the basket. Averaged more than 20 points as a senior.\n\nBROOKS MCKOWEN, WAPSIE VALLEY (FAIRBANK)\n\nOwns the state's career scoring record with 2,831 points, which he set in 2003. Scored 1,002 points in 2002-03, another record. Mr. Iowa Basketball as a senior. Played at Northern Iowa.\n\nMARCELLUS MCMICHAEL, D.M. ROOSEVELT\n\nMcMichael was a phenom of his time, becoming the first Des Moines Sunday Register four-time all-state selection. Tall for a player in the 1930s. The 1933 graduate overcame childhood health problems to become one of the state's best.\n\nLOREN MEYER, RUTHVEN-AYRSHIRE\n\nA two-time Des Moines Sunday Register first-team all-state selection who used his 6-10 frame to dominate the competition. Strong and powerful, he scored 818 points as a senior in 1990-91.\n\nDON NELSON, MARSHALLTOWN\n\nA top player in one of the state's most storied programs. Nelson led Marshalltown to back-to-back championships in 1960 and 1961. He was an all-state both seasons. Nelson was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame.\n\nDEAN OLIVER, MASON CITY\n\nA rare four-time all-stater, Oliver was a point guard who could score as well as pass. Finished his career with nearly 2,000 points. He led Mason City to two consecutive state championships.\n\nMARCUS PAIGE, LINN-MAR (MARION)\n\nPaige is one of the greatest Iowa high school guards. Mr. Iowa Basketball in 2012 and an All-American. Scored 28.4 points a game as a senior. Went on to play at North Carolina.\n\nCORDELL PEMSL, DUBUQUE WAHLERT\n\nPemsl was a strong and powerful post who stood 6-8. He scored 21.3 points as a senior in 2015-16. Also pulled down more than 10 rebounds a game. A three-time all-state selection.\n\nART SATHOFF, IOWA FALLS\n\nOne of the greatest rebounders in Iowa history. Had 1,669 points and 1,113 rebounds in his career. He had 488 rebounds in the 1987-88 season. His single game rebounding record is 28.\n\nJESS SETTLES, WINFIELD-MOUNT UNION\n\nSettles combined strength with power, running the court quickly while standing 6-7. Mr. Iowa Basketball in 1993. Career point total: 2,167. He was a three-time Register all-state selection.\n\nTROY SKINNER, PALMER\n\nWas part of a team that won 103 consecutive games in the late 1980s. Skinner Scored 2,497 points before going on to play at Iowa. Sank 142 3-pointers as a senior. A two-time all-state pick.\n\nCHRIS STREET, INDIANOLA\n\nEarned Des Moines Sunday Register all-state honors three times. Street stood 6-8 but could dominate with his agility as well as height. A two-time all-tournament selection at state.\n\nLeistikow:Chris Street's legacy remains powerful, 25 years after his death\n\nGARY THOMPSON, ROLAND\n\nThe Roland Rocket had one of the best-known nicknames from Iowa high school basketball history. In the 1952-53 season, he scored 837 points. He had 2,043 points in his career. An Iowa State legend.\n\nLLOYD THORNBURG, PLEASANTVILLE\n\nDuring the mid-1960s, Thornburg was one of the state's most dominant big men. He ranks No. 2 on the state's all-time rebounding list with 1,371, along with 1,570 points.\n\nMORGAN WHEAT, W.D.M. VALLEY\n\nWheat was inducted into the state Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. A 1988 graduate, he was a two-time Des Moines Sunday Register all-state choice. Wheat helped lead Valley to the 1987 state tournament.\n\nCARL WIDSETH, DAVENPORT\n\nWidseth led Davenport to three consecutive state championships in the 1950s. After high school, he went on to play at Tennessee, become that college's scoring record holder.\n\nMURRAY WIER, MUSCATINE\n\nBefore Wieskamp, there was Wier, who went on to lead the NCAA in scoring. Wier was inducted into the state's Basketball Hall of Fame in in 1969. He also became a successful high school coach at Waterloo East, winning a state title in 1974.\n\nJOE WIESKAMP, MUSCATINE\n\nWieskamp averaged more than 30 points per game as a senior and finished as Iowa's all-time leading scorer with 2,376 points. A tremendous shooter.\n\nNote: Where applicable, a player’s high school of graduation is listed.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/03/02"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/12/19/decade-best-ranking-top-50-athletes-over-last-10-years/4399929002/", "title": "LeBron James, Serena Williams, Tom Brady: 1-50 rank of decade's ...", "text": "Ten years. In the world of sports, it can seem like an eternity.\n\nAs this decade began, the Yankees were reigning World Series champions, the Saints were about to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, Kobe Bryant was on his way to leading the Lakers to back-to-back NBA titles and Tiger Woods – with 14 major victories by the age of 34 – was seemingly a lock to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18.\n\nHow things have changed. The Yankees, Saints and Lakers have yet to return to the pinnacle of their sports, and Woods went 11 years before winning his 15th major.\n\nThen again, some stars who ruled the sports world in 2010 have managed to stay on top. Which ones deserve recognition as the greatest athletes of the past decade?\n\nThirty-five members of the USA TODAY Sports staff voted to determine the top 50 athletes of the decade. Points were given in descending order, so an athlete who was voted No. 1 received 25 points, followed by No. 2 receiving 24 points and so on. Point totals are in parentheses.\n\n1. LeBron James (786 points)\n\nThe start of the decade coincided with James entering his prime, having just turned 25. He delivered, playing in eight NBA Finals and winning three titles, being voted MVP twice and winning a gold medal in 2012. Plus nobody has scored more points since the start of the 2009-10 season than James. But it's his impact off the court that elevates James beyond other athletes of the 2010s, adding to his philanthropic efforts and becoming a leading voice on social and political issues.\n\n2. Serena Williams (781 points)\n\nNarrowly beat out by James, Williams is arguably the the greatest tennis player in history with 23 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, more than any man or woman in the Open Era. Not all of those majors came in this decade, but winning 10 of them – as well as Olympic golds in singles and doubles – after turning 30 might be an even more impressive feat.\n\n3. Tom Brady (742 points)\n\nA sixth-round draft choice in 2000, Brady's career has spanned two decades, and he's still going strong at 42. In the 2010s, he won two MVP awards (2010 season and '17) and led the Patriots to five Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl titles (2014 season, '16 and '18).\n\n4. Simone Biles (740 points)\n\nBiles hit the elite gymnastics scene as a 14-year-old in 2011. Two years later she claimed her first world championship gold medals, winning the floor exercise and all-around competitions. She won eight more golds at worlds in 2014-15 before leading the USA to team gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Individually, Biles won gold in the floor exercise, vault and all-around competitions with a bronze in the balance beam. After taking 2017 off, she returned by winning seven more individual golds at the 2018 and 2019 world championships.\n\nTEAM OF THE DECADE:US women end 2010s where they started it, as world's best\n\nCOACH OF THE DECADE:In evaluating coaches, no one was better than Nick Saban\n\n5. Usain Bolt (654 points)\n\nBolt was already an international star and Olympic champion when the decade started. But he added to his legacy by becoming the only sprinter to win gold medals in both the 100 and 200 meters in three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016). He also won 11 gold medals at the track and field world championships from 2009 to 2015. And he currently holds the world record in both the 100 and the 200.\n\n6. Mike Trout (610 points)\n\nTrout made his major league debut in 2011 at 19 and a season later won the AL Rookie of the Year award and finished second in AL MVP voting. He hasn't slowed down since. An eight-time All-Star, Trout has won three MVP awards and finished second four times. The only blemish on his career is a lack of postseason success, but he's only 28.\n\n7. Steph Curry (571 points)\n\nThe seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Curry quickly established himself as one of the game’s best shooters. He led the NBA in 3-point field goals for five consecutive seasons, including a record 402 in 2015-16. An All-Star in each of the past six seasons, Curry was named the league’s MVP in 2015 as he led the Warriors to their first NBA title in 40 years. The following year, Curry repeated as MVP as the Warriors finished with an unprecedented 73-9 record but lost the NBA Finals in seven games to the Cavaliers. Entering the 2019-20 season, Curry and the Warriors have represented the Western Conference in each of the past five NBA Finals, winning three.\n\n8. Lionel Messi (570 points)\n\nIn the decade’s greatest soccer rivalry, Messi comes out slightly ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. A prolific goal-scorer, Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards (five this decade) as the world’s top player. He has spent his entire pro career with Barcelona, where he holds the record of six Golden Boot awards as the leading scorer in the top division of the five major European leagues. The native of Argentina is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 70 goals in 138 international appearances. He also led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final.\n\n9. Michael Phelps (541 points)\n\nAlthough many of his accomplishments came in the 2000s, Phelps arguably did enough alone in this decade to be considered the greatest swimmer in history. Following his unprecedented eight gold medal-winning performance at the 2008 Olympics, Phelps cut back his schedule – winning four golds and two silvers in 2012 in London. He was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the 2016 Rio Games, then added another five golds and one silver. His victories in the 200-meter butterfly and 200 medley made him, at 31, the oldest individual champion in Olympic swimming history.\n\nFROM BASEBALL:Dream team, position-by-position for the decade\n\nDARKEST MOMENT:Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal rocked the world\n\n10. Novak Djokovic (479 points)\n\nMen's tennis has been ruled by three players this decade. Of the three, Djokovic holds the upper hand. Of his 16 Grand Slam tournament titles, 15 have come since 2011 – including all five Wimbledon crowns and six of his record seven Australian Open titles. His 2015 season, in which he won three majors and reached the final in a fourth, is considered one of the greatest in history.\n\n11. Katie Ledecky (443 points)\n\nLedecky is quite simply the most dominant freestyle swimmer in history. At 15, she claimed her first Olympic title in 2012, setting a record for an American and winning the 800-meter freestyle by more than four seconds. Breaking world records and going undefeated in every international final she entered between the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Ledecky hit more milestones at the 2016 Rio Games. She won gold in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter free, posting world-record times in the 400 and 800 that still stand. All told, she’s set 14 world records.\n\n12. Kevin Durant (398 points)\n\nStarting in the 2009-10 season, Durant led the league in points five years in a row with the Thunder, went to the 2012 Finals, was league MVP in 2013-14 and won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. But Durant didn’t become an NBA champion until he joined the Warriors in 2016. He won back-to-back titles (winning Finals MVP) and was the leading playoff scorer last season until he was hurt before the Finals.\n\n13. Rafael Nadal (396 points)\n\nThe King of Clay won the French Open eight times during the decade and three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2010. He’s the reigning champion at the French and U.S. Open. Nadal was ranked No. 1 for 140 weeks, including now, and No. 2 for 133 weeks.\n\n14. Cristiano Ronaldo (387 points)\n\nHe signed with Real Madrid before the turn of the decade and dominated, scoring 40 or more goals three times and winning back-to-back Ballon D’Or awards in 2013 and 2014 and 2016 and 2017. He was named the top forward as Portugal won UEFA Euro 2016. He transferred to Juventus in 2018 and led that team to a first-place finish in his first year.\n\n15. Aaron Rodgers (297 points)\n\nThe Packers' quarterback was MVP of the 2011 Super Bowl XLV win against the Steelers, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He was NFL MVP in 2012, when the Packers went 15-1, and he had a career-best 4,643 passing yards and 45 TD passes. He picked up six All-Pro nods and won 10 or more games seven times, including this season.\n\n16. Roger Federer (273 points)\n\nHe began the decade ranked No. 1 and finished No. 3. There was a lot of fluctuation in there, including a drop to 16, but he won five Grand Slam tournaments and the Federer-Nadal rivalry remains fun to watch.\n\n17. Sidney Crosby (268 points)\n\nThe hockey world wondered if the Penguins' star would be able to return from a concussion suffered in the 2011 Winter Classic. He spent parts of two seasons on the sideline but came back strong. He led the league with 104 points in 2013-14 to win MVP and was playoff MVP twice as the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, the first NHL team to do that since the late 1990s.\n\nFROM HOCKEY:The people, places, things that have changed NHL\n\nFROM NASCAR:Top feuds feature familiar names, iconic moments from decade\n\n18. Clayton Kershaw (256 points)\n\nThe Dodgers' pitcher dominated in the regular season, winning the Cy Young Award in 2011, 2013 and 2014. He was voted National League MVP in 2014, when he went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA. He hasn’t been able to repeat that dominance in the postseason, though, with a combined 5.40 ERA in World Series games.\n\n19. Alex Ovechkin (239 points)\n\nThe runaway NHL goal-scoring leader of the decade. The Capitals' star scored his 600th goal on March 12, 2018, and is closing in on 700. Ovechkin eliminated the one blemish on his career by winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.\n\n20. Carli Lloyd (217 points)\n\nA force on the U.S. Women’s National Team, she scored the winning goal in the 2012 Olympics, was captain of the 2015 World Cup team and had a hat trick in the championship game against Japan. She scored three goals in the 2019 World Cup as the USA repeated as champion.\n\n21. American Pharoah (160 points)\n\nYes, horses are athletes too. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015, the first to do so since Affirmed in 1978. He took the Kentucky Derby by 1 length, the Preakness Stakes by 7 lengths and the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths. Trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the first to win all four races in one year.\n\n22. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (154 points)\n\nMayweather added to his perfect record by winning nine fights in the decade, including a 10th-round TKO of UFC fighter Conor McGregor in August 2017. That gave Mayweather a 50-0 record, surpassing Hall of Fame boxer Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark. Mayweather announced on Instagram in November that he was “coming out of retirement in 2020,” but no bout has been scheduled.\n\n23. Max Scherzer (123 points)\n\nScherzer started the decade as an up-and-comer who just completed his first full season in the major leagues. He finishes the 2010s with the most strikeouts and wins in the decade, three Cy Young Awards and a newly earned World Series title.\n\n24. Lindsey Vonn (119 points)\n\nVonn's decade as a skier was filled with remarkable achievements and excruciating injuries. She won Olympic gold in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. In 2013, she suffered torn knee ligaments and a broken leg and did not fully recover in time for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Vonn returned to the Games in 2018, taking bronze in the downhill. She announced her retirement in 2019 after claiming a record 82 World Cup victories, the most of any female skier in history. She also has seven world championship medals and was the first female skier to win medals at six world championships.\n\n25. Mikaela Shiffrin (118 points)\n\nThe world’s dominant slalom skier has won the World Cup season title six times. Shiffrin, 24, also has won three consecutive overall World Cup titles. Currently tied for second on the list of World Cup victories with 62, Shiffrin could pass Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 before the Beijing Olympics in 2022. At the 2014 Olympics at 18, she became the youngest to win Olympic gold in slalom. Four years later, Shiffrin won gold in the giant slalom and silver in the combined.\n\n26. Maya Moore (104 points)\n\nThe five-time, first-team All-WNBA honoree helped the Lynx win four championships since her rookie year in 2011. Moore was also named MVP in 2014. She has missed only one game in eight seasons, with career averages of 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. In February, Moore, 30, announced that she would sit out the 2019 season to focus on family and “some ministry dreams.”\n\n27. James Harden (86 points)\n\nA seven-time All-Star and two-time NBA scoring champion, Harden was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year (2011-12) with the Thunder before he was traded to the Rockets. Since the trade, Harden, 30, has averaged 29.4 points and 7.7 assists. He’s led the NBA in scoring each of the past two seasons: 30.4 points in 2017-18 – when he was the league MVP – and 36.1 points in 2018-19.\n\n28. Justin Verlander (83 points)\n\nVerlander won two Cy Young Awards in the decade, including one in 2019 when he became the oldest pitcher to achieve the feat since 42-year-old Roger Clemens did it in 2004. Now 36, Verlander is second to Max Scherzer in wins and strikeouts in the 2010s and first in innings pitched. He also won a World Series title with the Astros in 2017.\n\n29. Elena Delle Donne (69 points)\n\nShe is the first player in WNBA history to win MVP honors with two teams: the Sky in 2015 and the Mystics in 2019. A seven-year veteran, Delle Donne, 30, led the Mystics to the team’s first league championship in 2019. She is the first player in WNBA history to shoot over 50% from the field, over 40% from 3-point territory and over 90% from the free throw line in a season (2019).\n\n30. Tiger Woods (57 points)\n\nWoods hasn’t been the same since he crashed his Escalade outside his Florida mansion on the day after Thanksgiving in 2009. He endured personal scandal and several surgical procedures on his back. But Woods had his share of moments of triumph on the golf course. He was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2013 and won 11 tournaments in the 2010s. His Masters victory in 2019 was one of the decade's most dramatic moments and marked his 15th career major, keeping Woods within reach of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.\n\n31. Abby Wambach (55 points)\n\nInducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in September, Wambach, 39, is the career-leading goal scorer in women's international soccer with 184 goals. In the 2010s, she was a member of the U.S. women's team that won gold at the 2012 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup. She was the FIFA world women's player of the year in 2012.\n\nT32. Allyson Felix (49 points)\n\nFelix finishes the decade as the most decorated woman in U.S. Olympic track and field history with nine medals. She captured three gold medals in 2012 and two more in 2016 to bring her career total to six, most of any female track and field athlete in Olympic history. She won her 12th gold at the world championships in 2019, her first since becoming a mother.\n\nT32. Marcel Hirscher (49 points)\n\nAt just 30 years old, the Austrian is already widely considered the greatest Alpine skier ever. Hirscher won a record eight consecutive overall World Cup titles from 2012 to 2019, plus six titles each in the slalom and giant slalom disciplines and two Olympic gold medals in 2018.\n\n34. Drew Brees (48 points)\n\nBrees earned nine of his 13 career Pro Bowl nods in the 2010s and was the 2011 Offensive Player of the Year. He leads quarterbacks for the decade in touchdowns, yards, pass attempts and completions. He also finishes the decade as the NFL's career leader in passing yards and touchdowns.\n\n35. Megan Rapinoe (46 points)\n\nRapinoe played in three World Cups during the decade, winning two, including the performance of a lifetime to lead the Americans to a second consecutive title in 2019. She was awarded the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals and earned the Golden Ball as the best player.\n\n36. Diana Taurasi (35 points)\n\nConsidered one of the greatest female basketball players in history, Taurasi spent the 2010s burnishing her Hall of Fame résumé. She earned five All-Star nods and seven All-WNBA selections during the decade and won her third WNBA championship and second Finals MVP in 2014. Taurasi became the WNBA’s all-time leader scorer in 2017 and won Olympic gold medals with the U.S. in 2012 and 2016.\n\n37. Klay Thompson (35 points)\n\nThompson teamed with Steph Curry to form the Splash Brothers, the best shooting backcourt in NBA history and cornerstones of a Warriors dynasty that won three championships. Thompson was a five-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA third-team pick during the decade.\n\n38. Patrick Kane (34 points)\n\nThe top pick in the 2007 draft, Kane became a cornerstone of the Blackhawks' teams that won three Stanley Cup championships during the decade. Kane won the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion and the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2015-16, becoming the first American-born player to win each.\n\n39. Alex Morgan (28 points)\n\nMorgan became the latest international soccer star for the U.S. She appeared in three World Cups, helping the U.S. win the 2015 and 2019 titles. In April 2019, Morgan became the seventh American woman to score 100 international goals, and she finishes the decade with 107.\n\n40. Lewis Hamilton (25 points)\n\nHamilton established himself as one of the most accomplished drivers in Formula One history with five championships in six years (2014-15, 2017-19). His six total championships and 84 race wins are both second behind Michael Schumacher, and Hamilton holds the F1 career record with 88 poles.\n\nT41. Canelo Alvarez (21 points)\n\nCanelo became one of boxing’s biggest draws this decade, signing a massive deal with the DAZN streaming service for his fights in 2018. In the ring, the four-division champion has gone an impressive 23-1-1 over the past 10 years.\n\nT41. Sue Bird (21 points)\n\nBird finishes the decade among the best women to ever play basketball. She won two of her three WNBA titles (2010 and 2018), made five All-Star teams and three All-WNBA teams and became the league’s all-time assists leader in 2017. Bird also helped the U.S. win Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016.\n\nT41. Aaron Donald (21 points)\n\nThe accolades started piling up in 2013 for Donald, as he was named the ACC defensive player of the year and cleaned up in award season, taking home the Nagurski Award, Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. He continued in the NFL as he was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and captured back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2017 and 2018, the latter when he led the league with 20½ sacks.\n\nT41. Brooks Koepka (21 points)\n\nThe 29-year-old golfer became one of the best big-game players on the planet in the last few years of the decade. He captured four major titles – twice taking home the PGA Championship (2018 and 2019) and twice winning the U.S. Open (2017 and 2018). When he wasn’t winning in 2019 he was in the hunt, finishing second at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open and fourth at the British Open.\n\n45. Jon Jones (20 points)\n\nThere was plenty of controversy for “Bones” during the decade as he was stripped of his light heavyweight championship multiple times. But there was no disputing his dominance in the octagon. He never lost a UFC bout in the decade, racking up 16 wins.\n\n46. JJ Watt (18 points)\n\nPerhaps no defensive player was as dominant as Watt in the 2010s. He won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards (2012, 2014, 2015) and twice led the league in sacks. Watt's career has been slowed of late by injuries, but in 2017 he made perhaps his biggest impact off the field when he was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year after helping to spearhead a massive fundraising effort in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.\n\n47. Julio Jones (17 points)\n\nThe wide receiver began the decade as a star on Alabama as the Crimson Tide captured their first national championship in 17 years in January 2010. He was drafted by the Falcons with the sixth overall pick in 2011 and hasn’t slowed down, twice leading the league in receiving yards while clearing 900 yards in all but one year of his NFL career.\n\nT48. Larry Fitzgerald (16 points)\n\nFitzgerald has spent the decade continuing to build one of the most impressive resumes of any wide receiver in NFL history. The greatest player in Arizona Cardinals history is now second in career receptions and yards and sixth in touchdowns. He also has the most receptions of the 2010s.\n\nT48. Shaun White (16 points)\n\nOne of the most recognizable names in extreme sports, White won Olympic gold medals in snowboard halfpipe at the 2010 and 2018 Winter Games. He also spent the early part of the decade dominating at the X Games.\n\n50. Adrian Peterson (14 points)\n\nPeterson has rushed for over 9,000 yards this decade, claiming the rushing title in 2012 and 2015 – the former accompanied by the league MVP as he nearly broke Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.\n\nOthers receiving votes\n\nJimmie Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Breanna Stewart, Mo Farah, Eliud Kipchoge, Kyle Busch, Justify, Lamar Jackson, Von Miller, Chandler Jones, Miguel Cabrera.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/12/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/01/24/nba-all-time-points-leaders-lebron-kareem-wilt/11060065002/", "title": "Which NBA players have led the league in all-time points scored?", "text": "Corrections and clarifications: In a previous version of this story, the year Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entered the NBA was misstated. It was 1969.\n\nWe know LeBron James is about to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.\n\nBut who did Abdul-Jabbar pass? And when?\n\nAnd what about the league’s all-time leading scorers before that?\n\nJust six players have held the NBA’s scoring title, with Abdul-Jabbar atop the list the longest – it's been almost 40 years since he passed Wilt Chamberlain in 1984.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nJames will become the seventh when he jumps Abdul-Jabbar sometime soon. At James’ scoring rate, he will score more than 40,000 points, and it may take another 40-some years before a player eclipses James.\n\nLet’s take a look at who has been atop the NBA’s all-time scoring list:\n\nJoe Fulks, 8,003 points\n\nFulks, who spent his eight-year career with the Philadelphia Warriors, won the scoring title (23.2 points per game) in the league’s first season in 1946-47 and led the league in scoring (22.1 points) the following season. Known for helping introduce the jump shot to the game, Fulks averaged a career-high 26 points in 1948-49 and retired after the 1953-54 season. Fulks attended what is now Murray State where his jersey is retired. Fulks set a then-NBA record with 61 points in 1949 and that remained the best single-game scoring effort until Elgin Baylor had 64 in 1959. Fulks, whose post-basketball career was the director of recreation at a state penitentiary, was killed in 1976 by his girlfriend’s son during a drunken argument over a handgun. He was 54. Fulks was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.\n\nCOUNTDOWN: How close is LeBron to setting the NBA all-time scoring mark?\n\nCAN YOU SURVIVE? New pro and college basketball survivor pools are here. Free to play; terms and conditions apply. Join now!\n\nGeorge Mikan, 10,156 points\n\nMikan entered the league in the 1948-49 season from DePaul and was a scorer from the start, putting up at least 30 points in five of his first 10 games. Like Fulks, he didn’t play long, just six-plus seasons, but Mikan averaged 23.1 points (and 13.4 rebounds). He was a six-time All-NBA selection, won the scoring title three times and won five NBA titles. Another dominant big man, the 6-10 Mikan was a masterful scorer at the basket, having perfected layups with his Mikan Drill – practicing right-handed and left-handed layups over and over. Mikan passed Fulks in the 1952-53 season. Mikan, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959, helped change the game in multiple ways, including widening the lane and banning goaltending. As commissioner of the ABA, Mikan championed the 3-point line.\n\nDolph Schayes, 18,438 points\n\nIn 1958, during the third quarter of the Syracuse Nationals’ blowout victory against the Detroit Pistons, Schayes became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. A columnist for the Syracuse Post-Standard wrote, “with the record beckoning and his mates feeding him to help him set the mark, Schayes consistently passed off to better-positioned opponents rather than risk poor shots.” Schayes played 15 seasons, averaging 18.5 points for his career, including a career-high 24.9 in 1957-58. Schayes mastered getting to the foul line (7.9 attempts per game) and making free throws (84.9%). Schayes also played in 91% of his team’s games. He was a 12-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA performer, entering the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.\n\nBob Pettit, 20,880 points\n\nA couple of things about Pettit: 1) He was one of the first players to understand the value of weight training and dismissed those who thought putting on muscle would ruin his shot; 2) When Pettit, playing for the St. Louis Hawks, passed Schayes as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in 1964, the game was stopped and Cardinals great Stan Musial presented him with the game ball, according to a United Press International story. In the era where big men dominated, Pettit averaged 26.4 points, including a career-high 31.1 (and 18.7 rebounds) in 1961-62. He led the league in scoring twice, was an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and was named MVP twice. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1971.\n\nWilt Chamberlain, 31,419 points\n\nPettit did not own the record for long. With Chamberlain entering the league in 1959 and unstoppable as a scorer at 7-1, he took over as the all-time scoring leader on Feb. 14, 1966. Chamberlain scored 41 points against Detroit that day and held the record for 18 years. Chamberlain is remembered for his individual scoring feats, including the 100-point game that is one of the most unbreakable records in sports. Chamberlain had 113 games with at least 50 points (next closest is Michael Jordan at 31), including 45 such games in 1961-62, the season Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points. He led the league in scoring seven times, won two titles, earned All-NBA honors 10 times, was named MVP four times and became a Hall of Famer in 1979.\n\nKareem Abdul-Jabbar, 38,387 points\n\nAbdul-Jabbar laced ’em up year after year, for 20 seasons, torching opponents with his low-post game, including his famous sky hook. Coming from UCLA to the NBA in 1969, Abdul-Jabbar was a winner and ready to dominate. He averaged 28.8 points his rookie season, 31.7 the next and 34.8 the next and 30.2 in his fourth season. For 17 consecutive seasons, he averaged at least 22 points, most often in that 24-27 range. He shot 55.9% from the field and was a reliable 72.1% shooter from the foul line. No player has more MVPs than Abdul-Jabbar’s six. He was a 19-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA selection, won six championships and was Finals MVP twice, joining other greats in the Hall of Fame in 1995.\n\nFollow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/01/24"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/awards-athletes/2018/08/30/arizona-high-school-sports-boys-athlete-week-2018-19/1150067002/", "title": "azcentral Sports Awards Boys Athlete of the Week 2018-19", "text": "To nominate a Boys or Girls Athlete of the Week or an Academic All-Star, go to nominations.azcentral.com.\n\nThe azcentral Sports Awards will be at ASU Gammage on June 9. Go to sportsawards.azcentral.com for information and to purchase tickets.\n\nMay 17, 2019\n\nTJ Clarkson, Gilbert Mesquite, Baseball\n\nMesquite ended its season in the 4A state championship game when it lost to second-seeded Salpointe Catholic Monday.\n\nHowever, Mesquite senior TJ Clarkson has one of his best performances of the season for the Wildcats (28-5) in the semifinals on May 8.\n\nThe left handed pitcher threw a one-hitter and struck out 12 batters in Mesquite's 5-0 shutout off fifth-seed Chandler Seton Catholic Prep.\n\n\"My arm felt great,\" Clarkson said. \"Our catcher Daniel Johnson did a great job calling the game and I just hit my spots.\"\n\nClarkson had a 9-1 starting record, 1.72 ERA through 65.2 innings pitched, 113 strikeouts, .404 batting average and 3 home runs this season.\n\nMay 10, 2019\n\nAshton Kroeger, Phoenix Country Day, Tennis\n\nPhoenix Country Day freshman Ashton Kroeger became the Division III boys tennis singles champion on April 29.\n\nKroeger was the state single tournament's No. 3 seed, who cruised through the state tournament by dominating ever opponent in straight sets including top-seeded Wilder Cooke of The Gregory School in the title match 6-1, 6-2.\n\nKroeger ended the season with records of 9-1 for regular season singles and doubles, 2-2 and 4-0 for team playoff singles and doubles, respectively.\n\n\"Winning the state championship was the result of training both my mind and my body to keep pushing the limits and to never give up regardless of the circumstances,\" Kroeger said. \"I am so grateful for the incredible coaching I have received and the support of my school Phoenix Country Day School and to my family and friends. This was an incredible experience for me as a freshman and as a tennis player.\"\n\nMay 3, 2019\n\nBlake Avila, Yuma Gila Ridge, Baseball\n\nGila Ridge ended its regular season as the 4A Southwest division champions on a five-game win streak with major contributions from Blake Avila.\n\nThe sophomore shortstop and pitcher went 4-for-7 at the plate with five RBIs and two home runs against Goodyear Estrella Foothills on April 16 and the other when the Hawks (17-7-1) faced Yuma Cibola on April 22.\n\n“Those two games I was just trying to put the ball in play and get on base to help my team win,\" Avila said. \"I wasn’t trying to hit a home run, I just wanted to get on base. Whatever I can do to help my teammates win I will do.\n\n\"It feels awesome to be a part of this team and I am proud of what we have accomplished this season. No one thought we could win the region but we believed in ourselves and got the job done.\"\n\nAvila had an impressive season hitting .406, .511 OPS, 30 home runs and 18 RBIs earned him a spot on the 4A Southwest All-Region first team and saw him named Gila Ridge Offensive Player of the Year.\n\nHe also has a 3-0 starting record with two saves and 2.93 ERA.\n\nApril 26, 2019\n\nAlec Acevedo, Nogales, Baseball\n\nAlec Acevedo is leading Nogales' charge as one of the state's hottest teams heading into the postseason. Nogales won eight out of its 10 games in April.\n\nThe 6-foot senior pitcher threw a complete game, five strikeouts, gave up three hits and one walk for the Apaches (22-4) in their 1-0 shutout of Tucson Sunnyside on April 16.\n\n\"I was just trying to do my best to help my team win,\" Acevedo said. \"Even though we couldn't get the bats going, I trusted myself along with my coaches and defense. Everything eventually fell into place and we came home with the victory.\"\n\nAcevedo has a perfect 5-0 starting pitching record, a 1.35 ERA, a .360 batting average, .423 OPS, 31 hits and 18 RBIs this season.\n\nApril 19, 2019\n\nSeth Sweet-Chick, Goodyear Estrella Foothills, Baseball\n\nSeth Sweet-Chick came up big at the plate in a road game this week for Estrella Foothills (22-4).\n\nThe 6-3 junior pitcher and Kansas-commit had three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs in the 17-0 rout of Yuma on April 12.\n\nSweet-Chick has a .411 batting average, .516 OPS and 30 RBIs.\n\n“It was an overall great team win on the road,\" Sweet-Chick said. \"Our bats were hot that day and we were able to put up big numbers on offense. The defense was outstanding all around the field. I’m honored to be part of such a great group of guys.”\n\nApril 12, 2019\n\nNathan Ward, Phoenix Mountain Pointe, Baseball\n\nNathan Ward pitched a no-hitter for Mountain Pointe (18-6) on April 5.\n\nThe 6-8 junior struck out 11 and allowed no walks in the Pride's 6-0 shutout road victory over Desert Vista.\n\nHe has a 4-1 record as a starter, 2.165 ERA, 37 strikeouts this season.\n\n\"It was a great team effort,\" Ward said. \"Beating Desert Vista always feels good but to throw a no-hitter especially on their field is something we will never forget. I want to thank my family and friends for always believing in me\"\n\nApril 5, 2019\n\nCade McGee, Tucson Salpointe Catholic, Baseball\n\nSophomore right-handed pitcher Cade McGee is leading Salpointe Catholic (14-5) as one of the 4A conference's top baseball teams.\n\nMcGee went 7-for-10 with two home runs, triple, double and seven RBIs in victories against Tucson Sahuaro, Casa Grande and Tucson Canyon Del Oro on March 22, 28 and 29, respectively.\n\n\"It was a fun week for the team — winning three power-point games is the most important thing,\" McGee said. \"We are starting to figure things out and genuinely buy into the process that our coaches have been preaching to us about. We are excited and ready for the stretch run of our season.\"\n\nMarch 29, 2019\n\nJonathan Hoebing, Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Baseball\n\nJonathan Hoebing had one of his best games for Desert Mountain (13-4) on March 20.\n\nThe junior pitcher and second baseman banged out a grand slam and seven RBIs to lead the Wolves in a 15-2 rout over Mesa Desert Ridge.\n\nHoebing improved his average to batting a solid .328 with a .406 OPS and 11 RBIs.\n\n\"When I got in the box that day of Desert Ridge, I felt comfortable at the plate and was ready to translate my hard work in practice, into the game,\" Hoebing said. \"I started the day off well with a single that drove in two, which gave our team a momentum boost.\n\n\"During my last at-bat of the day, the bases were loaded and I came to the plate with the motive to drive in a run. However, when I saw the ball out of my hand, I knew it was my pitch. I was able to clear the fence for a grand slam.\"\n\nMarch 22, 2019\n\nChandler Murphy, Peoria Liberty, Baseball\n\nLiberty senior pitcher Chandler Murphy played the best game of his career on March 14 against Scottsdale Horizon.\n\nMurphy threw a no-hitter through seven innings as Liberty (8-5-1) beat Horizon 2-0 in the Boras Classic.\n\nThe 6-foot-3 right-hander committed to Arizona last November. He has an 0.81 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 3-1 as a starter this season. His best pitch is a two-seam fastball.\n\nMarch 15, 2019\n\nCameron Bagshaw, Lake Havasu, Baseball\n\nCameron Bagshaw didn't let any Chino Valley (5-4) players get onto a bag in Lake Havasu's 7-0 shutout victory last Saturday.\n\nIn his second start of the season, the Lake Havasu (6-5) junior pitcher threw a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and zero walks given up through six innings.\n\nBagshaw has a 1.47 ERA and credits his ardent pitching training with his father during the off-season for the no-hitter.\n\n\"Right away, I put myself in the mindset that I was going to go out there and give it all I had and I wasn't going to leave anything on the table,\" Bagshaw said. \"Me and my dad have been working nonstop on my form and all the pitching training that we did all last summer led up to this moment.\n\nMarch 8, 2019\n\nRey Meza, San Tan Valley Combs, Baseball\n\nCombs senior second baseman Rey Meza is respected for his infield defense, but began this season with strong hitting streak through its initial three games.\n\nThe Coyotes (3-3) switched Meza to designated hitter and he went 8-for-9 in his at-bats.\n\nMeza went 3-for-3 in Combs' 12-1 loss to Valley Christian. He also hit 2-for-2 with a double, triple, and had 2 RBIs in their 9-3 loss to Phoenix Christian, the Coyotes' second game during the Cougar Classic tournament on Feb. 20.\n\nCombs got its first win of the season in a 24-0 shutout of Phoenix Cortez in which Rey was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs.\n\n\"I was not trying to hit the ball too hard, but just make solid contact,\" Meza said. \"The DH position is easier than fielding and hitting because I can study the opposing pitcher a bit more.\"\n\nMarch 1, 2019\n\nRichard Herrera, Glendale, Baseball\n\nRichard Herrera is off to a fast start on the mound for Glendale (2-2).\n\nIn the Cardinals' first matchup of the season on Feb. 20, the sophomore right-hander pitched a complete game where he allowed just one hit and had 12 strikeouts through five innings in a 10-0 shutout victory over Phoenix Camelback.\n\nHerrera said his best pitch is his fastball. He credits going with his curveball instead of a change-up for his outstanding performance against Camelback.\n\n\"Most of the time, I was hitting my spots inside. Curveballs were on point,\" Herrera said.\n\nFeb. 22, 2019\n\nDaRon Holmes, Millennium, Basketball\n\nDaRon Holmes has led sixth seed Millennium (22-6) to multiple upsets in the 5A boys basketball tournament en route to the title game against No. 1 Gilbert (28-1) on Monday at 8 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.\n\nThe 6-foot-9 sophomore small forward had 21 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Tigers' 72-61 victory over No. 2 Glendale Apollo on Monday.\n\nHolmes also had a triple-double of 21 points, 13 rebounds and 13 blocks in Millennium's 60-59 quarterfinal win over No. 3 Glendale Ironwood last Friday.\n\nHolmes leads Millennium in scoring (19.4), rebounding (10.4), blocks (4.1), and steals (1.9) per game. He ranks second with 3.3 assists per contest.\n\nFeb. 15, 2019\n\nK.J. Patrick, Surprise Willow Canyon, Basketball\n\nSurprise Willow Canyon senior guard Kelvin \"K.J.\" Patrick gave a nearly-perfect showcase in the final game of his high school career.\n\nThe 6-foot Patrick bedazzled his home crowd with a memorable performance on Feb. 5 for the Wildcats (13-14) on Senior Night.\n\nPatrick had 46 points on 19-for-23 shooting, which included five 3-pointers. He also chipped in 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals and had just two turnovers.\n\nAs if that wasn't enough, Patrick became Willow Canyon's all-time leading scorer with 1241 points.\n\nPatrick ended the season with a team-high 21.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game.\n\nFeb. 8, 2019\n\nB.J. Burries, Globe, Basketball\n\nThe 2018-19 senior class is littered with elite talent in the state's boys public and prep school basketball landscape. Some of the biggest names from this crop include Nico Mannion of Phoenix Pinnacle, Shadow Mountain's Jaelen House, Terry Armstrong of Bella Vista Prep, and B.J. Burries of Globe.\n\n\"The scoring sets me apart from them,\" Burries said. \"They know I'm a scorer so they just give me the ball and I don't really worry about scoring until after the game. I do what I gotta do to get the W.\"\n\nB.J. Burries, the state's all-time leading scorer, dropped 58 points for the Tigers (25-2) as they routed San Carlos 108-77 Friday. The 5-11 guard reached 58 on just three 3-point shots made and hitting 13-for-13 from the free throw line. He has 3,315 total points in his career and is averaging 39 points per game this season.\n\nFeb. 1, 2019\n\nAbraham Rivera, Buckeye, Wrestling\n\nBuckeye Union senior Abraham Rivera continues to prove he's one of the best in the 126-pound weight class.\n\nThe junior has a 38-1 record this season and has a 30-match win streak entering the boys wrestling sectionals Saturday. His only loss of the season happened at the Jerry Benson Tournament final.\n\nRivera was formerly ranked No. 5 as a sophomore and beat a No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state last year.\n\n\"Once the match is over, I watch it again on film to see whatever move I did that isn't as technical or clean as I know it should be, then I come in and work on it.\" Rivera said.\n\nJan. 25, 2019\n\nKino Bellinger, Sierra Vista Buena, Basketball\n\nSierra Vista Buena senior shooting guard Kino Bellinger had an outstanding performance and reached a milestone for the 17-8 Colts last week.\n\nDuring Buena's 71-70 loss to Nogales on Jan. 15, Bellinger became the Colts' all-time leading scorer with 20 points and made six 3-pointers. He also reached the 1,400-point mark during Buena's win over The Gregory School on Jan. 21, where he had 10 points and 6 rebounds.\n\n\"Ever since I was a little kid, my dad has taught me everything I know about shooting,\" Bellinger says. \"Also, my coach Marlon Humes taught me that from fifth grade to eighth grade.\"\n\nBellinger is undecided about which college he wants to attend, but wants to major in computer science.\n\nJan. 18, 2019\n\nShemar Wilson, Tolleson, Basketball\n\nTolleson senior Shemar Wilson had three consecutive dominant performances in the 6A conference during Week 8 of high school basketball.\n\nThe 6-8 forward/center posted 27 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in Tolleson's Jan. 8 loss to Surprise Valley Vista; 23 points and 10 rebounds including a buzzer-beater to beat Phoenix Trevor Browne on Jan. 9; 18 points, 9 rebounds and two blocks during the Wolverines' loss to Surprise Shadow Ridge.\n\nWilson is averaging 17.3 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for Tolleson (4-6). He claims that the biggest improvement this season has been his leadership.\n\n\"I'm a better leader because I have the most varsity experience,\" Wilson said. \"We're hungry to get into the playoffs and I'm doing anything it takes to get there.\"\n\nJan. 10, 2019\n\nJakob Feng, Phoenix Country Day, Basketball\n\nSenior Jakob Fengis, a three-year starter for Phoenix Country Day's basketball team is heating up in his senior season.\n\nThe 5-10 shooting guard put up back-to-back 27-point games in his team's first two contests of 2019, wins over Tonopah Valley and Chandler Prep\n\nHe has no plans to play college basketball. But with over 1,100 career points, he's one of the most prolific scorers in Phoenix Country Day basketball history.\n\nJan. 3, 2019\n\nArnold Dates, Brophy College Prep, Basketball\n\nThe Broncos won their first three games of the Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge before falling to Clark High of Las Vegas, the eventual tournament champion.\n\nArnold Dates played a big role in the paint throughout the tournament for Brophy. He led a balanced offensive attack with 10 points and five rebounds per game.\n\nBrophy is currently ranked eighth in the AIA's 6A Conference rankings and has won seven of its last nine games.\n\nDec. 28, 2018\n\nEleuterio Gutierrez, Yuma Catholic, Soccer\n\nSenior Eleuterio Gutierrez is looking for his fourth state championship in four years. With 15 goals this season, the second most in Arizona's 3A Conference, he's led Yuma Catholic to an undefeated start to the season.\n\nOn Dec. 18, Yuma Catholic beat Brawley (Calif.), 4-1.\n\nGutierrez has the ability to defend as well as he scores. He can can play forward or midfielder, and he leads the team in steals.\n\nDec. 21, 2018\n\nZach Hobbs, Mesa, Basketball\n\nThe senior etched his name in the Mesa basketball record book in more ways than one during last week's win over Phoenix North.\n\nHobbs' nine 3-pointers set a single-game school record. But shooting the three is something Hobbs has been doing his whole career at Mesa. His hot shooting night also helped him earn the record for most threes made in school history.\n\n\"I've had some nights where I've made like five or seven threes, but never nine,\" Hobbs. \"It was just one of those nights for me, and we like to feed the hot hand on our team.\"\n\nMesa is 9-4 this season. Hobbs leads the team in scoring.\n\nDec. 14, 2018\n\nJosh Baker, McClintock, Basketball\n\nWeek 3 of the high school basketball season belonged to Josh Baker.\n\nThe guard from Tempe McClintock scored 29 against Tempe Marcus de Niza, 30 against Queen Creek Casteel and 38 against Phoenix Horizon.\n\nBaker also made plays on the other end of the court, stealing the ball 14 times during the three-game stretch.\n\nMcClintock won all three of those games.\n\nThe Chargers are 9-2 this season.\n\nDec. 7, 2018\n\nB.J. Burries, Globe, Basketball\n\nLast week, Globe's B.J. Burries scored 45 points, surpassing the 2,500 point mark for his career in a 86-68 win over Superior last week.\n\nIn the game against Superior, Burries was 10-10 from the free throw line and made five three pointers.\n\nIn the games since then, Burries scored 29 in a win against Willcox last Friday. Tuesday he scored 48 points in a win against rival school Miami.\n\nBurries 32.7 points per game thus far, ranks him first in points in the state of Arizona.\n\nBurries is unsure where he will attend college next year.\n\nNov. 29, 2018\n\nBrennan Ogle, Glendale, Basketball\n\nIn his first varsity start, Brennan Ogle had 30 points and 22 rebounds in an 82-76 overtime win against Yuma Gila Ridge.\n\nThe Cardinals are 1-1 in the early going this season after a loss to Phoenix Thunderbird earlier this week.\n\nOgle also plays baseball. His favorite subjects are math and science.\n\nHe is unsure where he wants to go to college, but he does have an interest in welding.\n\nNov. 23, 2018\n\nMorgan Fowler, Page, Cross country\n\nLeading up to the AIA state championships at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, Morgan Fowler could barely walk due to a strained hip muscles.\n\nBut after much stretching and rehab, Fowler persevered and came in second (16:19) behind teammate Bowen Martin and ahead of another teammate Trent Holiday.\n\nFowler was a crucial part in Page winning its fifth straight Div. III title.\n\nAs a senior this season, Fowler had two first-place finishes and five seconds.\n\nFowler doesn't just enjoy the outdoors for running. He also spends time camping, fishing and hiking.\n\nNov. 16, 2018\n\nMarcus Libman, Phoenix Pinnacle, WR\n\nIn a 41-20 6A win over Mesa Red Mountain, Phoenix Pinnacle wide receiver Marcus Libman caught 10 passes for 238 yards.\n\nThis season Libman has racked up 1,191 receiving yards with 64 catches and 14 touchdowns.\n\nAccording to 247 sports, Libman has gotten recruiting attention from multiple schools including both Arizona and Arizona State.\n\nRegardless of where Libman chooses to attend college, he plans on majoring in business.\n\nLibman's father is an owner of a Culvers. If football doesn't work out Libman would like to follow his fathers footsteps in owning a business one day.\n\nPinnacle's win advances the No. 2 seed Pioneers to the 6A semifinals, where they will face No. 6 seed Perry on Friday at 7 p.m. at North Canyon High School.\n\nNov. 9, 2018\n\nBraydon Janzen, Mesa Red Mountain, LB\n\nIn the opening round of the 6A playoffs Mesa Red Mountain took a 37-34 lead with 1:07 remaining in the fourth quarter thanks to a 60-yard touchdown pass from Darren Smith to Ramses Rivera.\n\nOn the next possession, linebacker Red Mountain linebacker Braydon Janzen sealed the victory with his second interception of the game. He had no interceptions on the season until Friday night.\n\nJanzen had also 10 tackles to go with his two interceptions.\n\nJanzen plans on attending Northern Arizona next year on the Lumberjack scholarship he received for achieving a 3.5 GPA or higher in his core classes required for admission.\n\nRed Mountain, the No. 10 seed and the only lower seeded team to advance to the second round of the 6A bracket, takes on No. 2 Phoenix Pinnacle on Friday.\n\nNov. 2, 2018\n\nTrevor Messing, Phoenix Thunderbird, QB\n\nSenior quarterback Trevor Messing had an amazing season finale for Phoenix Thunderbird.\n\nHe completed 26 of his 36 passes for 569 yards and nine TDs while not tossing an interception in a 62-52 win over Phoenix St. Mary's. He finished the season with 3,239 yards and 39 TD passes.\n\nMessing credits his hard work in the off-season in the weight room and with his quarterback coach for his success this season.\n\nMessing also volunteers with boys team charity, an organization that does philanthropic projects around the community.\n\nMessing is unsure where he wants to attend college but plans on studying kinesiology in hopes to become a physical therapist.\n\nThunderbird's win over St. Mary's snapped a three-game losing streak to finish the season and gave the Chiefs a 4-6 overall record.\n\nOct. 26, 2018\n\nRick Avelar, Sahuarita Walden Grove, football\n\nJunior linebacker Rick Avelar had 20 tackles, seven of them for loss, and a forced fumble in a 57-6 win over Tucson Amphitheater that gave the Red Wolves their first-ever region title last Friday.\n\nAvelar is the first defensive player to win the award this year.\n\n“Everything I have been learning throughout the year had been slowly clicking. I felt like it all came together,\" Avelar said.\n\nAvelar has 115 total tackles on the year, averaging 12.5 per game which leads the Walden Grove team.\n\nBesides football, Avelar is a member of the National Honors Society, math club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.\n\nIn his free time he enjoys working out and reading sports and military themed books. In college he plans to study pre-med in hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon.\n\nWalden Grove is 7-2 heading into Friday's regular season finale and sits at No. 14 in the AIA rankings, although, by virtue of their region title, Avelar and the Red Wolves are locked in to a 4A tournament playoff spot.\n\nOct. 19, 2018\n\nAustin Clark, Prescott, QB, Sr.\n\nIn a 44-27 win over Bullhead City Mohave, Austin Clark did most of his damage with his legs, running for for 312 yards on 26 carries with three rushing touchdowns.\n\nBecause the running game was so effective, Clark only threw three passes, completing two of them for 28 yards.\n\nThis is the second time this fall Clark has been named azcentral's Boys Athlete of the Week. The first time was last month for his performance against Glendale Deer Valley.\n\n\"It is absolutely surreal, I never would have guessed something like this would happen, let a lone happen twice,\" Clark said of receiving the most votes in the azcentral sports online poll.\n\nClark is quick to give credit to his offensive line for both performances, describing them as \"dominant.\"\n\n\"There was kids on the floor every single play, just from the line,\" Clark said.\n\nAccording to MaxPreps, Clark iaverages 187 rushing yards per game. On the season he has rushed for 1,497 yards and 19 touchdowns.\n\nClark has the Badgers (6-2) riding a three-game winning streak and sitting 12th in the 4A Conference rankings.\n\nOct. 12, 2018\n\nTy Thompson, Gilbert Mesquite, QB, So.\n\nTy Thompson completed 16 of 24 passes for 389 yards and six TDs in a 49-15 victory over San Tan Valley Poston Butte. He did all of this after breaking his non-throwing hand (left hand) on the first series of the game.\n\n“It was really fun. I thought my team did a really good job helping me out, (and) coaches called some really good plays,” Thompson said.\n\nIt was Mesquite's fifth consecutive victory after an 0-3 start.\n\nThompson has the Wildcats on the verge of a 4A Conference playoff spot, as they are 17th in the AIA rankings, with the top 16 qualifying for the postseason.\n\nThompson is also a member of the Mesquite junior varsity baseball team. In his free time he enjoys watching UFC and playing Fortnite. Thompson believes he is the best on the team at Fortnite, even though some of his teammates might disagree.\n\nAccording to Max Preps, Thompson has thrown for 1,954 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Thompson also has six rushing touchdowns.\n\nMesquite is off this Friday and returns to action Oct. 19 at Tempe Marcos de Niza before closing out the regular season against Scottsdale Saguaro.\n\nLogan Brannan, Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain, SS/RB/KR, Sr.\n\nIn a 42-7 victory win over Flagstaff, Bradshaw Mountain's Logan Brannan was the undefeated Bears' Swiss Army knife who dominated on offense and defense.\n\nHe had 100 all-purpose yards, 16 tackles including two for losses, a sack, an interception, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal in the game.\n\nBrannan was also this week's top vote-getter in the azcentral sports Top Performer poll.\n\n\"Flagstaff was a really run-heavy team and the way our defense is set up, we were able to stop their run really well, and they would have to just run outside a lot,\" Brannan explains about the game. \"I'm also a linebacker so they ran it right to me.\"\n\nThe 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior averages 9.4 tackle per game and has 66 total this season. Brannan has scored six touchdown, boasting a 60.4 yards per game average.\n\nBrannan wants to become a history major in college. He considers himself a bookworm during his time away from football.\n\n\"I like to read,\" Brannan says. \"I'm a bit of a nerd on the weekends.\"\n\nBrannan and Bradshaw Mountain (7-0) host rival Prescott (4-2) on Friday.\n\nSept. 28, 2018\n\nNicc Quinones, Glendale Cactus, FS, Jr.\n\nGlendale Cactus junior free safety Nicc Quinones had a monster defensive performance last Friday night, posting 17 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and, for good measure, he returned a fumble for a touchdown.\n\nQuinones' effort led the Cobras to a 48-15 win over Buckeye Youngker.\n\nHe has 55 tackles in five games so far this season, an average of 11 per game.\n\nQuinones says his dream school is UCLA, where he hopes to play football. If not UCLA, he says he still considering other schools in California so that his family can watch him play football. Whenever his football career ends, Quinones aspires to become a firefighter.\n\nCactus (4-1) and hosts Glendale Deer Valley (0-5) on Friday night.\n\nSept. 21,2018\n\nWill Plummer, Gilbert, QB, Sr.\n\nIn a wild 74-57 loss to Peoria Sunrise Mountain, Gilbert quarterback Will Plummer completed 41 of 70 passes for 668 yards and six touchdowns, ran for 22 yards and a score and had a sack at linebacker.\n\nOn Wednesday, he was the top vote-getter in the azcentral sports Top Performer poll.\n\nPlummer says he did not realize his yardage total until after the game.\n\n\"I figured I was a little over 300 or 400 yards that game but we weren’t running the ball very well, so the pass is open and they weren’t covering it so we were taking advantage of it all night,” Plummer said.\n\nThis is Plummer's first year as the starting quarterback at Gilbert, replacing his older brother Jack, who threw for 2,861 yards, 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions a year ago. Jack is currently a back-up quarterback at Purdue.\n\nAfter high school, Plummer wants to go to a school to play football and study aviation to become a pilot after college.\n\nSept. 14, 2018\n\nAustin Clark, Prescott, QB, Sr.\n\nPrescott's Austin Clark set a school record on Sept. 7 with seven rushing touchdowns in a 56-7 rout of Glendale Deer Valley. He finished the game with 398 yards on 24 carries.\n\n“I got to credit the entire night to the (offensive) line. There is no way I could have done what I did without them,\" Clark said.\n\nThe Badgers lost their season opener 40-17 but have outscored their last two opponents 99-7.\n\nWhen Clark is away from the football field he likes exploring the ocean. His hobbies include free diving and scuba diving. \"It's a whole new world what you can see under water,\" Clark says.\n\nClark hopes to play college football and plans to study either marketing or chemical engineering. One day he hopes to open his own chemical engineering firm.\n\nSept. 7, 2018\n\nTaren Rose, Phoenix Thunderbird, football, Sr.\n\nIn a 49-35 win over Glendale Deer Valley, Taren Rose ran 11 times for 112 yards and three TDs, caught seven passes for 124 yards and two more TDs, returned a kickoff 73 yards and returned an interception 30 yards.\n\nAlong with football, Rose plays shortstop and left field for the Thunderbird baseball team. In his free time he enjoys relaxing at home playing Fortnite.\n\nRose, whose favorite team is the Arizona Cardinals, is hoping for a scholarship to play football at the next level. In college he wants to study biomedical engineering.\n\n“I think it is just fascinating working on cures and trying to help out the community and the world,” Rose said.\n\nAug. 31, 2018\n\nKohner Cullimore, Gilbert Highland, RB/SS, Sr.\n\nIn a game that began on a Friday night and ended on a Saturday morning, Cullimore had 190 yards and three TDs rushing and had 103 receiving yards. He also threw a TD pass and had 10 tackles on defense in a 49-28 win over Chandler Hamilton. Cullimore was the leading vote-getter in the azcentral sports online poll for Top Performer.\n\nReturn to this page all season long to see each week's athlete.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/08/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2019/05/27/bart-starr-ranking-15-all-time-icons-wisconsin-sports-history/1249294001/", "title": "Aaron Rodgers, Wisconsin's best athletes, sports figures ranked", "text": "If we created a Wisconsin sports Mount Rushmore, would Aaron Rodgers be on it?\n\nPerhaps that depends on how Packers fans rank their legendary quarterbacks, with Brett Favre and Bart Starr to consider as well. Do Packers candidates get dibs over other sports? How will Rodgers ultimately be remembered?\n\nWe won't try to answer the question and narrow it down quite that far, but if someone knew nothing of the Badger State's sports history, here's our take on 20 icons who stand out (listed alphabetically):\n\nHank Aaron\n\nAaron may be primarily associated with the Atlanta Braves; it's the team for which he played when he broke baseball's home run record. But he spent more time playing in Milwaukee than outside of it. For 12 seasons, he was the pride of the Milwaukee Braves, making the All-Star team every year after his rookie season and earning MVP honors in 1957. Though the franchise relocated, he spent the final two years of his career back in Milwaukee as a Brewer, in 1975 and '76. In the years thereafter, he became a remarkable ambassador for the game and his legend continued growing until his death in 2021.\n\nKareem Abdul-Jabbar\n\nWhen Milwaukee won a coin flip for the right to pick first in the 1969 NBA draft, the franchise's fortunes were instantly altered. He came into the league as Lew Alcindor and led the Bucks to their first title in 1971, plus a return to the Finals in 1974. He is still one of the most iconic players in league history and the NBA's all-time leading scorer. The majority of his career was spent with the Los Angeles Lakers, but for six years, Milwaukee was home to the most dominant center in hoops history.\n\nBarry Alvarez\n\nWhen Barry Alvarez became head football coach at the University of Wisconsin, the Badgers hadn't had a winning season since 1984. But from 1990 to 2005, he turned the program around, bringing it to its first Rose Bowl in 30 years and winning that game in 1993 and then two more. When he jumped upstairs as UW athletics director, he oversaw a program that enjoyed sustained success in football and basketball, along with cross country, volleyball and women's hockey. He retired from that post in 2021.\n\nGiannis Antetokounmpo\n\nHe's only 27 years old after all, but already, Milwaukee has seen the teenager from Greece rise from an unknown No. 15 overall pick into one of the most dominant forces in the NBA. The two-time MVP solidified his permanence in the top tier of Wisconsin greatness when he led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship in the most dramatic of circumstances. His decision to stay in Milwaukee and sign the Supermax extension prior to the 2020-21 title season broadcast to the world that this was where he wanted to be, eschewing at least one comparison to his predecessor in Milwaukee basketball greatness, Abdul-Jabbar.\n\nBonnie Blair\n\nWisconsin doesn't lack for great Winter Olympians, from the sheer dominance of five-time gold medalist Eric Heiden to the redemption arc of Dan Jansen to Mark Johnson, the face of Wisconsin hockey who also played a prominent role in the Miracle on Ice. But Blair, who moved to West Allis to train for her biggest events, may be the most revered as a five-time gold medalist and six-time Olympic medalist, with appearances in four Olympiads. She was one of Sports Illustrated's Sportsmen of the Year in 1994 and became the national face of speedskating for a generation.\n\nRyan Braun\n\nThere's no getting around the infamous suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs in 2013, nor the defiant press conference proclaiming his innocence after the 2011 season. But Braun was the face of a new wave of Brewers success, with an unforgettable 2008 home run as one of several iconic moments in his career. He spent all 14 of his seasons with the Brewers, winning Rookie of the Year and an MVP award with six all-star appearances. Braun led Milwaukee to the playoffs in 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2020; before his arrival, the Brewers hadn't been to the postseason sine 1982.\n\nRon Dayne\n\nFrom 1996-99 at the University of Wisconsin, Dayne captivated college football and became the NCAA Division I all-time leading rusher — and still is, if you ignore the NCAA's unwillingness to calculate bowl statistics prior to 2002. He was taken 11th overall by the New York Giants in the draft, but his career will always be tied to his days as a Badger, when he racked up 7,125 yards and earned Rose Bowl MVP when Wisconsin triumphed in 1999 and 2000. He also won the 1999 Heisman Trophy.\n\nBrett Favre\n\nThe three-time NFL Most Valuable Player emerged from relatively humble beginnings to captivate a fan base with his \"gunslinger\" style of quarterbacking. He made 11 Pro Bowls, led the team to two Super Bowls and won one of them. Though his exit was complicated, he engineered countless memorable moments in his Packers career, became the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns and helped resuscitate a long-struggling franchise.\n\nEric Heiden\n\nHis time to shine was a relatively short window, but what a window it was. Competing in Lake Placid at the 1980 Olympics, the 21-year-old Madison native won an unprecedented five gold medals in speedskating, winning the 500, 1,000, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000. No winter Olympian has duplicated the feat since.\n\nDon Hutson\n\nPerhaps it's a reach because Hutson's tenure ran so long ago, from 1935-45, and the vast majority of Wisconsin sports fans probably wouldn't recognize his face if they saw it. But there's a good argument that Hutson is the single greatest player in Packers history. Part of three championships and holder of 18 NFL records by the time he retired, Hutson revolutionized the wide receiver position. The Packers practice facility next to Lambeau Field is named for the two-time MVP.\n\nMore:Green and Golden: The 100 most outstanding players in Green Bay Packers history\n\nVince Lombardi\n\nThe bespectacled Brooklyn native became the archetype for an era of football. The hard-nosed head coach led the Packers to six NFL championships and wins in Super Bowl I and II. The Super Bowl trophy and the street on which Lambeau Field resides are both named for him.\n\nEddie Mathews\n\nMathews made nine all-star teams during his 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Braves, during which he became regarded as one of the top third basemen in baseball. The Hall of Famer was central to the team's 1957 World Series championship and twice finished as MVP runner-up in the National League.\n\nAl McGuire\n\nOne of the state's most colorful characters, McGuire was head coach of Marquette basketball from 1964 to 1977, reaching the Final Four twice and capping his run with the 1977 national championship. He went into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and established a career in broadcasting after he finished coaching. Even today, he's the biggest name in Marquette basketball (sorry, Dwyane).\n\nPaul Molitor\n\nSide-by-side with Robin Yount, he was the face of Milwaukee's arrival as a bona fide threat in the 1980s, and he became one of the great hitters in the game. The MLB Hall of Famer engineered a memorable 39-game hitting streak and made five all-star teams in Milwaukee before the club let him walk away. He won a World Series in Toronto in 1993 (and was World Series MVP).\n\nAaron Rodgers\n\nBrett Favre was a seemingly impossible act to follow, and yet the Packers struck gold again with a second straight Hall of Fame quarterback. Rodgers led the Packers to a Super Bowl triumph and became the best passer in football after famously falling to the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He surpassed Favre when he enjoyed a late-career renaissance and won his third and fourth NFL MVP trophies in 2020 and 2021, leading the Packers to the top seed in the NFC both times.\n\nBo Ryan\n\nHe may be a native of Chester, Pennsylvania, but he's the perfect Wisconsin story, finding success in the UW system at Platteville (four Division III national championships) and Milwaukee before becoming Badgers head basketball coach in 2001. Though the program had reached a Final Four in 2000, Ryan took Wisconsin to a new level, never missing an NCAA tournament and winning four Big Ten regular-season titles. The crown jewel was consecutive trips to the Final Four in 2014 and 2015, including a win over undefeated Kentucky in the latter year to reach the NCAA championship game.\n\nBud Selig\n\nHis overriding legacy as commissioner of Major League Baseball may be complicated, but you can't deny what Selig did for Milwaukee baseball. The Milwaukee businessman worked tirelessly to bring a franchise back after the Milwaukee Braves left following the 1965 season, and in 1970, the Milwaukee Brewers arrived. Selig served as the franchise's owner until he had to step away to run MLB at large, first as acting commissioner in 1992. As commissioner, he established the Wild Card, and he's remained unapologetically Milwaukeean. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.\n\nBart Starr\n\nFrom 1956 to 1971, Starr wore Green and Gold, earning MVP in each of the first two Super Bowls and helping to solidify tiny Green Bay as a football powerhouse. He's a five-time NFL champion and one-time MVP (1966), with a post-playing career that included eight seasons as head coach in Green Bay. He'll forever be associated with the Ice Bowl triumph that earned the Packers a spot in the second Super Bowl, and he'll also be remembered as a kind and charitable person off the field.\n\nMore:Legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr dies at age 85\n\nBob Uecker\n\nIt could be argued the face of the Milwaukee Brewers has ironically always been its voice. The charismatic and comically gifted Uecker has been involved in acting, other TV appearances, commercials and even professional wrestling, but he'll always be the radio voice of the Brewers — as he has been since 1971. Even through the leanest of seasons, Milwaukee fans always had Uecker to entertain them throughout the summer.\n\nMore:On the 50th anniversary of becoming the Brewers' Hall of Fame radio voice, Bob Uecker stayed true to form\n\nRobin Yount\n\nHe is the only member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who spent his entire playing career with the Milwaukee Brewers. From an exciting 18-year-old infielder in 1974 to a 37-year-old veteran in 1993, his 20 years in the organization made him the quintessential Brewer, with two MVPs and the franchise's lone World Series appearance mixed in.\n\nBonus: Earl \"Curly\" Lambeau\n\nPerhaps he predates what we consider to be the modern history of Wisconsin sports, and perhaps you'd be hard pressed to picture his face. But it's hard to deny that a man whose very last name still resonates in this state (and the sports world at large) doesn't belong somewhere on this list. He was a great player in the 1920s, but he's known as the founder and first head coach of the Packers, creating a brand that remains one of the sports world's biggest a century later. Arguably the most famous structure in Wisconsin bears his name.\n\nOthers: Davante Adams, Ray Allen, Alan Ameche, Dick Bennett, Cecil Cooper, Craig Counsell, Rollie Fingers, Elroy Hirsch, Paul Hornung, Bob Johnson, Mark Johnson, Marques Johnson, Frank Kaminsky, Matt Kenseth, Alan Kulwicki, Sidney Moncrief, Don Nelson, Ray Nitschke, Andy North, Pat Richter, Oscar Robertson, Warren Spahn, Jim Taylor, Joe Thomas, Dwyane Wade, J.J. Watt, Reggie White, Christian Yelich.\n\nJR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/05/27"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/05/19/memphis-bicentennial-top-50-sports-figures-history/3661526002/", "title": "Memphis Bicentennial: Top 50 sports figures in Bluff City history", "text": "Sports has given Memphis plenty to be proud of for much of its 200 years.\n\nAs the Bluff City celebrates its bicentennial, The Commercial Appeal put together a list of 50 of the top sports figures in its history. Some will inevitably disagree with one or more inclusions, which is OK — some might even encourage it.\n\nThe basic criteria for the list are that the person was either born in Memphis or made their name here.\n\nPresenting to you the 50 most notable sports figures in Bluff City history (in alphabetical order).\n\nTony Allen: Known as \"The Grindfather,\" as well as a member of the Grizzlies' \"Core Four,\" Allen became a fan favorite and a defining member of the team's \"Grit and Grind\" era, essentially coining the phrase. From 2010 to 2017, Allen scored All-NBA Defensive Team honors six times and was key in each of the four playoff series wins in franchise history. As important as anyone to Memphis and the Grizzlies, Allen once told The Commercial Appeal it was a two-way street. “My heart is here. That big ol' blue face, that Grizzly bear, that’s where my heart is.”\n\nSupport local journalism:5 benefits of a Commercial Appeal subscription\n\nGene Bartow: Led Memphis State to an 82-32 overall record in four seasons as head coach. The Tigers' most successful campaign on Bartow's watch was the 1972-73 season when Memphis State reached the national championship game — the first of the program's two title game appearances. He was named NABC National Coach of the Year in 1973 and inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Bartow went on to coach at Illinois, UCLA (where he succeeded the legendary John Wooden) and UAB, where he later served as athletics director from 1977 to 2000. A personal favorite of legendary Memphis broadcaster, Jack Eaton, who once said: \"... Bartow, he was the master.\"\n\nBetty Booker: The all-time leading scorer in Lady Tigers history, Booker racked up 2,835 points over four years without the benefit of the 3-point line. She became the first-ever University of Memphis student-athlete elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Booker, who later coached basketball, volleyball and track at White Station for 14 years, remains tied (with Tamika Whitmore) for the highest career per-game scoring average (20.7).\n\nIsaac Bruce: He played just two seasons for the Tigers, but they were eye-opening. The St. Louis Rams made him a second-round pick in the 1994 NFL Draft. He went on to collect the fifth-most receiving yards in NFL history and win a Super Bowl.\n\nJohn Calipari: Undoubtedly one of the least popular names on the list among Memphians, Calipari compiled 214 wins in nine seasons as Memphis coach. Those 214 victories are second-most by a Tigers coach in program history (Larry Finch's 220 is the record). Memphis won the NIT in 2002 and Calipari guided the Tigers to four Sweet 16 appearances as well as the national championship game in 2008. The school was forced to vacate all of its wins during the 2007-2008 season when Derrick Rose's SAT score was invalidated.\n\nPhil Cannon: The Memphis native eventually became synonymous with the FedEx St. Jude Golf Classic — the city's first major professional sporting event — when he served as the tournament's director from 1999 to 2015. But his relationship with the FESJC (now the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational) began as a volunteer in 1966, when he was a 14-year-old high school student at White Station. Cannon became a full-time employee in 1990. He also wore several other sports-related hats around Memphis, including being a longtime press box PA announcer for football games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and serving as the Mid-South Coliseum general manager for five years in the 1980s.\n\nStubby Clapp: Was given the nickname \"Mayor of Memphis\" during his four-season playing career with the Redbirds. Clapp's 418 hits are third-most in team history, while his 258 runs scored are second-most. The St. Louis Cardinals' current first base coach spent two seasons as the team's manager, winning Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year honors both years and leading the Redbirds to back-to-back PCL championships as well as the AAA National Championship in 2018. His jersey is the only one ever retired by the Redbirds.\n\nMike Conley: The longest-tenured Grizzlies player in franchise history, the team made Conley its point guard after drafting him fourth overall in 2007. In 12 seasons, the former Ohio State star has rewritten the Grizzlies' record book. He currently holds nine team records (second only to longtime teammate Marc Gasol), including points, games, assists, steals and 3-pointers.\n\nChris Douglas-Roberts: Starred at Memphis from 2005 to 2008, finishing his Tigers career as the program's 10th-leading scorer all-time. Douglas-Roberts (who later legally changed his name to Supreme Bey) was the team's leading scorer during the 2007-08 season, when the team reached the national championship game. He became the school's third Associated Press first-team All-American in men's basketball and there has not been one since. Douglas-Roberts is also the only Sports Illustrated first-team All-American and was later the 40th overall pick in the NBA draft.\n\nA.F. \"Bud\" Dudley: A native of Philadelphia and a former athletics director at Villanova, Dudley founded the Liberty Bowl in 1959 and served as its executive director until 1994. First played in Philadelphia, then Atlantic City, the game was moved to Memphis in 1965. Dudley's plan after leaving Atlantic City was to keep moving the game's locale each year, but he was once quoted as saying, \"After I got to Memphis, I never got to the other cities.\" The Liberty Bowl currently stands as the eighth-oldest active bowl game.\n\nJack Eaton: A true Memphis sports icon, Eaton was the \"Voice of the Tigers\" from 1964 to 1991, and WMC-TV's sports director from 1956 to 1991. He also called play-by-play for Memphis State basketball and Ole Miss football from 1959 to 1963 and was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.\n\nJake Elliott: Less than a decade after Stephen Gostkowski rewrote the Tigers' record book, Elliott put his own stamp on the program. Aided by a school-record 81 made field goals (currently the eighth-most in NCAA history), his 445 points are the most in Memphis history and 14th-most in NCAA history. The Bengals made Elliott the first kicker drafted in 2017 (fifth round), but he was claimed off the practice squad by the Eagles. Elliott set numerous NFL rookie records in 2017, including the longest field goal by a rookie kicker in a Super Bowl, when his 46-yarder helped Philadelphia win Super Bowl LII.\n\nLarry Finch: Considered by many to be among the most important sports figures in Memphis history, Finch first made a name for himself as a basketball star at Melrose High. As a player, he is fourth on the Tigers' all-time scoring list and still holds the record for most points in a single game (48, on Jan. 20, 1973, against St. Joseph's). He averaged 26.8 points per game during Memphis State's run to the national title game in the 1972-1973 season. Finch was named the Tigers' head coach in 1986, made six NCAA tournament appearances and remains the program's all-time winningest coach (220-130 overall record). \"Very few people have meant more to bring the community together in their sphere than Larry Finch,\" Cato Johnson, a member of the university's board of trustees, said last year.\n\nAvron Fogelman: A retired real estate developer, Fogelman (a Central High grad) has left an indelible mark on Memphis sports. At 30, the Memphis-born Fogelman became president of the ABA's Memphis Pros. He is largely responsible for bringing pro baseball back to the Bluff City in 1978, when the Chicks (then a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals) were introduced. Fogelman, who also brought the WFL's Grizzlies/Southmen and the NASL's Rogues to town, was later a part-owner of the Royals for nine seasons (including 1985, when the team won its first World Series).\n\nMarc Gasol: The second-longest tenured Grizzly, Gasol became a Memphian in 2001 when his older brother, Pau, joined the team. After attending Lausanne and earning Division II Mr. Basketball honors in 2003, he spent several seasons in Spain before the Lakers drafted him 48th overall in 2007 and subsequently traded his rights to the Grizzlies. The three-time All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year (2013) and \"Core Four\" designee was traded to the Toronto Raptors in February 2019 as the Grizzlies' franchise leader in field goals, rebounds, free throws and blocks.\n\nPau Gasol: The only Grizzly on this list outside the \"Core Four,\" but arguably as instrumental to the team's success as anyone. The elder Gasol's NBA career began in Memphis when the Grizzlies traded for him after he was picked third overall in the draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2002 and spent the next six seasons in the Bluff City, helping the team reach the playoffs three times. In 2008, the Grizzlies traded Gasol for — among others — his younger brother, Marc.\n\nStephen Gostkowski: A record-breaking placekicker at Memphis from 2002-05, Gostkowski also played baseball for the Tigers. He threw 65 ⅓ innings as a freshman and is still the only person in Conference USA history to make the All-Freshman team in both football and baseball. You know the rest: fourth-round pick of the Patriots, three-time Super Bowl champ, four-time Pro Bowler and an NFL-record 479 consecutive extra points made.\n\nAnfernee \"Penny\" Hardaway: Born and raised in Memphis, the Treadwell and Memphis State alum became a household name after being taken third overall in the 1993 NBA draft. The consensus first-team All-American, four-time All-Star and gold-medal winner at the 1996 Olympics, Hardaway got into coaching at Lester Middle School in 2011. He later coached AAU ball and helped lead East High to three state championships before being hired as head coach at Memphis.\n\nMichael Heisley: The man responsible for turning Memphis into a major league sports town. Heisley orchestrated the Grizzlies' move from Vancouver to the Bluff City in 2001. The billionaire businessman, who died in 2014 — two years after selling his controlling stake in the franchise to Robert Pera — was also largely responsible for getting the organization involved in the community, forming the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.\n\nClaude Humphrey: A star football and basketball player at old Lester High, Humphrey was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons with the third overall pick in 1968. The Hall of Famer was taken ahead of fellow future Hall of Famers Larry Csonka, Curley Culp and Ken Stabler. Humphrey won the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 1968 and finished his career with 126.5 career sacks — unofficially, since the NFL didn't keep sacks as an official stat until 1982.\n\nJerry Johnson: The longtime (and legendary) LeMoyne-Owen men's basketball coach led the Magicians for 46 seasons, guiding them to the Division III national championship in 1975. According to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Johnson learned basketball from John McLendon, who played basketball at Kansas when the school's athletic director was James Naismith (the inventor of the sport). Johnson's 821 career victories are the 21st-most in NCAA history.\n\nGeorge Lapides: As renowned a sports journalist as there's been in Memphis, Lapides became the sports editor and columnist for the old Memphis Press-Scimitar at 27 and held the position until it closed in 1983. Lapides seemingly had a hand in all things related to sports in the Bluff City before he died in 2016. He spent 10 years as WREG-TV's sports editor, was Rhodes College's athletic director for one year and the general manager of the Memphis Chicks, but more notably hosted a sports talk radio show for 45 years, first on WHER, then on WHBQ. \"Sports Time\" was the longest-running sports radio show in the country.\n\nJerry Lawler: The WWE Hall of Famer, dubbed \"The King,\" has held more recognized championship belts than any other professional wrestler in history. Born in Memphis in 1949, his family moved to Ohio for eight years, returning to the Bluff City when Lawler was in high school. After more than two decades as one of the most popular figures in Memphis wrestling (during which time he notoriously feuded with comedian Andy Kaufman), Lawler signed with WWE where he worked as both an in-ring performer as well as a key member of the company's broadcast team.\n\nKeith Lee: The Tigers' all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Lee was a four-time Associated Press All-American and was the first AP first-team selection in school history. A native of West Memphis, Arkansas, the 6-foot-11 forward helped Memphis State reach the NCAA Tournament three times in four seasons. The Chicago Bulls used the 11th overall pick in the 1985 draft to take Lee, who spent three seasons in the NBA.\n\nTim McCarver: The Christian Brothers alum enjoyed as successful a broadcast career as he did as a player. A member of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, McCarver made his MLB debut at 17 years old and eventually became a two-time World Series champion, a two-time All-Star and spent 21 years in the big leagues. Memphis' minor league baseball teams played at Tim McCarver Stadium until 2000, when the Redbirds moved to AutoZone Park. During his broadcast career, he called a then-record 23 World Series and 20 All-Star games. In 2012, he won the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting.\n\nNikki McCray: The Collierville native helped lead Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols to a national championship in 1991. She later became a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-time WNBA All-Star. McCray was also a part of an NCAA championship in 2017 as an assistant coach at South Carolina. She is currently the head coach at Old Dominion. In 2015, McCray, already part of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, became the first female from Tennessee inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.\n\nShaun Micheel: The Memphis native and Christian Brothers alum went into the 2003 PGA Championship (his only PGA Tour win) at the age of 33 and ranked 169th in the world. Micheel's approach shot on No. 18 at Oak Hill that clinched his victory was described by commentator Jim Nantz this way: \"One of the great shots you'll ever see under championship pressure. Three inches.\" In 2006, he claimed the runner-up prize at the same tournament, finishing second to Tiger Woods. In 2010, he became just the second player ever to double eagle at the U.S. Open.\n\nCary Middlecoff: One of the leading professional golfers of his era, the Christian Brothers alum's 40 PGA Tour wins is still 10th-most all-time. The World Golf Hall of Famer won two U.S. Opens and a Masters, and was part of three Ryder Cup-winning teams. At the time of his retirement in the early 1960s, Middlecoff had won more money than anyone on the PGA Tour. He once said, \"I don't deny I'm nervous. I have always maintained that a man who is not nervous is either an idiot or has never been close enough to winning to get nervous.\"\n\nAnthony Miller: The youngest person to appear on the list, Miller starred at Christian Brothers before walking on at Memphis and eventually becoming the school's all-time leading receiver. Drafted 51st overall (second round) by the Chicago Bears in 2018, Miller led the team with seven touchdown catches, becoming the team's first rookie since Willie Gault (1983) with at least seven.\n\nSputnik Monroe: A true superstar in professional wrestling when superstars were few and far between. Inducted into the Legacy Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018, Monroe made waves during his time in Memphis that stretched far beyond the Bluff City and the realm of professional wrestling. He is credited with desegregating Ellis Auditorium in the late 1950s after refusing to perform unless black fans were allowed to buy tickets for any seat they wanted. As written by The Commercial Appeal's John Beifuss in 2017: \"Race, pop culture, politics — Sputnik drop-kicked them to the canvas by palling around with 'coloreds' and insisting on the desegregation of wrestling matches at Ellis Auditorium at a time when the rule of Jim Crow was as accepted as the teaching of Jesus Christ.\"\n\nJohnny Neumann: Recruited out of Overton High by the likes of John Wooden and Adolph Rupp, Neumann eventually signed with Ole Miss and led the nation in scoring (40.1 points per game) as a sophomore – still the fourth-highest single-season average only behind Pete Maravich's three varsity years. That earned him All-America status and he was named SEC Player of the Year in his only varsity season with the Rebels. Neumann averaged 13.2 points per game in eight seasons as a pro.\n\nMichael Oher: The former five-star recruit out of Briarcrest became a household name before ever stepping foot on a national stage. The subject of \"The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,\" Oher's life story was first chronicled in book form in 2006. The film adaptation was a box-office success and scored Sandra Bullock an Academy Award for her portrayal of Oher's real-life adoptive mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy. The film was released just months after Oher became a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens. He won a Super Bowl ring with the team in 2013. He last played for the Carolina Panthers in 2016.\n\nCindy Parlow: Born in Memphis in 1978, the Germantown alum won the Hermann Trophy (women's college soccer's equivalent of the Heisman) twice at North Carolina, was a four-time All-American and a three-time national champion. Parlow (now Cindy Parlow Cone) went on to win two gold medals and became a FIFA Women's World Cup champion in 1999. She was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2018.\n\nElliot Perry: A McDonald's All-American at Treadwell, Perry's success at the high school level landed him a scholarship to play for his hometown Memphis State Tigers. Perry is still the program's second-leading scorer (2,209) and is one of only two players in school history to score more than 2,000 points in his career. The 37th overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, Perry played in 547 games with seven teams, including the Grizzlies.\n\nAllie Prescott: A star baseball player at Kinsbury (a two-time Commercial Appeal All-City honoree and the paper's Player of the Year in 1965), Prescott was a 33rd-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles the same year. But he chose to play for Memphis State, where he earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors as a pitcher. He later became general manager of the Memphis Chicks and the Redbirds, and was heavily involved in getting AutoZone Park built. On May 14, 2019, Prescott was named interim athletic director at Memphis.\n\nThompson Prothro: Nicknamed \"Doc\" because the Memphis native was a practicing dentist before signing his first professional baseball contract at 26. Prothro, who attended the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, managed the Memphis Chicks to four Southern Association championships (1928, 1930, 1934 and 1944). Prothro later became the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and led them to a 138-320 record, earning him the distinction of the worst managerial record in MLB history for anyone with at least three full seasons.\n\nZach Randolph: Referred to in the wake of his departure as \"the greatest of all Grizzlies\" by The Commercial Appeal after receiving 92 percent of the vote. It isn't difficult to comprehend what made him so popular and why he will always be part of the \"Core Four.\" The only times Randolph made the NBA All-Star team came during his time with the Grizzlies and his double-double (25 and 14) in Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs in 2011 led the team to its first playoff win. His 21.5 points per game and 9.2 rebounding average in the same series against the top-seeded Spurs propelled the Grizzlies to the franchise's first playoff series victory.\n\nAndy Roberts: A member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Christian Brothers grad is also part of the University of Memphis M-Club Hall of Fame, the U.S. Racquetball Association Hall of Fame and the International Racquetball Hall of Fame. Roberts helped lead Memphis to two National Intercollegiate Racquetball championships.\n\nRonnie Robinson: The \"Big Cat,\" Robinson spent much of his playing career as Larry Finch's running mate, first at Melrose and later at Memphis State. The duo, whose jersey numbers were both retired on Nov. 30, 1974 (just more than a year after they led the Tigers to their first national championship game appearance) were part of the first Memphis State team to produce the school's first NCAA Tournament victory (in 1973). Robinson's 12.8 rebounds per game is still the top mark in program history.\n\nDerrick Rose: Perhaps the person on this list with the shortest tenure in the Bluff City, but this is where Rose became a household name. He led the Tigers to their second (and most recent) NCAA Tournament championship game appearance in 2008 — although, technically, every win from that season has been vacated — scoring 14.9 points per game in the regular season and putting up 25 in the team's Final Four win over UCLA. Went on to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year award in 2009 and an MVP award in 2011.\n\nKyle Rote Jr.: National Soccer Hall of Famer who served as both coach and general manager for the Memphis Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Also a member of the sports halls of fame in Tennessee and his native Texas, Rote Jr. founded Athletic Resource Management, a sports representation agency in Memphis where super-agent Jimmy Sexton once served as president.\n\nVerties Sails: A legendary basketball coach whose coaching career began as an assistant at Melrose during Larry Finch's time as a player with the Golden Wildcats, Sails led Melrose to a state championship as the head coach in 1974. After five years as an assistant at Memphis State, he spent the next 33 as head men's basketball coach at Southwest Tennessee Community College (then Shelby State), where the Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer led the Saluquis to 709 wins and 16 Tennessee Community College Athletic Association championships.\n\nHarry Schuh: Considered by many to be the best offensive lineman in Tigers history, Schuh earned All-America status at Memphis State in 1963 and 1964. The Tennessee Sports and M-Club Hall of Famer is one of just six Tiger football players to have his jersey number retired and was the third overall pick in the 1965 AFL draft. He won an AFL championship with the Oakland Raiders in 1967 and was a two-time AFL All-Star. Schuh was also part of the second AFL-NFL World Championship Game (later known as Super Bowl II).\n\nJimmy Sexton: The Memphis-born super-agent, Sexton has been referred to as \"the most powerful man in college football.\" He holds the distinction of being the youngest agent ever certified by the NFL Players' Association and made his first big splash representing Hall of Famer Reggie White. Among those represented by Sexton (co-head of Creative Artists Agency's football division and a 1982 Evangelical Christian School grad) are Alabama football coach Nick Saban (as well as 10 of the other 13 SEC football coaches), Scottie Pippen, Bill Parcells and Isaac Bruce.\n\nRochelle Stevens: A graduate of Melrose, Stevens became a state champion and national high school All-American with the Golden Wildcats. An 11-time NCAA All-American at Morgan State, she later won a gold medal in the women's 4x400 at the 1996 Olympics. She also won silver at the 1992 Olympics in the same event.\n\nBill Terry: Nicknamed \"Memphis Bill,\" the Atlanta native spent most of his youth in the Bluff City. After five unspectacular seasons in the minor leagues, Terry operated a filling station and played semi-pro baseball in Memphis for four years. Acquired by the New York Giants in 1922, he became a regular in 1927. Elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954, he was the last National League player to hit .400. He also managed the Giants from 1932 to 1941.\n\nAndre Turner: Dubbed the \"Little General,\" Turner will forever reside in Memphis lore as one of the best guards in Tigers history. After a standout high school career at Mitchell, Turner became Memphis State's vocal leader from 1983 to 1986 (\"If I hit the court and I felt someone wasn't giving all they could give, I didn't hesitate about saying something,\" he once said). Turner averaged 14.8 points and 7.6 assists per game during the Tigers' run to the Final Four in 1985, leading one television broadcaster to remark at the end of the quarterfinal win over Oklahoma: \"As far as Memphis State is concerned, you can understand why they want the ball in the hands of Andre Turner.\" His 763 career assists remains the most in Memphis history — 124 more than Chris Garner, who has the second-most.\n\nDeAngelo Williams: Arguably the most accomplished and decorated football player in Tigers history, Williams is Memphis' only 6,000-yard rusher and has scored more touchdowns than any other Tiger. His 6,026 rushing yards is still fifth-most in NCAA history. Williams was a first-round pick in the 2006 draft by the Carolina Panthers, and amassed more than 10,000 yards of offense during an 11-year career that ended with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016.\n\nJames Earl Wright: A pioneer of sorts when it comes to Memphis Tigers football. Wright held 10 school records at the conclusion of his collegiate career and parlayed his success into a becoming a third-round selection of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1961. It was Wright who quarterbacked the Tigers into the big-time. In 1960 at Crump Stadium, Wright and Co. led mighty Ole Miss 20-19 at halftime. Memphis State eventually lost 31-20, but that was the game that opened the eyes of many around Memphis and the country. Legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant was once quoted saying, “James Earl Wright is too good to play for any team other than Alabama.\"\n\nLorenzen Wright: Born in Oxford, Wright's family moved to Memphis while he was still in high school. He played his senior season at Booker T. Washington and became a consensus second-team All-American at Memphis in 1996. The same year, he was drafted seventh overall and averaged 7.9 points and 6.3 rebounds during a 13-year NBA career. In 2010, Wright was found in Germantown after he had been shot and killed. His ex-wife, Sherra Wright, and Billy Turner were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. They are set to go on trial for his death on Sept. 16, 2019.\n\nThe Just-Missed List\n\nHubie Brown: Guided the Grizzlies to the franchise's first playoff appearance in his only full season as the team's coach. Won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2003-2004.\n\nDave Casinelli: The former Tiger fullback has the third-most rushing yards in program history and was its leading rusher for more than four decades. Led the nation in rushing yards and scoring as a senior in 1963.\n\nBilly Dunavant: Founded the Racquet Club of Memphis in 1972 and brought the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships to Memphis in 1975. Owner of the USFL's Memphis Showboats, who also tried (in vain) to bring an NFL franchise to the Bluff City.\n\nSteve Ehrhart: Executive director of the Liberty Bowl since 1994. Former vice president and general manager of the XFL's Memphis Maniax. Ehrhart also served as executive director of the USFL, while also running the Memphis Showboats.\n\nSylvester Ford: Spent more than four decades as a high school basketball coach in Memphis and won 687 games, \"Big Time\" became a legend at Fairley. Ford coached there from 1987 to 2012. The 1993 state championship team finished 37-1 and is considered by many to be one of the most dominant in Memphis history.\n\nDean Jernigan: Memphis Redbirds founder who is responsible for bringing professional baseball back to Memphis and getting AutoZone Park built downtown.\n\nPaxton Lynch: Second-leading passer in Memphis football history (8,863 yards in three seasons). A first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 2016.\n\nJohn Pennel: Born in Memphis in 1940 and inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004. The first man to clear 17 feet in the pole vault.\n\nElma Roane: A star basketball and softball player for Memphis Messick, Roane later became women's athletic director at Memphis State, and coached basketball, volleyball and badminton from 1955 to 1970.\n\nRicky Stenhouse Jr.: Born in Memphis, raised in Olive Branch, Stenhouse was the 2011 and 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion. He won the 2017 Geico 500 and the 2017 Coke Zero 400. In 2013, he was named the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.\n\n10 who could make the next list\n\nJames Wiseman: The nation's top high school basketball recruit, who played at East High for two seasons and signed with Memphis.\n\nDarrell Henderson: The Tigers' second-leading rusher of all time, who was taken in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.\n\nJaren Jackson Jr.: Fourth overall pick of the Grizzlies in the 2018 draft. Averaged 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds during an injury-shortened rookie season.\n\nRachel Heck: St. Agnes junior (committed to Stanford) ranked as high as 11th in the World Amateur Golf rankings. She has already competed in two professional majors (2017 U.S. Women's Open and 2018 Evian Championship).\n\nEric Gray: Former Lausanne running back, who holds the Tennessee state record for career touchdowns (138). Enrolled at UT in January 2019.\n\nMaurice Hampton: Starred at MUS in football and baseball. DII-AA Mr. Football in 2018. Signed with LSU football and committed to play baseball at LSU. Projected first-round MLB draft pick.\n\nMike Norvell: Memphis football coach since 2016. Led the Tigers to 26 wins in his first three seasons. Guided Memphis to AAC West division titles in 2017 and 2018.\n\nJeremiah Martin: Became the 52nd player in Memphis history to join the 1,000-point club. His 708 points in 2018-19 are second-most by a senior in Tigers history, 13 shy of Larry Finch's record.\n\nAvery Downing: Houston High grad, paralyzed at 13 years old in a gymnastics accident, who won national championships with the Alabama women's wheelchair basketball team and the Crimson Tide's women's wheelchair tennis team in 2019.\n\nD.J. Jeffries: Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year (2019). Won a state championship in 2018. Signed with Memphis.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/05/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/12/11/here-our-mississippi-bicentennial-mens-basketball-team/941777001/", "title": "The Alltime greatest men's basketball players from Mississippi", "text": "As Mississippi celebrates its 200th birthday, the Clarion Ledger is joining in the celebration of the state’s history by picking bicentennial teams.\n\nAfter careful deliberation, a decision was made to include only those raised in Mississippi. This excludes some athletes who were born here (usually because of parents’ military obligations) but quickly moved elsewhere, and those who came from out-of-state to attend one of the universities. While some made a deep and lifelong connection to Mississippi, others viewed college as a way station to something else. That’s fine, but we wanted to celebrate Mississippians, and we found this to be the best way to do so.\n\nWe made decisions based on total career impact, including high school, college and professional accomplishments. For the baseball and football teams, we were position-specific, while the goal for basketball was to create a starting five that could play a game. Because they’d need someone to coach them, we also included a coach or manager with each team.\n\nUp first is men’s basketball. Women’s basketball, baseballand football will follow the rest of this week.\n\nMonta Ellis (Jackson)\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nHe averaged 17.8 points per game, the highest-scoring average among those eligible for this team, during 12 seasons in the NBA. Ellis’ career has always been about scoring — he was a high school all-american at Lanier with 4,167 points that skipped college to go to the NBA Draft. His best seasons came with the Golden State Warriors, including a most improved player award, but he also had successful seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers. The NBA has changed, and a pound-and-drive guard like Ellis is out of favor, but it doesn't diminish the talent or his career.\n\nMahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Gulfport)\n\nFormerly known as Chris Jackson, Abdul-Rauf completes our backcourt by giving us two brilliant scorers. He was a star at Gulfport, making the McDonald’s All-American Game. He set NCAA records for scoring as a freshman at LSU, averaging 30.2 points per game. A two-time All-American and SEC player of the year, he went third overall in the 1990 NBA Draft and averaged 14.6 points per game in nine seasons in the NBA. The controversy surrounding him and the national anthem plagued his career, but Abdul-Rauf won a NBA most improved player award, was one of the greatest free-throw shooters of all time and is still hooping, playing in the Big 3 league this summer.\n\nMore:The A-Gap: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf deserves to be in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame\n\nPurvis Short (Hattiesburg)\n\nThe Rainbowman (known as such for his high, arching jumper) will play for us on the wing. After high school (Blair Center) Short went to Jackson State, where he became the school’s all-time leading scorer. He was the fifth pick in the 1978 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors and was a highly effective sixth man for several years before emerging as a starter by 1982. He scored nearly 20 points a game with the Warriors, and finished with a 17.3 average in 12 seasons with the Warriors, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets. Short was a really efficient scorer, making 47.4 percent of his field goal attempts.\n\nSam Lacey (Indianola)\n\nAfter playing at Gentry, Lacey went west to New Mexico State, where the 6-foot-10 big man led NMSU to a 74-14 record in three seasons and, in 1970, the team’s first and only Final Four appearance. He was the fifth overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals (later the Kansas City Kings), and is one of only five NBA players with 100 blocks and 100 steals in six consecutive seasons. Lacey was an all-star in 1975 and when he retired in 1983 had 9,867 rebounds, 10,303 points and 1,160 blocks and 999 steals. The Kings have since retired his number. Lacey died in 2014 at the age of 66.\n\nAl Jefferson (Monticello)\n\nThe second high school-to-NBA guy on this list, Jefferson was a five-star recruit at Prentiss who went in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft to the Boston Celtics. After learning the NBA game with the Celtics, the 6-foot-10 Jefferson was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and really started to flourish, with two seasons averaging at least 20 points a game. He played well with the Utah Jazz, and was a third-team All-NBA selection in 2014 with the Charlotte Hornets. Jefferson is now in his 14th season, and his second for the Indiana Pacers. He has career averages of 15.9 points and 8.5 rebounds a game, and is in the top 10 in active players in rebounds and blocks.\n\nCoach Babe McCarthy (Baldwyn)\n\nMcCarthy was a heck of a coach, winning four Southeastern Conference championships for Mississippi State in five seasons, and then crossed the color line in the segregated South in 1963 in order to take the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament. McCarthy won 169 games in 10 years at MSU, with four 20-win seasons (when teams typically played only 25 games) and was three times named the SEC coach of the year. He later coached in the ABA, twice winning coach of the year and was the first coach to win 200 games in the league. McCarthy died in 1975 at the age of 51.\n\nOthers considered: Mo Williams, Gerald Glass, Wendell Ladner, Antonio McDyess, Clarence Weatherspoon, Erick Dampier and coach Bert Jenkins.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/12/11"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/02/08/reaction-to-lebron-becoming-the-nbas-career-scoring-leader/51265165/", "title": "Reaction to LeBron becoming the NBA's career scoring leader", "text": "AP\n\nReaction from social media and elsewhere poured in after LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.\n\n___\n\n“Congratulations to LeBron on breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of sports by becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. It’s a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained excellence over 20 seasons in the league. And quite amazingly, LeBron continues to play at an elite level and his basketball history is still being written.” — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.\n\n___\n\n“Wow, never in my lifetime did I think I would see two NBA athletes score over 38,000 points! I still remember when my Showtime teammate, the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, broke the record. It was an honor to be the guy to pass it to him and cement his legacy!” — Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\n___\n\n\"Congratulations (at)KingJames!!!! This man has been in the spotlight and burdened with the highest expectations since he was a teenager. And he’s done nothing but exceed those expectations and build a historic legacy. What an incredible accomplishment!\" — Entertainer John Legend, on Twitter.\n\n___\n\n“We gave the keys to the whole entire business to an 18-year-old kid and now he’s 38 years old and he’s still dominating. I don’t think we should be surprised. I think we should congratulate him and celebrate him as much as possible, continue to enjoy the shows that he puts on.” — Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving.\n\n___\n\n“Congrats (at)KingJames … legendary stuff right there #38388” — Golden State guard Stephen Curry, on Twitter.\n\n___\n\n“Congrats on the achievement! @KingJames, you’ve shown that we can do it at the highest level welcome to the All-Time club.” — former running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL's career leader in yards rushing, on Twitter.\n\n___\n\n”I never thought anyone would break Kareem’s record. But being here tonight, knowing that LeBron would probably go on to break the record, and having Kareem here simultaneously, was an iconic night. LeBron James pretty much copied, but just enhanced the formula that Kareem had. … I don’t think anyone else will break LeBron’s record.” — Lakers Hall of Famer and Spectrum SportsNet analyst James Worthy.\n\n___\n\n“The most important individual record in the sport, a record that most people thought would never be broken.” — former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, now an analyst for TNT.\n\n___\n\n“This record says a lot about who he is and how multifaceted he really is. He’s an elite caliber of player. He’s one of one. We hadn’t seen anything like him before, his size, his athleticism, his shooting capabilities, his playmaking capabilities. And he’s all about team. That’s the thing that shines through.” — Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham.\n\n___\n\n“LeBron, he's a confident man. He knows he’s a hell of a player. He knows what he’s accomplished. But he still has his humility. He hasn’t lost it.\" — San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/02/06/lebrons-miami-era-as-told-by-teammate-shane-battier/51260203/", "title": "LeBron's Miami era, as told by teammate Shane Battier", "text": "AP\n\n(Editor's Note: Shane Battier is a former Miami Heat teammate of LeBron James, who is poised to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Battier played in the NBA for 13 seasons, the last three of them with James in Miami. He shared some memorable moments with The Associated Press of what he witnessed during their time together with the Heat.)\n\nThere was a night that I’ll never forget as long as I live, and it made me have just such a deeper appreciation for who LeBron James was as a person, as a man, as a player.\n\nWe were in Boston in 2012, during the playoffs, no love lost from Boston fans. We’re walking to dinner and a car slows down next to us. A guy said, “Hey LeBron, I hate you, you suck.” He rolls up the window and proceeds down the street.\n\nAs players we’re used to being called names and whatnot. But at that moment I understood all the stuff he had to deal with from Day 1 and being on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 and being No. 1 in the draft and being the most hyped athlete maybe ever, the most famous athlete maybe ever at every step of the way. There wasn’t a moment where he could hide behind a teammate, hide behind a coach.\n\nHe’s always proven he can handle it. He handled it that time, too.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nThe next night was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. We all know what Game 6 was for us, right? If we lose Game 6, then we all have new addresses the next year. The Big Three is a Dumpster fire of an experiment that failed at the highest level. And legacies were on the line, from LeBron to Pat Riley to Erik Spoelstra, you name it. We knew what the implications of losing that Game 6 would be. (Editor’s Note: Miami trailed the Celtics, 3-2 and James had 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in Game 6 to save the season, one where the Heat went on to win the NBA title.)\n\nI played baseball growing up. The way he played that night was the closest thing to watching a no-hitter, a perfect game. We sort of nudged, sort of elbowed each other on the bench and said, “Oh my gosh, this guy’s a monster.” We didn’t want to talk about it. We tried to be cool. But, I’m sorry, we’d never seen anything like this. And we’ve all seen everything in the game. You want to look up determination in the dictionary? It’d be LeBron James. It was the greatest display of will that I saw in my entire career because of the circumstances, because of the consequences, because of the team we played. The Celtics had no shot that night. I had never seen anything like it, even to this day.\n\nIn my mind, he’s the greatest player of all time. I’m biased, I know that, but I’m allowed to be. And I know we said this with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, we said this with Wilt Chamberlain, we said this with Michael Jordan, but I don’t think we’ll see someone like LeBron James ever again.\n\n___\n\nAP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/07/22/indiana-best-high-school-sports-stars-athletes/7797508002/", "title": "We asked state preps writers: Who is the best Indiana high school ...", "text": "Best gym? Best stadium? Best rivalry? Asked and answered. But the final question of our four-pack posed to preps writers from across the state might be the hardest.\n\nWho is the best Indiana high school athlete you've covered?\n\nKyle Neddenriep, IndyStar\n\nMy first thought is Gary Harris, the former Hamilton Southeastern and Michigan State star who is now a seven-year NBA veteran and still is just 26 years old. Harris was not only IndyStar Mr. Basketball in 2012, but he was also a Big Ten Conference-caliber wide receiver on the football field.\n\nAnother who comes to mind immediately is Lawrence Central linebacker Cam McGrone, whose ability to gobble up ground and make a sure tackle was unlike anything I had seen at the high school level.\n\nAnother one who comes to mind is Jackie Young, the 2016 Miss Basketball from Princeton. Young became the state’s all-time leading scorer, but her court sense and passing ability is what set her apart. And she just made it look so easy.\n\nAnd how could you not marvel at the talent of Dawand Jones of Ben Davis? Jones is a 6-8, 360-pound offensive lineman at Ohio State with a likely future in the NFL. But I’m not sure I will ever see a player with his size move like he did on the basketball court.\n\nSam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier\n\nTough category. So many great ones with varying degrees of athleticism and accolades. NBA lottery picks. NFL players. Major League Baseball players. Olympians. It's unfair to choose one, but if forced, I am going with George Karlaftis, who was a three-sport standout at West Lafayette High School and current defensive end for Purdue. Karlaftis helped the Red Devils basketball program win two sectional titles, but was more well known for his performances in football and shot put.\n\nNo one in IHSAA history has won three boys shot put state titles. Had Karlaftis not graduated early to enroll at Purdue and participate in spring football, he likely would have been the first, having become the first sophomore to win the event since 1946 in 2017. As a senior on the gridiron, he helped the Red Devils win a Class 3A state championship with a 15-0 record and received national defensive player of the year at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Not bad for someone who moved to Indiana from Greece as a teenager and had no clue about American football.\n\nRobby General, Muncie Star Press\n\nThis one was tough and, after mulling it over, I couldn’t come up with one.\n\nIn basketball, I’ve never seen someone play like Blackford’s Luke Brown. Brown hits near-half-court shots with ease and has faked me out (from the stands) with his no-look passes, not to mention the numerous personal accolades he’s racked up during his four high school seasons in Hartford City.\n\nIn diving, Delta’s Sam Bennett — a two-time state diving champion — might be one of the most talented and committed student-athletes I’ve covered. What he’s overcome to get there is equally inspiring. During the COVID-19 quarantine, the Purdue commit acquired a dry board and continued practicing his craft in a foam pit in his driveway. During an offseason where finding a pool to train in could’ve set him back, Bennett came within a few points of breaking the state diving record in 2021. Bennett said he wants to be an Olympian one day, and I don’t doubt that he can get there.\n\nIn track, Cathedral’s Cole Hocker was another exceptional athlete I’ve seen. I was able to cover Hocker when I was a sports clerk in Indianapolis in 2019. He hardly broke a sweat as he broke a city record in the 800 then and, now, the Oregon freshman is headed to the Olympics.\n\nKyle Sokeland, Evansville Courier & Press\n\nJackie Young and Lilly King were just before my time in Evansville, so this might get some overlap. But it's the truth. The answer to who is the best athlete I have covered is Colson Montgomery. It may be like that for a long time.\n\nWhat this kid has done the past four years is mind boggling. The starting quarterback on a regional-championship team in his only year of varsity football. The basketball program’s all-time leading scorer, and he had one of the best individual tournament runs I’ve watched. A state champion, starting shortstop on three state finals teams, and first-round MLB draft pick. My favorite part: He shoots left-handed in basketball but throws a baseball with his right. Life just seems unfair, doesn’t it?\n\nYes, he had help in the form of a talented senior class alongside him at Southridge. Montgomery always delivered though. The best athlete in every sense of the word.\n\nHendrix Magley, Evansville Courier & Press\n\nDuring his freshman year at Southridge, Colson Montgomery broke the Raiders’ boys basketball single-game scoring record with a 39-point outburst. With his instant stardom on the hardwood, I figured basketball would be his main sport. Then someone told me, “Wait until you see him play baseball.” I thought they were crazy.\n\nTurns out, they were right.\n\nMontgomery was selected by the Chicago White Sox with the 22nd overall pick of July's Major League Baseball draft. He started to receive professional interest right away but saw that peak during his senior season. MLB scouts were at every single game as it’s likely a representative from every single team flew to Southern Indiana to see him play at least once. It was a spectacle to behold.\n\nWhile his play on the diamond and court (as well as gridiron) were impressive, his personality is perhaps what captured me the most. Despite his success and constant media attention, Montgomery always remained humble. He never took anything for granted and continued to work hard. It’s led him to where he’s at today.\n\nTom Noie, South Bend Tribune\n\nWorking through a pre-game layup line, former South Bend Clay power forward Lee Nailon looked up into the seating section before a game and held up two fingers. Asked after another dominating performance what that signal meant, Nailon laughed and said that was how many dunks he’d get that night.\n\nHe got more than two, but that was Nailon at his dominant best. Even in high school, in a career that would end with a 1993 state championship, Nailon just looked and played at a different level. He was, as they like to say, a walking bucket. He scored 1,069 career points and grabbed almost as many rebounds. Others in Northern Indiana — Demetrius Jackson comes to mind — who scored more and went on to earn McDonald’s All American honors, but nobody looked the part more than Nailon. He just seemed like someone who could go for 20 points and 20 rebounds any night he wanted.\n\nHe stood 6-8 even as a high school kid, but seemed way taller than seven feet. Few could guard him. Not many wanted to.\n\nNailon went on to play collegiately at TCU, where he was among the national leaders in scoring and rebounding. He was a second-round NBA draft pick and had a long professional career here and abroad. It all started with four forceful years with the Colonials. He was the quintessential man among boys. Too good and too talented for any and all opponents.\n\nHe was, they like to say about guys like that today, a problem.\n\nJeff Bartlett, Bedford Times-Mail\n\nBedford North Lawrence basketball star Dominique McBryde was a brilliant all-around athlete, as were BNL football greats Jay Thomas and McCall Ray.\n\nBut this one is actually easier because one clearly stands above the rest.\n\nOf course, we're speaking about the great Damon Bailey, who led Bedford North Lawrence to the 1990 boys basketball state championship and remains the all-time leading scorer in hoops-crazy Indiana with 3,134 career points. He then went on to become one of IU's all-time great all-around players.\n\nBailey could leap like a gazelle and run like a cheetah, which allowed him to simply out-motor most foes. With those physical attributes, he could've been great at any sport. Thankfully for all, he chose basketball.\n\nWhen he combined his one-step-ahead mental game and unselfishness with the speed and strength, we were given a gift from the basketball gods.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/07/22"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_7", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/business/laundress-recall-8-million-products/index.html", "title": "8 million Laundress detergent products recalled over bacteria ...", "text": "New York CNN —\n\nThe Laundress brand of detergent and household cleaning products has recalled about eight million products because of the possible presence of bacteria that could pose a health risk to consumers.\n\nThe recalled items, manufactured by the pricey boutique brand between January 2021 and September 2022, include its laundry detergents, fabric conditioner and cleaning products. The recall was announced December 1.\n\nAccording to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the affected products may contain one of several different types of bacteria, many of which are environmental organisms found widely in soil and water.\n\nThe CPSC warned that people with weakened immune systems, underlying lung conditions, or those who use external medical devices and are exposed to the bacteria could face the risk of a serious infection that may require medical treatment if the bacteria is inhaled or enters the body through the eyes or a break in the skin.\n\nThe Laundress recalled millions of units of its detergents and cleaning products because of possible bacterial contamination. From U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission\n\nPeople with healthy immune systems are usually not affected by the bacteria, it said.\n\nEleven consumers have reported infections from of the bacteria, Pseudomonas, the commission said. The company said it is investigating the reports to determine if the infections were connected to its recalled products.\n\nThe CPSC said consumers who purchased the recalled product after January 2021 should immediately stop using it and request a refund (A list of impacted products is available here.) It said consumers should dispose of the product by closing the bottle tightly and placing it in a household trash and not empty the product prior to disposal.\n\nThe Laundress products were sold on TheLaundress.com, Amazon and at stores including Bloomingdale’s, The Container Store, Saks Fifth Avenue, Target, Nordstrom, Brooklinen, and other major retailers nationwide, through September 2022 for between $8 and $100.", "authors": ["Parija Kavilanz"], "publish_date": "2022/12/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/27/contigo-kids-cleanable-water-bottle-lids-recalled/2131624001/", "title": "Contigo Kids Cleanable Water Bottle: 5.7 million bottle lids recalled", "text": "Check your kids' lunchboxes and backpacks.\n\nContigo announced Tuesday that it is recalling the lids on 5.7 million of its Contigo Kids Cleanable Water Bottles because the spouts pose a potential choking hazard.\n\nAccording to the voluntary recall notice posted on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website, the bottles were sold at retailers nationwide including Target, Walmart and Costco between April 2018 and June 2019.\n\n\"Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled water bottles, take them away from children and contact Contigo for inspection instructions and a free replacement lid,\" the recall notice states.\n\nThere have been no reported injuries, Contigo said in a statement on its website at www.gocontigo.com/recall.\n\nHowever, Contigo has received 149 reports of the spout detaching including 18 spouts found in children’s mouths, according to the recall notice.\n\nPig ear recall:Dog Goods USA is recalling its Chef Toby Pig Ears Treats because of salmonella health risk\n\nCheck your freezer:Tyson Foods recalls chicken patties possibly contaminated with 'foreign matter'\n\n\"Contigo identified that the water bottle’s clear silicone spout in some cases may detach from the lid posing a potential choking hazard,\" the company statement said. \"But, out of an abundance of caution, we encourage consumers to find out if they have an affected water bottle lid and order a free replacement lid.\"\n\nThe affected water bottles come in three sizes (13-ounce, 14-ounce and 20-ounce) and four bottle colors (solid color, graphics, stainless steel and stainless steel solid colors), according to the notice. They were sold individually and in packs of two and three.\n\nThe Contigo recall website outlines how to tell if you have one of the affected bottles and a step-by-step video.\n\nFor questions, call the Contigo consumer services team at 888-262-0622 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.\n\nFollow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/08/27"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/reviewed/2022/12/19/the-laundress-recall-what-to-buy-instead/10926008002/", "title": "The Laundress recall: 5 eco-friendly laundry detergents to try", "text": "Eden Strong and Rachel Murphy\n\n— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.\n\nThe Laundress recently recalled more than 8 million units of its household cleaning supplies, leaving many customers scrambling to find clean alternatives. Among its most popular products impacted by the recall is The Laundress Laundry Detergent. If you’re one of the thousands in search of other similar options to try, you’ve come to the right place.\n\nGifts got you stumped? Sign up for Reviewed’s newsletter to get last-minute gift ideas and other holiday tips from shopping experts.\n\nHere at Reviewed, we’ve been testing eco-friendly laundry detergents for years, looking hard at ingredient lists and performing hands-on testing at our labs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These are our findings.\n\nWhat you need to know about The Laundress recall\n\nThe Laundress said millions of units of its products may be tainted with bacteria strains including Burkholderia cepacia complex, Klebsiella aerogenes and multiple different species of Pseudomonas.\n\nThese bacterial strains can cause serious infections in individuals with weakened immune systems, external medical devices or underlying lung conditions when inhaled, entering the body through an open wound, or entering through the eyes. At least 11 people reported feeling unwell after using the products.\n\nCheck to see if your cleaning supplies are impacted by The Laundress recall. If so, tightly close the bottles and discard them in the trash and follow the steps on the website to obtain a refund.\n\nWhile we grieve the loss of Laundress laundry detergent, here are 5 of the best eco-friendly laundry detergents you can try instead.\n\n5 eco–friendly laundry detergent options to try instead of The Laundress\n\n1. Method Liquid Laundry Detergent\n\nCruelty-, paraben- and phthalate-free, Method Liquid Laundry Detergents are plant based and offer a variety of invigorating fragrances. Utilizing a formula that protects and brightens fabric colors while keeping whites white, Method detergent won’t fade your clothes like some eco-friendly detergents can.\n\nPart of the Method family of household cleaners, Method has been a staple in households for decades.\n\n2. Tide Purclean\n\nBacked by the Tide name, Tide Purclean is the clean version of the well-established Tide family of detergents. Created using 75 percent plant-based ingredients, the bottle uses 50 percent percent less plastic than other Tide detergents, and is produced using 100 percent wind power.\n\nRanking No. 1 overall in our testing for the best eco-friendly detergents, testers found no difference in performance when compared to non-eco-friendly Tide products.\n\n3. Earth Breeze Liquid-less Laundry Sheets\n\nAn Amazon reviewer favorite, Earth Breeze Laundry Sheets are a staple in my own household and make doing laundry easy with their grab-and-toss laundry sheets. Carbon-neutral and completely eco-friendly from packaging to product, every Earth Breeze sale gives back to fund ocean cleaning missions and tree planting projects.\n\nRobust in stain-fighting power, these laundry sheets are not only perfect for your daily load of laundry, but also for travel since they are waterless and totally flat, making them easy to pack in a suitcase or backpack.\n\n4. Tru Earth Laundry Strips\n\nA laundry strip product that offers an alternative to laundry pods, Tru Earth Laundry Strips are vegan, paraben- and phosphate-free and arrive in zero-waste compostable packaging. Able to be used in any type of washing machine, and on both cold or hot water settings, Tru Earth offers a 30-day money back guarantee if you aren’t 100 percent satisfied with their product.\n\nWith four fragrant scent options and one fragrance free option, over 20,000 Amazon reviewers have given the product 4.5 out of 5 stars for performance.\n\n5. Seventh Generation Concentrated Free and Clear Fragrance-Free Laundry Detergent\n\nThe Seventh Generation Concentrated Free and Clear Fragrance-Free Laundry Detergent is one of the best eco-friendly laundry detergents we've tested. Top-notch in removing stains by utilizing a triple-enzyme stain fighting formula, this hypoallergenic detergent is EPA Safer Choice certified and USDA Certified to contain 96 percent bio- and plant-based ingredients—meaning that it’s not only good for sensitive skin, but also protective of the environment.\n\nSeventh Generation laundry detergent is part of an entire line of highly-rated eco-friendly housecleaning supplies, offering a one-stop shop for all The Laundress products you need to replace.\n\nThe product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews and more.\n\nPrices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/12/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/08/15/baby-rockers-swings-recall-mamaroo-rockaroo/10333625002/", "title": "More than 2 million MamaRoo swings, RockaRoo rockers recalled ...", "text": "More than 2 million infant swings and rockers are being recalled over entanglement and strangulation hazards after a 10-month-old baby died from asphyxiation.\n\nThe Consumer Product Safety Commission and Thorley Industries are recalling about 2 million MamaRoo swings and 220,000 RockaRoo rockers. The recall includes the 4moms MamaRoo Baby Swing (versions 1.0 through 4.0) and RockaRoo Baby Rockers.\n\n“When the swing or rocker is not in use, their restraint straps can hang below the seat and non-occupant crawling infants can become entangled in the straps, posing entanglement and strangulation hazards,” according to a statement Monday from the CPSC about the voluntary recall.\n\n4moms has received two reports of infants being caught in the strap under the MamaRoo infant swing after crawling under its seat, according to the statement. That includes a 10-month-old who died from asphyxiation and another 10-month-old who suffered bruising to his neck.\n\nMetal in pizza? Illinois-based frozen pizza brand issues recall over possible contamination\n\nCleaning solution contamination:Kraft Heinz recalls thousands of Capri Sun pouches\n\nThe swings and rockers were sold at BuyBuy Baby and Target stores across the country, in addition to 4moms.com and Amazon, from January 2010 to August 2022.\n\nThe MamaRoo model number is found on the bottom of the product. The recall includes models that use a three-point harness: model Nos. 4M-005, 1026 and 1037.\n\nThe RockaRoo model number, 4M-012, is also on the bottom of the product. People who have infants who can crawl should stop using the swings and rockers and keep them away from infants. Consumers can contact 4moms for a free strap fastener, according to Monday's statement. You can find more information here.\n\nThousands of the products also were sold in Canada.\n\n4moms CEO Gary Waters said in a statement to USA TODAY that \"we are deeply saddened by the two incidents that occurred when babies crawled under the seat of unoccupied MamaRoo swings.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/08/15"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/health/dry-shampoo-lab-testing/index.html", "title": "Dry shampoo recall: Independent lab finds 'troubling' levels of ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nHigh levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, have been detected in more brands and batches of dry shampoo products, according to a new report from Valisure, an independent laboratory.\n\nJust last month, certain aerosol dry shampoos – including some Dove, Nexxus, Suave, TIGI and TRESemmé products – were voluntarily recalled because of the potential presence of benzene.\n\nThen on Monday, Valisure sent a citizen petition to the US Food and Drug Administration in which the lab described that among 148 batches from 34 different brands of dry shampoo products, 70% of samples tested showed “quantifiable” levels of benzene.\n\nAccording to their report, 11 samples showed levels over 10 times more than 2 parts per million (ppm), the FDA limit for drugs.\n\n“However, the dry shampoos tested are not drugs and contain no active pharmaceutical ingredient for therapeutic purpose; therefore, any significant detection of benzene could be deemed unacceptable. Furthermore, Valisure shows data from the analysis of benzene by directly sampling contaminated air after spraying dry shampoo products, which suggests potential for short- and long-term inhalation exposure to high levels of benzene. The presence of this known human carcinogen in dry shampoo products that are regularly used indoors and in large volumes makes this finding especially troubling,” David Light, Valisure’s chief executive officer, and Qian Wu, Valisure’s head of global analytics, wrote in the FDA Citizen Petition.\n\nThe petition urges the FDA to “expeditiously request recalls” on the affected batches of products containing benzene and better define limits for benzene contamination in other products.\n\nThe FDA normally takes 180 days to respond to a citizen petition.\n\nIn summary, three lots of dry shampoo products from one brand contained spray with more than 100 ppm of benzene, according to the petition, and some samples tested by Valisure showed more than 10 times the FDA drug limit. The petition also mentions that Valisure has detected benzene in other commonly used products as well, including certain hand sanitizers and sunscreens.\n\nCNN contacted the brands listed in the petition and reached out to the FDA for comment but did not immediately hear back from all of them.\n\nIn a statement, Church & Dwight, the maker of Batiste hair products said: “Consumer safety is of the utmost importance. When propellants had been reported to be the source of benzene in competitors’ recalled products, we contacted our propellant suppliers and confirmed with those suppliers that the propellants used in our Batiste products do not contain benzene. We will evaluate the report at the center of the recent claims.”\n\nHaircare brand Not Your Mother’s, listed in the petition, told CNN in a statement, “The safety of our consumers is our highest priority. We are concerned about a recently published report linked to the dry shampoo category, raising questions about levels of benzene detected in propellent used in aerosol products manufactured on or before Fall 2021. This report is inconsistent with the data provided by our suppliers and the rigorous ongoing testing to ensure the safety and integrity of our products. These tests show no traceable amounts of benzene. We are committed to continuous evaluation to ensure the utmost safety and quality of all our products.”\n\nValisure’s Light said in a new release, “The detection of high levels of benzene in dry shampoos should be cause for significant concern since these products are likely used indoors, where benzene may linger and be inhaled for prolonged periods of time.\n\n“These and other issues identified by Valisure, including the detection of benzene in body spray, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen products, strongly underscore the importance of independent testing and its need to be better integrated into an increasingly complex and vulnerable global supply chain.”\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nLast year, several deodorants and sunscreen products were recalled due to detections of benzene.\n\nBenzene is formed from both natural and man-made processes. “Natural sources of benzene include volcanoes and forest fires. Benzene is also a natural part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\n\n“The main way people are exposed is by breathing in air containing benzene,” according the American Cancer Society.", "authors": ["Jacqueline Howard"], "publish_date": "2022/11/03"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/21/business/jergens-recall/index.html", "title": "Jergens lotion recalled for possible bacterial infection | CNN Business", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nSome types of Jergens moisturizer have been recalled because of possible bacterial contamination.\n\nThe Food and Drug Administration announced that Jergen’s manufacturer, Kao USA, wants customers to check if they have 3-ounce or 10-ounce products of Jergens Ultra Healing Moisturizer, because they could contain pluralibacter gergoviae.\n\nAlthough the bacterium typically poses little medical risk to healthy people, the FDA noted pluralibacter gergoviae can cause infections in immunocompromised people. Numerous consumer products have been recalled for similar bacterial contaminations.\n\nKao USA is “urging consumers to discontinue use of the recalled lotion” as a precautionary measure.\n\nThe affected Jergens Ultra Healing Moisturizers were manufactured between October 1, 2021 and October 18, 2021. They’ve been already removed from the company’s warehouses and Kao USA is working with stores to remove them from shelves.\n\nCustomers can find out if their moisturizer is affected by looking for the lot codes on the back of the bottles. Each begins with “ZU.”\n\nLot codes for the 3 ounce size (UPC 019100109971 for single bottles and 019100267114 for pack of 3) include: ZU712851, ZU712871, ZU712911, ZU722881, ZU712861, ZU712881 and ZU722851.\n\nAffected lot codes for the 10 ounce size (UPC 019100109988) include ZU722741, ZU722781, ZU732791, ZU732811, ZU722771, ZU732781, ZU732801 and ZU732821.\n\nKao USA said that if a customer has one of those bottles, they should call the company for a free replacement coupon at 1-800-742-8798. A postage paid label and plastic bag will be sent to consumers via mail to return the product.", "authors": ["Jordan Valinsky"], "publish_date": "2022/03/21"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/2014/02/20/wilsons-burroughs-leads-section-vs-field-states/5666893/", "title": "Wilson's Burroughs leads Section V's field at states", "text": "James Johnson\n\nROC\n\nCatarra Burroughs, a track and field athlete since her days in elementary school, had big plans when it came time to sprint in high school.\n\nThose plans included at least one trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.\n\nSometimes plans fail to take shape, and Burroughs still had a trip to the indoor track state meet on her wish list at the start of this school year.\n\n\"I wanted it this year even more,'' the Wilson senior said. \"Go hard, or go home.''\n\nBurroughs should be far from home on March 1, the date of the indoor track state meet at Cornell University in Ithaca. The sprinter won the 55-meter dash and 300 Thursday during the Meet of Champions, Section V's qualifier for the state championships.\n\n\"Proud,'' Burroughs said. \"I felt the times I'm running this year, I should've run last year. I should be hitting the school and sectional records and beyond.\n\n\"I wasn't that motivated last year, and I had a lot of stuff going on, family-wise.''\n\nBurroughs ran the 55 final in 7.27 seconds at Rochester Institute of Technology, after she covered the preliminary heat in 7.26, a new personal-best.\n\n\"She hasn't been there,'' Wilson indoor coach Joe Greene said. \"Coming into the season, we said 'You have all of this talent and your best time is 7.6?' That's going to change.''\n\nBurroughs, who won the 300 dash in 41.78 on Saturday, won her first Section V championships last week.\n\n\"I want people to remember me in a positive way,'' Burroughs said. \"I was talking about (the upcoming season), recruiting kids to join the team with me, abs in the summer, jogging in the summer.\n\n\"I've been waiting since my freshman year to go to states. \"This is a big step for me coming in first and going to states.''\n\nThis will also be the first indoor state meet for Livonia senior Tessa Artruc, one of the area's best in the high jump. Artruc tied her season- and personal-best when she cleared 5 feet-5 inches.\n\n\"I really want to try and hit 5-6, something I've been working for all season,'' Artruc said. \"It would be awesome (to reset the school record and a personal-best).''\n\nThe top two finishers in each event advanced to states. A third competitor also qualified, if they met a performance standard. In some cases, a fourth individual in the 300, 600, 1,000 and 1,500 (girls)/1,600 (boys) also were eligible for states.\n\nMcQuaid's Austin Peters and Pittsford Mendon's Brady Woodward finished one-two in the boys 600. Penfield's Derek Swarthout ran that race in 1:25.27 to beat the performance standard. Victor's Jason T. Hall placed fourth and will be a member of Section V's medley relay at states.\n\nWarsaw senior Karmen Auble, who has committed to pole vault at Xavier University, won the girls competiton at RIT with a jump of 11-6. That's an inch less than her best jump — second-best in the state — during sectionals last week.\n\n\"The season started off kind of rough,'' Auble said. \"I was distracted. Things are starting to get better.\n\n\"I was whole school-decision thing. Once I signed (on Feb. 5), the weight was off.''\n\nWebster Schroeder senior Bamidele Akinniyi put the weight he competes with out to 56-3 to win the boys shot put competition. That is Akinniyi's best put by 2 feet.\n\nMcQuaid sophomore Tobi Tella had a top long jump of 21-10, until his leap of 23-5 at RIT. Tella smiled when asked if his new season-best also became a new personal-record.\n\n\"When I jump, I get a lot of speed but no lift,'' the Fairport resident said. \"So I go straight into the sand.\n\n\"I could tell something was different when I got high into the air. I was going further. I'm surprised. I wasn't quite sure I was going to make it (to states).''\n\nJAMESJ@DemocratandChronicle.com\n\nTwitter.com/jjDandC\n\nMeet of Champions\n\nNew York State Public High School Athletic Association Section V indoor track state qualifier at Gordon Field House, Rochester Institute of Technology. *-Top relay and top two individuals, and third-place finishers who have met state qualifying standard, qualify for states. Medals to top three. Relay events not listed were not completed by publication time for this edition.\n\nBOYS\n\n55 meters: 1. Carnell Noble (Greece Olympia) 6.47*, 2. Andre Hunter (Charlotte) 6.53*, 3. Daekwan Garfield (Edison) 6.61*.\n\n300: 1. Byron Hearst (Greece Arcadia) 35.12*, 2. Calvary Rogers (Greece Odyssey) 35.84*, 3. Anthony Smith (University Prep Rochester) 35.86*, 4. David Ingraham (McQuaid) 36.49* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n600: 1. Austin Peters (McQuaid) 1:23.83*, 2. Brady Woodward (Pittsford Mendon) 1:23.86*, 3. Derek Swarthout (Penfield) 1:25.27*, 4. Jason T. Hall (Victor) 1:26.09* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n1,000: 1. Nate Howe (McQuaid) 2:32.16*, 2. Nick Neamtu (Webster Thomas) 2:37.45*, 3. George Mertens (Victor) 2:38.57* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n1,600: 1. Mickey Burke (Rush-Henrietta) 4:16.58*, 2. Jack Wesley (Pittsford Mendon) 4:31.86*, 3. Nick Neamtu (Webster Thomas) 4:32.97* (intersectional medley relay). 3,200: 1. Nick Ciolkowski (McQuaid) 9:34.14*, 2. Tyler Ranke (Hilton) 9:49.18*, 3. Keith Johnson (Webster Thomas) 9:53.86.\n\n55 hurdles: 1. Alex Egeli (Batavia) 7.59*, 2. DJ Ohlson (Alexander) 7.77*, 3. Matt Barton (Victor) 7.99*.\n\nLong jump: 1.Tobi Tella (McQuaid) 23-5*, 2. Alex Siracusa (Churchville-Chili) 22-2*, 3. Daekwan Garfield (Edison) 21-6*.\n\nTriple jump: 1. Jimmy Shih (Webster Schroeder) 46-1¼*, 2. Da'Darrius Dillard (Edison) 45-3*, 3. Justin Butler (University Prep Rochester) 43-9.\n\nHigh jump: 1. DJ Ohlson (Alexander) 6-6*, 2. Bryan Short (Greece Arcadia) 6-4*, 3. Justin Conklin (Bath) 6-2. Shot put: 1. Bamidele Akinniyi (Webster Schroeder) 56-3*, 2. Christian Johnson (Victor) 52-5½*, 3. Devon Koepp (Batavia) 45-9½.\n\nPole vault: 1. Max Curran (Williamson) 14-0*, 2. Nick Faber (Greece Olympia) 13-3*, 3. Kevin Palmisano (Canandaigua) 13-0*.\n\nGIRLS\n\n55: 1. Catarra Burroughs (Wilson Magnet) 7.26*, 2. Abby Frank (Penfield) 7.39*, 3. Olivia Robinson (Brockport) 7.57*.\n\n300: 1. Catarra Burroughs (Wilson Magnet) 41.78*, 2. Emem Ikpot (Mercy) 42.45*, 3. Tiaja Jeffries (Rush-Henrietta) 42.60* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n600: 1. Ceara Watson (Rush-Henrietta) 1:36.90*, 2. Annie Hanna (Pittsford Sutherland) 1:39.11*, 3. Adrianna VanCuyck (Wayne) 1:39.40* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n1,000: 1. Sammy Watson (Rush-Henrietta) 3:00.44*, 2. Mary Barger (Pittsford Mendon) 3:01.26*, 3. Meghan Curtin (Wayland-Cohocton) 3:02.59*, 4. Heather Nortz (Fairport) 3:03.22* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n1,500: 1. Alex Cooper (Rush-Henrietta) 4:45.93*, 2. Katie Lembo (Penfield) 4:48.47*, 3. Emily Scheck (Webster Schroeder) 4:52.47*, 4. Veronica Wojnowski (Eastridge) 4:56.99* (intersectional medley relay).\n\n3,200: 1. Katie Lembo (Penfield) 10:05.57*, 2. Autumn Albrecht (Brockport) 10:43.85*, 3. Kennedy Jensen (Canandaigua) 10:49.15. 55 hurdles: 1. Alyssia Colson (Gates Chili) 8.47*, 2. Samantha Carro (Canandaigua) 8.56*, 3. Jenna Siracuse (Wayne) 8.66*\n\n1,500 racewalk: 1. Olivia Harbol (Palmyra-Macedon) 7:21.51*, 2. Rebecca Wittlin (Pittsford Mendon) 7:23.27*, 3. Monica LaBorde (Mercy) 7:30:08*.\n\nLong jump: 1. Imani Obieke (Edison) 18-¼*, 2. Alyssia Colson (Gates Chili) 17-10½*, 3. Justin Sanders-Schifano (Sodus) 17-5*.\n\nTriple jump: 1. Davida Hawkes (Pittsford Sutherland) 37-11*, 2. Imani Obieke (Edison) 36-3½*, 3. Jenna Siracuse (Wayne) 35-8*.\n\nHigh jump: 1. Tessa Artruc (Livonia) 5-6*, 2. Carissa Piesums (Warsaw) 5-4*, 3. Madelyn Schwartz (Wayland-Cohocton) 5-2. Shot put: 1. Victoire Kothor (Greece Odyssey) 39-6¼*, 2. Kierra Carter (Mercy) 39-4¼*, 3. Karmen Auble (Warsaw) 38-¼*.\n\nPole vault: 1. Karmen Auble (Warsaw) 11-6*, 2. Zoe Camillaci (Hilton) 11-0*, 3. Sarah Bronk (Mercy) 9-6.\n\n1,600 relay: 1. Rush-Henrietta (Elvira Martinez, Emily Zeafla, Ceara Watson, Sammy Watson) 4:07.09*, 2. Wayland-Cohocton 4:13.07, 3. Fairport 'A' 4:15.98.\n\nComplete results on-line at www.yentiming.com", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2014/02/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/02/19/recall-alert-contigo-lids-spouts-recalled-second-time-choking-hazard/4813222002/", "title": "Contigo water bottle recall: Replacement lids on 5.7 million kids ...", "text": "Nearly six months after Contigo recalled 5.7 million kids' water bottles because the spouts posed a \"potential choking hazard,\" the company is recalling the replacement lids for the same reason.\n\nOn Wednesday, the company issued a voluntary recall on its Contigo Kids Cleanable water bottles and replacement lids sent to consumers as part of the August 2019 recall, according to the recall notice posted on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website.\n\n\"Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled water bottles and the replacement lids provided in the previous recall, take them away from children, and contact Contigo for a free water bottle,\" the recall notice states. \"Consumers who received replacement lids in the previous recall should contact Contigo for the new water bottle.\"\n\nSave better, spend better:All the money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here.\n\nLowe's recall:70,000 ceiling fans sold at Lowe’s recalled because blades can fly off\n\nReport:Supermarkets should do a better job informing shoppers about product recalls\n\nAccording to the notice, the company has received \"427 reports of the spout detaching including 27 spouts found in children’s mouths.\"\n\nContigo Kids Cleanable water bottles\n\nThe base and cover of the clear silicone spout on all the affected water bottles and replacement lids are black, the notice states. The word Contigo is printed on the rim and along the front near the bottom of the bottle.\n\nThe affected bottles come in three sizes: 13-ounce, 14-ounce and 20-ounce. They come in four colors – solid color, graphics, stainless steel and stainless steel solid colors – and were sold individually and in two-packs and three-packs.\n\nThe bottles were sold at Costco, Walmart, Target and other stores nationwide and online April 2018 through Feb. 7 for between $9 and $24.\n\nHow to get replacement Contigo bottle\n\nThe Contigo recall website at https://recall.gocontigo.com outlines how to tell if you have one of the affected bottles and shows replacement bottle options. You can sign up for the recall and the return kit at the website.\n\nFor questions, call the Contigo consumer services team at 888-262-0622 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.\n\nFollow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/02/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/clausen/2016/06/23/todd-clausen-wegmans-says-let-ex-muslims-of-north-america-eat-our-cake/86281670/", "title": "Clausen: Wegmans says Ex-Muslims group can buy cake", "text": "Todd Clausen\n\n@ToddJClausen\n\nWegmans Food Markets reverses decision to deny service to the Ex-Muslims of North America.\n\nWorkers at a store in Fairfax, Virginia, took offense with group's name, according to leaders.\n\nWegmans Food Markets has done it again, fixing an issue raised by one of its customers.\n\nThe all-everything, 89-store chain recently reversed a somewhat odd decision by some bakery workers in Fairfax, Virginia.\n\nIt's where employees earlier this month refused to make a cake celebrating the third anniversary of the Ex-Muslims of North America, a nonprofit group of former followers of Islam with about 500 members in the Fairfax area. The group has about 24,000 total members.\n\nThe cake was to include the group’s name, logo and a celebratory \"Congratulations on 3 years\" message.\n\nBut a worker found the order somewhat questionable. A supervisor went a step further claiming it was offensive, the Ex-Muslim group said. They decided to refuse service, and offered little explanation for their decision.\n\nIt wasn't the message or the mirrored crescent moons of the logo that drew concern. It was the name Ex-Muslims of North America that was so bothersome.\n\nThe decision didn’t sit well with the group.\n\n\"There are some, however, who take our very existence as an affront to their faith, and to them I have only this to say: We have every right to exist and be proud of who we are,\" Muhammad Syed, president of the group, said in an online posting. \"There is nothing about our name or logo that can be considered offensive to any reasonable individual.\"\n\nAndrew Seidel, an attorney from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, wrote a letter to Wegmans on June 20 calling attention to the issue, describing it as a potential civil rights violation.\n\nBusinesses can't deny service to someone based on their religious identity, Seidel argued. It's discriminatory and illegal in the same way bars, restaurants and other venues can’t refuse service to someone based on race or sexual identity, he said.\n\n\"We are one of the most maligned groups in the country and this was another example of that,\" Seidel told me in a phone interview about the Ex-Muslims of North America.\n\nSadly, cakes and other tasty treats have become a new battleground for overzealousness and individual fights in recent years.\n\nA Colorado bakery has been under investigation for refusing to write anti-gay messages on a cake. An Oregon bakery was ordered to pay $135,000 in an anti-discrimination case for refusing to sell a cake to a same-sex couple for their wedding.\n\nThere was a pastor in Texas who accused Whole Foods of giving him a cake with a homophobic slur that read, \"Love Wins F--.\" It turned out to be a hoax. He apologized. Both parties dropped their lawsuits last month.\n\nIn Fairfax, Wegmans wasn't going to let the decision to deny service stand.\n\nTrying to do the right thing is one of the reason why the company has topped several lists for customer and workplace satisfaction, although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration came down on it again last week, faulting the company for failing to properly train a worker who broke multiple bones in her arm while cleaning a machine at the grocer's Brooks Avenue site.\n\nWegmans facing $140K fine after workplace injury\n\nBut Wegmans tries to fix issues and is fairly transparent about those fixes. Its Twitter feed is full of examples.\n\nAfter corporate found out, the cake order was filled for the Ex-Muslims of North America. Workers were coached on other ways to better handle the situation, if something similar arises again.\n\n\"It was the wrong decision,\" Jo Natale, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. \"We should have made the cake. The decision to not fill this cake order was made at the store level by a well-intentioned employee, who was trying to act in the best interest of a diverse employee population.\"\n\nSeidel said Wegmans was quick to act, adding that it's \"nice to see when you write to a group and they act and take it seriously.\"\n\nIt's also a good lesson for any small-business owner and its workers.\n\nIf you deny service, you need a better reason than that.\n\nTodd Clausen is the work life reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle. Email him at TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com or call (585) 258-9883.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2016/06/23"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/us/plastic-recycling-climate-impact-lbg/index.html", "title": "Single-use plastic is wreaking havoc on the planet. Here's what you ...", "text": "Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Greener newsletter. Our seven-part guide helps you minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.\n\nCNN —\n\nThe life cycle of plastic begins underground, where oil and gas are extracted from deep below the surface of the planet. These fossil fuels are then refined in facilities, using extreme temperatures and significant amount of water and energy, where they are transformed into pellets that are eventually melted and molded into things like water bottles, packaging, garbage bags and clothes.\n\nAnd the widespread use of single-use plastic — the stuff we use once and then throw away — is only made worse by its disposal. Plastics do not break down once they’re thrown into nature. And, alarmingly, only around 9% plastic in the US is actually recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — even the stuff you specifically threw into the recycle bin.\n\nWhat you might not realize is this isn’t just a pollution problem. It’s a climate problem. And by the time we start talking about recycling, the damage is already done.\n\nThe process of making plastic is so energy intensive that if the plastics industry were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, according to a 2021 report from Beyond Plastics.\n\nPlastics are the “new coal,” said Judith Enck, a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator and now president of Beyond Plastics. Generating energy from coal — the most polluting fossil fuel — is already being phased out. But Enck said it’s likely that plastics may be sticking for a while longer, unless consumers significant cut their plastic use.\n\n“It’s a climate killer,” Enck told CNN. “We’re finally seeing an increase in renewable energy and energy efficiency. And the fossil fuel industry knew that they were losing market share on transportation and electricity generation, so plastic production is the plan B for the fossil fuel industry.”\n\nFrom its production to its end-of-life, plastic belches greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its life cycle. Here’s why experts say the convenience of plastic comes at a terrible cost for the climate, and what you can do to help reduce its impact.\n\nQuantifying the impact\n\nSwitch to reusable bags for shopping to cut down on single-use plastic. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images\n\nThe plastic industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of planet-warming emissions each year, according to the Beyond Plastics report.\n\nThat’s the same amount as the average emissions released by 116 coal-fired power plants in 2020, according to the report’s authors. It’s also the same annual emissions as around 50 million cars, according to the EPA. And more plastic-making facilities continue to come online.\n\n“Remember that when you’re making plastic, there’s the greenhouse gas emissions, but these facilities also emit massive amounts of air toxins and particulates,” Enck added. “It’s really a health threat.”\n\nRefineries and production facilities also tend to set up shop in marginalized communities of color, Enck said.\n\n“If you look at where more than 90% of the climate pollution is released by the plastic industry, it’s in 18 communities in the whole country, and they’re all low-income communities and the residents are more likely to be people of color,” Enck said, outlining other findings in the report. “Plastic production is an environmental justice issue.”\n\nAnd plastic recycling doesn’t work, Enck said, because most of what we think we’re recycling just ends up in the landfill. It also doesn’t address the planet-warming emissions that comes from making it in the first place.\n\nJacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for Oceana in North America, said people should think of the plastic crisis as an overflowing bathtub.\n\n“When the bathtub is overflowing, you don’t want to just run for the mop; first, you want to turn off the faucet,” Savitz said. “Recycling is the mop. You’re not going to get very far, if the faucet is still on. So what we have to do is reduce the amount of plastics that we’re producing at the source, and that’s turning off the faucet.”\n\nWhat you can do about it\n\nSaying \"no\" to plastic cutlery is one way to limit your use of single-use plastic. Adobe Stock\n\nRecycling alone will not solve this massive problem, Enck said, but we should still do it — bearing in mind what can and cannot be recycled.\n\nThe number system on the bottom of plastic items are not a guarantee they will be recycled. Only things marked 1 and 2 — and on rare occasion, 5 — are sure bets, depending on what your municipality can handle.\n\nThis is why it’s so important to focus on reducing plastic use in the first place, Enck said, and our individual changes can add up.\n\n“It’s just not going to solve the problem unless we change the law,” Enck said. “But with individual actions, what I urge people to do is look at their own home or their worksite — what is your heaviest use of plastic?”\n\nYou won’t know what you can change until you take stock. Make note of all of the plastics in your home. Most of the single-use stuff you’ll find around the kitchen and the bathroom. Then, armed with a list of where you use single-use plastic the most, you can start to make replacements.\n\nHere are some examples:\n\nSay no to bottled water — Get a couple of canteens and cut a major source of plastic out of your life.\n\nReusable grocery bags — You can easily go a step further by not using the plastic produce bags the store provides for your apples and broccoli. If you’re uncomfortable putting produce directly in the cart, have a special bag to carry it in until you get to the checkout. There’s no rule that says you have to wrap your fruits and veggies at the store.\n\nChoose paper (or no) packaging over plastic — If you’re looking at two versions of the same product and one is packaged in paper or cardboard and the other is in plastic, then the choice is obvious. And look for plastic-free options like bar shampoo.\n\nBuy in bulk to reduce plastic waste — Nuts, rice and beans are all things that come in plastic bags, but they don’t need to. Bring your own reusable containers to fill with your favorite bulk foods. (Just make sure to zero-out the scale before you start filling them, so you don’t pay for the weight of your container.)\n\nRefuse plastic cutlery — Take your own utensils to restaurants that typically provide plastics. Or, if you’re ordering takeout, tell the restaurant they don’t need to add it to your bag.\n\nAnd Enck’s group has more suggestions for how to cut your personal plastic use.\n\nThink bigger\n\nWe can do our part to minimize our own plastic use, but the world needs big solutions for this big problem. Natan Dvir/Bloomberg/Getty Images\n\nUltimately, the world needs large-scale change to address the climate impact of the fossil fuel and plastics industries, Savitz said. Oceana, for example, is working with local volunteers from cities and counties around the country to help pass new laws to reduce single-use plastics, in hopes of sparking change at the national level.\n\n“We think that if we could start to reduce single-use plastics at the local level with local ordinances, that can start to become more of the norm,” she said. “Then we can start taking it to higher levels of government, even getting to the point of getting national policies that will drive reductions in plastic use.”\n\nUltimately, Savitz said consumers need to continue urging major corporations to provide plastic-free solutions and help support refill and reuse programs to encourage society to shy away from plastic use and stave off the worst impacts of the climate crisis.\n\n“Our country is burning and flooding and hurricanes are coming earlier and earlier,” she told CNN. “I really think it’s shocking that one of the things that’s really leading to that is plastics, and it’s hurting us in other ways, too. So if we could find a way to reduce our production of plastics as a country and as a global society, we’d be taking a bite out of climate change.”", "authors": ["Rachel Ramirez"], "publish_date": "2022/09/16"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_8", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/06/jupiter-new-moons-discovered-solar-system/11197895002/", "title": "New Jupiter moons: Planet has most in solar system after 12 ...", "text": "There's a new moon king in our solar system: 12 new moons were discovered around Jupiter, which makes it the planet with the most moons.\n\nJupiter is already the biggest planet in our solar system. It used to be known as the planet with the second-most moons with 80, trailing only Saturn with 83.\n\nAstronomers using telescopes in Hawaii and Chile in 2021 and 2022 were able to spot the moons and report them to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. Astronomers then followed up the observations to make sure the moons orbit the planet, and that was recently confirmed.\n\nScott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, who was part of the discovery team, posted the findings online.\n\nJames Webb Space Telescope: Webb telescope reveals icy space cloud containing the 'building blocks of life'\n\nHabitable planet? NASA just found a planet almost the size of Earth and it's in the habitable zone of a star\n\nWhat are Jupiter's newly discovered moons like?\n\nSheppard told The Associated Press the moons range in size from .6 miles to 2 miles in diameter, but only half of them are big enough – at least 1 mile in diameter – to have a name.\n\nThe moons also take a much longer time than ours to orbit its planet. Sky and Telescope reported all of the newly discovered moons take more than 340 days to orbit Jupiter, and nine of them take at least 550 days. By comparison, our moon takes about 27 days to orbit Earth, NASA says.\n\nHow many moons does each planet have?\n\nThe discovery gives Jupiter 92 total moons, the most of any planet in the solar system. Counting the new moons, here's how many moons each planet has, according to NASA (which has not officially recognized Jupiter's new moons):\n\nMercury: 0\n\nVenus: 0\n\nEarth: 1\n\nMars: 2\n\nJupiter: 92\n\nSaturn: 83\n\nUranus: 27\n\nNeptune: 14\n\nSheppard, who has been part of past moon observations on Jupiter and Saturn, believes there are moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn that haven't been discovered yet. He said both planets have small moons believed to once be bigger moons that collided with space debris like asteroids.\n\nWhat's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day\n\nMissions to Jupiter moons\n\nThe discovery comes as space agencies are preparing to observe the planet and its moons.\n\nThe European Space Agency will be launching its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, in April to observe the planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with the goal of characterizing the moons \"as both planetary objects and possible habitats.\"\n\nIn October 2024, NASA plans to send its Europa Clipper orbiter to observe the planet and its moon Europa. The moon is believed to be mostly water ice and have twice as much water as Earth, and there is evidence of an ocean of water or slushy ice beneath the surface. The goal is to see whether Europa could be suitable for life.\n\nContributing: Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press\n\nFollow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/07/saturn-moons-20-new-moons-planet-now-has-more-moons-than-jupiter/3902220002/", "title": "Saturn is now 'king of the moons' thanks to discovery of 20 more ...", "text": "Saturn now has 82 moons while Jupiter has 79.\n\nEach of the newly discovered moons is about three miles in diameter.\n\nSeventeen of them orbit the planet backwards.\n\nForget Jupiter. Saturn is now the solar system's moon king.\n\nAstronomers Monday announced the discovery of 20 new moons in orbit around Saturn, giving the planet a total of 82. That tops Jupiter and its 79 moons.\n\nThe finding was announced Monday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.\n\nThe Carnegie Institution for Science’s Scott Sheppard, who led the discovery team, said 100 even tinier moons may be orbiting Saturn, still waiting to be found.\n\n“Using some of the largest telescopes in the world, we are now completing the inventory of small moons around the giant planets,” said Sheppard. “They play a crucial role in helping us determine how our solar system’s planets formed and evolved.”\n\nRead this:You may see some brilliant meteor showers thanks to the Draconids and Southern Taurids this week\n\nEach of the newly discovered moons is about 3 miles in diameter. Seventeen of them orbit the planet backwards, or in a retrograde direction, meaning their movement is opposite of the planet’s rotation around its axis.\n\nThe other three moons orbit in the same direction as Saturn rotates.\n\nSheppard and his team used a telescope in Hawaii to spot Saturn’s 20 new moons over the past few months.\n\nThe moons don't have names yet, and scientists are asking for the public's help to name the objects.\n\nLast year, Sheppard discovered 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter and Carnegie hosted an online contest to name five of them.\n\n\"I was so thrilled with the amount of public engagement over the Jupiter moon-naming contest that we've decided to do another one to name these newly discovered Saturnian moons,\" Sheppard said.\n\n\"This time, the moons must be named after giants from Norse, Gallic or Inuit mythology,\" he said.\n\nGo to the Twitter page @SaturnLunacy to submit your ideas for names. The contest opens Monday and closes in December.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/10/07"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/world/exomoon-second-candidate-scn/index.html", "title": "Massive object could be an interstellar moon, a rare find | CNN", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nAstronomers may have found a moon that’s completely different from anything in our solar system.\n\nIt’s only the second space object discovered that may be an exomoon, or a moon outside of our solar system. The giant moon was found orbiting a Jupiter-size planet called Kepler 1708b, located 5,500 light-years from Earth.\n\nA study detailing these findings published Thursday in the journal Nature Astronomy.\n\nThe newly detected celestial body is 2.6 times larger than Earth. There’s no analog for such a large moon in our own system. For reference, our own moon is 3.7 times smaller than Earth.\n\nIt’s the second time that David Kipping, assistant professor of astronomy and leader of the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia University, and his team have found an exomoon candidate. They discovered the first one, a Neptune-size moon orbiting a giant exoplanet called Kepler-1625b, in 2018.\n\n“Astronomers have found more than 10,000 exoplanet candidates so far, but exomoons are far more challenging,” Kipping said in a statement. “They are terra incognita.”\n\nUnderstanding more about moons, such as how they form, whether they could support life, and if they play a role in the potential habitability of planets, could lead to a greater understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve.\n\nHard-to-find objects\n\nKipping and his team are still working on confirming that the first candidate they found is actually an exomoon, and this latest discovery will likely face the same uphill battle.\n\nMoons are common in our solar system, which has more than 200 natural satellites, but the long search for interstellar moons has largely been unfruitful. Astronomers have had success locating exoplanets around stars outside our solar system, but exomoons are harder to pinpoint because of their smaller size.\n\nMore than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets have been discovered across the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean finding them was easy. Many of them have been detected using the transit method, or looking for dips in starlight when a planet passes in front of its star. Spotting moons, which are smaller and cause even more diminutive dips in starlight, is extra difficult.\n\nTo find this second potential moon, Kipping and his team used data from NASA’s retired planet-hunting Kepler mission to survey some of the coldest gas giant exoplanets the telescope found. The researchers used this criteria in their search because in our solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn have the most moons orbiting them.\n\nOut of the 70 planets they studied, only one revealed a companion signal that appeared to be a moon, with only a 1% probability of it being something else.\n\n“It’s a stubborn signal,” Kipping said. “We threw the kitchen sink at this thing but it just won’t go away.”\n\n3 ways a moon could form\n\nThe newly discovered candidate shares similarities with the first potential exomoon discovery. Both are likely gaseous, which accounts for their massive size, and they are far from their host stars.\n\nThere are three primary theories about how moons form. One is when large space objects collide and the blasted-off material becomes a moon. Another is capture, when objects are captured and pulled into orbit around a large planet – such as Neptune’s moon Triton, which is believed to be a captured Kuiper Belt object. And the third is moons forming from the materials, like gas and dust swirling around stars, that created the planets in the early days of the solar system.\n\nIt’s possible that both exomoon candidates started out as planets that were eventually dragged into orbit around larger planets like Kepler 1625b and Kepler 1708b.\n\nGiant moons are likely an anomaly\n\nKipping believes it’s unlikely that all moons outside of our solar system are as large as these two candidates, which may make them the oddballs, rather than the standard. “The first detections in any survey will generally be the weirdos,” he said. “The big ones that are simply easiest to detect with our limited sensitivity.”\n\nTo confirm that the two candidates are exomoons will require follow-up observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope in 2023. Meanwhile, Kipping and his team continue to gather evidence in support of the exomoons.\n\nThe fact that each associated planet takes longer than one Earth year to complete an orbit around its star slows the process of discovery.\n\n“Confirmation requires seeing the moon transits repeat multiple times,” Kipping said. “The long-period nature of our target planets means that we only have two transits in hand here, just not enough to see a series of moon transits necessary to claim a confirmed detection.”\n\nIf they are confirmed, it could be the beginning of a new acceptance that exomoons are as common as exoplanets outside of our solar system.\n\nThe first exoplanet wasn’t discovered until the 1990s, and the bulk of the exoplanets known today weren’t revealed until Kepler launch in 2009.\n\n“Those planets are alien compared to our home system,” Kipping said. “But they have revolutionized our understanding of how planetary systems form.”", "authors": ["Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/01/13"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/07/17/jupiter-moons-discovered/791730002/", "title": "Jupiter moons: Astronomers discover 12 more around giant planet", "text": "The solar system's largest planet has some \"new\" neighbors.\n\nAstronomers have discovered 12 additional moons orbiting Jupiter, bringing the total to 79, the most of any planet in the solar system, a new study found.\n\nThe moons were discovered while astronomers were searching for objects at the edge of the solar system, according to Scott Sheppard, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science who co-authored the study.\n\n“Jupiter just happened to be in the sky near the search fields where we were looking for extremely distant solar system objects, so we were serendipitously able to look for new moons around Jupiter while at the same time looking for planets at the fringes of our solar system,” Sheppard said.\n\nOne of the objects they were looking for is the mysterious \"Planet X\" or \"Planet Nine,\" which remains undiscovered.\n\nThe discovery of the new moons was reported Tuesday in the Minor Planet Electronic Circular, a publication of the International Astronomical Union.\n\nResearchers say the new Jupiter moons weren’t seen before because they are tiny – the biggest ones are only about two miles across.\n\nOne of the newly discovered moons is an \"oddball,\" Sheppard said. \"It has an orbit like no other known Jovian moon,” he explained. It orbits in an opposite direction from the other moons near it, meaning head-on collisions are much more likely to occur.\n\n“This is an unstable situation,” said Sheppard. “Head-on collisions would quickly break apart and grind the objects down to dust.\n\n“It’s also likely Jupiter’s smallest known moon, being less than one kilometer (0.6 mile) in diameter.\"\n\nTelescopes in Chile, Hawaii and Arizona were used for the original discovery and year-long confirmation of the moons.\n\n“It takes several observations to confirm an object actually orbits around Jupiter,” said Gareth Williams of the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. “So, the whole process took a year.”\n\nLegendary Italian scientist Galileo first detected Jupiter’s four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in 1610.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/07/17"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/09/dwarf-planet-quaoar-ring-confusing-scientists/11219864002/", "title": "Dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring, and scientists are confused by it", "text": "Just on the outskirts of our solar system exists the dwarf planet Quaoar, and recent observations of the planet found a dense ring around it, but scientists can't figure how – or why – it's there.\n\nDiscovered in 2002, Quaoar exists in the Kuiper Belt, a region in space beyond Neptune where at least 3,000 planets are known to orbit the sun. The planet is about 690 miles wide, making it the seventh largest trans-Neptunian object, while former solar system planets Pluto and Eris are the biggest in the region. Pluto and Eris are now considered dwarf planetsQuaoar is about 4 billion miles away from the sun and takes around 286 years to orbit it, and has a small moon called Weywot.\n\nThe recent observations were made by scientists with the European Space Agency from 2018 to 2021 using ground-based telescopes and the agency's space telescope Cheops. It was during these observations that scientists made the puzzling discovery.\n\nPutting a ring on it\n\nSince Quaoar is so small and far from Earth, scientists observed the planet through a process called occultation, when the planet crossed in front of a succession of distant stars, allowing it to block out light.\n\nScientists noticed drops in brightness from the planet but weren't sure if it was because of effects from Earth's atmosphere. That was when the Cheops satellite came to the rescue, as it was also able to spot the changes in brightness.\n\n\"When we put everything together, we saw drops in brightness that were not caused by Quaoar, but that pointed to the presence of material in a circular orbit around it,\" Bruno Morgado, lead researcher from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said in a statement. \"The moment we saw that we said, 'Okay, we are seeing a ring around Quaoar.'\"\n\nMoon king: 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter, giving it the most in our solar system\n\nHabitable planet?:NASA just found a planet almost the size of Earth and it's in the habitable zone of a star\n\nThe ring doesn't fit\n\nIt's not unusual for planets to have rings, especially since Saturn has them. Even dwarf planets like Chariklo and Haumea have rings.\n\n\"What makes Quaoar’s ring unique, however, is where it is found relative to Quaoar itself,\" the agency said.\n\nKnown as the Roche limit, scientists have long believed any object with a gravitational field can't form a ring beyond a certain distance. When it gets beyond a certain distance, the objects making up the ring will morph into a moon, according to the theory.\n\nSaturn, Chariklo and Haumea all follow the Roche limit, except Quaoar; the ring is \"7½ times the radius of Quaoar,\" meaning it's past the Roche limit and should have formed into a moon.\n\nWhy does Quaoar have a ring?\n\nScientists have not yet understood why the planet has a ring and hasn't morphed into a moon.\n\nThe leading theory is the icy planet has such frigid temperatures that it's preventing particles from sticking together.\n\nScientists said more investigation is needed, but acknowledged what was known about space has now been challenged.\n\nFollow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/world/pluto-ice-volcanoes-scn/index.html", "title": "Pluto has giant ice volcanoes that could hint at the possibility of life ...", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nImages of Pluto captured by NASA’s New Horizons mission have revealed a new surprise: ice volcanoes.\n\nThe spacecraft performed a flyby of the dwarf planet and its moons in July 2015, and the insights gathered then are still rewriting nearly everything scientists understand about Pluto.\n\nPluto was relegated to dwarf planet status in 2006 when the International Astronomical Union created a new definition for planets, and Pluto didn’t fit the criteria.\n\nThe dwarf planet exists on the edge of our solar system in the Kuiper Belt, and it’s the larger of the many frozen objects there orbiting far from the sun. The icy world, which has an average temperature of negative 387 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 232 degrees Celsius), is home to mountains, valleys, glaciers, plains and craters. If you were to stand on the surface, you would see blue skies with red snow.\n\nA new photo analysis showed a bumpy region on Pluto that doesn’t look like any other part of the small world – or the rest of our cosmic neighborhood.\n\n“We found a field of very large icy volcanoes that look nothing like anything else we have seen in the solar system,” said study author Kelsi Singer, senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.\n\nPluto's volcanic region is unlike any other area on the dwarf planet. NASA/JHU Applied Physics Laboratory/SRI/Isaac Herrera/Kelsi Singer\n\nA study detailing the findings published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.\n\nThe region is located southwest of the Sputnik Planitia ice sheet, which covers an ancient impact basin stretching 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) across. Largely made of bumpy water ice, it’s filled with volcanic domes. Two of the largest are known as Wright Mons and Piccard Mons.\n\nWright Mons is about 13,123 to 16,404 feet (4 to 5 kilometers) tall and spans 93 miles (150 kilometers), while Piccard Mons reaches about feet 22,965 feet (7 kilometers) high and is 139 miles (225 kilometers) wide.\n\nWright Mons is considered to be similar in volume to the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, which is one of the biggest volcanoes on Earth.\n\nSome of the domes observed in the images merge together to form even bigger mountains, Singer said. But what could have created them? Ice volcanoes.\n\nIce volcanoes have been observed elsewhere in our solar system. They move material from the subsurface up to the surface and create new terrain. In this case, it was water that quickly became ice once it reached the frigid temperatures of Pluto’s surface.\n\n“The way these features look is very different than any volcanoes across the solar system, either icy examples or rocky volcanoes,” Singer said .”They formed as mountains, but there is no caldera at the top, and they have large bumps all over them.”\n\nWhile Pluto has a rocky core, scientists have long believed that the planet lacked much interior heating, which is needed to spur volcanism. To create the region Singer and her team studied, there would have been several eruption sites.\n\nThe research team also noted that the area doesn’t have any impact craters, which can be seen across Pluto’s surface, which suggests that the ice volcanoes were active relatively recently – and that Pluto’s interior has more residual heat than expected, Singer said.\n\n“This means Pluto has more internal heat than we thought it would, which means we don’t fully understand how planetary bodies work,” she said.\n\nThe ice volcanoes probably formed “in multiple episodes” and were likely active as recently as 100 million to 200 million years ago, which is young geologically speaking, Singer added.\n\nIf you were to witness an ice volcano erupt on Pluto, it might look a little different than you expect.\n\n“The icy material was probably more of a slushy mix of ice and water or more like toothpaste while it flowed out of a volcanic vent onto the surface of Pluto,” Singer said. “It is so cold on the surface of Pluto that liquid water cannot remain there for long. In some cases, the flow of material formed the massive domes that we see, as well as the lumpy terrain found everywhere in this region.”\n\nWhen New Horizons flew by this region, the team didn’t witness any current ice volcano activity, but they were only able to see the area for about a day. It’s possible that the ice volcanoes are still active.\n\n“They could be like volcanoes on Earth that remain dormant for some time and then are active again,” she said.\n\nPluto once had a subsurface ocean, and finding these ice volcanoes could suggest that the subsurface ocean is still present – and that liquid water could be close to the surface. Combined with the idea that Pluto has a warmer interior than previously believed, the findings raise intriguing questions about the dwarf planet’s potential habitability.\n\n“There are still a lot of challenges for any organisms trying to survive there,” Singer said. “They would still need some source of continual nutrients, and if the volcanism is episodic and thus the heat and water availability is variable, that is sometimes tough for organisms as well.”\n\nInvestigating Pluto’s intriguing subsurface would require sending an orbiter to the distant world.\n\n“If we did send a future mission, we could use ice-penetrating radar to peer directly into Pluto and possibly even see what the volcanic plumbing looks like,” Singer said.", "authors": ["Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/03/29"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/world/webb-telescope-jupiter-images-scn/index.html", "title": "New Webb telescope images show Jupiter in a new light | CNN", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nThe James Webb Space Telescope’s first stunning images of the distant universe have been followed up by something a little closer to home.\n\nData collected during the telescope’s commissioning period, before its science operations officially started on July 12, have been released on the Space Telescope Science Institute’s website. The publicly available data is now ready for scientists around the world to study.\n\nThat data includes new images of Jupiter, which were taken while the space observatory’s instruments were still being tested.\n\n“Combined with the deep field images released the other day, these images of Jupiter demonstrate the full grasp of what Webb can observe, from the faintest, most distant observable galaxies to planets in our own cosmic backyard that you can see with the naked eye from your actual backyard,” said Bryan Holler, a scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in a statement.\n\nHoller helped with the planning for the observations.\n\nWebb is an infrared telescope, so it captures light that is invisible to the human eye. One of Webb’s images of Jupiter shows the giant planet’s telltale atmospheric bands as well as the Great Red Spot.\n\nThis famous feature is a massive storm about twice the size of Earth that has churned for over a century. It looks white in the image due to the processing of the infrared image.\n\nEuropa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is visible to the left of the planet. The shadow of the moon also makes a cameo left of the Great Red Spot.\n\nJupiter, center, and its moon Europa, left, are seen through the Webb telescope's NIRCam instrument. NASA/ESA/CSA/B. Holler/J. Stansberry/STScI\n\n“I couldn’t believe that we saw everything so clearly, and how bright they were,” said Stefanie Milam, Webb’s deputy project scientist for planetary science based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.\n\n“It’s really exciting to think of the capability and opportunity that we have for observing these kinds of objects in our solar system.”\n\nSome of the telescope’s other perspectives of Jupiter revealed some of the planet’s faint rings. The images prove that Webb is able to observe faint details and objects close to bright planets like Jupiter and Saturn.\n\nThis is especially exciting because it means that Webb may also be able to observe plumes of material releasing into space from ocean worlds in our solar system, like Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.\n\nInteractive: The search for life on Mars and ocean worlds in our solar system\n\n“We’ll look at our own solar system with new infrared eyes, looking for chemical traces of our history, and tracking down mysteries like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, composition of the ocean under the ice of Europa, and the atmosphere of Saturn’s giant moon Titan,” said John Mather, Webb senior project scientist at NASA Goddard, in a statement.\n\nThe first images were anticipated by Mather for 25 years. “What comes next? All the tools are working, better than we hoped and promised. Scientific observations, proposed years ago, are being made as we speak,” Mather said.\n\n“We want to know: Where did we come from? What happened after the big bang to make galaxies and stars and black holes? We have predictions and guesses, but astronomy is an observational science, full of surprises.”", "authors": ["Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/07/18"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/world/exoplanets-search-narrowed-scn/index.html", "title": "Exoplanets: The search for habitable planets may have just ...", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nThe hunt for planets that could harbor life may have just narrowed dramatically.\n\nHowever, it’s also using its stable and precise image quality to illuminate our own solar system, and so far has taken images of Mars, Jupiter and Neptune.\n\nWithout a carbon-rich atmosphere, it’s unlikely a planet would be hospitable to living things. Carbon molecules are, after all, considered the building blocks of life. And the findings don’t bode well for other types of planets orbiting M dwarfs, said study coauthor Michelle Hill, a planetary scientist and a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside.\n\n“The pressure from the star’s radiation is immense, enough to blow a planet’s atmosphere away,” Hill said in a post on the university’s website.\n\nM dwarf stars are known to be volatile, sputtering out solar flares and raining radiation on nearby celestial bodies.\n\nBut for years, the hope had been that fairly large planets orbiting near M dwarfs could be in a Goldilocks environment, close enough to their small star to keep warm and large enough to cling onto its atmosphere.\n\nThe nearby M dwarf, however, could be too intense to keep the atmosphere intact, according to the new study, which was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.\n\nA similar phenomenon happens in our solar system: Earth’s atmosphere also deteriorates because of outbursts from its nearby star, the sun. The difference is that Earth has enough volcanic activity and other gas-emitting activity to replace the atmospheric loss and make it barely detectable, according to the research.\n\nHowever, the M dwarf planet examined in the study, GJ 1252b, “could have 700 times more carbon than Earth has, and it still wouldn’t have an atmosphere. It would build up initially, but then taper off and erode away,” said study coauthor and UC Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane, in a news release.\n\nWhere it started and how it’s going\n\nGJ 1252b orbits less than a million miles from its home star, called GJ_1252. The planet reaches sweltering daytime temperatures of up to 2,242 degrees Fahrenheit (1,228 degrees Celsius), the study found.\n\nThe existence of the planet was first suggested by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, mission. Then, astronomers ordered the nearly 17-year-old Spitzer Space Telescope to set its sights on the area in January 2020 — less than 10 days before Spitzer was deactivated forever.\n\nThe investigation into whether GJ 1252b had an atmosphere was led by astronomer Ian Crossfield at the University of Kansas and involved a collection of researchers from UC Riverside, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, the University of Maryland, Carnegie Institution for Science, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, McGill University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Montreal.\n\nThis illustration shows one possible scenario for the hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancrie, which is nearly two times as wide as Earth. Data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope showed that the planet has extreme temperature swings. NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA/JPL-Caltech\n\nThey pored over the data produced by Spitzer, searching for emission signatures, or signs that a gaseous bubble could encase the planet. The telescope captured the planet as it passed behind its home star, allowing researchers to “look at the starlight as it’s passing through the atmosphere of the planet,” giving a “spectral signature of the atmosphere” — or lack thereof, Hill said.\n\nHill added that she wasn’t shocked to find no signs of an atmosphere, but she was disappointed. She’s looking for moons and planets in “habitable zones,” and the results made looking at worlds circling the ubiquitous M dwarf stars slightly less interesting.\n\nResearchers hope to get even more clarity about these types of planets with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope to date.\n\nWebb will soon set its sights on the TRAPPIST-1 system, “which is also an M dwarf star with a bunch of rocky planets around it,” Hill noted.\n\n“There’s a lot of hope that it will be able to tell us whether those planets have an atmosphere around them or not,” she added. “I guess the M dwarf enthusiasts are probably holding their breath right now to see whether we can tell whether there’s an atmosphere around those planets.”\n\nThere are, however, still plenty of interesting places to hunt for habitable worlds. Apart from looking to planets farther away from M dwarfs that could be more likely to retain an atmosphere, there are still roughly 1,000 sunlike stars relatively near Earth that could have their own planets circling within habitable zones, according to the UC Riverside post about the study.", "authors": ["Jackie Wattles"], "publish_date": "2022/10/25"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2022/09/12/new-possible-ocean-planet-has-astronomers-really-excited/7933751001/", "title": "Scientists might have discovered an Earth-like planet. Let one of ...", "text": "There's more important work for the James Webb Space Telescope. A team of astronomers at the University of Montreal hopes to use it to study a newly found planet beyond our solar system (an exoplanet) that could be almost completely covered in water.\n\nAstronomers believe that TOI-1452 b, larger in size and mass than Earth, could be an “ocean planet” covered by a thick layer of water, much more than Earth. That's because though about 70% of Earth's surface is covered by ocean, water makes up actually less than 1% of its mass.\n\nOn this newly found planet, water might make up between 20-30% of its mass.\n\nTOI-1452 b appears to have a temperate climate because of the distance from the star it orbits, but don't get your space suit ready just yet. We probably won't be relocating there anytime soon. Though astronomers say it's close, close for them is still about 100 light-years from Earth.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/09/12"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/08/16/earth-may-have-mini-moons-captured-its-orbit-says-study/1006435002/", "title": "Earth may have 'mini-moons' captured in its orbit, says study", "text": "Scientists say in a new study the discovery of 'mini-moons' caught in Earth's orbit could offer a better understanding of what makes up asteroids.\n\nResearchers say the mini-moons are small asteroids temporarily captured in Earth's orbit. The objects are usually between 1-2 meters in size and have been difficult to detect because they move out of Earth's orbit so quickly. To date, only one mini-moon has ever been discovered.\n\n\"These asteroids are delivered towards Earth from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter via gravitational interactions with the Sun and planets in our solar system,\" said Dr. Robert Jedicke, lead author, based at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, in a statement. \"The challenge lies in finding these small objects, despite their close proximity.\"\n\nSome mini-moons may fly past Earth, while others complete a revolution around the planet before either escaping its orbit or entering its atmosphere, scientists say.\n\nThe study was published in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science.\n\nResearchers say the creation of a new telescope — the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) — will make it easier to capture these mini-moons as they move through Earth's orbit.\n\nThe discovery of these objects will help experts get a better scientific understanding of the origins of asteroids.\n\n\"We don't know whether small asteroids are monolithic blocks of rock, fragile sand piles, or something in between,\" said Dr. Mikael Granvik, an author on the study and planetary scientist for the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden and the University of Helsinki in Finland, in a statement. \"Mini-moons that spend significant time in orbit around Earth allow us to study the density of these bodies and the forces that act within them, and therefore solve this mystery.\"\n\nFollow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/08/16"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_9", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": []}
{"question_id": "20230210_10", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/05/beyonce-breaks-grammy-record-most-wins-ever/11172776002/", "title": "Beyoncé wins more Grammys than any artist in history: 32 and ...", "text": "Beyoncé now is truly the queen – of the Grammys.\n\nBy winning the best electronic/dance album Grammy Award midway through Sunday's telecast, the singer brought her 22-year total to 32, topping the 31 statues claimed by legendary Hungarian conductor Georg Solti and making her the all-time awards champ of the Recording Industry Association of America. Solti died in 1997.\n\n\"Thank you so much. I'm trying not to be too emotional. I'm trying to just receive this night,\" a visibly emotional Beyoncé said, thanking in particular the LGBTQ community for their support of her music. \"I'd like to thank the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre.\"\n\nGrammys 2023 live:Adele takes pop solo award, Beyoncé breaks record for all-time wins\n\nWinners!See which stars took home Grammy gold, from Harry Styles to Beyoncé\n\n\"I'd like to thank my Uncle Johnny, who is not here, but he's here in spirit,\" she added. \"I'd like to thank my parents, my father, my mother for loving me and pushing me. I'd like to thank my beautiful husband, my beautiful three children who are at home watching.\"\n\nShe became the most-winning female singer in Grammy history in 2021.\n\nBeyoncé won her first Grammy in 2001\n\nHouston-raised Beyoncé Knowles won her first Grammy in 2001 as a member of Destiny's Child for the hit \"Say My Name.\" She came into Sunday's awards show with 28 wins.\n\nThe nine 2023 Grammy nominations racked up by her album \"Renaissance\" included ones in the prestigious categories of album and record of the year, neither of which she had won previously in her illustrious career.\n\nBeyoncé's total of 88 nominations tied her with her husband, rapper and producer Jay-Z, for the most Grammy nods of all time.\n\nJay-Z is tied with his longtime rival Kanye West as the most Grammy-awarded rapper in history. West had no nominations in 2023, and his controversial and racist comments have cost him business deals and industry alliances.\n\n'It has been such a journey':Viola Davis joins EGOT club with first Grammy win\n\nThe record-setting Grammy wins by the woman whose fans call her Queen Bey came just days after the announcement of her Renaissance world tour, which kicks off in Europe May 10 and wraps up in New Orleans on Sept. 27.\n\nDemand is expected to be brisk, and Live Nation is staggering sales by city in an effort to avoid the online computer snafus that plagued the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets last year\n\nBeyoncé's crowning achievement puts her at the head of an impressive class.\n\nBehind her is music producer and songwriter Quincy Jones with 28 wins; bluegrass/country singer and musician Alison Krauss with 27; jazz composer and musician Chick Corea with 27; composer and conductor Pierre Boulez with 26; pianist and composer Vladimir Horowitz with 25; singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder with 25; and composer John Williams with 25, and Jay-Z at 24.\n\nSolti's record seemed unbeatable for decades. The composer won his 31st and final Grammy in 1998. He died in 1997 at age 84. Beyoncé's record could well be extended. She is 41 and seems destined to be back at the awards show for years to come.\n\nThe most over-the-top looks on the Grammys red carpet: Harry Styles, Doja Cat, Sam Smith, more", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/05/grammy-awards-2023-live-updates/11170771002/", "title": "2023 Grammys: Harry Styles wins top prize, Beyoncé sets record", "text": "It was a historic evening for the Beyhive and a great Grammys for those hanging in \"Harry's House.\"\n\nHarry Styles won album of the year, the biggest prize at Sunday's 65th Grammy Awards, though it was Beyoncé who made history, taking four honors and becoming the most-winning Grammy artist of all time. Music's biggest night also gave fans some nice surprises, including Bonnie Raitt taking home song of the year, Lizzo winning record of the year and jazz singer Samara Joy being named best new artist.\n\nCheck out all the winners and highlights from the Grammys, going back to the pre-show Premiere Ceremony.\n\nWinners! See which stars took home the Grammy gold\n\nBrutally honest reviews of every Grammys performance:Harry Styles, Stevie Wonder, more\n\nThe best moments of the Grammys: From Harry Styles' superfan to a stunned Lizzo\n\nHarry Styles' 'Harry's House' wins album of the year\n\nStyles gets the biggest prize of the night and hugs the superfan who announced his win. \"I've been so inspired by every artist in this category with me,\" the British singer says. \"On nights like tonight, there are no such things as 'best' in music. This is really, really kind. I'm so grateful. This doesn't happen to people like me very often.\"\n\nSamara Joy upsets Måneskin for best new artist\n\nFormer best new artist winner Olivia Rodrigo comes out to induct a fresh act into the prestigious club. And here's another shocker: It's jazz singer Samara Joy. \"I've been watching you on TV for so long,\" says a tearful, thankful Joy to her fellow artists in the audience. \"All of you inspire me for being who you are.\" (She also won the best jazz vocal album Grammy for \"Linger Awhile\" earlier in the day.)\n\nSteve Lacy has a 'Bad Habit' of breaking up big award presentations\n\nYou can't have all these major Grammys without a little sonic palette cleanser. Lacy performs his catchy hit \"Bad Habit\" with master bass player Thundercat before the night closes with best new artist and album of the year.\n\nLizzo's 'About Damn Time' snags record of the year\n\nLizzo nabs one of the best Grammy prizes. \"Let me tell you, Adele and I are having a wonderful night rooting for our friends,\" she says, dedicating the award to Prince. She felt misunderstood making positive music but \"I wanted to make the world a better place.\" She also shouts out Beyoncé: \"In the fifth grade I skipped school to see you perform. You changed my life.\"\n\nBonnie Raitt wins song of the year for 'Just Like That'\n\nWell, here's a Grammy shocker: Raitt defeats Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Harry Styles and Beyoncé for one of the night's biggest prizes. \"I'm so surprised, I don't know what to say. This is an unreal moment,\" Raitt says. \"I don't write a lot of songs but I'm proud that you appreciate this one.\"\n\nLuke Combs performs 'Going, Going, Gone'\n\nHow do you follow a stage full of rap powerhouses? It's not an easy task. But country star Combs leans on the emotion and trots out a string section for a warmhearted rendition of his hit song.\n\nAdele takes pop solo performance honors for 'Easy on Me'\n\nAdele's new best friend Dwayne Johnson is out to present the Grammy for best pop solo performance. He must be a good luck charm because she snags the victory against the likes of Bad Bunny, Lizzo, Doja Cat and Harry Styles. \"I really was just looking forward to coming tonight,\" she says, dedicating the win to her son, Angelo.\n\nDr. Dre gets own award, LL Cool J leads all-star hip-hop tribute\n\nThe rap legend says he's \"extremely moved\" to be the first recipient of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. That honor transitions to LL Cool J introducing a performance celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip hop. With The Roots in the house, the medley takes an energetic journey through rap history with songs including Grandmaster Flash's \"Flash to the Beat,\" Run-DMC's \"King of Rock,\" Salt-N-Pepa's \"My Mic Sounds Nice,\" Queen Latifah's \"U.N.I.T.Y.,\" Busta Rhymes' “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” Missy Elliott's \"Lose Control,\" Nelly's \"Hot In Herre\" and Lil Wayne's \"A Milli.\"\n\nBeyoncé takes best dance/electronic album honor, becomes all-time Grammy winner\n\n\"I'm trying to not be too emotional,\" says an overcome Beyoncé as she accepts for \"Renaissance,\" and her fourth victory of the night sets a new record for all-time wins. (Her total now stands at 32, one more than the late Hungarian conductor Georg Solti.) \"I want to thank God for protecting me\" and she also thanked her mom and dad \"for loving me and pushing me\" as well as \"the queer community for your love and for inventing this genre.\" Mary J. Blige followed up the historic moment with a performance of \"Good Morning Gorgeous.\"\n\nBreak out the pitchforks for Kim Petras and Sam Smith's 'Unholy' show\n\nMadonna, known for being a fan of the \"provocative\" and \"troublemakers\" in general, introduces Sam Smith and Kim Petras' performance of their Grammy-winning hit \"Unholy.\" Smith looks downright devilish in red leather, high-heeled boots and horns singing in the center of a group of robed, grinding demonic folks, while Petras performs in a cage surrounded by women with whips.\n\nLate musicians Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie, Takeoff earn Grammy tributes\n\nKacey Musgraves performs an acoustic version of \"Coal Miner's Daughter\" to honor Lynn in the \"In Memoriam\" portion of the night. The sounds of Jeff Beck's unmistakable guitar pepper a montage of greats who've passed in the past year, and that's followed by Quavo teaming with Maverick City Music on \"Without You\" as tribute to his Migos group member Takeoff. If that wasn't emotional enough, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood finish with a tearjerking rendition of \"Songbird\" for Christine McVie.\n\nKendrick Lamar earns major rap honors with 'Mr. Morale'\n\nCardi B presents the award for best rap album to Lamar for \"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.\" He says it was one of the \"toughest\" albums he's made, thanking his family for \"the courage and the vulnerability to share my truth and these stories (and) the fans for trusting me with these words.\"\n\nHarry Styles embraces the ol' razzle-dazzle with 'As It Was' performance\n\nHot off winning a Grammy, an ultra-glittery Harry Styles – who looks he decorated himself with tons of Christmas tinsel – dances around and sings \"As It Was\" with his band and a bunch of random people walking on a rotating stage.\n\nBad Bunny snags Grammy for best música urbana album\n\n\"I just made this album with love and passion, and when you do everything with love and passion, it's just easier,\" says Bad Bunny, accepting his honor for \"Un Verano Sin Ti\" and dedicating the Grammy win to Puerto Rico.\n\nIt's about damn time Lizzo rules the Grammy stage\n\n\"We're about to have some church up in here!\" Lizzo feels the spirit and comes to the stage to do a bit of her hit \"About Damn Time\" before launching into her empowerment anthem \"Special\" with a gold-drenched dancing gospel choir surrounding her.\n\nSam Smith, Kim Petras walk away with an 'Unholy' win\n\nBest pop duo/group performance goes to Sam Smith and Kim Petras' \"Unholy.\" \"This song has been such an incredible journey for me,\" says Petras, who receives rapturous applause when she announces she's the first transgender woman to win this category. She shouts out influences (\"I don't know if I'd be here without Madonna\") and also Smith: \"Sam, you are a true angel in my life.\"\n\nWillie Nelson wins country Grammy, Stevie Wonder leads a Motown medley\n\nA red-haired Shania Twain presents the Grammy for best country album. Willie Nelson wins for \"A Beautiful Time\" but isn't at the show. Another icon is in the house: Stevie Wonder, who leads a Motown tribute to Smokey Robinson. Wonder teams with WanMor on \"The Way You Do the Things You Do,\" duets with Robinson on \"Tears of a Clown\" – which gets a huge crowd reaction – and closes the set with \"Higher Ground\" alongside Chris Stapleton.\n\nBeyoncé wins best R&B song, ties record for most Grammy wins ever\n\nNewly minted EGOT winner Viola Davis comes out to a standing ovation. She's here to quote Aretha Franklin and give out the Grammy for best R&B song, which goes to Beyoncé for \"Cuff It.\" The win now makes her tied for biggest Grammy winner of all time, though she's still on her way to the show.\n\nHarry Styles takes home best pop vocal album\n\nThe first award of the main show goes to Harry Styles, who wins for \"Harry's House.\" \"This album from start to finish has been the greatest experience of my life,\" the singer says.\n\nBrandi Carlile arrives to unleash 'Broken Horses'\n\nAfter winning a few early Grammys, Carlile takes the stage to give a blistering performance of \"Broken Horses.\" When it comes to rockin' – at least on this night – Carlile overtakes The Rock with killer guitar riffs and growling vocals.\n\nThe Rock, meet Adele. Adele, meet The Rock.\n\nNoah walks through the crowd pointing out trivia: LL Cool J loves breakfast cereals, Cardi B loves presidents and Adele loves tea. Noah also makes a friend connection between Adele and her superfan, Dwayne Johnson. (She seems very excited by the meet-and-greet.)\n\nBad Bunny gets the Grammy show started in Latin style\n\nHost Trevor Noah kicks off the main Grammys show and introduces the opening performance by Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican singer (aka Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), who's looking to be the first artist to take album of the year honors for a Spanish-language record, comes through the audience to hit the stage with dancers and his band to perform hits \"El Apagón\" and \"Después de la Playa.\" Jack Harlow is one of the many music lovers dancing in the audience. \"This album is so fire it makes Trump want to learn Spanish,\" Noah jokes.\n\nMåneskin is clear favorite to win best new artist\n\nNew artist is one of the most high-profile Grammy categories of all, with winners over the years including The Beatles, Mariah Carey, Billie Eilish, Carly Simon, Adele and John Legend. Among this year's varied crop of contenders, the Italian rockers of Måneskin are expected to be victorious. Winners of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, the band played Coachella and multiple Lollapaloozas before embarking on a sold-out tour of large clubs and theaters late last year.\n\nWins by Taylor Swift, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrap up pre-show ceremony\n\nMadison Cunningham, who performed as part of the pre-show ceremony, wins best folk album for \"Revealer\" and admits, \"I'm in shock.\" Dave Chappelle's \"The Closer\" gets a Grammy for best comedy album, and a 2022 Broadway cast recording of \"Into the Woods\" is named best musical theater album.\n\nAdding to two earlier victories for \"Encanto,\" Lin-Manuel Miranda's \"We Don't Talk About Bruno\" gets best song written for visual media, while Taylor Swift's \"All Too Well: The Short Film\" takes best music video and documentary \"Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story\" wins best music film. And Jack Antonoff is named producer of the year for his work with Swift, Florence + The Machine, Diana Ross, The 1975 and the \"Minions: The Rise of Gru\" soundtrack.\n\nBonnie Raitt scores a pair of Grammys, Brandi Carlile takes Americana\n\nAaron Neville scores a Grammy for best American roots performance for \"Stompin' Ground\" with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Carlile's \"In These Silent Days\" wins best Americana album while Raitt take home a pair of awards: best Americana performance for \"Made Up My Mind\" and best roots song for \"Just Like That.\"\n\nCountry categories honor Willie Nelson, Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde\n\nNelson's \"Live Forever\" takes the honor for best country solo performance and Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde's \"Never Wanted to Be That Girl\" wins duo/group performance. \"This has transcended so many of my wildest dreams,\" Pearce says when accepting her first Grammy. And best country song goes to Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis' \"Till You Can't.\"\n\nNew artist nominee Wet Leg snags a pair of alternative honors\n\nThe British rock band – up for best new artist later in the night – wins a pair of Grammys: best alternative performance for \"Chaise Lounge\" and alternative music album for the group's self-titled debut.\n\nKendrick Lamar, Brandi Carlile, Ozzy Osbourne take home two honors each\n\nLamar's \"The Heart Part 5\" wins for best rap song and rap performance, while Carlile's \"Broken Horses\" snags best rock performance and rock song. Osbourne gets best metal performance for \"Degradation Rules\" with Tony Iommi and rock album for \"Patient Number 9.\"\n\nViola Davis officially becomes an EGOT winner, Beyoncé wins second Grammy\n\nThe actress makes history by earning her first Grammy Award, for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for \"Finding Me.\" \"I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma. It has been such a journey. I JUST EGOT!\" says Davis, adding to her Oscar, Emmy and Tony wins. And on the heels of that, Beyoncé takes best traditional R&B performance for \"Plastic Off the Sofa.\"\n\nOrchestral version of Christine McVie's 'Songbird,' Michael Bublé earn Grammy victories\n\nVince Mendoza pays tribute to the late Christine McVie when he wins for best arrangement, instrumental and vocals. \"I owe a debt of gratitude for so many of her beautiful stories and moments,\" says Mendoza, adding that he was 16 when the seminal 1977 Fleetwood Mac album \"Rumours\" was released. \"This record and this music has followed me all through my life.\" In addition, Michael Bublé's \"Higher\" conquers the best traditional pop album category.\n\nBeyoncé picks up first win of the show for best dance/electronic recording\n\n\"MJ the Musical\" Broadway star Myles Frost arrives to present the next group of honors. Best dance/electronic recording goes to Beyoncé – her first of what could be a historic day – for \"Break My Soul,\" Lizzo's \"About Damn Time\" snags the Grammy for best remixed recording (non-classical) and Harry Styles' \"Harry's House\" takes best engineered album. Plus, former The Police member Stewart Copeland's \"Divine Tides\" wins best immersive audio album.\n\nDisney's 'Encanto' begins the day with two Grammy Award wins\n\nThe first two Grammys of the day – best compilation soundtrack album for visual media and best score album – goes to Disney's animated musical \"Encanto,\" which featured songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. \"Assassin's Creed: Valhalla\" takes the victory for best score soundtrack for a video game.\n\nThis year's Grammy Awards have quite the guest list\n\nThe list of performers during the main Grammys show includes Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Lizzo and the \"Unholy\" duo of Sam Smith and Kim Petras.\n\nAs for presenters, first lady Jill Biden will be one of the main folks giving out hardware alongside Cardi B, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis (who could become an EGOT during the Premiere Ceremony), Olivia Rodrigo, Shania Twain and Dwayne Johnson.\n\nWho's ready for the Grammy Awards red carpet?\n\nThe Grammys are usually a place where musicians strut their most interesting stuff. (Lady Gaga's egg entrance, anyone?) You can get a look at all this year's looks during the Recording Academy's \"Live from the Red Carpet\" livestream scheduled to begin at 6 EST/3 PST on live.grammy.com. E!'s \"Live from the Red Carpet\" special is slated to start at the same time, co-hosted by Laverne Cox and Bobby Bones, and that's preceded by a \"Live From E!: Countdown to the Grammys\" pre-show at 4 EST/1 PST.\n\nHow to watch the 65th Grammy Awards\n\nIf you like watching musicians accept trophies, the Premiere Ceremony is for you as it doles out the vast majority – 81 of 91 Grammys – of the honors. Streaming on the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and live.grammy.com, the early event is hosted by Randy Rainbow and features performances by Blind Boys of Alabama, Samara Joy and more.\n\nOnce you've sat through that, or just want to see the major Grammys awarded, the more performance-heavy main show airs live on CBS and streams on Paramount+.\n\nRead more about this year's Grammy Awards ceremony and winners", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/06/beyonce-album-year-snub-proves-grammys-still-ignore-her-impact/11179647002/", "title": "Yes, Beyoncé made history. But Grammy voters are still ignoring her ...", "text": "Beyoncé once again released one of the best albums of all time with last year's \"Renaissance.\" And while she set a Grammys record, winning more lifetime trophies than any other performer, the Recording Academy is still ignoring her influence.\n\nShe took home four trophies Sunday in dance and R&B categories but was snubbed in the major races she most deserved to win. Despite a record total of 32 Grammys, Beyoncé has never won album of the year, a blasphemous omission considering her unrivaled discography. Even Adele felt the need to apologize when her album \"25\" beat Beyoncé's \"Lemonade\" at the 2017 Grammys. And it was especially disappointing given the influence of her latest album.\n\nBeyoncé's losses this year in the top three categories – album, record and song of the year – are disappointing but not all that surprising in an industry that has made exclusion of Black artists feel inevitable.\n\n\"Renaissance,\" an unapologetic, genre-bending album that celebrated Black and queer joy while reconciling with grief and loss and honoring house and dance hall music, is trendsetting and defines today's cultural moment in a way that no other album of the year nominee has.\n\nMore:Beyoncé is officially queen of the Grammys, breaks Georg Solti's record for all-time wins\n\nAnd:The best moments of the 2023 Grammy Awards, from Harry Styles' superfan to a stunned Lizzo\n\nHarry Styles, who took home the trophy for album of the year, said in his acceptance speech that \"there is no such thing as best.\" Lizzo added during hers for record of the year: \"You clearly are the artist of our lives.\"\n\nIn some ways, the wide range of winners and nominees alike this year symbolizes the breadth of talent in the music industry, regardless of musical preference. But the repeated hesitancy to dole out big accolades and resort to giving mostly R&B, dance and rap awards to a woman who was repeatedly dubbed \"the GOAT\" during Sunday's show exemplifies a frustrating pattern: Grammy voters talking a big game about recognizing Black artists' impact but failing to back it up.\n\nBeyoncé's 'Renaissance' album review:Unapologetic and raunchy as she beckons us to the dance floor\n\nMore:Brutally honest reviews of every 2023 Grammys performance, including Harry Styles, Sam Smith, Stevie Wonder\n\nIt's difficult to categorize the 2023 Grammy Awards as a diversity win or fail. Important moments for diverse artists included Kim Petras becoming what is believed to be the first openly transgender artist to win a Grammy, Dr. Dre's honor with his eponymous Global Impact Award, Lizzo championing joy and body positivity, and standout performances from Bad Bunny and by the pioneering stars of hip hop in a star-studded 50th anniversary tribute to the genre.\n\nBut Beyoncé has long been viewed as a barometer for the industry's treatment of Black artists, and her shutout in the major categories is an unwelcome reminder that many of the most influential artists are not getting their proper due.\n\nBeyoncé deserved the 2023 album of the year award for a culture-defining piece of art. It's embarrassing that the industry still isn't properly recognizing her for it.\n\n2023 Grammys winners:See the full list, from Beyoncé to Harry Styles\n\nGrammys 2023 live:Harry Styles wins album of the year, Beyoncé breaks all-time record", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/11/16/who-won-most-grammys-georg-solti-beyonce/10426800002/", "title": "Who has won the most Grammys? Top award-winning artists of all time", "text": "Since 1958, the Grammys have recognized and awarded those in the music industry for outstanding achievements. Each year, music artists are given the chance to win a coveted Grammy from one or many categories, if nominated.\n\nAt the first annual Grammy Awards, there were 28 categories with winners including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The 65th Grammys had 91 categories for its awards, according to the Recording Academy.\n\nThousands of music creators have been recognized for their work by the Recording Academy, but who has the most Grammys? Here is the answer, plus other top Grammy Award winners.\n\nGrammys 2023:All the best (and worst) performances, ranked\n\n2023 Grammy winners: See the full list, from Beyonce to Harry Styles\n\nWho has the most Grammys?\n\nBeyoncé is the most Grammy-awarded artist, receiving 32 awards throughout her famed career. She surpassed Georg Solti, who formerly held the title for most Grammys, after multiple wins at the 65th Grammy Awards.\n\nOn Feb. 5, Beyoncé took home the awards for best dance recording for \"Break My Soul,\" best dance/electronica album for \"Renaissance,\" best traditional R&B vocal performance for \"Plastic Off the Sofa\" and best R&B song for \"Cuff It.\"\n\nBeyoncé's first three career Grammys were won with Destiny's Child, including best R&B performance by a duo or group for \"Survivor.\" Beyoncé went on to win five awards as a solo artist at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, taking home the award of best contemporary R&B album for \"Dangerously in Love.\"\n\nShe is also the most-nominated female artist in Grammy history with 88 career nominations and is tied with her husband Jay-Z for the most Grammy nominations in history.\n\nBeyoncé is officially queen of the Grammys:Breaks Georg Solti's record for all-time wins\n\nBeyoncé's 'Renaissance' album review:Unapologetic and raunchy as she beckons us to the dance floor\n\nTop 10 Grammy Award winners\n\nHere are the top 10 Grammy winners, according to the Recording Academy:\n\nThe most over-the-top looks on the Grammys red carpet: Harry Styles, Doja Cat, Sam Smith, more\n\n'It has been such a journey':Viola Davis joins EGOT club with first Grammy win\n\nWho won the most Grammys in one night?\n\nMichael Jackson, often referred to as the \"King of Pop,\" is tied for the record for most Grammys won in one night, receiving eight awards at the 26th Grammys in 1984. According to the Recording Academy, at the ceremony, Jackson took home the awards for:\n\nRecord of the year: \"Beat It\"\n\nAlbum of the year: \"Thriller\"\n\nBest pop vocal performance, male: \"Thriller\"\n\nBest rock vocal performance, male: \"Beat It\"\n\nBest R&B vocal performance, male: \"Billie Jean\"\n\nBest rhythm & blues song: \"Billie Jean\"\n\nBest recording for children: \"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial\"\n\nProducer of the year (non-classical)\n\nIn 2000, Santana tied Jackson's accomplishment, winning eight Grammys in one night at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Santana received awards for:\n\nRecord of the year: \"Smooth\"\n\nAlbum of the year: \"Supernatural\n\nBest pop performance by a duo or group with vocal: \"Maria Maria\"\n\nBest pop collaboration with vocals: \"Smooth\"\n\nBest pop instrumental performance: \"El Farol\"\n\nBest rock performance by a duo or group with vocal: \"Put Your Lights On\"\n\nBest rock instrumental performance: \"The Calling\"\n\nBest rock album: \"Supernatural\"\n\nAmong female artists, there is also a tie for who won the most Grammys in one night between Beyoncé and Adele, both winning six awards each.\n\nAt the 52nd Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won the following categories:\n\nSong of the year: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest female pop vocal performance: \"Halo\"\n\nBest female R&B vocal performance: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest traditional R&B vocal performance: \"At Last\"\n\nBest R&B song: \"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)\"\n\nBest contemporary R&B album: \"I Am... Sasha Fierce\"\n\nAt the 54th Grammy Awards, Adele won the following categories:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/16"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/06/2023-grammy-highlights-best-moments/11193610002/", "title": "Grammys highlights 2023: Harry Styles, Beyonce, Lizzo, more ...", "text": "The Grammys are always good for innumerable indelible moments, partly because unlike acting-related awards shows – that's you Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys – this telecast always features great artists doing what they do best on live television: rocking out.\n\nThe 65th annual awards, which were held Sunday inside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, were no exception. The all-star event, which kicked off with a wild mambo fiesta courtesy of nominee Bad Bunny, featured standout musical acts, one-of-a-kind outfits and historic Grammy wins.\n\nBeyoncé officially became the queen of the Grammys when her win for best dance/electronic album for \"Renaissance\" brought her all-time total to 32, one more than the late Hungarian classical conductor Georg Solti.\n\nThere also was Adele finally getting to meet The Rock, Viola Davis joining the exclusive EGOT club and Shania Twain looking like a witchy mushroom. Missed it all? No worries, we've got the best of the best moments right here.\n\nGrammys 2023:Follow every award with our minute-by-minute recap of the night\n\nWinners! See which stars took home Grammy gold\n\nAdele (finally!) meets Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson\n\nTrevor Noah sidled up to a table where Adele was sitting and divulged the fact that one of the superstar's secret desires was to meet Dwayne Johnson. Noah said that while he wasn't sure where that person was, he did want to introduce her to someone called The Rock.\n\nThat's when the actor strode into view, hulking in a brown suit, and embraced a visibly shocked Adele. Later, The Rock was the one to present Adele with the Grammy for best pop solo performance for \"Easy On Me.\"\n\n\"Get up here, best friend,\" The Rock called out as a soon-to-be teary Adele walked to the stage.\n\n50 years of hip-hop gets an outrageous star-filled tribute\n\nThe crowd rose to their feet for a lengthy tribute celebrating 50 years since the sounds of hip-hop first emanated from Bronx house parties. With rap icons ranging from Jay-Z to Dr. Dre taking in the action from the audience, The Roots backed an all-star cast of performers that began with pioneer Grandmaster Flash doing \"Flash to the Beat,\" followed by Run-DMC doing \"King of Rock.\"\n\nA torrent of rap talent followed, including DJ Jazzy Jeff (the other half of the duo that featured Will Smith), Salt-N-Pepa, Chuck D and Flavor Flav from Public Enemy, West Coast rap legend Ice-T and rapper-turned-beloved TV actress Queen Latifah.\n\nRepresenting more recent standouts were Swizz Beatz and Lil Wayne. LL Cool J and Lil Uzi Vert rapped things up with \"Just Wanna Rock\" and gave a shout-out to how hip-hop has gone from largely an urban American sound to being fully integrated into culture worldwide.\n\nHarry Styles superfan, 78, presents him with his album of the year Grammy\n\nIn what was undoubtedly a Grammy first, the vaunted album of the year award was announced by ... a 78-year-old grandmother from Sudbury, Ontario.\n\nHarry Styles superfan Reina Fafantaisie was one of several people who were invited to share their feelings on why their favorite performer should win. At the end of the telecast, Noah called all the superfans to the stage. After he opened the envelope, he turned to Fafantaisie and told her, \"You read it.\"\n\nA shocked Fafantasie, Grammy in hand, was rushed by Styles, who then wrapped his outstretched hands around the stunned woman.\n\nLizzo gives props to Prince and Beyoncé in her acceptance speech for record of the year\n\nA shook-up Lizzo bounded on the stage to accept record of the year for \"About Damn Time\" and thanked Prince, who embodied the musical essence of Minneapolis, the city where Lizzo broke out.\n\n“When we lost Prince, I decided to dedicate my life to making positive music,\" she said. Being misunderstood made her want to \"make the world a better place, so I had to be that change, to make the world a better place.”\n\nAt the end of her long speech, she sought out a standing Beyoncé in the crowd and, weeping, thanked the all-time Grammy champion for being her inspiration, starting back from when she cut class in fifth grade with her sister to see the icon in concert.\n\n“Thank you so much. You clearly are the artist of our lives!” Lizzo said as a smiling Beyoncé nodded in acknowledgement.\n\nViola Davis gets her EGOT\n\nActress Viola Davis reached an epic milestone by winning a Grammy for best audio book of her own memoir, \"Finding Me.\" That award allowed her to join the exclusive EGOT club, those artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Davis won her Oscar in 2017 (for \"Fences\"), her Tonys in 2001 (\"King Hedley II\") and 2010 (\"Fences\"), and her Emmy in 2015 (\"How to Get Away With Murder\").\n\n\"I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything,\" Davis said in her acceptance speech. \"And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!\"\n\nShe's only the third Black woman and 18th person to EGOT, a group includes performers such as Jennifer Hudson, Rita Moreno, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Robert Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg and Mike Nichols, to name a few.\n\nShania Twain wore a truly outrageous Grammy outfit\n\nCountry star Shania Twain, who presented the best country album Grammy to Willie Nelson for \"A Beautiful Time,\" showed up on the red carpet wearing an outfit that defied description. But if we had to try, we'd call it a cross between a benevolent witch and a cartoon mushroom.\n\nThe glittery outfit was a sequined white bell-bottomed suit with big black spots, crowned by a oversized hat in the same material. Shania spiced it all up by sporting shockingly red hair.\n\nKim Petras becomes first trans performer to win best pop duo/group Grammy\n\nGerman pop singer Kim Petras, who is transgender, and nonbinary British crooner Sam Smith made history together they took the stage to accept the award for best pop duo/group performance for the song “Unholy\" off Smith's new album \"Gloria.\"\n\nIt was the first time the award in this category was given to a trans performer, and follows three 1970 Grammy wins in classical music by Wendy Carlos.\n\nSmith stepped aside and let Petras take the microphone to give an impassioned acceptance speech in which she described growing up in Germany with a mother who accepted that her child, born male, was a woman.\n\nReplay the best of Grammy night:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/05/grammy-2023-full-winners-list/11191068002/", "title": "Grammy winners list 2023: Beyoncé, Lizzo, Harry Styles, Adele", "text": "Sunday's 65th annual Grammy Awards on CBS featured Beyoncé's official crowning as the queen of the Grammys, with the most wins of all time, and made history as Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to win an award.\n\nHarry Styles took home Album of the Year and best pop vocal performance for \"Harry's House\" in a ceremony that saw awards spread around among several artists, denying any a sweep. And the evening not only celebrated the past year in music but also marked 50 years of hip-hop, with Trevor Noah as host.\n\nHere is the list of Grammy winners (in bold):\n\nGrammy 2023 winners in key categories:\n\nAlbum of the year\n\n\"Voyage,\" ABBA\n\n\"30,\" Adele\n\n\"Un Verano Sin Ti,\" Bad Bunny\n\n\"Renaissance,\" Beyoncé\n\n\"Good Morning Gorgeous\" (Deluxe), Mary J. Blige\n\n\"In These Silent Days,\" Brandi Carlile\n\n\"Music of the Spheres,\" Coldplay\n\n\"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,\" Kendrick Lamar\n\n\"Special,\" Lizzo\n\nWINNER: \"Harry's House,\" Harry Styles\n\nRecord of the year\n\n\"Don't Shut Me Down,\" ABBA\n\n\"Easy on Me,\" Adele\n\n\"Break My Soul,\" Beyoncé\n\n\"Good Morning Gorgeous,\" Mary J. Blige\n\n\"You and Me on the Rock,\" Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius\n\n\"Woman,\" Doja Cat\n\n\"Bad Habit,\" Steve Lacy\n\n\"The Heart Part 5,\" Kendrick Lamar\n\nWINNER: \"About Damn Time,\" Lizzo\n\n\"As It Was,\" Harry Styles\n\nSong of the year (goes to songwriter)\n\n\"abcdefu\" (Sara Davis, Gayle and Dave Pittenger, performed by Gayle)\n\n\"About Damn Time\" (Melissa “Lizzo” Jefferson, Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin and Theron Makiel Thomas, performed by Lizzo)\n\n\"All Too Well (10 Minute Version)\" (Liz Rose and Taylor Swift, performed by Swift)\n\n\"As It Was\" (Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon and Harry Styles, performed by Styles)\n\n\"Bad Habit\" (Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Fousheé, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby and Steve Lacy, performed by Lacy)\n\n\"Break My Soul\" (Beyoncé, S. Carter, Terius \"The-Dream\" Gesteelde-Diamant and Christopher A. Stewart, performed by Beyoncé)\n\n\"Easy on Me\" (Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin, performed by Adele)\n\n\"God Did\" (Tarik Azzouz, E. Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F. LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar, performed by DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy)\n\n\"The Heart Part 5\" (Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer, performed by Lamar)\n\nWINNER: \"Just Like That\" (Bonnie Raitt, performed by Raitt)\n\nBest new artist\n\nAnitta\n\nOmar Apollo\n\nDOMi & JD Beck\n\nMuni Long\n\nWINNER: Samara Joy\n\nLatto\n\nMåneskin\n\nTobe Nwigwe\n\nMolly Tuttle\n\nWet Leg\n\nBest pop solo performance\n\nWINNER: \"Easy on Me,\" Adele\n\n\"Moscow Mule,\" Bad Bunny\n\n\"Woman,\" Doja Cat\n\n\"Bad Habit,\" Steve Lacy\n\n\"About Damn Time,\" Lizzo\n\nBest dance/electronic music album\n\nWINNER: \"Renaissance,\" Beyoncé\n\n\"Fragments,\" Bonobo\n\n\"Diplo,\" Diplo\n\n\"The Last Goodbye,\" Odesza\n\n\"Surrender\" Rüfüs Du Sol\n\nBest música urbana album\n\n\"Trap Cake, Vol. 2,\" Rauw Alejandro\n\nWINNER: \"Un Verano Sin Ti,\" Bad Bunny\n\n\"Legendaddy,\" Daddy Yankee\n\n\"La 167,\" Farruko\n\n\"The Love & Sex Tape,\" Maluma\n\nBest pop duo/group performance\n\n\"Don't Shut Me Down,\" ABBA\n\n\"Bam Bam,\" Camila Cabello featuring Ed Sheeran\n\n\"My Universe,\" Coldplay and BTS\n\n\"I Like You (A Happier Song),\" Post Malone and Doja Cat\n\nWINNER: \"Unholy,\" Sam Smith and Kim Petras\n\nBest pop vocal album\n\n\"Voyage,\" ABBA\n\n\"30,\" Adele\n\n\"Music of the Spheres,\" Coldplay\n\n\"Special,\" Lizzo\n\nWINNER: \"Harry's House,\" Harry Styles\n\nBest Latin pop album\n\n\"Aguilera,\" Christina Aguilera\n\nWINNER: \"Pasieros,\" Rubén Blades and Boca Livre\n\n\"De Adentro Pa Afuera,\" Camilo\n\n\"Viajante,\" Fonseca\n\n\"Dharma +,\" Sebastián Yatra\n\nBest country album\n\n\"Growin' Up,\" Luke Combs\n\n\"Palomino,\" Miranda Lambert\n\n\"Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville,\" Ashley McBryde\n\n\"Humble Quest,\" Maren Morris\n\nWINNER: \"A Beautiful Time,\" Willie Nelson\n\nBest country song\n\n\"Circles Around This Town,\" Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels, Maren Morris and Jimmy Robbins (performed by Morris)\n\n\"Doin' This,\" Luke Combs, Drew Parker and Robert Williford (performed by Combs)\n\n\"I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault),\" Lori McKenna and Taylor Swift (performed by Swift)\n\n\"If I Was A Cowboy,\" Jesse Frasure and Miranda Lambert (performed by Lambert)\n\n\"I'll Love You Till The Day I Die,\" Rodney Crowell and Chris Stapleton (performed by Willie Nelson)\n\nWINNER: \" 'Til You Can't,\" Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis (performed by Cody Johnson)\n\nBest country solo performance\n\n\"Heartfirst,\" Kelsea Ballerini\n\n\"Something In the Orange,\" Zach Bryan\n\n\"In His Arms,\" Miranda Lambert\n\n\"Circles Around This Town,\" Maren Morris\n\nWINNER: \"Live Forever,\" Willie Nelson\n\nBest country duo/group performance\n\n\"Wishful Drinking,\" Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt\n\n\"Midnight Rider's Prayer,\" Brothers Osborne\n\n\"Outrunnin' Your Memory,\" Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert\n\n\"Does He Love You\" (Revisited), Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton\n\nWINNER: \"Never Wanted To Be That Girl,\" Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde\n\n\"Going Where the Lonely Go,\" Robert Plant and Alison Krauss\n\nBest global music album\n\n\"Shuruaat,\" Berklee Indian Ensemble\n\n\"Love, Damini,\" Burna Boy\n\n\"Queen of Sheba,\" Angélique Kidjo and Ibrahim Maalouf\n\n\"Between Us ... (Live),\" Anoushka Shankar, Metropole Orkest and Jules Buckley featuring Manu Delago\n\nWINNER: \"Sakura,\" Masa Takumi\n\nBest alternative album\n\n\"We,\" Arcade Fire\n\n\"Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You,\" Big Thief\n\n\"Fossora,\" Björk\n\nWINNER: \"Wet Leg,\" Wet Leg\n\n\"Cool It Down,\" Yeah Yeah Yeahs\n\nBest rock album\n\n\"Dropout Boogie,\" The Black Keys\n\n\"The Boy Named If,\" Elvis Costello & The Imposters\n\n\"Crawler,\" Idles\n\n\"Mainstream Sellout,\" Machine Gun Kelly\n\nWINNER: \"Patient Number 9,\" Ozzy Osbourne\n\n\"Lucifer on the Sofa,\" Spoon\n\nBest rock song\n\n\"Black Summer,\" Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith (performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers)\n\n\"Blackout,\" Brady Ebert, Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory and Brendan Yates (performed by Turnstile)\n\nWINNER: \"Broken Horses,\" Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth (performed by Brandi Carlile)\n\n\"Harmonia's Dream,\" Robbie Bennett and Adam Granduciel (performed by The War On Drugs)\n\n\"Patient Number 9,\" John Osbourne, Chad Smith, Ali Tamposi, Robert Trujillo and Andrew Wotman (performed by Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck)\n\nBest rock performance\n\n\"So Happy It Hurts,\" Bryan Adams\n\n\"Old Man,\" Beck\n\n\"Wild Child,\" The Black Keys\n\nWINNER: \"Broken Horses,\" Brandi Carlile\n\n\"Crawl!,\" Idles\n\n\"Patient Number 9,\" Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck\n\n\"Holiday,\" Turnstile\n\nBest rap album\n\n\"God Did,\" DJ Khaled\n\n\"I Never Liked You,\" Future\n\n\"Come Home the Kids Miss You,\" Jack Harlow\n\nWINNER: \"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,\" Kendrick Lamar\n\n\"It's Almost Dry,\" Pusha T\n\nBest rap song\n\n\"Churchill Downs,\" Ace G, BEDRM, Matthew Samuels, Tahrence Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Aubrey Graham, Jack Harlow and Jose Velazquez (performed by Harlow featuring Drake)\n\n\"God Did,\" Tarik Azzouz, E. Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F. LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar (performed by DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy)\n\nWINNER: \"The Heart Part 5,\" Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer (performed by Lamar)\n\n\"pushin P,\" Lucas Depante, Nayvadius Wilburn, Sergio Kitchens, Wesley Tyler Glass and Jeffery Lamar Williams (performed by Gunna and Future featuring Young Thug)\n\n\"Wait for U,\" Tejiri Akpoghene, Floyd E. Bentley III, Jacob Canady, Isaac De Boni, Aubrey Graham, Israel Ayomide Fowobaje, Nayvadius Wilburn, Michael Mule, Oluwatoroti Oke and Temilade Openiyi (performed by Future featuring Drake and Tems)\n\nBest rap performance\n\n\"God Did,\" DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy\n\n\"Vegas,\" Doja Cat\n\n\"pushin P,\" Gunna and Future featuring Young Thug\n\n\"F.N.F. (Let's Go),\" Hitkidd and GloRilla\n\nWINNER: \"The Heart Part 5,\" Kendrick Lamar\n\nBest R&B song\n\nWINNER: \"Cuff It,\" Denisia \"Blu June\" Andrews, Beyoncé, Mary Christine Brockert, Brittany \"Chi\" Coney, Terius \"The-Dream\" Gesteelde-Diamant, Morten Ristorp, Nile Rodgers and Raphael Saadiq (performed by Beyoncé)\n\n\"Good Morning Gorgeous,\" Mary J. Blige, David Brown, Dernst Emile II, Gabriella Wilson and Tiara Thomas (performed by Blige)\n\n\"Hrs & Hrs,\" Hamadi Aaabi, Dylan Graham, Priscilla Renea, Thaddis \"Kuk\" Harrell, Brandon John-Baptiste, Isaac Wriston and Justin Nathaniel Zim (performed by Muni Long)\n\n\"Hurt Me So Good,\" Akeel Henry, Michael Holmes, Luca Mauti, Jazmine Sullivan and Elliott Trent (performed by Sullivan)\n\n\"Please Don't Walk Away,\" PJ Morton (performed by Morton)\n\nBest R&B album\n\n\"Good Morning Gorgeous\" (Deluxe), Mary J. Blige\n\n\"Breezy\" (Deluxe), Chris Brown\n\nWINNER: \"Black Radio III,\" Robert Glasper\n\n\"Candydrip,\" Lucky Daye\n\n\"Watch the Sun,\" PJ Morton\n\nBest R&B performance\n\n\"Virgo's Groove,\" Beyoncé\n\n\"Here With Me,\" Mary J. Blige featuring Anderson .Paak\n\nWINNER: \"Hrs & Hrs,\" Muni Long\n\n\"Over,\" Lucky Daye\n\n\"Hurt Me So Good,\" Jazmine Sullivan\n\nBest dance/electronica recording\n\nWINNER: \"Break My Soul,\" Beyoncé\n\n\"Rosewood,\" Bonobo\n\n\"Don't Forget My Love,\" Diplo and Miguel\n\n\"I'm Good (Blue),\" David Guetta and Bebe Rexha\n\n\"Intimidated,\" Kaytranada featuring H.E.R.\n\n\"On My Knees,\" Rüfüs Du Sol\n\nBest music video\n\n\"Easy on Me,\" Adele\n\n\"Yet to Come,\" BTS\n\n\"Woman,\" Doja Cat\n\n\"The Heart Part 5,\" Kendrick Lamar\n\n\"As It Was,\" Harry Styles\n\nWINNER: \"All Too Well: The Short Film,\" Taylor Swift\n\nBest song written for visual media\n\n\"Be Alive\" from \"King Richard,\" Beyoncé and Darius Scott Dixson (performed by Beyoncé)\n\n\"Carolina\" from \"Where the Crawdads Sing,\" Taylor Swift (performed by Swift)\n\n\"Hold My Hand\" from \"Top Gun: Maverick,\" Bloodpop and Stefani Germanotta (performed by Lady Gaga)\n\n\"Keep Rising (The Woman King\" from \"The Woman King,\" Angelique Kidjo, Jeremy Lutito and Jessy Wilson (performed by Wilson featuring Kidjo)\n\n\"Nobody Like U\" from \"Turning Red,\" Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (performed by 4*Town, Jordan Fisher, O'Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo and Grayson Villanueva)\n\nWINNER: \"We Don't Talk About Bruno\" from \"Encanto,\" Lin-Manuel Miranda (performed by Carolina Gaitán - La Gaita, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the \"Encanto\" cast)\n\nBest comedy album\n\nWINNER: \"The Closer,\" Dave Chappelle\n\n\"Comedy Monster,\" Jim Gaffigan\n\n\"A Little Brains, A Little Talent,\" Randy Rainbow\n\n\"Sorry,\" Louis CK\n\n\"We All Scream,\" Patton Oswalt\n\nBest musical theater album\n\n\"Caroline, Or Change\"\n\nWINNER: \"Into the Woods\"\n\n\"MJ the Musical\"\n\nA\"Mr.Saturday Night\"\n\n\"Six: Live on Opening Night\"\n\n\"A Strange Loop\"\n\nEverything you need to know about Grammys:", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/02/10/grammys-2019-news-updates-winners/2828473002/", "title": "Grammys 2019: Kacey Musgraves wins four, including album of the ...", "text": "\"I guess this year we really stepped up.\"\n\nDua Lipa's slight diss at the Grammy Awards turned into a running theme for music's biggest night on Sunday. Women ruled at the 61st annual Grammys, led by Kacey Musgraves' four wins, including album of the year and best country album for \"Golden Hour.\" Lipa took home best new artist, Cardi B snagged best rap album for \"Invasion of Privacy,\" Lady Gaga won three awards (including two for her \"A Star Is Born\" hit \"Shallow\") and also shared a stage with former first lady Michelle Obama, plus tributes honored the legacies of Dolly Parton and the late Aretha Franklin.\n\nAnd Childish Gambino made some Grammy history, with \"This Is America\" becoming the first rap song to win both record and song of the year.\n\nRanked:Brutally honest reviews of every Grammy performance\n\nRelated:The Grammy winners list\n\nHere's a minute-by-minute rundown of the festivities, hosted by Alicia Keys. Times are listed in EST.\n\n11:36: Childish Gambino takes record of the year with \"This Is America,\" and album of the year goes to Kacey Musgraves for \"Golden Hour.\" \"Life is pretty tumultuous for everyone right now,\" she says, \"but art is thriving.\"\n\n11:32: Aretha Franklin is the final legend honored in the \"In memoriam\" segment, and she gets a proper tribute with Andra Day, Fantasia and Yolanda Adams singing \"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.\"\n\n11:18: Dua Lipa is still backstage when she wins for best new artist. \"I guess this year we really stepped up,\" she says, dissing the Grammys a bit. (Recording Academy president Neil Portnow remarked last year that women needed to \"step up\" after they were underrepresented in the winners.) She also thanks the fans, \"who allowed me to be the best version of myself.\"\n\n11:13: St. Vincent plays some chunky riffs on \"Masseduction\" and then Dua Lipa joins her for \"One Kiss.\"\n\n11:01: Atlanta R&B duo Chloe x Halle sing a cover of \"Where Is the Love\" before presenting the best rap album Grammy to a tearful Cardi B for \"Invasion of Privacy.\" \"Woo, child,\" she says. \"The nerves are so bad. Maybe I need to start smoking weed.\" She also thanked her baby daughter, Kulture, and husband Offset. \"He said, 'You going to have this baby and we're going to make this album.' \"\n\n10:49: Brandi Carlile belts her song \"The Joke.\" She, however, is no joke, getting much of the crowd off its feet.\n\n10:43: H.E.R. takes best R&B album for her self-titled effort. \"This is unbelievable. It's not even an album. It's an EP!\" the 21-year-old singer says, thanking her parents \"for embracing my talents and who I am.\"\n\n10:33: Keys and Smokey Robinson riff on \"Tracks of My Tears\" to introduce a 60th-anniversary tribute to Motown. Jennifer Lopez rides an elevator to the stage to sing a medley including \"Dancing in the Streets,\" \"Please Mr. Postman,\" \"Do You Love Me\" and \"ABC,\" followed by Robinson singing with her on \"My Girl.\" Lopez and Keys team up for \"Papa Was a Rolling Stone\" and Lopez goes solo again for \"Square Biz.\" Current Motown artist Ne-Yo closes it out with Lopez on \"Another Star.\"\n\n10:25: Travis Scott hits the stage to do \"Stop Trying to be God\" with Philip Bailey and James Blake and then raps in a cage for \"No Bystanders.\"\n\n10:10: Film fans get a treat when Lady Gaga rouses the crowd with her Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning \"A Star Is Born\" tune \"Shallow,\" turned here into a rock anthem.\n\n9:56: Keys introduces a 75th-birthday montage for Diana Ross. \"Through my life there has always been joy in music,\" Ross says before first singing \"The Best Years of My Life\" and then \"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand).\" Not so fast, though: Although Ross was shouting \"Happy birthday to me!\" she'll be 74 until March 26. (But, hey, why not celebrate early?)\n\n9:50: Drake wins best rap song for \"God's Plan.\" \"It's like the first time in Grammy history where I am who I thought I was,\" he says, also telling young artists that they don't need a Grammy to be successful. \"You've already won if you have people singing your songs word for word.\"\n\n9:45: The countrified up-and-comers of Dan + Shay croon a stripped-down version of their tune \"Tequila.\"\n\n9:39: Playing dual pianos, Alicia Keys pulls off a great medley of songs she wishes she had written, including \"Killing Me Softly,\" \"Use Somebody\" and \"Unforgettable.\"\n\n9:31: The Grammy for best country album goes to Kacey Musgraves' \"Golden Hour.\" \"I never dreamed this record would be met with such love, such warmth, such positivity,\" says the singer, whose award count rises to three for the night.\n\n9:26: Cardi B looks like she just stepped out of a \"Flash Gordon\" reboot to sing \"Money\" and hit various poses on a piano, including a \"Wakanda Forever\" salute from \"Black Panther.\"\n\n9:16: H.E.R. wears sunglasses at night and rocks an electric guitar on a very cool \"Hard Place.\" (Fun fact for the R&B singer's new fans: She got her big break competing on Radio Disney's \"Next BIG Thing\" when she was 12.)\n\n8:57: Anna Kendrick introduces a big ol' Dolly Parton tribute, which begins with Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry in matching red outfits to sing \"Here You Come Again\" before they're joined by Parton herself. Parton then brings out Miley Cyrus for a \"Jolene\" duet and Maren Morris makes it a trio with \"After the Gold Rush.\" Little Big Town comes on for Parton's new tune \"Red Shoes,\" and of course everybody gets involved for a rousing version of \"9 to 5.\"\n\n8:45: Post Malone performs his hits \"Stay\" and \"Rockstar\" before teaming up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for \"Dark Necessities.\"\n\n8:42: Alicia Keys and John Mayer tell the story of how they each have half of the 2005 song of the year trophy. \"This has to be the coolest joint custody agreement,\" he said. They present this year's Grammy to Childish Gambino's \"This Is America,\" the first hip-hop song to take the honor. (Donald Glover, aka Gambino, isn't in the house to accept.)\n\n8:30: Janelle Monae comes out, with definite Prince vibes, to sing \"Make Me Feel.\" (Fun fact: She had been collaborating with the Purple One before his death in 2016.)\n\n8:26: Already a multiple winner today, Kacey Musgraves performs her emotional ballad \"Rainbow.\"\n\n8:19: Lady Gaga returns to the stage to accept the first award of the main show, best pop duo/group performance with Bradley Cooper for \"Shallow.\" \"I wish Bradley was here with me right now,\" says Gaga, who mentions her \"A Star Is Born\" co-star/director is in London for the BAFTAs instead of L.A. for Grammys. She also noted how grateful she is for being a part of a movie that tackled mental-health issues. \"A lot of artists deal with that and we've got to take care of each other.\"\n\n8:13: Shawn Mendes is next, playing piano and singing his tune \"In My Blood,\" and then snagging a guitar and making it a rocking group number with Miley Cyrus and a string section.\n\n8:06: Host Alicia Keys arrives to officially kick off the night with a message of positivity: \"Music is so powerful. ... I'm gonna take care of you tonight.\" She welcomes out some of her \"sisters,\" including Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez, to honor what music means to them. Gaga says people called her weird but \"music told me not to listen to them. Music took my ears, my voice and my soul.\" And Obama says from the Motown records she \"wore out\" on Chicago's South Side to the \"we run the world\" songs of the past decade, \"music always helped me tell my story. Music helps us share ourselves, our dignities and sorrows, our hopes and joys. Music says all of it matters.\"\n\n8:01: Arturo Sandoval's iconic trumpet begins the primetime show and a performance of Camila Cabello's hit \"Havana.\" Clad in a yellow dress, Cabello saunters and sings on stage before being joined by Ricky Martin, J Balvin and a crowded stage of backup dancers.\n\nAt the early awards ceremony:\n\nThe Premiere Ceremony featured the first Grammy awards of the day in more than 70 categories.\n\n6:56: Speaking backstage about his win for traditional R&B performance, PJ Morton, who also plays keyboards in Maroon 5, addressed the band’s controversial Super Bowl halftime show performance. “I’m actually happy we did it,” he said. “The reason we do this ... is to make people happy and to play music. And I think that’s the only time I’ll be able to play in front of 100 million people. ... I’m glad we did the work to make it to that point.”\n\n6:45: The final two Premiere Ceremony awards of the night went to big hip-hop names who weren’t in attendance, with “This Is America” winning the best rap/sung collaboration, and Pharrell taking home the producer of the year, non-classical category.\n\n6:43: Another tie arrived in the rap performance category, going to both “King’s Dead” by Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake, and “Bubblin” by Anderson .Paak. “I don’t even know what to say,” Jay Rock said, accepting the award. “A big shout out to my little bro Kendrick (Lamar) for letting me be a part of the ('Black Panther') soundtrack.”\n\n6:40: St. Vincent took the stage for her best rock song-winning track \"Masseduction” with co-songwriter Jack Antonoff. “I think this is the first time I’ve given a thank-you speech, so here goes,” she said, before turning to Antonoff. “Jack, you look great.”\n\n6:35: Chris Cornell, the Soundgarden frontman who died in 2017, was awarded a posthumous Grammy for best rock performance for “When Bad Does Good,” accepted by two of his children, Toni and Christopher.\n\nBig moments from the Chris Cornell tribute show:Miley Cyrus impresses, Soundgarden reunites\n\n6:33: Beyonce and Jay-Z, not in attendance for the premiere ceremony, won their first Grammys of the 2019 awards for best R&B performance for “Summer.”\n\n6:31: While Ella Mai wasn’t in the audience, she won her first Grammy for “Boo’d Up” in the best R&B song category, along with co-songwriters Larrance Dopson, Joelle James and Dijon McFarlane.\n\n6:28: The night’s first tie, Leon Bridges’ “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” and PJ Morton and Yebba’s “How Deep is Your Love” both won the awards for traditional R&B performance.\n\n6:26 p.m.: H.E.R.’s bevy of nominations was one of the 2019 Grammys’ biggest surprises, and she received her first win for best R&B performance for her “Best Part” song with Daniel Caesar.\n\n6:13 p.m.: Shaggy, one of the hosts of the premiere ceremony, took home the best reggae album award for his album with Sting, “44/876.” “It’s an honor to be nominated. ... but it’s better to win. I want to thank my partner in crime, Sting, you said we were gonna do it, so we did it. You made this feel like the best project I’ve ever worked on.\n\n6:01: Rashida Jones spoke about her “Quincy” documentary backstage, talking about how making the film helped her understand father Quincy Jones' intense work ethic. “I did get a sense of his powers and see how he works himself to the edge and not kill himself and work another decade. ... Living with him and watching him work so hard was really difficult,” she said about growing up with her father. “But seeing him do that time and again (as part of making the film) was a relief.”\n\nAs for whether she ever thought she’d be winning a Grammy of her own: “Definitely not,” she said. “It’s so nice that I get to share this with my dad. ... This is his 28th Grammy and to have my first be his 28th, I’ll take it.”\n\n5:54: Backstage, “This Is America” director Hiro Murai declined to break down what exactly he and his team were trying to communicate with the video’s meaning. “We’ve been avoiding getting too granular about the meaning of the video, but it was very much a collaborative effort,” he said. “(The song) felt like all the things, it’s not just about injustice or tragedy, but there’s also an irony in the track, and also some joy.”\n\n5:37: Best pop vocal album, always a competitive Grammys race, goes to “Sweetener” by Ariana Grande, who very publicly stated earlier in the week that she would not be attending the awards after sparring with Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich.\n\nMore:Ariana Grande says 'thank u, next' to Grammys 2019 drama, wins best pop vocal album\n\n5:34:Lady Gaga wins a non-\"Star is Born” award for best pop solo performance, claiming the prize for “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?).”\n\n5:32:Kacey Musgraves wins her second Grammy of the night for best country song for “Space Cowboy,” with co-songwriters Luke Laird and Shane McAnally taking the stage on her behalf. “Kacey is one of the greatest songwriters and artists of a generation, and to even sit in a room with her is an honor,” McAnally said.\n\n5:30: First-time winners Dan + Shay win the country duo/group performance for “Tequila.” “That’s the beautiful thing about Nashville, about country music,” Dan Smyers told the crowd. “We’re all a family, we all root for each other.”\n\n5:28: Kacey Musgraves, another artist nominated for multiple nominees tonight, wins the country solo performance category for “Butterflies,” though she isn’t in the auditorium to accept.\n\nRelated:Kacey Musgraves' 'Golden Hour' may be 2018's best album yet\n\n5:25: “Quincy,” the documentary about the life of Quincy Jones, takes home the best music film award, with Jones’ daughter Rashida Jones taking the stage with co-director Alan Hicks and producer Paula DuPré Pesmen. “No one’s career has had quite the same impact on culture decade after decade as my father has,” she said. “What underscores his unstoppable drive ... is his enormous heart and faith in humanity.\n\nJaw-dropping Netflix doc:Quincy Jones shows he's been 'kicking booty every decade'\n\n5:23: The best music video category goes to “This Is America,” with its artist Childish Gambino not in attendance to accept the award. “I accept this on behalf of Donald and everyone who worked on this production,” the video’s director Hiro Murai told the crowd.\n\n5:17: Backstage, Fantastic Negrito talks about his win for best contemporary blues album, which he won for the second year in a row. “I love how white people get nervous, when they say, ‘Fantastic Neg…’” he joked. “It’s Spanish, it’s OK.”\n\n5:11: Buddy Guy addressed why he thinks blues is an underserved genre, speaking to reporters backstage. “They’ve been treating blues like a stepchild for the last 20, 30 years,” he said. “Some of the lyrics (may have seemed) unfit until hip-hop came out, and now you can say whatever the hell you want. Blues lyrics are about good times and bad times, and other music says the same things.”\n\n5:00: Former President Jimmy Carter wins the award for best spoken word album for “Faith – A Journey For All,” marking his third win in the category.\n\n5:00: Backstage, “Greatest Showman” producer Alex Lacamoire says winning awards wasn’t on the team’s mind when they were building the soundtrack. “It’s not one of the things I think about when you’re making these things,” he said. “It’s just about making the best product possible.”\n\n'Greatest Showman':How a pop-culture punchline became the year's best-selling album\n\n4:48: Buddy Guy accepts the award for best traditional blues album for “The Blues is Alive and Well” to a major round of applause. “I love this standing ovation,” he says. “I don’t get this too often! I thank everybody for supporting the blues.”\n\n4:45: Maybe she just shouldn’t sit down. Brandi Carlile returns for a third straight win, for Americana album for “By the Way, I Forgive You,” taking the stage with songwriter Dave Cobb. “Dave, say something!” she exclaims.\n\nBrandi Carlile:Dolly Parton crashed into Studio A\n\n4:42: Brandi Carlile returns to the stage for the very next category, taking home the trophy for American roots song for “The Joke,” delivering a second, moving speech.\n\n“Americana music is the island of the misfit toys. I am such a misfit. … I came out of the closet at 15 when I was in high school, and I can assure you I was never invited to any parties (or) school dances. To be embraced by this community has been the dance of a lifetime. Thank you for being my island.”\n\n4:39: Brandi Carlile, the 2019 Grammys’ most-nominated female artist, wins her first Grammy of the day for American roots performance for “The Joke.” “It’s our first Grammy!” she tells the crowd. “This means so much to me. ... I’m violently shaking right now.”\n\n4:30: “Shallow,” the multi-nominated song from “A Star Is Born,” wins its first award for best song written for visual media, awarded to songwriters Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.\n\nRelated:Good luck getting Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper's 'Shallow' out of your head\n\n4:29: “Black Panther” takes home its first award of the night for best score soundtrack for visual media, for composer Ludwig Göransson.\n\n4:26:“The Greatest Showman” producers Alex Lacamoire, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Greg Wells win the prize for best compilation soundtrack for visual media, marking Pasek and Paul’s second career Grammys win.\n\n'Greatest Showman':How a pop-culture punchline became the year's best-selling album\n\n4:18: Tori Kelly wins her second Grammy of the afternoon for best gospel album for “Hiding Place,” thanking gospel musician Kirk Franklin for the win. “He took me under his wing and saw the passion I had for gospel and the Lord. ... Kirk, I love you so much,” she said. “I’m sharing this with you.”\n\n4:13: The Roots’ Questlove, the premiere ceremony’s next presenter, awards the best gospel performance trophy to Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly. “I dreamed about this since I was a kid; this is kind of insane,” Kelly tells the crowd. “I just love gospel music so much ... and I have to thank Jesus, thank you for everything.”\n\n4:02: Beck wins his second award this year, for engineered album, non-classical, for “Colors.” As his production team takes the stage, one of the winning producers, Emily Lazar, announces that her win marks the first time a woman took home an award in this category.\n\n3:57: Weird Al Yankovic wins the boxed or special limited edition package category for his “Squeeze Box” compilation, taking the stage and joking to the crowd, “I kind of have been playing the long game. I never really wanted to be a recording artist. (I’ve been doing this) for 46 years, so one day I could win a Grammy for being an art director.”\n\n3:47: Beck claims the best alternative music album category, marking his sixth career Grammys win, his first since winning album of the year for his “Morning Phase” album at the 2015 awards.\n\n3:46: “The Band’s Visit,” 2018’s Emmy-winning best musical, continues its storied run by taking home the prize for best musical theater album.\n\n3:45: The first of the day’s awards, best comedy album, goes to “Equanimity and the Bird Revelation” by Dave Chappelle, who is not in attendance to accept his prize.\n\n3:40: The Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony pre-awards kicked off with Recording Academy chair John Poppo introducing Shaggy, the pre-awards host, who is also nominated in the best reggae album category. Amusingly, instead of just rattling off the rules of the pre-show – like keeping speeches to 45 seconds or less – Shaggy chose to sing them instead over a reggae beat, reminding the afternoon’s future winners, “Don’t sit like you ain’t got a clue / Get up here and collect what’s due.”\n\nMore:List of 2019 Grammy Awards nominations\n\nCritic's picks:Who will win the night's biggest awards and who should\n\nHow to watch:Everything you need to know about the 61st annual show", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/02/10"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/02/05/spy-balloon-shot-down-grammys-record-cold-temps-weekends-news/11191134002/", "title": "Spy balloon shot down, Grammys, record cold temps: This ...", "text": "Editors\n\nUSA TODAY\n\nUS downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina coast\n\nFour days after entering U.S. territory, a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, Pentagon officials announced. The balloon, which carried a large payload of spy gear according to U.S. officials, had soared over several strategic sites, including nuclear missile silos, and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing. An F-22 warplane struck the balloon with a missile about 6 nautical miles off the coast in U.S. territorial waters, according to Pentagon officials. Recovery efforts immediately began. Chinese officials, who claim the balloon was collecting weather data and had been blown off course, said that the country has the right to \"take further actions\" against the U.S. for taking down the balloon.\n\nBeyoncé breaks Grammys all-time wins record\n\nBeyoncé now is truly the queen – of the Grammys. By winning the best electronic/dance album Grammy midway through Sunday's telecast, the singer brought her 22-year total to 32, topping the 31 statues claimed by legendary Hungarian conductor Georg Solti and making her the all-time awards champ of the Recording Industry Association of America. Solti died in 1997. More history was made earlier in the evening when Sam Smith and Kim Petras won the award for best pop duo/group performance for their hit, \"Unholy.\" With the win, Petras became the first transgender woman to win in the category. For more on Sunday's Grammys, see the latest winners and highlights here.\n\nBrutally honest reviews of every Grammys 2023 performance , including Brandi Carlile, Bad Bunny\n\n, including Brandi Carlile, Bad Bunny 2023 Grammy winners: See which stars took home the gold, from Harry Styles to Beyoncé\n\nNew Hampshire may have seen coldest recorded wind chill in US history\n\nBitter cold temperatures hit record-breaking lows in the Northeast over the weekend. The wind chill — what the temperature feels like — on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, dropped to minus 108 F on Friday. That's likely the lowest wind chill ever recorded in the United States since meteorologists began calculating them, said climate scientist Brian Brettschneider. The temperature on Mount Washington dropped as low as minus 46 degrees F on Friday night, with 97 mph winds, the National Weather Service said. The Arctic blast has been blamed for at least one death, when high winds brought down a tree branch that crushed a vehicle in Massachusetts and killed an infant riding inside. The region saw a dramatic warmup Sunday, however, with highs in the 30s and 40s.\n\nPolar vortex releases grip: From zero to 60 in days as Northeast warms up\n\nReal quick\n\nEx-Pakistan President Musharraf, key supporter of US after 9/11, dies\n\nPervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan who provided crucial support to the U.S.-led \"war on terror\" following the 9/11 attacks, has died at 79, the Pakistan military announced Sunday. No cause of death was revealed, but Musharraf had been battling a rare disease and was being treated at a hospital in Dubai, Pakistani media reported. Musharraf seized power in 1999 from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup, and served as president of the country until 2008. He was a close ally of the U.S. and President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks, but his partnership with Washington during its military intervention in neighboring Afghanistan drew mixed reviews at home.\n\nDemocrats shake up 2024 primary calendar\n\nDemocrats on Saturday approved a plan to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar in an effort to amplify diverse voices earlier in the presidential selection process. Overruling objections from two states that have traditionally held the first contests, Iowa and New Hampshire, the national party greenlit a schedule that moves South Carolina to the front of the line. The revamped calendar elevates Nevada to the second position alongside New Hampshire and welcomes Georgia and Michigan to the early primary window for the first time.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2023/01/05/vikings-look-to-steady-themselves-for-playoffs-against-bears/51137433/", "title": "Vikings look to steady themselves for playoffs against Bears", "text": "AP\n\nCHICAGO (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings come into the regular-season finale with the NFC North championship secured, a home game in the playoffs guaranteed and a bitter taste in their mouths.\n\nA lopsided loss last week left them staggering. They hope to steady themselves before the playoffs start.\n\nThe Vikings will try to do just that when they visit the Chicago Bears to close out the regular season on Sunday.\n\n“Momentum is real, and it’s really big in the playoffs,\" defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said.\n\nThe Vikings (12-4) won't have to contend with Justin Fields, after Bears coach Matt Eberflus announced the electrifying quarterback will miss the final game because of a strained hip and Nathan Peterman will start in his place. Chicago (3-13) comes in with nine straight losses after getting blown out at Detroit last week and a chance to become the first team in franchise history to drop 14 games in a season.\n\nThis would seem like a good opportunity for the Vikings to find their footing coming off a 41-17 beatdown at Green Bay.\n\nThe Vikings are all but guaranteed the No. 3 seed in the NFC. They can't finish ahead of the NFC East champion, be it Philadelphia or Dallas. They would need struggling Arizona to beat San Francisco to have a shot at the second seed.\n\n“I think to get that bad taste out of our mouth is something that would be really good to do,\" said Kirk Cousins, who threw three interceptions and lost a fumble last week. \"No one’s just going to let that happen. We got to go earn it and play well enough to do that.”\n\nSHOT AT TOP SPOT\n\nThe Bears assured themselves a top-four draft pick and have a shot at the No. 1 selection. The only team with a worse record is Houston (2-13-1).\n\n“When you look at the wins and losses and that sort of thing, that’s disappointing obviously,” Eberflus said. “But you see the progress. To me, it’s about foundational floor. You see that.\"\n\nLINE SHUFFLE\n\nThe Vikings suffered a big blow last week when center Austin Schlottman, who already was filling in for the injured Garrett Bradbury, broke his lower leg in the first quarter. A few minutes later, right tackle Brian O’Neill hurt his calf and partially tore his Achilles. Bradbury has missed four straight games and primary backup tackle Blake Brandel is on injured reserve with a torn MCL in his knee. Bradbury and Brandel are on track to return for the playoffs, but for now against the Bears, all signs point to Chris Reed holding down the fort at center and Oli Udoh subbing at right tackle.\n\nO’Neill, who is in his fifth year, had never before missed a game due to injury.\n\n“We’ve had a lot of very, very strong outings and high moments, but even during some of the moments where we weren’t at our best, Brian was still so consistent for us in his role,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I just think it’s going to be a hard thing to replace.”\n\nFOR STARTERS\n\nPeterman shrugged off the idea the Bears are jockeying for draft positioning by holding out Fields.\n\n“I’m very focused on going out there, playing great and winning a football game,\" he said. \"That’s all you can do every time you go out there. I’m excited. Trying not to listen to the outside noise too much.”\n\nPeterman is set to make his fifth career start and first since 2018. He almost got the call in Week 12 at the New York Jets.\n\nFields was sidelined because of a separated shoulder. Backup Trevor Siemian suffered an oblique injury in warmups, and the Bears announced Peterman would start in his place, only to reverse course. Siemian played through the injury, which required season-ending surgery.\n\nFIRMER FOOTING\n\nThe Vikings hosted the Bears in the regular-season finale in five of the last six years under the translucent U.S. Bank Stadium roof. Now the venue is reversed, with the Vikings playing in Chicago to close the regular season for the first time since 1971 and after November for only the second time since 2009. The Vikings ought to be prepared for the often-rough Soldier Field playing surface; they had frequent trouble with traction at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field last week.\n\nO’Connell said after that game the staff “strongly recommended” that players use 7-stud cleats for maximum grip, but some of them – including wide receiver Justin Jefferson – didn’t switch until they started slipping during the game.\n\n“Hopefully it’s a learning lesson for all of us that we don’t need to go through some of that early to rectify the problem,” O’Connell said.\n\nNO RECORD\n\nFields finished his second season with 1,143 yards rushing, 63 shy of the record of 1,206 set by Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in 2019 during his MVP season. He is sixth overall in rushing and is averaging a league-leading 7.1 yards per carry.\n\n___\n\nAP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/01/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/09/22/rolling-stone-new-500-greatest-albums-marvin-gaye-beach-boys/3495555001/", "title": "Beach Boys, Beatles, Beyoncé top Rolling Stone's new 500 Greatest ...", "text": "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list has been revamped.\n\nThe pop culture magazine's original list was published in 2003 and despite the fact that almost two decades have passed, the list remains wildly popular and polarizing, with nearly 63 million readers last year alone, according to Rolling Stone.\n\nBut times have changed, the music industry has evolved and some of today's emerging musicians were just children in 2003. (Grammy winner Billie Eilish was only 2.) So it was time for a complete overhaul.\n\n\"The goal wasn't to update the list but blow it up and re-create it from scratch, reflecting both the canon of pop music and the ever-shifting currents of taste,\" Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine wrote Tuesday.\n\nPost Maloneleads 2020 Billboard Music Awards nominations with 16 nods\n\nRolling Stone tallied more than 300 ballots from music industry professionals and musicians, including votes from Beyoncé (on the list at No. 32 with \"Lemonade\" and No. 81 with \"Beyoncé\") and Taylor Swift, (No. 99 with \"Red and No. 393 with \"1989\").\n\nThe end result is a mix of classics (The Notorious B.I.G.'s \"Ready to Die\" at No. 22, Aretha Franklin's \"I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You\" at No. 13 and The Rolling Stones' \"Exile on Main Street\" at No. 14.) and music from the 21st century (Kendrick Lamar's \"To Pimp a Butterfly\" at No. 19, Amy Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" at No. 33 and Eilish's \"When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?\" at No. 397).\n\nThe new list of 500 Greatest Albums includes 154 new entries and 86 albums from the 21st century. It also reflects more inclusion and diverse genres, with \"three times as many rap albums represented on the new list as on the original.\"\n\nLive Nation is converting music venues 'sitting empty right now' into polling sites\n\nHere are the Top 10 Greatest Albums of All Time, according to Rolling Stone:\n\n10. Lauryn Hill, 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'\n\nReleased on Aug. 25, 1998, “Miseducation” is Hill’s first and only solo studio album and was a defining release of its era in multiple ways. It was the album that made Hill a star, breaking the record for first-week sales by a female artist with 400,000-plus copies, and earning Hill 10 Grammy nominations and five wins, the most for a female artist at that time.\n\n'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' is still relevant to power and pain of womanhood\n\n9. Bob Dylan, 'Blood on the Tracks'\n\nDylan's true masterpiece of an album, \"Blood on the Tracks,\" was released on Jan. 20, 1975. It was recorded at a pivotal time in Dylan's personal life (romantic entanglements and divorce) and career (a \"comeback\" record of sorts).\n\nDad Rock podcast: 'Blood on the Tracks' turns 40 in 2015\n\n8. Prince and the Revolution, 'Purple Rain'\n\nReleased on June 25, 1984, \"Purple Rain\" was Prince's first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 24 consecutive weeks on top. Hit singles include \"When Doves Cry,\" \"Let's Go Crazy,\" \"Purple Rain\" and \"I Would Die 4 U.\"\n\n7. Fleetwood Mac, 'Rumours'\n\nReleased on Feb. 4, 1977, the band's trailblazing \"Rumours\" sold 40 million copies worldwide, held Billboard's No. 1 spot for 31 weeks and spawned top 10 hits \"Dreams,\" \"Don't Stop,\" \"Go Your Own Way\" and \"You Make Loving Fun.\"\n\n\"Thank you, @rollingstone, for naming 'Rumours' as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time!\" the rock band tweeted in response.\n\n6. Nirvana, 'Nevermind'\n\nReleased on Sept. 24, 1991, \"Nevermind\" was more than just another rock album. It gave a voice to a generation looking to be heard, hammering the final nail into hair metal’s coffin while placing alternative rock at the forefront of popular music.\n\n'Nevermind' turns 25 in 2016: Ranking the songs on Nirvana's classic album\n\n5. The Beatles, 'Abbey Road'\n\nThe most influential band of the 1960s – and all of rock ‘n’ roll, many say – released their swan song in 1969. Made over the course of sporadic studio sessions in spring and summer 1969 that gathered the group together amid their slow dissolve, “Abbey Road” was released just days after the meeting of the band members where John Lennon informed them of his plans to split.\n\nIt was released on Sept. 26, 1969.\n\n'Abbey Road' turns 50: All the album's songs, ranked\n\n4. Stevie Wonder, 'Songs in the Key of Life'\n\nReleased on Sept. 28, 1976, \"Songs\" is one of the most influential albums released in an especially fruitful time for Wonder in particular and R&B in general. It includes the enduring hits \"Sir Duke,\" \"I Wish\" and \"Isn't She Lovely?\" and additional classics such as \"Knocks Me Off My Feet,\" \"Black Man\" and \"Pastime Paradise.\"\n\n3. Joni Mitchell, 'Blue'\n\nReleased on June 22, 1971, \"Blue\" features \"All I Want,\" \"My Old Man,\" \"Little Green,\" and \"Carey.\"\n\n2. The Beach Boys, 'Pet Sounds'\n\nReleased on May 16, 1966, \"Pet Sounds\" features \"Sloop John B,\" \"Wouldn't It Be Nice,\" \"God Only Knows\" and \"Caroline, No.\"\n\n1. Marvin Gaye, 'What's Going On'\n\n“What’s Going On,” a poignant musical masterpiece crafted in a season of unease, persists as a timely backdrop to another heated summer, half a century later, when the world feels upside down.\n\nMarvin Gaye's 'What's Going On'is still relevant and revealing, 50 years later\n\nRacial tensions, police controversy, environmental anxieties, a globe on edge – they were the topics on the front burner when Gaye rebooted his musical career and took control of his creative vision inside Motown.\n\nThe song with the silky, layered vocals and an emphatic protest message was topical when Gaye cut it in 1970. It was still relevant when a newly freed Nelson Mandela recited its lyrics for a packed Tiger Stadium in 1990. And it resonates in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police — the 8 minutes and 46 seconds stark enough to slice their way into a pandemic lockdown.\n\n\"What's Going On\" was No. 6 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list. That year's No. 1, The Beatles' \"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,\" dropped to No. 24 on the new list.\n\nRolling Stone's full list can be viewed here.\n\nContributing: Maeve McDermott, Adam Woodard, Patrick Foster, Jim Lenahan, Edna Gundersen, Elysa Gardner and Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/09/22"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_11", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/08/zelenskyy-visits-uk-ukraine-russia-invasion/11210334002/", "title": "Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy visits UK, first time since Russia invasion", "text": "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the U.K. on Wednesday for the first time since Russia's invasion, a rare trip out of his war-torn country.\n\nZelenskyy met U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and addressed Parliament in a bid for more military aid in the form of advanced weapons and \"wings for freedom\" fighter jets as Ukraine prepares for expected spring offensives by Russian forces.\n\nFor the first time, Sunak said he's open to the idea of providing fighter jets. “Nothing is off the table,” he said at a joint news conference at a British army base. “We must arm Ukraine in the short term, but we must bolster Ukraine for the long term.”\n\nIt is Zelenskyy's second known trip outside Ukraine since Russia's invasion nearly a year ago, after his December visit to the U.S.\n\nOn Wednesday night, Zelenskyy arrived in Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Zelenskyy will also visit Brussels, where leaders from the 27-nation bloc are holding a summit Thursday, Macron's office confirmed.\n\nDevelopments:\n\n►Zelensky visited Buckingham Palace and met with King Charles. The royal family posted a photo of the men shaking hands on Twitter.\n\n►French President Emmanuel Macron was to meet with Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris later Wednesday, the Élysée Palace said. Zelenskyy also is expected to visit Brussels, where leaders from the 27-nation bloc are holding a summit Thursday, but no announcement had been made.\n\n►British Foreign Minister James Cleverly announced new sanctions against Russian President Vladimir \"Putin’s inner circle and producers of Russia's warfare equipment,\" adding that, \"Putin is desperate. He will not succeed.\"\n\nGRAPHICS:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nRUSSIA, OLYMPICS:Russia's path to 2024 Olympics takes shape, Ukraine objects\n\nUK moves closer to providing Ukraine with fighter jets\n\nZelenskyy, wearing his trademark olive sweatshirt, presented the speaker of the House of Commons with a Ukrainian air force helmet inscribed by a Ukrainian pilot: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”\n\nThe U.S., U.K and other allies have been reluctant to provide advanced fighter jets, citing the complexity of the aircraft and concerns over escalating the war. But in a shift, the British government said Wednesday that it was “actively looking” at whether Ukraine could be sent Western jets and was “in discussion with our allies” about it.\n\nSunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said the government was exploring what jets might be provided over the coming years but had not made a decision on whether to send its F-35 or Typhoon jets.\n\n“We think it is right to provide both short-term equipment … that can help win the war now but also look to the medium-to-long term to make sure Ukraine has every possibility it requires,” he said.\n\nZelenskyy addresses UK Parliament, asks for jets\n\nZelenskyy asked allies to send \"combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom\" as hundreds of lawmakers and staff packed into Westminster Hall for his address.\n\nZelenskyy also urged stronger sanctions against Russia and thanked Britain for its aid.\n\n\"London has stood with Kyiv since Day One,\" he said, handing over a combat helmet as a thank-you to Britain. The helmet was inscribed by a Ukrainian pilot with the words, “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”\n\nUK announces pilot, marine training program for Ukraine\n\nZelenskyy's visit coincides with Sunak announcing that Britain will expand training for Ukrainian fighter jet pilots and marines \"as part of long-term investment in their military,\" according to a statement from the prime minister's office.\n\nBritain pledged to train Ukrainian pilots on \"NATO standard fight jets,\" but the U.K. has been reluctant to meet Ukraine's request for allies to send warplanes.\n\n\"I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,\" Sunak said in a statement. \"It also underlines our commitment to not just provide military equipment for the short term, but a long-term pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for years to come.\"\n\nUS MILITARY AID:As Biden seeks to avoid wider war, M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine escalates conflict\n\nThe U.K. is one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters and has sent the country more than $2.5 billion in aid. More than 10,000 Ukrainian troops have trained at U.K. bases, and Britain said 20,000 more will do so this year. Last week, a group of Ukrainians arrived in the U.K. to learn to operate Challenger 2 tanks Britain is supplying.\n\nThe U.K. also announced a series of sanctions Wednesday against six entities it said provided equipment to the Russian military.\n\nZelenskyy keeps busy itinerary in UK\n\nZelenskyy arrived at London Stansted airport on a Royal Air Force plane as Sunak greeted him. Sunak tweeted a photo of the two embracing on the tarmac.\n\n\"The United Kingdom was one of the first to come to Ukraine’s aid. And today I’m in London to personally thank the British people for their support,\" Zelenskyy said on Instagram.\n\nZelenskyy and Sunak traveled to Downing Street amid a large convoy of vehicles before briefly posing for photos in front of the famous black door that leads into the U.K. prime minister's residence.\n\nZelenskyy started the meeting by thanking Britain for its \"big support from the first days of full-scale invasion.\" He also met with King Charles, U.K. military chiefs and Ukrainian troops training in Britain.\n\nIOC resists pressure to ban Russian, Belarusian athletes from Paris Games\n\nAs the push against allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in next year's Summer Games in Paris gains support, the International Olympic Committee continues to resist.\n\nOn Wednesday, Olympic leaders said they don't intend to have Russian and Belarusian delegations at the event. Instead, the IOC plans for those countries' qualifying competitors who have not actively supported the war in Ukraine to participate as “neutral athletes” without a national identity such as team uniforms, flags and anthems.\n\nZelenskyy and many political and sports figures have advocated for extending to the Paris Games the ban initially applied in most Olympic sports to participants from Russia and Belarus, imposed shortly after the war began last February.\n\n“It is not possible to parade as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation that comes to Paris while the bombs continue to rain down on Ukraine,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Tuesday, drawing the IOC response.\n\nUS MILITARY AID:Ukraine to get 45 top battle tanks from US, Germany. How they will aid in war with Russia\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/27/ukraine-russia-invasion-live-updates/6960680001/", "title": "Ukraine agrees to meet with Russia Monday; Belarus could join ...", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Sunday, Feb. 27. Click here to follow the latest updates and news from Monday, Feb. 28, as Russia's invasion continues.\n\n***\n\nWhile Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s nuclear weapons on high alert, more support poured in for Ukraine in its ongoing effort to fend off Russian forces, which on Sunday reached the second-largest Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.\n\nThe European Union announced unprecedented new actions against Russia, outlining plans to close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund a weapons purchase to assist Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets, while the Associated Press reported the United States approved the delivery of anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to Ukraine.\n\nWestern powers in support of Ukraine could soon be joined by Switzerland, an oftentimes neutral country that on Monday is set to review potential sanctions and asset freezes against Russia, said President Ignazio Cassis via Reuters. Cassis said it was “very probable” the country would follow suit, the outlet reported.\n\nThe office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said a delegation would meet with Russian officials for talks near the Belarus border. The discussion was expected to happen Monday morning local time, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Evgeny Yenin via CNN.\n\nAlso Monday, both the 193-member U.N. General Assembly and the smaller, 15-member Security Council plan to hold emergency meetings on Russia’s invasion.\n\nMeanwhile, Putin’s order to make his nuclear weapons more ready for launch – made Sunday in response to “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers and economic sanctions by the West – represents an unnecessary and dangerous move, according to the Pentagon.\n\nA senior Defense Department official said Russia is under no threat from the United States and its NATO allies. The Pentagon is confident it can protect the U.S. and its allies, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.\n\nRussia’s invasion of Ukraine is heading towards a fifth day of fighting. According to the Associated Press, Russian troops entered Kharkiv on Sunday, where videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across the city and a vehicle burning on the street. Residents were urged to stay inside.\n\nThe troops in Kharkiv arrived after Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine, targeting airfields and fuel facilities. Two large explosions rocked an area south of the capital just before 1 a.m. local time. Zelenskyy’s office said one of the blasts was near the Zhuliany airport and the other blast hit an oil depot about 25 miles south of the capital, according to the mayor of Vasylkiv via the AP. Russian forces also blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian president's office.\n\nUkrainian officials said Sunday the civilian death toll has reached 352.\n\nA few things to catch you up on:\n\nTHE NEWS COMES TO YOU: Get the latest updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here.\n\nWHY IS RUSSIA INVADING UKRAINE? Could this be the start of WWIII? We explain.\n\nBACK IN THE STATES: What is the draft? And can it ever be reinstated here?\n\nBANNED FROM SWIFT?: How banning Russia from the world banking system could impact the country\n\nRussian Central Bank tries to stop ruble's free fall\n\nRussia’s Central Bank has sharply raised its key rate from 9.5% to 20% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent the run of banks amid crippling Western sanctions over the Russian war in Ukraine.\n\nThe bank’s action follows the Western decision Sunday to freeze its hard currency reserves in an unprecedented move that could have devastating consequences for the country’s financial stability. It was unclear exactly what share of Russia’s estimated $640 billion hard currency coffers will be paralyzed by the move, but European officials said that at least half of it will be affected.\n\nThe move will dramatically raise pressure on the ruble by undermining the financial authorities’ ability to conduct hard currency interventions to prevent the ruble from sinking further and triggering high inflation. The ruble has sharply dived in early Monday trading.\n\nThe Central Bank also ordered a slew of measures to help the banks cope with the crisis by infusing more cash into the system and easing restrictions for banking operations. At the same time, it temporarily barred non-residents from selling the government obligations to help ease the pressure on ruble from panicky foreign investors eager to cash out.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nMore:The enigma of Vladimir Putin: What do we really know about Russia's leader?\n\nDalai Lama pleas for peace in Ukraine\n\nThe Dalai Lama on Monday pleaded for peace and \"mutual understanding,\" and said he was \"deeply saddened\" by the war in Ukraine.\n\n\"War is outdated – non-violence is the only way. We need to develop a sense of the oneness of humanity by considering other human beings as brothers and sisters,\" the spiritual leader said on his website. \"This is how we will build a more peaceful world.\"\n\nThe Nobel peace prize winner also said any problems and disagreements are best resolved through dialogue. \"Genuine peace comes about through mutual understanding and respect for each other's well-being,\" he said.\n\nHe also said he hopes peace is swiftly restored.\n\n\"We must not lose hope,\" he said. \"The 20th century was a century of war and bloodshed. The 21st century must be a century of dialogue.\"\n\n-- Terry Collins\n\nTwo United Nations sessions scheduled for Monday\n\nThe U.N.’s two major bodies -- the 193-nation General Assembly and the more powerful 15-member Security Council -- will hold separate meetings Monday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a reflection of widespread international demands for an immediate cease-fire and escalating concern for the plight of millions of Ukrainians caught up in the war.\n\nThe Security Council gave a green light Sunday for the first emergency session of the General Assembly in decades. It will give all U.N. members an opportunity to speak about the war Monday and vote on a resolution later in the week that U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said would “hold Russia to account for its indefensible actions and for its violations of the U.N. Charter.”\n\nFrench Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere announced that the Security Council will hold a meeting Monday afternoon on the humanitarian impact of Russia’s invasion, a session sought by French President Emmanuel Macron to ensure the delivery of aid to growing numbers of those in need in Ukraine.\n\nBoth meetings follow Russia’s veto Friday of a Security Council resolution demanding that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops. The vote was 11-1, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nMore:Ukraine athletes defend country, demand sanctions for Russia\n\nU.S. Embassy in Ukraine: departing the country may take up to 30 hours\n\nThe U.S. Embassy in Ukraine is now urging U.S citizens in Ukraine to try leaving using private transportation options as leaving could in some cases take more than 30 hours.\n\nThe embassy said Sunday “conditions may deteriorate” in various parts of the country without any warning due to the escalating Russian invasion.\n\n“Careful consideration should be made to routes and the risks of travel because Ukraine’s roads are in many cases crowded, exposed to combat operations, and infrastructure such as bridges in some locations have been destroyed. Sheltering in place may remain the best option for some,” the embassy said on its website.\n\nFurthermore, embassy officials say that border crossings into neighboring Poland and all main crossing points into Moldova are overwhelmed.\n\n“Some are experiencing extremely long wait times (well over 30 hours in some cases),” the embassy said. “We recommend that, if possible, U.S. citizens consider redirecting to border crossings with Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, which are currently experiencing lower wait times to cross.”\n\nEmbassy officials also offered a series of tips including bringing enough food, water and warm clothing. They also urge citizens to carry hard copies of important documents as the U.S. government will not be able to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine.\n\n– Terry Collins\n\nMore:Satellite images show damaged airport in Hostomel following strikes\n\nRussian ruble sinks in early trading\n\nThe ruble sank nearly 26% against the U.S. dollar early Monday after Western nations moved to block Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment system.\n\nThe ruble was trading at a record low 105.27 per dollar, down from about 84 per dollar late Friday.\n\nOver the weekend, Japan joined the moves by the U.S. and other western nations to impose more sanctions against Russia.\n\nRestrictions on the Russian central bank target its access to more than $600 billion in reserves the Kremlin has at its disposal. They hinder Russia’s ability to support the ruble as it plunges in value.\n\nSanctions announced earlier had taken the Russian currency to its lowest level against the dollar in history.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nMore:What sanctions does Russia face? Here's a list by country\n\nUS official: Belarus may join Ukraine invasion\n\nA senior U.S. intelligence official says Belarus is expected to send troops into Ukraine as soon as Monday to fight alongside Russian forces that invaded Ukraine last week.\n\nBelarus has been providing support for Russia’s war effort but so far has not taken a direct part in the conflict.\n\nThe American official has direct knowledge of current U.S. intelligence assessments and says the decision by Belarus’ leader on whether to bring Belarus further into the war depends on talks between Russia and Ukraine happening in the coming days. The official spoke anonymously to discuss the sensitive information.\n\nRussian forces have encountered strong resistance from Ukraine defenders, and U.S. officials say they believe the invasion has been more difficult, and slower, than the Kremlin envisioned, though that could change as Moscow adapts.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nMore:There may be risk, but the U.S. will likely keep arming Ukraine even if Russia takes Kyiv\n\nRussia rendering Facebook unusable in some places\n\nRussia has apparently rendered Facebook largely unusable across leading Russian telecommunications providers amid rising friction between Moscow and the social media platform.\n\nThe London-based internet monitor NetBlocks reports that Facebook’s network of content-distribution servers in Russia was so badly restricted Sunday that “content no longer loads, or loads extremely slowly making the platforms unusable.”\n\nRussian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor on Friday announced plans to “partially restrict” access to Facebook. That same day, Facebook’s head of security policy had said the company was barring Russian state media from running ads or otherwise profiting on its platform anywhere in the world.\n\nFacebook says it has also refused a request by the Kremlin not to run fact checks related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the platform for users inside Russia.\n\nNetBlocks reported earlier that access to Twitter was similarly restricted Saturday. That was a day after Twitter said it was temporarily halting ads in both Ukraine and Russia.\n\nThe Twitter and Facebook restrictions can be circumvented inside Russia using VPN software, just as users do in mainland China.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nCanada will investigate Russian flight violating airspace ban\n\nCanada said it will launch an investigation into a Russian-based Aeroflot flight that entered Canadian airspace on Sunday and violated a ban on all Russian flights due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\n\"We are aware that Aeroflot flight 111 violated the prohibition put in place earlier today on Russian flights using Canadian airspace,\" Transport Canada said in a series of tweets. \"We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, NAVCAN, leading up to this violation.\n\n\"We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations,\" the agency added.\n\nEarlier Sunday, Omar Alghabra, Canada's transport minister, that the country's airspace was closed to all Russian aircraft operators.\n\n\"We will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine,” Alghabra tweeted.\n\n– Terry Collins\n\nBiden to hold a call with U.S. allies to discuss Ukraine, Russia\n\nPresident Joe Biden is scheduled to hold a call with U.S. allies on Monday morning to discuss the latest situation in Ukraine and their coordinated response, the White House said late Sunday.\n\nThe call is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. ET. The call comes after Biden ordered the U.S. State Department to release up to an additional $350 million worth of weapons from its stockpile to Ukraine on Friday.\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Saturday that this third authorization for weapons shipments to Ukraine in less than a year was \"unprecedented.\"\n\n– Terry Collins\n\nUkraine radioactive site in Kyiv struck by missiles, UN nuclear watchdog\n\nThe United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says missiles have struck a radioactive waste disposal site in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. So far there are no reports of damage to the buildings or indications of a release of radioactive material.\n\nIn a statement late Sunday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said Ukrainian authorities informed his office about the overnight strike. Grossi said his agency expects to get the results of on-site radioactive monitoring soon.\n\nThe report comes a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was damaged.\n\nSuch facilities typically hold low-level radioactive materials such as waste from hospitals and industry, but Grossi says the two incidents highlight a “very real risk.” Grossi said if the sites are damaged there could be “potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment.”\n\n– Associated Press\n\nJapanese billionaire to donate over $8 million to Ukraine\n\nJapanese billionaire Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani said he will donate over $8 million to the government of Ukraine, calling Russia’s invasion “a challenge to democracy.”\n\nMikitani, founder of e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc., said Sunday in a letter to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the donation of ¥1 billion (roughly $8.7 million) will go toward “humanitarian activities to help people in Ukraine who are victims of the violence,” the Japan Times reported.\n\nMikitani said he met with Zelenskyy during a visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in 2019.\n\n“My thoughts are with you and Ukraine people,” Mikitani wrote in his letter. “I believe that the trampling of a peaceful and democratic Ukraine by unjustified force is a challenge to democracy.\n\n“I sincerely hope that Russia and Ukraine can resolve this issue peacefully and that Ukraine people can have peace again as soon as possible,” Mikitani added.\n\n– Terry Collins\n\nRussia-Ukraine talks set for Monday\n\nThe office of Ukraine’s president confirmed that a delegation is set to meet with Russian officials as Moscow’s troops continue to target Kyiv.\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said on the Telegram messaging app that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border.\n\nABC and CNN, each citing Ukrainian officials, reported the talks would take place Monday, which matches a report from Russian state-owned news agency TASS that said the discussions would take place in the morning.\n\nThe announcement on Sunday came hours after Russia announced that its delegation had flown to Belarus to await talks. Ukrainian officials initially rejected the move, saying any talks should take place elsewhere than Belarus, where Russia has placed a large contingent of troops.\n\nLinda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, expressed hope for prospective peace talks.\n\n\"We'll look forward to what comes out of those discussions,\" Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday on CNN's \"State of the Union.\"\n\n– Associated Press, Jay Cannon and David Jackson\n\nBorrell: EU countries will soon send fighter jets to Ukraine\n\nEuropean Union countries will soon send fighter jets to Ukraine at the Kyiv government’s request to help it counter the Russian air and land assault, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday, according to the AFP news service.\n\n\"We're going to provide even fighting jets. We're not talking about just ammunition. We are providing more important arms to go to a war,\" Borrell said at a news conference.\n\nThe military transfer appeared imminent, according to Alexandre Krauss, a senior advisor to the EU Parliament.\n\n“Flying in #Ukraine skies within the hour,” Krauss tweeted at 3:38 p.m. ET, citing Borrell’s announcement.\n\nAccording to Borrell, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had asked the EU for the planes.\n\nCiting a person familiar with the talks, the Wall Street Journal reported that “discussions are still ongoing” and that any planes would be supplied directly by EU member states and not funded through an arrangement announced earlier for the EU to finance weapons deliveries to Ukraine.\n\nUrsula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, announced earlier in the day, that EU members were “stepping up our support for Ukraine. For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack. We are also strengthening our sanctions against the Kremlin.”\n\nThe announcement came as satellite imagery showed a massive convoy of Russian military vehicles – with some estimates of 3.25 miles long – moving toward Kyiv and about 40 miles away.\n\n– Josh Meyer\n\nUS Embassy in Kyiv: $54 million in humanitarian assistance on the way\n\nThe U.S. is giving nearly $54 million in humanitarian assistance for those affected by the Russian invasion, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced Sunday.\n\nThe funding, which comes as thousands of Ukrainians flee Russian invaders, was announced with \"the welfare of ordinary Ukrainians in mind,\" the embassy said in a statement. It includes nearly $26 million from the Department of State and $28 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development.\n\nMore than 200,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries and U.N. officials believe up to 4 million people could leave if fighting continues.\n\n– Jay Cannon\n\nUS to send anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to Ukraine, AP reports\n\nThe U.S. for the first time has approved the direct delivery of Stinger missiles to Ukraine as part of a package approved by the White House on Friday, the Associated Press reported.\n\nThe exact timing of delivery is not known, but officials say the U.S. is currently working on the logistics of the shipment. The officials agreed to discuss the development only if not quoted by name.\n\nFOR SUBSCRIBERS:There may be risk, but the US will likely keep arming Ukraine even if Russia takes Kyiv\n\nThe decision comes on the heels of Germany’s announcement that it will send 500 Stinger missiles and other weapons and supplies to Ukraine.\n\nThe high-speed Stingers are very accurate and are used to shoot down helicopters and other aircraft. Ukrainian officials have been asking for more of the powerful weapons.\n\nEstonia has also been providing Ukraine with Stingers since January, and had to get U.S. permission in order to do that.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nNeutral Switzerland 'probable' to hit Russia with financial sanctions, president says\n\nAfter days of fence-sitting, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said on Sunday it was \"very probable\" that neutral Switzerland would follow the European Union’s lead and sanction Russia and freeze Russian assets in the country.\n\nReuters reported that Cassis, who was interviewed on French-language Swiss public television, said the nation's seven-member Federal Council would meet Monday and review recommendations by finance and economy officials.\n\n\"It is very probable that the government will decide to do so tomorrow, but I cannot anticipate decisions not yet taken,\" Cassis said, via Reuters.\n\nSwitzerland, a global financial hub and commodities trading center – has so far resisted calls for it to levy sanctions and possibly freeze Russian assets, especially after the EU and U.S. announced sanctions.\n\n“The civilized, democratic world has to stand up to the biggest threat to European security and stability since the Second World War,” Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for EU external affairs, said on Friday. “It affects not only Ukraine. It affects Europe. Switzerland is part of Europe. So we expect our partner, our neighbor, our ally to follow suit in standing up for defending the principles on which our communities and countries are based.”\n\nThe oft-neutral country's potential move comes as a surprise to some.\n\n\"Switzerland to sanction Russia! Holy crap. A country that was neutral against the literal Nazis. Neutral no more!\" tweeted Paul Massaro, a counter-corruption advisor to the U.S. Congress.\n\nIt was not known immediately how many wealthy Russian elites, especially oligarchs close to Putin, have stashed money in Swiss banks, known for their strong privacy firewalls. But various leaks of banking documents over the years suggest they have a sizable amount invested in Switzerland.\n\nIn 2018, Swiss banks reportedly frozen $1 billion in the accounts of one oligarch alone – Russian metals tycoon Viktor Vekselberg – over fears that they could be fined for doing business with him after Washington levied sanctions against the businessman, the Moscow Times reported at the time.\n\n– Josh Meyer\n\nUS Embassy urges Americans in Russia to consider leaving 'immediately'\n\nThe U.S. Embassy in Moscow said Sunday that American citizens “should consider departing Russia immediately” because of the dramatic drop-off in airline service in and out of the country.\n\n“An increasing number of airlines are cancelling flights into and out of Russia, and numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines,” a security alert posted to the embassy’s website states. “U.S. citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available.”\n\nThe guidance comes after the EU's move to close its airspace to Russian airlines. Russian airline Aeroflot says it cancelled all flights to Europe.\n\nThe State Department had already advised Americans not to travel to Russia because of its aggression against Ukraine, as well as the potential harassment of U.S. citizens in the country and the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n– Deirdre Shesgreen\n\nUN emergency session scheduled for Monday\n\nThe U.N. Security Council has voted for the 193-member General Assembly to hold an emergency session on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday.\n\nThe vote on Sunday to authorize an emergency meeting was 11 in favor, Russia opposed, and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining. That was the exact same vote on a resolution Friday demanding that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops. But in that case, Russia used its veto and the resolution was defeated.\n\nUkrainian U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya asked for the General Assembly meeting to be held under the so-called “Uniting for Peace” resolution, initiated by the U.S. and adopted in November 1950 to circumvent vetoes by the Soviet Union during the Korean War.\n\nThat resolution gives the General Assembly the power to call emergency meetings when the Security Council is unable to act because of the lack of unanimity among its five veto-wielding permanent members – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nUkraine civilian death toll hits 352, officials say\n\nThe civilian death toll from Russia's invasion of Ukraine has risen to 352, including 14 children, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal affairs said Sunday. The ministry said 1,684 people had been injured.\n\nThe United Nations had announced the civilian death toll had reached 240 by Saturday, but stressed that the actual figure was potentially \"considerably higher.”\n\n– Jay Cannon\n\nUS urges Americans in Ukraine to find best exit routes\n\nOfficials with the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine issued a new advisory Sunday, telling Americans to choose departure routes very carefully if they are trying to flee.\n\n“Ukraine’s roads are in many cases crowded, exposed to combat operations, and infrastructure such as bridges in some locations has been destroyed,” the embassy said in a notice. “Sheltering in place may remain the best option for some.”\n\nMost border crossings into Poland and all main crossing points into Moldova “are severely backed up,” with extremely long wait times – in some cases, more than 30 hours, the embassy said.\n\n“We recommend that, if possible, U.S. citizens consider redirecting to border crossings with Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, which are currently experiencing lower wait times to cross,” the note says. “Note that conditions at each border can change very quickly and wait times can increase at any time without warning.”\n\n– Deirdre Shesgreen\n\nUPS, FedEx halt services in Russia\n\nShipping giants FedEx and UPS have suspended services to Russia amid the country’s military assault on Ukraine.\n\nUPS said it had halted all international shipments to addresses in Russia as of Feb. 25. FedEx said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and had suspended inbound service to Russia “until further notice.”\n\nBoth companies had already stopped service to Ukraine, after Russian troops invaded the neighboring country. Russian troops have now advanced well into Ukrainian territory, reaching its second largest city and encircling the capital, Kyiv.\n\n– Deirdre Shesgreen\n\nMcMaster: Putin got ‘more than he bargained for’\n\nFormer national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday that Ukrainians are doing a “tremendous job” defending the country against Russian military attacks.\n\n“I think Putin got a lot more than he bargained for. He's in a very difficult position. And I think anything we can do, obviously, financially, going after his international criminal enterprise with sanctions and so forth is important. But the support for Ukraine's ability to defend themselves is also important,” McMaster told Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”\n\nThe retired lieutenant general also said the seizure of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv is “not in the cards for the immediate future,” but acknowledged the next 72 hours are going to be “really critical.”\n\n– Chelsey Cox\n\nKyiv mayor: 'We are encircled'\n\nKYIV, Ukraine – As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv's mayor is both filled with pride over his citizens' spirit and anxious about how long they can hold out.\n\nIn an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, after a grueling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kyiv.\n\n“We can't do that, because all ways are blocked,” he finally said. “Right now we are encircled.\"\n\nWhen Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Thursday, the city of 2.8 million people initially reacted with concern but also a measure of self-possession. However, nerves started fraying when grocery stores began closing and the city's famously deep subway system turned its stations into bomb shelters.\n\nThe mayor confirmed to the AP that nine civilians in Kyiv had been killed so far, including one child.\n\nA Klitschko-ordered curfew began about sundown on Saturday and is to extend until at least 8 a.m. Monday. His order pointedly stated that any unauthorized person outside could be considered a saboteur.\n\n“We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,\" Klitschko explained, saying that six Russian “saboteurs” were killed Saturday night.\n\nIn the last few days, long queues of people — both men and women — were spotted waiting to pick up weapons throughout the capital, after authorities decided to distribute weapons freely to anybody ready to defend the city. There are concerns, however, about arming nervous civilians with little military experience amid warnings of Russian saboteurs disguised as Ukrainian police or journalists.\n\n“To be honest, we don't have 100% control,” said Klitschko. “We built this territorial defense in a short amount of time — but these are patriotic people.\"\n\n“Right now, the most important question is to defend our country,” he added.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nEU closing airspace to Russia\n\nThe top official in the European Union said the bloc will take unprecedented new steps after Russian President Vladimir Putin raised tensions with talk of nuclear weapons.\n\nThe EU will close its airspace to Russian airlines, including \"the private jets of oligarchs,\" said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.\n\n“We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU,” she said.\n\n\"For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack,” she added.\n\nThe EU will also ban pro-Kremlin media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik, she said.\n\nThe European Commission's plans followed the announcement earlier in the day that Germany was committing 100 billion euros ($113 billion) to a special armed forces fund and would keep its defense spending above 2% of GDP from now on. The shift underscored how Russia’s war on Ukraine was rewriting Europe’s post-World War II security and defense policy in ways that were unthinkable only a few weeks ago.\n\nThe EU’s plan to fund weapons purchases was unprecedented and would use millions of euros to help buy air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and other military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces. It would also supply things like fuel, protective gear, helmets and first aid kits.\n\n– Katie Wadington and AP\n\nOn nuclear deterrence:What is DEFCON? What's nuclear deterrence? What to know amid Putin's warning\n\nBP pulls out of Russian oil company\n\nOil giant BP will walk away from its nearly 20% stake in Russian oil company Rosneft, according to media reports.\n\nBP Chairman Helge Lund issued a statement announcing the exit, as well as the resignation of BP CEO Bernard Looney from the board of the Russian oil firm.\n\nBP has been a shareholder in Rosneft since 2013, according to the BBC.\n\nSen. Mark Warner: Putin’s invasion a major ‘miscalculation'\n\nSen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Putin “totally underestimated” the resolve of the Ukrainians and the support building worldwide for the Ukrainian people, describing the Russian invasion so far as a major “miscalculation.”\n\n“Remarkably what he's also been able to do his unify the vast majority of us in the Senate, Democrats, Republicans alike,” Warner said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And he’s going to pay a high price.”\n\nWarner said Putin over the past few years became “more and more isolated.”\n\n“When you are an authoritarian leader, and you’re only hearing from people that want to say to the boss, hey, you're right. I think that leads to miscalculation. I think that is what has happened in the case of this invasion in Ukraine.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nUS ambassador: No US 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine\n\nAs she made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made clear that the U.S. response to the invasion of Ukraine will not include American troops or air personnel.\n\n\"The president has made clear that we're not going to put boots on the ground,\" Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN's \"State of the Union.\"\n\nThomas-Greenfield said that mandate includes no patrols of any \"no-fly zone\" in the region.\n\nThe U.S. will provide whatever assistance it can to Ukraine, working with NATO partners, she said, but: \"We're not going to put American troops in danger. So that means we're not going to put American troops in the air as well. But we will work with the Ukrainians to give them the ability to defend themselves.”\n\n– David Jackson\n\nRussian troops stalled outside Kyiv\n\nThe main force of Russian assault aimed at Kyiv remained stalled Sunday about 18 miles from the city’s center, hindered by stiff Ukrainian resistance and Russia’s own problems providing fuel and supplies for its troops, according to a senior Defense Department official.\n\nThere are indications of some fighting inside Kyiv and that Russian troops in Ukrainian military uniforms have appeared there, said the official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.\n\nThe officials described Ukrainian resistance as stiff and creative around Kyiv and Kharkiv. Meantime, fuel shortages and logistics problems for Russian troops are most acute near Kharkiv.\n\nThe war is a major operation for Russia’s military, a complex mission that it does not have recent experience mounting, the official said. It’s unclear if the shortages in materials represent a failure in planning or execution. However, the official said Russian officers are expected to learn and adapt to its logistical problems.\n\nElsewhere in Ukraine, there are troubling indications that Russia is encircling the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, and could be planning to besiege it, the official said. There are increasing rocket attacks there, imprecise weapons that can kill civilians and damage infrastructure.\n\nOverall, Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed two-thirds of the combat forces he deployed against Ukraine is now inside the country, the official said.\n\nRussia has launched more 320 ballistic missiles into Ukraine during the four-day war. There are some indications that several ballistic missiles have failed to launch.\n\n– Tom Vanden Brook\n\nU.S.: Putin ‘can be assured’ of tougher sanctions\n\nLinda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Sunday the U.S. will continue to apply stiffer economic sanctions against Russia as Putin escalates fighting in Ukraine.\n\n\"We are continuing to assess what we can do moving forward,\" Thomas-Greenfield said on NBC’s \"Meet the Press.\" \"And the Russians can be assured that we will continue to put more and more sanctions as they continue to press more on the Ukrainian government.”\n\nU.S. and Western allies have cut some Russian banks out of the SWIFT financial system but stopped short of a complete removal.\n\n“They will feel the pain,” she said, adding there are also actions the U.N. can take.\n\n“We can isolate them. We can isolate them in the United Nations. We can isolate them in U.N. specialized agencies. They are feeling that isolation.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nNATO leader: Russia must make 'serious compromises' in peace talks\n\nNATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said if peace talks are to succeed, Russia must be willing to make \"serious compromises\" and \"respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.\"\n\nStoltenberg told CNN's \"State of the Union\" that Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on high alert is not a good sign.\n\nIt \"just adds to the very aggressive rhetoric\" of Russia, the NATO leader said.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nUkraine ambassador: Russia committing ‘war crimes’\n\nUkraine’s ambassador to the United States accused Russia of committing war crimes in its attack on her country.\n\nAmbassador Oksana Markarova said Sunday that Russian troops are using heavy missiles and heavy artillery to attack Ukraine’s infrastructure, as well as hospitals and kindergartens. Many children have been killed, and one entire family was shot in their car, she said.\n\n“Nothing is off limits to them,” Markarova said on ABC’s \"This Week.\" “What we see is a full-fledged war, with war crimes on the ground.”’\n\nAsked whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is safe, Markarova offered no information on his whereabouts but added, “He is as safe as our country.”\n\nShe spoke shortly after Zelenskyy’s office confirmed that a delegation will meet with Russian officials. Marakova said Ukraine is ready “for any peace talks that would stop the war and get them out from our country.” But the Ukrainians will not surrender, she said.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nCotton: West must stop ‘pussyfooting around’ on sanctions\n\nSen. Tom Cotton on Sunday called on the Biden administration and American businesses to provide “no support whatsoever” to Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.\n\n“We can do more than prayers and hashtags and lining up building storage,” he said on ABC’s \"This Week.\" “It's time for the president and some of our European partners to quit pussyfooting around.”\n\nCotton appealed to the Biden administration to increase its sanctions on Russian banks, arguing that while the administration says it has sanctioned 80% of Russian banks, Russian President Vladimir Putin “controls 100% of banks.”\n\nThe Arkansas Republican also blamed Western nations for underestimating Putin’s ambition.\n\nDespite a strong condemnation of Putin, Cotton stopped short of condemning former President Donald Trump, who has called Putin “smart” and his plan both “savvy” and “genius.” Cotton repeatedly said he does not speak for other politicians.\n\n– Ella Lee\n\n‘This is a different Putin’: Rice says Putin ‘erratic’\n\nFormer Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Russian President Vladimir Putin recent behavior is a departure from her past encounters with the “cold and calculating” leader.\n\n“This is a different Putin,” Rice, who served under former President George W. Bush, said on \"Fox News Sunday.\" “He seems erratic… He has descended into something I have not seen before.”\n\nWhile Rice said the prospect of peace talks was promising, she urged Ukraine to follow the advice of former President Ronald Reagan.\n\n“Trust but verify,” she said. “It’s always a good thing if there is a chance (at peace),” she said.\n\n– Kevin Johnson\n\nMore:A song of defiance: Ukraine's national anthem being heard all over the world\n\nPsaki: Putin 'manufacturing threats' to justify attack on Ukraine\n\nRussian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put nuclear deterrent forces on high alert is another example of the Russian leader “manufacturing threats” to justify aggression against Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday.\n\n“We’ve seen him do this time and time again,” Psaki said on ABC’s \"This Week.\" “At no time has Russia been under threat from NATO.”\n\n“This is all a pattern from President Putin,” Psaki said, “and we’re all going to stand up” to him.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nCondoleeza Rice: Putin faces unexpected reality in Ukraine\n\nFormer Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Russian President Vladimir Putin may have “bitten off more than he can chew” perhaps forcing early peace talks.\n\nRice, speaking on \"Fox News Sunday,\" said Putin likely believed that he could \"waltz\" into Ukraine.\n\n“But the reality has been quite different.”\n\n– Kevin Johnson\n\nRomney casts the war as a battle of 'good and evil'\n\nSen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, cast Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion as a battle of \"good and evil,\" and called for more sanctions on the \"evil regime\" of Vladimir Putin.\n\nSpeaking on CNN's \"State of the Union,\" Romney also said he hopes Putin will use potential peace talks with Ukraine as an opportunity to back off.\n\n\"He made a huge error,\" Romney said of Putin. \"This is not going well for him.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nMore:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\n‘A thug and despot’: Putin to feel pain of new financial sanctions\n\nRemoving Russia from a global banking network as part of a new round of sanctions “will make a big difference” in isolating the Kremlin, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.\n\nThe U.S. and its allies Saturday cut Russia from the key financial messaging network known as SWIFT, in an escalation of its sanctioning campaign.\n\nKlobuchar called Putin “a thug and a despot,” who misjudged the world’s reaction to Russia aggression.\n\n– Kevin Johnson\n\n'Unacceptable': Thomas-Greenfield says Putin escalating conflict in Ukraine\n\nU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday that Vladimir Putin’s decision to put nuclear deterrent forces on high alert indicates the Russian president is “continuing to escalate” the war in Ukraine in a way that is “unacceptable.”\n\nSpeaking on CBS’ \"Face the Nation,\" Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is using “every possible lever” to stop Russia’s invasion of its neighbor and that the U.N. Security Council will meet later Sunday.\n\n“I’m not surprised at this information because Putin has tried every means possible to actually put fear in the world in terms of his actions. It just means that we need to ramp up up our actions at the U.N.”\n\nWhen asked whether there’s a threat of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, Thomas-Greenfield responded: “Certainly nothing is off the table with this guy.”\n\n– Sean Rossman\n\nPutin orders nuclear deterrent forces on high alert\n\nRussia President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces Sunday to be on high alert, a dramatic escalation of tensions with the West that brought immediate condemnation from the U.S. as Russia continues its full-scale assault on Ukraine.\n\nPutin, announcing the move on Russian state television, called it a response to “aggressive statements” and tough financial sections from NATO countries. The extraordinary step raises the threat of nuclear warfare entering the conflict in Ukraine, a scenario the White House has previously said it has not assessed.\n\nLinda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, condemned the action as “unacceptable\" in an appearance on CBS' \"Face the Nation.\"\n\nPutin directed the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty” during a meeting with top officials.\n\n“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin said in televised comments.\n\nAt the onset of the conflict with Ukraine, Putin warned that any nation that would “hinder us” will face\" such consequences that you have never encountered in your history,” although he did not elaborate what he meant.\n\nThe White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\n\n-- Joey Garrison, Associated Press\n\nKyiv eerily quiet after explosions\n\nThe capital, Kyiv, was eerily quiet after huge explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one of the airports. Only an occasional car appeared on a deserted main boulevard as a strict 39-hour curfew kept people off the streets. Terrified residents instead hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.\n\n“The past night was tough – more shelling, more bombing of residential areas and civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “There is not a single facility in the country that the occupiers wouldn’t consider as admissible targets.”\n\nVideos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. The images showed Russian troops roaming the city in small groups. In one image, Ukrainian troops were seen firing at the Russians and damaged Russian light utility vehicles abandoned nearby.\n\nThe images underscored the determined resistance Russian troops face while attempting to enter Ukraine’s bigger cities. Ukrainians have volunteered en masse to help defend the capital, Kyiv, and other cities, taking guns distributed by authorities and preparing firebombs to fight Russian forces.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nZelenskyy asks UN top court to halt Russian invasion, says Moscow 'manipulating the notion of genocide'\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of manipulating the notion of genocide to justify invading its neighbor and urged the International Court of Justice to hold trials.\n\nLocated in The Hague, the Netherlands, the ICJ is the main judicial arm of the United Nations.\n\n\"Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week,\" Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter.\n\nThe ICJ rules on disputes between states, including responsibility for breaches of international law. It is not linked to the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals accountable for atrocities.\n\n– Caren Bohan and Associated Press\n\nZelenskyy is a lion of a leader | Opinion\n\n“I need ammunition, not a ride.” Those are the words proclaimed by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the midst of terrible death and destruction and the most egregious threat to Europe since World War II, Ukrainians are teaching the rest of the world a lesson about freedom, resolve and love of country.\n\nWhen offered an escape from Kyiv, allegedly by the United States, the 44-year-old Ukrainian president immediately rejected the notion and demonstrated selfless leadership and a portrait of courage generally reserved for Hollywood.\n\nMany leaders would have abandoned ship, putting their own personal safety above that of their countrymen. Zelenskyy, on the other hand, is taking a stand for freedom, boldly demonstrating that freedom is worth fighting for; that a government of, by and for the people is worth defending.\n\n– August Pfluger (Read more of August Pfluger's column.)\n\nNHL star Alex Ovechkin called over over stance on war\n\nHockey Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek has called for the NHL to \"immediately suspend contracts for all Russian players\" amidst Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe 57-year-old Czech also had some choice words for Washington Capitals' Russian-born star Alex Ovechkin, a supporter of President Vladimir Putin.\n\nHasek, who played in the NHL for 16-seasons and is widely considered one of the best goaltenders of all time, called Ovechkin an \"alibist,\" a \"liar\" and a \"chicken (expletive)\" after Ovechkin failed to publicly denounce Putin and his country's aggression.\n\n– Cydney Henderson\n\nUkraine rejects location for talks with Russia\n\nUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus.\n\nSpeaking in a video message Sunday, Zelenskyy suggested meeting in Warsaw, Poland; Bratislava, Slovakia; Istanbul; Budapest, Hungary; or Baku, Azerbaijan. He said other locations are also possible but made clear that Ukraine doesn’t accept Russia’s selection of Belarus, which Russia has used as a staging ground for its invasion.\n\nThe Kremlin said Sunday a Russian delegation had arrived in Homel, Belarus, for talks with Ukrainian officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nRussia's cutting off port access\n\nRussia was working Sunday to limit strategic strategic ports along the Ukraine’s coastline stretching from the border with Romania in the west to the border with Russia in the east. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Russian forces had blocked the cities of Kherson on the Black Sea and the port of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea.\n\nRussia’s military also put increasing pressure on strategic ports in the south of Ukraine, blocking the cities of Kherson on the Black Sea and the port of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea.\n\nCutting Ukraine’s access to its sea ports would deal a major blow to the country’s economy.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nRussia targets Ukraine airfields in next phase\n\nRussia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine targeting airfields and fuel facilities in what appeared to be the next phase of an invasion that has been slowed by fierce resistance. The U.S. and EU responded with weapons and ammunition for the outnumbered Ukrainians and powerful sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow.\n\nHuge explosions lit up the sky early Sunday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nWhere are Russian military forces? Tracking the Ukraine invasion\n\n'You cannot defeat a whole nation'\n\nOn Sunday morning, Ukranian writer Illarion Pavliuk plans to set out on a dangerous journey to help his countrymen as explosions rock Kyiv, and outgunned Ukrainian forces continue to maintain control of their capital.\n\nPavliuk is not a solider, but he does have a military background. In 2015, he was an intelligence volunteer in the war in Eastern Ukraine. And yet, this is what Ukraine has become – a country where internationally acclaimed artists are forced to kiss their children goodnight before they go off to defend their homeland from the occupying force. \"We will never give up and we are going to win this war. You cannot defeat the whole nation. And Ukrainians are absolutely united as a nation now.\"\n\nHis words are haunting and powerful, with his children in the background.\n\n\"What can I tell you about this war? It is difficult to say a couple of words,\" he says. \"I would never ever imagine my four children dropping their toys and running to sit in the thickest doorway in the house because of cruise missiles above our city; ballistic missiles.\n\n\"And I would never imagine this and I will never forgive Russia.\"\n\n– Carli Pierson, USA TODAY", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/27"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/20/politics/volodymyr-zelensky-washington-dc-visit/index.html", "title": "Biden and Zelensky planning to meet in Washington for Ukrainian ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPresident Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the planning, in a Washington visit that is tentatively scheduled to include an address to a joint session of Congress.\n\nZelensky is already on his way to Washington, two separate sources said, for a visit that marks his first trip outside of Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February of this year.\n\nThe visit to the White House, which hasn’t been finalized and has remained tightly held due to security concerns, will include a meeting with Biden and top administration officials and is planned to coincide with the administration’s intent to send the country a new defense assistance package. Biden will announce an additional $1.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during the expected visit, a significant boost in aid headlined by the Patriot missile systems within the package, a US official told CNN.\n\nThe new announcement will add to the nearly $20 billion in US security assistance provided to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began, and will come at the same moment US lawmakers are considering a sweeping government spending measure that includes an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance to the country.\n\nThe White House declined to comment on a potential visit or Biden announcement or new security assistance announcements.\n\nLawmakers are also planning for Zelensky to visit Capitol Hill to speak on Wednesday evening, though sources say the visit hasn’t been finalized as officials work through security preparations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t confirm reports Zelensky would be coming to the Capitol on Wednesday, saying, “I don’t know that that’s going to happen.”\n\n“We don’t know yet. We just don’t know,” she said.\n\nWhen asked by CNN if the invitation had been made to him, she said: “No. Not until we know if he can come.”\n\nA visit by the Ukrainian leader to Washington would amount to a significant moment 10 months since Russia’s war in Ukraine began. Zelensky has emerged as an international personification of Ukrainian resistance to the invasion and has spent much of the year asking nations for support.\n\nHe’s delivered those appeals virtually, beaming into international summits and global legislatures to make his case for more weapons and funding. He has remained inside his country for the duration of the war, a reflection both of his desire to rally his besieged country and the precarious security situation he would face outside Ukraine.\n\nAt the start of the war, Zelensky remained bunkered down in the capital Kyiv, often addressing the nation from undisclosed locations. More recently, he’s traveled to some of the war’s fronts, including on Tuesday when he visited the frontline city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in brutal battle there for months.\n\nZelensky met with soldiers and handed out awards, according to his office. Video posted by state TV showed the president clad in fatigues and a flak vest presenting awards to troops. Bakhmut has seen some of the most ferocious fighting in the whole of the country since Russian forces launched their siege on the city in earnest in May, turning it into ruins.\n\nPelosi has been making calls to members urging them to show up to the Capitol on Wednesday over fears the chamber would be empty ahead of the holiday recess, one member said. Pelosi asked for members to be in attendance Wednesday night “for a very special focus on Democracy.”\n\nThe expectation from members, per several sources, is Zelensky will address Congress on Wednesday. But the sources caution that this may not be final yet over security concerns.\n\nUkraine has been calling for the US to send the advanced long-range air defense system that is highly effective at intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles as it comes under a barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks that have destroyed key infrastructure across the country.\n\nA Patriot missile battery would be the most effective long-range defensive weapons system sent to the country and officials say it will help secure airspace for NATO nations in eastern Europe. CNN first reported last week that the US was planning to send Patriot systems to Ukraine.\n\nIt is not clear how many missile launchers will be sent but a typical Patriot battery includes a radar set that detects and tracks targets, computers, power generating equipment, an engagement control station and up to eight launchers, each holding four ready-to-fire missiles.\n\nOnce the plans are finalized, the Patriots are expected to ship quickly in the coming days and Ukrainians will be trained to use them at a US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany, officials said.\n\nUkraine has been asking for the system for months but the logistical challenges of delivering it and operating it are immense. Despite those obstacles, “the reality of what is going on the ground” led the administration to make the decision, the senior administration official told CNN, noting the continuing intense Russian missile barrages.\n\nUnlike smaller air defense systems, Patriot missile batteries need much larger crews, requiring dozens of personnel to properly operate them. The training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes multiple months, a process the United States will now carry out under the pressure of near-daily aerial attacks from Russia.\n\nThe system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles as well as some aircraft. Because of its long-range and high-altitude capability, it can potentially shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their intended targets inside Ukraine.\n\nThis story has been updated with additional reporting.", "authors": ["Phil Mattingly Kevin Liptak Manu Raju Kaitlan Collins", "Phil Mattingly", "Kevin Liptak", "Manu Raju", "Kaitlan Collins"], "publish_date": "2022/12/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-invasion-live-updates/9327835002/", "title": "Ukraine recap: Biden takes aim at Putin in State of the Union address", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Tuesday, March 1. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Wednesday, March 2 as Russia's invasion continues.\n\nRussian military forces escalated attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine's largest cities Tuesday, even as its massive convoy of tanks and vehicles appeared to bog down.\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an attack Tuesday on the main square of the country's second-largest city “frank, undisguised terror. Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. This attack on Kharkiv is a war crime.”\n\nAt least 11 people were killed and 35 wounded in the rocket strike, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said, adding that the death toll is expected to rise. Closed-circuit television footage showed a fireball engulfing a street in front of one building, and a few cars rolled out of the billowing smoke.\n\nRussian strikes on Kyiv’s TV tower also killed five people.\n\nThe Russian military advance drew to within 15 miles of Kyiv’s center amid signs that troops are running out of gas and food, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Tuesday. Russia has committed about 80% of the combat force President Vladimir Putin deployed to invade Ukraine, the official said.\n\nUkrainian resistance is continuing, and it has helped stymie the advance, according to the official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence findings. It is also possible the Russians are pausing to regroup and reassess their attack, the official said.\n\nZelenskyy said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Tuesday concerning Russian sanctions and defense assistance to Ukraine. The White House confirmed that they spoke for more than 30 minutes.\n\n\"We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible,\" Zelenskyy tweeted. \"Thank you for your support!\"\n\nBiden gave his first State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night amid the war abroad, condemning Russia for its \"unprovoked\" invasion of Ukraine and confirming the closing of U.S. airspace to Russian planes.\n\nBiden said the U.S. and western allies are enforcing \"powerful economic sanctions,\" including cutting off Russia's largest banks from international financial systems, preventing Russia's central bank from shoring up the Russian ruble and \"making Putin's $260 billion war fund worthless.\"\n\n“Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been,” he said.\n\nHospital workers transferred a Kharkiv maternity ward to a bomb shelter. Amid mattresses piled up against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space to the cries of dozens of newborns.\n\nZelenskyy said he believes Russian shelling of civilian areas is an attempt by Russia to put pressure on Ukraine to make concessions. No peace deal can be reached “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery,” he said.\n\nIn Geneva, dozens of diplomats from the U.S., the U.K. and other European countries walked out in protest when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN Human Rights Council and Conference on Disarmament.\n\nTHE NEWS COMES TO YOU: Get the latest updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here\n\nLatest updates:\n\n►Apple said it would stop selling its products in Russia. The company doesn't have physical stores in Russia but ships devices through its online stores and sells its products through retail stores there.\n\n►ExxonMobil said it would discontinue operations of the Sakhalin-1 project and leave the venture, which involves Russia among other countries, and that it would not invest in new developments in Russia.\n\n►At least two international humanitarian groups accused Russia of using cluster bombs, which open in the air and rain down multiple explosives over a wide area with little accuracy. Moscow denied the allegation.\n\n►At least 677,000 refugees have already fled from Ukraine into neighboring countries, most to Poland, said Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.\n\n►Zelenskyy, in an address to the European parliament Tuesday, said his country is fighting \"to be equal members of Europe. We have proven that, as a minimum, we are the same as you.”\n\n►The State Department has closed the U.S. Embassy in Belarus, a Russian neighbor and supporter, and is allowing non-essential staff at the U.S. Embassy in Russia to leave the country.\n\nTRACK THE INVASION:Satellite images, surveillance footage, social media posts show the latest on the war in Ukraine\n\nUSA TODAY FACT CHECK ROUNDUP:What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine\n\nUnited States to ban Russian planes from American airspace\n\nPresident Joe Biden announced State of the Union address Tuesday night that the U.S. is closing its airspace to Russian planes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, .\n\nThe U.S. joins a growing list of countries that have announced plans to close their airspace to Russian aircraft in response to the invasion. The European Union took that step Sunday after several European countries, including France, Italy and Denmark, announced the move. Canada also joined the international move to cut off Russian aircraft.\n\n– Michael Collins and Courtney Subramanian\n\nBiden says 'no more' to Russian oligarchs; sanctions strangling Putin\n\nBiden said at the State of the Union Tuesday night that the U.S. and western allies are enforcing \"powerful economic sanctions,\" including cutting off Russia's largest banks from international financial systems, preventing Russia's central bank from shoring up the Russian ruble and \"making Putin's $260 billion war fund worthless.\"\n\nThe president, who praised Ukraine’s resolve on the battlefield, also said the Justice Department is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russia’s wealthiest people. He pledged that the U.S., along with European allies, will look seize Russian yachts, luxury apartments and private jets.\n\n“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” Biden said.\n\nThe president also said coordinated sanctions are \"choking off Russia's access to technology\" that will weaken its military and undermine its economic strength.\n\n– Courtney Subramanian and Phillip M. Bailey\n\nUS to release 30 million barrels from Strategic Petroleum Reserve\n\nBiden said at the State of the Union the U.S. is working with 30 countries to release 60 million barrels of oil from reserves around world to ease the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy markets.\n\nThe U.S. is leading the effort by releasing 30 million barrels from its own Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said.\n\n“These steps will help blunt gas prices here at home,” he said.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nUkraine: Attack on TV tower kills 5, damages Babi Yar Holocaust Center\n\nRussian strikes on Kyiv’s TV tower killed five people, wounded others and damaged the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office tweeted that a \"powerful barrage\" was underway and that a missile hit the center.\n\nThe Nazis shot tens of thousands of people at Babi Yar, including almost the entire Jewish population of Kyiv.\n\n\"To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?\" Zerenskyy tweeted. \"At least 5 killed. History repeating…\"\n\nUS official: Russian force may be regrouping\n\nThe 40-mile convoy approaching Kyiv has made little progress because of resistance and a lack of gas and food, according to a senior U.S. Defense Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence findings.\n\nThe official said the Russians also are likely protecting the convoy, explaining why it does not appear to have been attacked. The airspace over Ukraine continues to be contested by Ukrainian and Russian forces, the official said.\n\nThere are also signs that there are morale problems among Russian troops, many of whom have been drafted into service, the official said, declining to say how the Pentagon has made that assessment. Many of the soldiers are young men who have not been thoroughly trained or even aware why they were sent to Ukraine.\n\nThe Russians, however, have a potent force in and around Ukraine, the official said.\n\nThe Russians have systems capable of launching thermobaric weapons in Ukraine, the official said. Those fuel-air weapons are used primarily to kill people on the ground or in bunkers.\n\n– Tom Vanden Brook\n\nUkraine refugees find open doors through online sites\n\nAt a time when desperate Ukrainians are fleeing their country by the hundreds of thousands, online connections are helping them find refuge in other countries.\n\nFacebook groups such as Host A Sister and Accommodation, Help & Shelter for Ukraine are among the sites serving as a link between those escaping the war in Ukraine and hosts willing to open their doors to them.\n\nIryna Yarmolenko, who served as a council member for the Ukrainian city of Bucha, fled with her mother and 5-year-old son last week and found a safe place with a couple in Lublin, Poland, after posting a request for help on the Host A Sister page.\n\n\"Even if it was just with their words: 'Iryna, we are here. Tell me what you need,' ... I felt myself not so alone.\" she said. \"I was totally broken because I left all my stuff, all my dreams, all my house, all my career, all my everything.\"\n\n– Bailey Schulz and Eve Chen\n\nIce skating, skiing and basketball join growing list of sports entities barring Russians\n\nIn addition to the economic sanctions piling up against Russia for invading Ukraine, the sports bans continue to mount.\n\nOn Tuesday, Russia was barred from competing in international ice skating, skiing, basketball, track and some tennis events, a day after being kicked out of soccer competitions and hockey – President Vladimir Putin’s favorite team sport. The decisions follow the IOC’s request to international sports federations to keep Russian athletes out of events they organize.\n\nThe International Skating Union, which runs the sport around the world, said it won't allow any competitors from Russia to participate in its events, which would exclude Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova and 15-year-old star Kamila Valieva from the world figure skating championships in France later this month. Athletes from Belarus, which has supported Russia's attack, will also be barred.\n\nCourt will look into whether Russia has committed war crimes\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of committing war crimes during the invasion, and the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said he would investigate.\n\nBut what exactly are war crimes? Are they attacks on civilian populations? Launching rockets into residential areas? Other forms of cruelty in what's an inherently brutal endeavor like war?\n\nThe definition of a war crime has evolved over time, but Dustin Lewis, research director for the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, said it encompasses two criteria.\n\n\"First, the conduct must be committed with a sufficient connection to an armed conflict,'' he said. \"Second, the conduct must constitute a serious violation of the laws and customs of international humanitarian law that has been criminalized by international treaty or customary law.\"\n\n– Ryan W. Miller\n\nMayor describes Kharkiv's situation as 'pretty grave'\n\nKharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Tuesday that his government remained in control but said the city is surrounded by Russian troops.\n\n“Military equipment and armored vehicles are coming from different directions,” he told The Washington Post in a phone interview.\n\nTerekhov said a government building and the opera and ballet theater were among buildings shelled. Transformer stations were also struck by artillery, cutting off power to much of the city, he said. The shelling stalled efforts to supply the city with food and medical supplies, he said.\n\n“There are casualties, and by now, there are certainly a lot more of them, after the night and morning shelling,” he told the Post. “The situation is pretty grave.”\n\nDiplomats in Geneva walk out on Lavrov speech\n\nMore than 100 diplomats from dozens of nations walked out on a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday in protest of the invasion. Lavrov spoke remotely from Russia because he said his flight path to Geneva was blocked by governments that closed their airspace to Russian planes. He accused the West of \"Russophobic frenzy.\"\n\nAmbassador Michèle Taylor, the U.S. representative to the council, said the diplomats were working to ensure Russia's leaders were held accountable for the \"illegal war\" against Ukraine.\n\n\"As widespread human rights abuses continue + civilian casualties mount, we #StandwithUkraine in rejecting Lavrov’s lies,\" Taylor tweeted. \"Russia is isolated.\"\n\nActor Sean Penn flees Ukraine on foot\n\nFilmmaker and actor Sean Penn confirmed he has evacuated to Poland after spending time in Ukraine working on a documentary about the conflict. The actor shared a photo of himself Monday carrying a suitcase while walking along the side of a backed-up highway as many others attempted to flee Ukraine.\n\n\"Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road,\" Penn wrote. \"Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value.\"\n\nPenn said Putin has made a \"most horrible mistake for all of humankind\" and that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people \"have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams.\"\n\nPenn's visit drew accolades from Zelenskyy.\n\n\"Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, especially western politicians lack,\" the president's office wrote on Facebook. \"The director specially came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia's invasion of our country.\"\n\n– Elise Brisco\n\nCities under siege: A look at Kyiv and Kharkiv by the numbers\n\nThe war has thrown a global spotlight on Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv. Kyiv's (KEE-ev) population of 2.7 million people would make it the third largest in the U.S. slightly ahead of Chicago. The city covers 330 square miles – bigger than Chicago or New York, about the size of San Diego. Kyiv is in north central Ukraine, not far from the borders with Russia and Belarus. Ukrainian and Russian are commonly spoken in the city, among the oldest in Eastern Europe.\n\nKharkiv (kar-KEEV), 300 miles east of Kyiv and near the Russian border, has a population of about 1.4 million spread over about 135 square miles – about the size of Philadelphia, which has a population of about 1.5 million.\n\nUkraine has a population of about 44 million people, 4 million more than California, and is about 233,000 square miles – a bit smaller than Texas.\n\nNATO chief says nuclear alert level unchanged\n\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday visited troops in Poland with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Poland shares a border with Ukraine, and the air base in the central Poland city of Lask is home to NATO’s Polish and U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.\n\n\"We are increasing our presence in the east to defend & protect our people,\" Stoltenberg said in a social media post. \"Allies are stepping up support for #Ukraine & imposing costs on #Russia. The world stands with Ukraine in calling for peace.\"\n\nDespite Russia’s threats about nuclear weapons, the alliance sees no need to change its nuclear weapons alert level, Stoltenberg said. And while Ukraine is not a member of NATO, it is the alliance's responsibility to “ensure that we don’t see a development where a conflict in Ukraine spiraled out of control and becomes a full-fledged confrontation between NATO and Russia in Europe.\"\n\nGoogle, other big tech firms grapple with Russian state media, propaganda\n\nBig tech platforms have begun restricting Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation. Google announced Tuesday that it's blocking the YouTube channels of those outlets in Europe effective immediately but said it could take some time to get all of them removed. Other U.S.-owned tech companies have also taken steps, including labeling more content so people know it originated with the Russian government and cutting Russian state organizations off from ad revenue.\n\nThe changes are intended to slow the Kremlin from pumping propaganda into social media feeds without persuading Russian officials to block their citizens from access to platforms during a crucial time of war, said Katie Harbath, a former public policy director for Facebook. Read more here.\n\n\"They’re trying to walk this very fine line; they’re doing this dance,” she said.\n\nWar threatens Russian space partnerships with US, Europe\n\nRussia's invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns about the country's relationship with the United States in space, a union that has remained intact despite geopolitical rifts between the two countries.\n\nFour NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one European Space Agency astronaut are stationed aboard the International Space Station, their home traveling 17,500 mph some 200 mile above Earth – where Russia has drawn international rebuke for its invasion of Ukraine. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is scheduled to return March 30 aboard a Russian spacecraft.\n\nPresident Joe Biden has promised sanctions will target the Russian aerospace industry, a warning that led to a tweet from Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin asking \"who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe.\"\n\nThe European Space Agency also works with Russia. A planned launch of a European-Russian mission to Mars this year is \"very unlikely,\" the space agency said Monday.\n\n– Emre Kelly, Florida Today\n\nContributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY; The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/25/russia-ukraine-kyiv-invasion-latest/6934351001/", "title": "Ukraine: Russian forces close in on heart of Kyiv - recap", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday, Feb. 25. Follow here for the latest updates on the attack in Kyiv on Saturday, Feb. 26.\n\n***\n\nRussian forces closed in on Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday, but dawn brought limited clarity about how far the invading troops had penetrated into the Ukrainian capital, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had vowed defiance through the night.\n\n\"We must survive this night,” Zelenskyy – who told Ukrainians earlier that Russia has marked him as “target No. 1” – said in a video message before morning arrived in Kyiv.\n\nAs Saturday began, Zelenskyy tweeted that he had started “a new day on the diplomatic frontline” with a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, with “weapons and equipment from our partners” on the way.\n\nBut the danger remained far from over to the former Soviet republic. Photos from Ukraine detailed destruction by Russian troops and bombs, with Ukrainian citizens huddled in underground bomb shelters or trying to flee their country to safety, carrying family members and what possessions they could. Authorities in Kyiv described fighting in the streets and urged residents to seek shelter.\n\nU.S. President Joe Biden was slated to meet with his national security team on Saturday morning; the U.S. and other nations have imposed sanctions on Russia and on its president, Vladimir Putin, in the hopes that the economic price will force Russia from its current path.\n\nZelenskyy government:What happens if Kyiv falls? What would a government in exile look like?\n\nDawn breaks in Kyiv\n\nAs dawn broke in Kyiv, it was not immediately clear how far the soldiers had advanced. Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were probing Ukrainian defenses to clear a path for the main forces.\n\nBut the swift movement of the troops after less than three days of fighting further imperiled a country clinging to independence in the face of a broad Russian assault, which threatened to topple the democratic government and scramble the post-Cold War world order.\n\nThe street clashes followed fighting that pummeled bridges, schools and apartment buildings, and resulted in hundreds of casualties.\n\n-- The Associated Press\n\nDelta ends Russian partnership\n\nDelta has withdrawn its codeshare services operated in conjunction with Russian national airline, Aeroflot, effective immediately. Codeshare allows one airline to sell seats on flights operated by other airlines\n\n\"We have removed our code from Aeroflot-operated services beyond Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and removed Aeroflot’s code from Delta-operated services from Los Angeles and New York-JFK,\" Delta said in a statement.\n\nDelta does not operate services to Ukraine or Russia.\n\n-- Craig Harris\n\nUS Dept of State warns Americans in Russia to stay away from protests\n\nThe U.S. Department of State early on Saturday warned Americans in Russia to “avoid demonstrations and any demonstration-related activities” because of the possibility of widespread arrests.\n\n“According to social media sources, there have been calls for demonstrations throughout Russia, including in major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, in opposition to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces against Ukraine,” the State Department noted in an online alert.\n\n“The U.S. Embassy reminds U.S. citizens that the Department of State’s Travel Advisory level for Russia is at “Level 4: Do Not Travel” for reasons including harassment against U.S. citizens, harassment by Russian government security officials, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law,” the statement added.\n\n-- Luciana Lopez\n\nZelenskyy and Macron speak\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted early Saturday morning that he and French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken by phone.\n\n\"A new day on the diplomatic frontline began with a conversation with @EmmanuelMacron. Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!\" Zelenskyy tweeted.\n\n-- Luciana Lopez\n\nBlinken, South Korea foreign minister speak\n\nSouth Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday to discuss the two allies’ cooperation over the Russia-Ukraine crisis, including Seoul’s participation in a U.S.-led economic pressure campaign against Moscow.\n\nSeoul’s Foreign Ministry said Chung and Blinken reaffirmed the allies’ “strong condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and they urged Russia to immediately cease its takeover attempt.\n\nBlinken thanked South Korea for its support of Ukraine and its willingness to participate in international sanctions against Russia, the ministry said.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nBetter trained, better equipped:What you should know about Russia and Ukraine's militaries\n\n'I need ammunition, not a ride'\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer.\n\nZelenskyy said in response: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described Zelenskyy as upbeat.\n\nInvading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital on Saturday, in an apparent encircling movement after a barrage of airstrikes on cities and military bases around the country.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nMore:Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's actor president, prepares for his greatest role yet\n\nSecond Russian transport plane shot down\n\nA second Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine.\n\nOn Friday, Ukraine’s military said it had shot down a Russian military transport plane with paratroopers on board.\n\nAccording to a statement from the military’s General Staff, the first Il-76 heavy transport plane was shot down near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles south of Kyiv. The Russian military has not commented on either incident so far, and the reports could not be immediately verified.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nFighting in the streets of Kyiv\n\nKyiv officials are warning residents that street fighting is underway against Russian forces, and they are urging people to seek shelter.\n\nThe warning issued Saturday advised residents to remain in shelters, to avoid going near windows or on balconies, and to take precautions against being hit by debris or bullets.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nPresident refuses to flee, urges Ukraine to 'stand firm'\n\nRussian troops stormed toward Ukraine’s capital early Saturday as explosions reverberated through the city and the president urged the country to “stand firm” against the siege that could determine its future. He refused American help to evacuate, saying: “The fight is here.”\n\nHundreds of casualties were reported in the fighting, which included shelling that sliced through a Kyiv apartment building and pummeled bridges and schools. There also were growing signs that Russia may be seeking to overthrow Ukraine’s government, which U.S. officials have described as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ultimate objective.\n\nThe assault represented Putin's boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. It triggered new international efforts to end the invasion, including direct sanctions on Putin.\n\nAs his country confronted explosions and gunfire, and as the fate of Kyiv hung in the balance, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack.\n\n“This night we have to stand firm,” he said. \"The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”\n\n'Hands off Ukraine!' Russian protesters, celebrities risk arrest to denounce Putin's war\n\nZelenskyy was urged to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official quoted the president as saying that “the fight is here\" and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but “not a ride.”\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nBattle for Ukrainian capital reportedly intensifying, with explosions seen and heard in Kyiv\n\nRussian forces have reportedly moved in closer to Kyiv early Saturday morning, and explosions were seen and heard in parts of the capital suggesting an escalation of fighting with Ukrainian defenders, according to CNN.\n\nThe cable network reported that operations by Ukrainian forces to repel the Russian advance were intensifying in the early morning hours of Saturday, Kyiv time, not long after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy warned that the battle could be over by morning.\n\n\"This night will be very difficult, and the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians,\" Zelenskyy said in a late-night video message Friday that was widely circulated on Twitter.\n\n\"This night we have to stand ground,” Zelenskyy said, surrounded by members of his national security team. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.\"\n\nCNN teams in the capital reported hearing loud explosions to the west and south of the city. And Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications said clashes were underway in an eastern suburb as Russian forces appeared to be closing in on Kyiv from at least three sides.\n\nEarlier Saturday morning, the State Service of Special Communications reported: “Explosions in Kyiv. What is known? The enemy is trying to attack CHP-6 near Troieschyna. The Armed Forces give battle. Resistance continues in Vasylkiv, where enemy troops are trying to land.”\n\n-- Josh Meyer\n\n'It is at its worst tonight'\n\nKonstantin Novikov is a yoga teacher living outside of Kyiv who is one of several residents who shared what life has been like the past few days. shared his Friday.\n\n\"They just started shooting. It's scary, you don't know where it's going to go.\n\n10 min ago there was a lot (of shooting); many rockets . It's silent now, and we are waiting. We will go down with a neighbor to the entrance to the first floor and we will sit there. It seems safer.\"\n\n...\n\n\"I have my car downstairs full of gas. I put my documents, money and some stuff in a little bag. In any moment i can take my bags, my cats, and run away if it is too scary to stay. ... Maybe I will go to the center of Ukraine. Somewhere where it is more safe. Mostly people are going to western Ukraine like Lviv. But right now I can only go through Kyiv because it is blocked any other way. Either by Russian troops on one side, or (on another road) the bridge was blown up to keep Russian troops from going over the road to Kyiv. So, I have only one way out from my city.\"\n\nUnclear if Japan to join in Russia sanctions\n\nJapanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says he spoke with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the phone Saturday and agreed they must respond to Russian invasion of Ukraine properly to prevent it from becoming “a wrong lesson” because of its potential influence in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.\n\nHayashi declined to comment if Japan plans to join the United States, Britain and the European Union in imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He said Japan will closely stay in touch with other Group of Seven members and the international society while watching the development.\n\nUkrainian soldier on Snake Island tells Russian officer 'go (expletive) yourself' before being killed\n\nHayashi told reporters that he and Blinken reassured their commitment to work closely with the rest of the international society. They agreed that it is necessary to respond to Russia properly and to absolutely reject the unilateral act to change the status quo and not leave “a wrong lesson.”\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nRussian troops march on\n\nThe Russian military said Friday it had encircled the cities of Sumy and Konotop in northeastern Ukraine, but was “taking steps to ensure civilians’ safety.”\n\nDefense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces have so far knocked out 211 Ukrainian military installations, including 17 command centers, 19 air defense missile systems, 39 radar units, 67 tanks and six warplanes. The Russian military also said it seized a strategic airport outside Kyiv, allowing it to quickly build up forces to take the capital.\n\nLate Friday, the Russian military said it has taken over Melitopol, a city near the Azov Sea. The claim could not immediately be independently verified.\n\nMeanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said it’s estimated that Russia has now launched more than 200 missiles into Ukraine and some have hit residential areas, although it was unclear if they were deliberately targeted.\n\nBut U.S. defense officials believe the Russian offensive has encountered considerable resistance and is proceeding slower than Moscow had envisioned.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nMapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nUkraine’s military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board. Transport planes can carry up to 125 paratroopers.\n\n\"We must survive this night”\n\nThe U.S. and its European allies moved to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday as Russia's military pushed further into Ukraine in an invasion that threatened to topple its democratic government.\n\nThe White House announced the new sanctions after President Joe Biden met with fellow NATO heads of state to discuss the mounting crisis.\n\nUkrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures. Bridges and schools have been damaged in the shelling, which also sliced through a Kyiv apartment building.\n\nAs Russian troops neared the capital, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to stay and fight - and beckoned his fellow countrymen to do the same.\n\n“You can not give up the capital,\" he said in a video message. \"We must survive this night.”\n\nThe crisis has roiled the globe since Putin, in the pre-dawn hours of Moscow on Thursday, announced in a televised address that he was launching a military operation against Ukraine.\n\nInternational backlash followed swiftly, with sanctions by the United States and a host of other countries. Biden said the new economic measures would \"limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen to be part of the global economy.\"\n\nBut, so far, those sanctions appear to have had little effect on Russia's attempt to take over the one-time Soviet Republic that has expressed a desire to someday join NATO.\n\n• MOUNTING DEATH TOLL: Zelenskyy announced that 137 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed with hundreds more wounded.\n\n• WHERE IS THE FIGHTING? Explosions sounded before dawn in Kyiv and gunfire was reported in several areas, as Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine's president pleaded for international help to fend off the attack.\n\n• WHERE ARE UKRAINIANS GOING? Poland’s Border Guard says that some 29,000 people were cleared to enter through the country’s land border with neighboring Ukraine on Thursday, the day Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.\n\nWHY IS INVASION HAPPENING?:Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Could it be the start of WWIII? Here's what we know\n\nA NEW COLD WAR?: How historians view Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nRussia vetoes UN Security Council resolution that it stop attacking Ukraine; China abstains\n\nAs expected, Russia vetoed a UN resolution on Friday evening demanding that Moscow stop its attack on Ukraine immediately and withdraw all troops. U.S. officials said they knew Moscow would oppose the measure but that they wanted to highlight Russia’s isolation within the international community.\n\nThe vote was 11 in favor, with Russia voting no. China, along with India and the United Arab Emirates, abstained.\n\nThe vote was delayed for two hours as the United States and Albania, co-sponsor of the resolution, worked behind the scenes to shore up support for the resolution among wavering nations, including Brazil.\n\n“A line has been crossed, and this council cannot remain silent,” said Brazil’s Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho. He said his government was “gravely concerned” about Russia’s military action.\n\nChina’s decision to abstain was seen as a diplomatic victory for pro-Ukrainian forces, given its history of using its veto power alongside ally Russia.\n\n-- Josh Meyer and Associated Press\n\nRussia-Ukraine explained:Inside the crisis as US calls Russian movements an invasion\n\nUkrainian President vows to stay and fight advancing Russian troops in Kyiv\n\nAs Russian troops advanced on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv Friday evening, President Volodomyr Zelenskyy appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a video statement that multiple cities were under attack and intent on seizing the capitol.\n\n”The night will be harder than the day,” Zelenskyy said on the video, which was widely circulated on Twitter.\n\n“At night they will storm,” he said in the message to Ukrainians. “You can not give up the capital. We must survive this night.”\n\nBiden administration spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed Friday afternoon that U.S. officials believe Putin intends to try to take the capital and oust the government.\n\nThe explosions and gunfire in Kyiv fueled further fears of wider war in Europe and triggered new international efforts — including direct sanctions on President Vladimir Putin by the U.S., UK, European Union and Canada — to make Moscow stop.\n\n-- Josh Meyer\n\nU.S. to sanction Putin, other Russian officials\n\nThe United States is slapping sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and some of his deputies in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nWhite House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday the new sanctions will target Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and members of Russia’s national security team.\n\nThe announcement follows a decision by the European Union earlier Friday to freeze the assets of Putin and Lavrov, along with other sanctions.\n\nThe United States already has hit Russia with sanctions that will impact multiple sectors of the Russia economy. But Ukraine has argued that a tougher economic response is needed and has asked for additional defense assistance.\n\n--Michael Collins and Joey Garrison\n\nThe enigma of Vladimir Putin:What do we really know about Russia's leader?\n\nUkraine's ambassador to US: Very concerned about Chernobyl\n\nOksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., voiced concern Friday that Russia took control of the Chernobyl power plant – site of the worst nuclear disaster in history – and took 92 staff members as hostages.\n\n“We are very concerned that the Chernobyl shelter is under threat of any type of random attack by the Russian federation,” Markarova told reporters in Washington.\n\nMore broadly, she said Ukraine armed forces destroyed 80 Russian tanks, 10 planes, seven helicopters and 516 armored vehicles. She blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for casualties.\n\n“As a result of Mr. Putin’s decision to send Russians to kill Ukrainians, 2,800 of Russian soldiers will not be going back to Russia,” she said.\n\nMarkarova said she wasn’t able to say what it would take for Putin to abandon the attack, but that Ukraine sought territorial integrity not just of its eastern provinces, but also Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.\n\n“We are ready for peace talks, but we are not ready for capitulation or surrender,” Markarova said.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nWarner warns tech companies about Russian disinformation efforts\n\nSen. Mark Warner is urging U.S. tech companies on Friday not to let their platforms be misused by Russian influence operations in the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.\n\nThe Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, sent letters Friday to Alphabet, Meta – formerly known as Google and Facebook – as well as Reddit, Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter alerting them to malicious “information warfare” activities by Russia and Russia-linked entities.\n\n“As this conflict continues, we can expect to see an escalation in Russia’s use of both overt and covert means to sow confusion about the conflict and promote disinformation narratives that weaken the global response to these illegal acts,” Warner wrote.\n\nIn his letter to YouTube parent company Alphabet, Warner said his staff observed YouTube ads on Thursday monetizing content regarding the conflict in Ukraine from RT, Sputnik and TASS, which he described as malign actors affiliated with the Russian government.\n\n“Unfortunately, your platforms continue to be key vectors for malign actors – including, notably, those affiliated with the Russian government – to not only spread disinformation, but to profit from it,” Warner said.\n\n- Josh Meyer\n\nHundreds of casualties reported amid bombing damage, destruction\n\nAs the fighting intensified in Ukraine Friday, government officials offered competing assessments of the death toll.\n\nUkrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures.\n\nU.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes, estimating up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.\n\nBridges and schools have been damaged in the shelling, which also sliced through a Kyiv apartment building. After 8 p.m. in Ukraine, a large boom was heard near Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square in central Kyiv that was the heart of the protests which led to the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president. The cause was not immediately known and smaller repeated blasts could be heard in the distance.\n\n–Associated Press\n\nTrevor Reed's parents fear Russian attack on Ukraine will thwart son's release from Moscow prison\n\nThe parents of a former Marine imprisoned in Moscow worry the global outrage over Russia’s attack on Ukraine could hurt their chances of getting their son released at a moment when he is suffering from serious health problems.\n\nTrevor Reed’s parents, Joey and Paula Reed, told the Dallas Morning News their son called his Moscow lawyers to tell them he was running a fever. He had prolonged exposure in December to another prisoner with tuberculosis and was coughing up blood, according to U.S. embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz. Trevor Reed had been diagnosed with COVID-19 last May.\n\nAs a Marine, Reed served as a presidential guard and provided security at Camp David during the Obama administration.\n\nBut Reed was arrested in Moscow in August 2019 after allegedly being involved in a drunken fight at a party. He’s serving a nine-year sentence on charges the U.S. ambassador called “absurd.” U.S. officials have said Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, were imprisoned potentially to be used as bargaining chips for the release of Russian spies.\n\nPresident Joe Biden said Thursday diplomatic talks with Russia have been ruptured by Moscow's massive military attack on Ukraine.\n\nPaula Reed told the Dallas Morning News the remarks were “like the exclamation point” to know “it’s going to be that much more difficult to get Trevor home.”\n\n-Bart Jansen\n\nUkrainian minister offers pay hike for soldiers\n\nUkraine Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced Friday that the country’s armed forces would receive a 30% salary increase, along with monthly bonuses, while Ukraine is battling a Russian invasion that threatens its survival as a free democracy.\n\n“Together with the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance and the relevant parliamentary committee, we managed to find the expected financial resources and raise the salaries of Ukrainian defenders to the national average,” Reznikov said in a statement. “This is only the first step. We continue to work. Glory to Ukraine and its defenders!”\n\nThe pay hike will go into effect March 1.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nZelenskyy says he and Biden discussed tougher sanctions\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Friday about strengthening sanctions against Russia and other steps to retaliate for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\n“Strengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an anti-war coalition have just been discussed with @POTUS,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter, thanking the U.S. for its strong support” of Ukraine.\n\nThe White House confirmed that Biden spoke with Zelenskky for 40 minutes but provided no other details.\n\nThe United States and Europe have already hit Russia with sanctions that will impact multiple sectors of the Russia economy. Ukraine has argued that a tougher economic response is needed and has asked for additional defense assistance.\n\nIn response, the European Union agreed Friday to freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along with other sanctions.\n\n–Michael Collins\n\nZelenskyy posts video pledging continued defense\n\nUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a short video just after midnight local time with other leaders of his country proclaiming their continued defense against the Russian invasion.\n\nHis defiance came as Russian troops pushed toward the capital Kyiv, and as questions swirled on social media about whether leaders had begun fleeing.\n\n“We are all here,” said Zelenskyy, who was surrounded by a handful of leaders. “Our military is here, citizens are here. We are all here defending our independence, our state and it will be so further. Glory to our defenders, glory to Ukraine!\"\n\nHe was joined by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and adviser Mykhailo Podoliak among other officials.\n\n\"Glory to heroes!\" the men said as the video ended.\n\n– Bart Jansen and Karina Zaiets\n\n'We are all here' Ukrainian President Zelenskyy shares message from Kyiv\n\nEU to freeze assets on Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov - Latvian official\n\nThe European Union agreed to freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along with other sanctions, according to Latvia's foreign minister.\n\nThe move is intended to ratchet up financial pressure on Putin to back off Ukraine and would add to other sanctions levied against Moscow from governments including the United States.\n\nLatvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said in a tweet on Friday that the EU's foreign ministers “adopted the 2nd sanctions package” and added that “the asset freeze includes President of Russia and its Foreign Minister.”\n\nHe said the EU plans to prepare another package of sanctions.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nUS official: Russian forces advance but not as quickly as anticipated\n\nRussian forces continue to invade Ukraine along three routes, including from the north toward Kyiv, although a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Russian momentum toward Kyiv has slowed in the last 24 hours.\n\nThe U.S. official declined to say how many Russian troops were on the ground in Ukraine now, but estimated it was about one third of the combat force that Russia had massed before the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin had deployed more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s border prior to the invasion.\n\nThe official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence findings, told reporters Friday the U.S. had information suggesting that Moscow had expected a faster advance on Ukraine's capital. The official declined to say how the Pentagon had made that assessment, but Russia has not yet captured any major population centers.\n\nRussia has failed to dominate Ukrainian air space, the official said. Ukraine continues to fly warplanes that are attacking Russian forces. Ukraine also retains missiles for air defense.\n\nIn southern Ukraine, the Russians have made an amphibious attack, landing thousands of troops, the official said.\n\nElsewhere in the south, a battle is being fought for the Kakhovka hyrdo-electric plant that provides energy to Crimea and southern Ukraine. Russia has launched cyberattacks there, the official said.\n\n-Tom Vanden Brook\n\nUkraine pressures Europe to ban Russia from SWIFT\n\nUkraine’s foreign minister ramped up the pressure on European leaders on Friday to kick Russia out of the SWIFT financial system in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe United States and Europe already have hit Russia with sanctions that will impact multiple sectors of the Russia economy. But some European leaders have been reluctant to boot Russia from SWIFT, a global messaging system connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world.\n\nUkraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter to urge those holdouts to reconsider, citing their past statements that a conflict like World War II should never be allowed to happen again.\n\n“To some European leaders who are still hesitant: each year at commemorative events you say ‘Never again,’” he wrote. “The time to prove it is now. Russia is waging a horrific war of aggression in Europe. Here is your ‘never again’ test: BAN RUSSIA FROM SWIFT and kick it out of everywhere.”\n\nKuleba said he spoke Friday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the need for the U.S. to use its influence to persuade hesitant European leaders to ban Russia from SWIFT.\n\n-Michael Collins\n\nZelenskyy says Ukraine is fighting Russia ‘alone’\n\nUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday Ukraine is fighting Russia “alone,” in an apparent criticism of the U.S. and other western allies, as he pushes for a stronger international response to Russia's invasion of his country.\n\n“This morning, we are defending our state alone, as we did yesterday,” he said in an address to Ukrainians. “The world’s most powerful forces are watching from afar. Did yesterday’s sanctions convince Russia?”\n\nBiden has vowed that he won’t send U.S. troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, though he has sent American forces to shore up NATO's eastern flank.\n\nBiden announced a second round of U.S. sanctions announced Thursday, but it did not include the harsh step of cutting Russia from the SWIFT financial system, which connects banks worldwide.\n\n--Joey Garrison\n\nKremlin open to talks if Ukraine stops fighting\n\nThe Kremlin said Friday it is ready to hold talks with Ukrainian officials, but only after Ukrainian forces stand down. The conditional offer came as Russian forces bore down on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.\n\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a delegation to Belarus to meet with Ukrainian officials. This came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is willing to discuss a non-aligned status for the country, which would essentially mean dropping the country's bid to join NATO.\n\nHowever, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine must put down its arms before any talks happen, according to Russia's state controlled TASS News Agency.\n\nCharting Russia's invasion in maps\n\nRussian military forces invaded Ukraine at roughly 9:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday (4:30 a.m. on Thursday in Ukraine), using missiles, troops, tanks and aircraft.\n\nThe invasion has targeted major cities and military sites, with the attacks coming from all different directions, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Russia has fired more than 100 missiles.\n\nSee where Russia's forces are moving\n\nEmergency spending for Ukraine likely to reach billions, US senator says\n\nCongress may need to approve at least $10 billion in emergency spending to support Ukraine and for other needs, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Friday.\n\nCoons, a close ally of President Joe Biden who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters his estimate may be on the low side because it doesn’t include what may be a “robust” request from the Pentagon.\n\n“There is strong enthusiasm to provide ongoing resupply and training and whatever other covert and overt support is necessary and appropriate for the Ukrainian resistance,” he said.\n\nCoons, who also heads a subcommittee in charge of humanitarian aid, said he’s confident billions of dollars will be needed to support the likely millions of refugees expected to flee Ukraine for nearby countries.\n\n“It would be a wild guess on my part,” he said, “but I would be supportive of an emergency supplemental of at least $10 billion, perhaps more, to meet these vital national security and humanitarian needs.”\n\n--Maureen Groppe\n\nUkrainian official: Kyiv residents should make Molotov cocktails\n\nUkraine's Defense Ministry urged Kyiv's residents Friday to stay inside and prepare Molotov cocktails to defend their capital as Russian troops and tanks were on the verge of entering the central part of the city for the first since President Vladimir Putin launched his assault on Ukraine.\n\n\"Neutralize the enemy,\" Ukraine's Defense Ministry tweeted as Kyiv continued to be hit by apparent Russian airstrikes that have damaged apartment buildings and forced thousands into bomb shelters. Air raid sirens rang out through the night and into the early morning.\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is continuing to plead with western leaders to unveil harsher sanctions on the Kremlin, saying “If you don’t help us now, if you fail to offer a powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on your door.”\n\nUkraine claims that more than 1,000 Russian troops have already been killed, though British officials have put the Russian death toll at half that.\n\n-Kim Hjelmgaard\n\nWhat is SWIFT? How could banning Russia from it impact the country?\n\nPresident Biden on Thursday announced a raft of new sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nBut one move the president didn’t announce: kicking Russia out of the SWIFT financial system.\n\nBiden said removing Russia from the international SWIFT financial system is still on the table but that European allies had resisted that step. The SWIFT system shifts money between banks around the world. Removing Russia would block Moscow from most international financial transactions, including profits from oil and gas production that are the lifeblood of Russia’s economy.\n\nMore:What is SWIFT? How could banning Russia from the banking system impact the country?\n\nRussia bans British flights from airspace\n\nRussia’s civil aviation authority has banned U.K. flights to and over Russia in retaliation against the British government’s ban on Aeroflot flights.\n\nRosaviatsiya said that all flights by the U.K. carriers to Russia as well as transit flights are banned starting Friday.\n\nIt said the measure was taken in response to the “unfriendly decisions” by the British authorities who banned flights to the U.K. by the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot as part of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\n- Associated Press\n\nPope Francis makes unprecedented visit to Russian embassy\n\nPope Francis went to the Russian embassy in Rome on Friday to personally express his concern about the war in Ukraine, in an extraordinary papal gesture that has no recent precedent.\n\nPopes usually receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican. For Francis to travel a short distance to the Russian embassy outside the Vatican walls was a sign of his strength of concern about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nVatican officials said they knew of no such previous papal initiative.\n\nVatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed the pontiff wanted “clearly to express his concern about the war.” Pope Francis was there for just over a half-hour, Bruni said.\n\nFrancis has called for dialogue to end the conflict and has urged the faithful to set next Wednesday as a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Ukraine.\n\nBut he has refrained from publicly calling out Russia, presumably for fear of antagonizing the Russian Orthodox Church, with which he is trying to build stronger ties.\n\nRockets strike Kyiv in `horrific’ attack\n\nRussia has launched a “horrific” rocket strike on Kyiv, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, tweeted Friday.\n\nThe capital hasn’t experienced an attack like that since 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded, he said.\n\n“Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one,” Kuleba tweeted. “Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out\" of everywhere.\n\n-- Maureen Groppe\n\nRussian invasion advances on Kyiv; civilians spent night in bomb shelters\n\nRussian troops appeared to be advancing on Kyiv at the start of the second day of the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.\n\nAmid a fast-moving and difficult-to-verify situation, Ukraine's Defense Ministry tweeted early Friday that some Russian troops had broken through to several northern districts on the outskirts of the capital. However, Ukraine's military also said it was resisting the advance on multiple fronts.\n\nThe apparent development comes as thousands of civilians spent the night in bomb shelters, typically underground subway stations, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his citizens to do all they can to resist Russia's assault. Zelenskyy has vowed to remain in Kyiv with his family and he appealed to Russia for a ceasefire.\n\nSome 137 Ukrainians, a mixture of soldiers and civilians, died in the fighting on Thursday, Zelenskyy said. Britain's Defense Secretary told his country's media Friday that Russia has lost about 450 military personnel.\n\nThe U.S., Europe and Japan have all unveiled sanctions on key Russian banks, airlines and associates of President Vladimir Putin. Later Friday, NATO leaders will convene an emergency meeting by video link to discuss the deteriorating security situation.\n\n- Kim Hjelmgaard\n\nEU plans more sanctions with 'massive consequences'\n\nBRUSSELS — A senior European Union official says the 27-nation bloc intends to slap further sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nEU Council president Charles Michel tweeted Friday: “Second wave of sanctions with massive and severe consequences politically agreed last night. Further package under urgent preparation.”\n\nMichel announced the move after a call with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.\n\nMichel said Kyiv “is under continued attack by Russian forces” and called on Russia to immediately stop the violence.\n\nRussia stripped of Champions League final as UEFA shifts match to Paris\n\nLONDON - Russia was stripped of hosting the Champions League final by UEFA on Friday with St. Petersburg replaced by Paris after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe men's final will still be held on May 28 but now at the 80,000-seat Stade de France after the decision by UEFA's executive committee.\n\n\"UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis,” European football's governing body said in a statement. \"Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.\"\n\nUkraine president: Russia has marked him ‘target No. 1’\n\nZelenskyy said Thursday he remains in the Ukraine capital of Kyiv, and intends to stay there, even as Russia has made him its top quarry.\n\n“The enemy has marked me as target No. 1, my family as target No. 2,” Zelenskyy said in an address to Ukrainians. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”\n\nAsked about Zelenskyy’s safety, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. is in touch with him and are working to provide him support.\n\n- Joey Garrison\n\nContributing: Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/25"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/15/ukraine-russia-invasion-live-updates/7044496001/", "title": "Biden to announce $800M in new aid for Ukraine; Russian forces ...", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Tuesday, March 15. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Wednesday, March 16, as Russia's invasion continues.\n\nUkrainians must realize the country will not be joining NATO and must \"count on ourselves and our partners who are helping us\" to withstand the Russian onslaught, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.\n\nLater in the day, the White House said President Joe Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nTalks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations yielded a sliver of hope when Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said “there is certainly room for compromise.” However, the invading forces continued their bombardment of Kyiv while a siege of the port city of Mariupol prompted about 20,000 civilians to flee. Negotiations are expected to resume Wednesday.\n\nZelenskyy, speaking to representatives of the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force, said Ukraine has heard for years about \"the allegedly open doors” of NATO but acknowledged his country will not be able to join. Instead, Ukraine needs separate security guarantees from its allies, he said.\n\nZelenskyy had been a strong supporter of Ukraine's efforts to join NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has called for a guarantee that Ukraine would never join NATO among terms for an end to the war.\n\nStill, Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for NATO to set up a no-fly zone above Ukraine to ease an aerial assault from Russia that has decimated Ukraine cities since the invasion began Feb. 24. And he said Tuesday that Europe could “help yourself by helping us” with more military aid. The Ukrainian military is using up weapons and ammunition meant to last a week in 20 hours, he said.\n\nLeaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were traveling to Kyiv on a European Union mission Tuesday to show support for Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a tweet announcing the trip that \"Europe must guarantee Ukraine's independence and ensure that it is ready to help in Ukraine's reconstruction.\"\n\nTHE NEWS COMES TO YOU: Get updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here.\n\nLATEST MOVEMENT:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nFULL COVERAGE:Latest updates, analysis, commentary on Ukraine\n\nLatest developments:\n\n►A fourth Russian general was killed in fighting at Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday, identifying him as Maj. Gen. Oleg Mityaev, commander of the 150th motorized rifle division. Russia did not confirm the death.\n\n►Ukrainian forces on Tuesday evening repelled an attack on Kharkiv by Russian troops, who tried to storm the city from their positions in Piatykhatky, a suburb 15 kilometers (9 miles) to the north, the head of the Kharkiv region said.\n\n►A funeral service was held Tuesday in Lviv for four Ukrainian soldiers killed in a Russian attack on a training base in Yavoriv in western Ukraine. The attack on Sunday killed at least 35 people.\n\n►Zelenskyy addressed the Canadian Parliament, again pleading for a no-fly zone over his country. The speech came as Moscow announced it was banning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from entering Russia.\n\n►The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says at least 691 civilians have died and 1,143 have been injured since the war began. At least four children have died, the agency said.\n\n►More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country, the U.N. refugee agency said. \"Today we have passed another terrible milestone,\" tweeted U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. \"The war has to stop. Now.\"\n\n►A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Izium, an eastern city of 46,000 people, Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Matsokin said. The city lacks basic supplies and extensive Russian shelling has severely damaged infrastructure, he said.\n\n►Belarus, a neighbor of both Russia and Ukraine but an ally of the former in the war, continued its crackdown on independent media by sentencing two journalists from the nation's oldest newspaper to 2 1/2 years in prison on charges of dodging communal payments they have rejected as politically driven.\n\nBiden to announce $800 million additional military aid for Ukraine\n\nPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to announce an additional $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, according to a White House official, bringing the total U.S. support for Ukraine to $1 billion in just the last week.\n\nBiden will announce the aid in an 11:45 a.m. ET speech, shortly after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to urge for greater assistance during a virtual address to the U.S. Senate and House earlier in the morning.\n\n“We’re moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country,” Biden said Tuesday. “And I’ll have much more to say about this tomorrow — about exactly what we’re doing in Ukraine.”\n\nThe additional $800 million will mean more than $2 billion in U.S. aid has gone to Ukraine since Biden entered office. The money has paid for an assortment of military equipment including 600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems, nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition, 200 grenade launchers and ammunition, 200 shotguns and 200 machine guns, according to the White House.\n\nIn addition, Biden signed into law a government funding bill Tuesday that will provide $13.6 billion in humanitarian aid, economic support and defense assistance for Ukraine and the region.\n\n— Joey Garrison\n\nRussian forces take 500 hostage in Mariupol hospital, Ukraine official says\n\nRussian forces took control of a hospital in the port city Mariupol, holding about 500 people hostage late Tuesday, according to a regional leader.\n\nPavlo Kyrylenko said on the social media app Telegram that Russian forces rounded up 400 people from their houses in the neighborhood and drove them into the hospital, where about 100 patients, doctors and other hospital staff were. Kyrylenko said Russians were using the hostages as human shields.\n\n“It’s impossible to leave the hospital, they are shooting hard,” Kyrylenko said.\n\nHe said staff are continuing to treat patients in makeshift wards set up in a basement despite damage done to the building from shelling.\n\nThe siege of Regional Intensive Care Hospital in Mariupol comes the week after Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital in the same city. Three people were killed, including a child.\n\nBiden to attend NATO summit in Brussels to discuss Russia’s invasion\n\nPresident Joe Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Biden’s attendance after NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg announced the extraordinary summit of all NATO allies at the NATO headquarters.\n\n“At this critical time, North America & Europe must continue to stand together,” Stoltenberg said in a statement on Twitter.\n\nThis will be Biden’s first to Europe since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago. Vice President Kamala Harris last week traveled to Romania and Poland, where she reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defend members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.\n\nPsaki said Biden will discuss “ongoing deterrence and defense efforts in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine and reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO allies.” She said Biden will also join a scheduled European Council summit to discuss concerns about Ukraine, including transatlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and humanitarian support to those affected by the violence in Ukraine.\n\nWhen asked, Psaki would not say whether Biden will visit Poland, where the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees have fled. “We’re still working through the final details of the trip and what it may look like,” said Psaki, who did not rule out Biden possibly meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nAs advancement stalls, Russia seeks reinforcements\n\nRussian losses on battlefields in Ukraine have stalled its offensive and forced it to seek reinforcements from troops stationed in the Pacific and paying mercenary forces, according to the British Defense ministry. Russia has been seeking mercenaries from Syria and elsewhere to fight in Ukraine.\n\n\"Russia will likely attempt to use these forces to hold captured territory and free up its combat power to renew stalled offensive operations,\" British defense attaché Mick Smeath said in a statement Tuesday evening.\n\nUkrainian resistance has hampered advancement by Russia, whose ability to hold territory it seizes would be degraded by continued losses, according to British military intelligence.\n\nEarlier Tuesday, a senior Defense Department official said the Russian offensive against Ukraine’s major cities, including Kyiv, was not progressing.\n\nHowever, Russian forces continue to bombard Kyiv with artillery and missile fire, striking residential areas with increasing frequency, according to the official, who shared battlefield assessments on condition of anonymity.\n\nRussia’s main force has made minimal progress toward Kyiv. The leading edge of the troops remain about 10 miles to the northwest and about 15 miles to the east of the city’s center. Ukrainians continue to mount stiff resistance, including near the city of Kharkiv.\n\n-- Tom Vanden Brook\n\nFox News cameraman and consultant killed while covering war\n\nFox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and journalist Oleksandra \"Sasha'' Kuvshynovawere killed while reporting with correspondent Benjamin Hall in Ukraine outside the capital city of Kyiv, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott announced Tuesday.\n\nThe group was traveling in a vehicle in Horenka – nearly 20 miles from Kyiv – when they were struck by incoming fire Monday, Scott said in a statement. Hall remained hospitalized.\n\n\"Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us,\" Scott said. \"His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched.\"\n\nKuvshynova, 24, was a freelance consultant for the network's team in Ukraine who helped with her knowledge of Kiev and its surroundings as well as her country's language. \"Her dream was to connect people around the world and tell their stories and she fulfilled that through her journalism,'' Scott said.\n\nAmerican photojournalist Brent Renaud was killed Sunday when Russian forces fired on a car in Irpin, a town 30 miles outside Kyiv. A second American journalist, Juan Arredondo, was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, police said.\n\nNed Price, the State Department’s chief spokesman, did not directly respond when asked if Russia is intentionally targeting journalists, but said the department is documenting attacks on people who should be “completely off limits.” He said it would merit a serious response if the department determines “there is any intentionality here.''\n\n– Asha C. Gilbert\n\nRussian TV employee who protested war is fined $270, could face tougher penalty\n\nThe Russian state television employee who interrupted a live news program by protesting against the war in Ukraine was fined the equivalent of $270 but could face harsher penalties under Russia's new law aimed at quelling opposition to the invasion.\n\nMarina Ovsyannikova was ordered to pay 30,000 rubles by Moscow's Ostankino District Court on charges of organizing unsanctioned actions for her call to demonstrate against the war. CNN reported that Ovsyannikova was questioned for 14 hours before her court appearance.\n\nMore concerning than the fine was the possibility Ovsyannikova could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of violating the punitive legislation adopted a day after the Feb. 24 invasion. Russia's top state investigative agency is looking into whether Ovsyannikova broke the new law by publicly spreading false information about the Russian military.\n\nOvsyannikova, who said in a video that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian, walked into a Channel One studio during Monday's evening news show with a poster saying “no war” and “Russians against the war” and warning viewers against believing propaganda spread by the station In the video, she said “Russia is the aggressor country and one person, Vladimir Putin, solely bears responsibility for that aggression,” and she urged Russians to join anti-war protests.\n\nSpeaking in a video address early Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Russians “who do not stop trying to convey the truth, real facts … And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war.”\n\nGirl who went viral singing 'Let It Go' in Kyiv bomb shelter is now in Poland\n\nA video of a 7-year-old girl singing the song “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen” in a bomb shelter in Kyiv went viral last week. Now she has made it safely to Poland.\n\nThe girl, Amelia, is in the country with her grandmother, the BBC reported. She told the outlet that, “It was OK” in the bomb shelter.\n\n“There were other children there. My classmate, Artyom, was there too,” she said.\n\n“I would be very happy to be with my mother and father, in Kyiv, of course,” she added. She also thanked the millions of people who saw the video of her singing the hit song from the Disney movie.\n\nLast week, Idina Menzel, who voiced Elsa, the character who sings “Let it Go” in “Frozen,” shared the video of Amelia singing on Twitter, writing, “We see you. We really, really see you.”\n\n-- Marina Pitofsky\n\nU.S. supplies another $186 million in humanitarian aid\n\nThe Biden administration said Tuesday it would provide an additional $186 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the refugee crisis caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine. More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia invaded on Feb. 24th, with the majority crossing into Poland.\n\n“This will provide further support for humanitarian organizations responding to the crisis and complement the generosity of the neighboring countries that are welcoming and supporting refugees,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.\n\nBlinken said the new funds would help provide food, drinking water, shelter and emergency health care through international and non-governmental partners. “This funding will also help victims of this conflict maintain contact with family members who have been separated and promote family reunification when possible,” Blinken said.\n\n-- Deirdre Shesgreen\n\nKyiv mayor: Men should fight, not 'sit somewhere and sympathize'\n\nRussia stepped up its bombardment of Kyiv on Tuesday, smashing apartments and a subway station as the assault edged closer to the city center. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said barrages hit four multi-story buildings in the city and killed dozens of people. The shelling ignited a huge fire in a 15-story apartment building and spurred a frantic rescue effort.\n\nMayor Vitali Klitschko stressed that Kyiv is prepared to defend itself and was confident it will not fall. He urged the men who left the capital to return and fight.\n\n“Everyone who loves Kyiv and wants it to survive should help as best they can,\" said Klitschko, a former heavyweight champion boxer. \"Kyiv men, come back. We must protect our city and our future. Don’t sit somewhere and sympathize.\"\n\nRussia sanctions President Biden, top national security officials\n\nThe Kremlin has sanctioned President Joe Biden and 13 of his top national security and foreign policy aides, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday. Among the other officials sanctioned are Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin; Secretary of State Antony Blinken; CIA Director Bill Burns; White House press secretary Jen Psaki; national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.\n\nWhen a country sanctions officials or a company, their assets in the country are seized and they're subject to arrest if they set foot on the country. The U.S. and the European Union have sanctioned a number of top Kremlin military officials, billionaires and members of the Russian legislature over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nIt is unlikely the sanctions against the U.S. will have a material effect, given that none of the officials have reported assets in Russia. Western governments have ramped up efforts to seize the wealth of Russian oligarchs and financial institutions in their countries.\n\n– Matthew Brown\n\nZelenskyy: Russian troops who surrender will be treated 'decently'\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Russian troops in an online video early Tuesday that they can surrender and will be treated \"decently\" and pleaded with European nations to provide his military with more weapons.\n\n\"On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance,\" Zelenskyy said in a video translated into English by his office, ahead of his scheduled speech to Canada's parliament Tuesday. \"Chance to survive. If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated. As people, decently.\"\n\nNATO leaders focus on bolstering forces near Russian border\n\nDefense Secretary Lloyd Austin was traveling to Brussels on Tuesday for a meeting of NATO’s defense ministers that will focus on bolstering the alliance’s eastern front following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Austin then is scheduled to visit senior civilian and military leaders in Slovakia and Bulgaria, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.\n\nThe NATO meeting comes after Russia’s cruise-missile attack Sunday on the Yavoriv military training base in western Ukraine. The attack killed at least 35 people and occurred not far from the border with Poland, a NATO ally. President Joe Biden and other senior officials have pledged to respond to any Russian attack that spills into NATO territory.\n\n– Tom Vanden Brook\n\nDamage in Ukraine estimated at $500 billion and rising\n\nPreliminary losses from Russia's attack in Ukraine are already estimated at $500 billion – and the damage grows worse every day, Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko said Tuesday. Supply chains have been broken, some businesses destroyed and others left unable to function because their workers have fled, Marchenko said. The true cost of the war won't be determined until it's over, he said. The International Monetary Fund, which has approved $1.4 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine, said this week that the country's economic output could shrink by up to 35% if the war drags on.\n\nMarchenko said some of the hundreds of billions in Russian assets frozen in the U.S. and Europe could be tapped to help his country rebuild.\n\nChina defends position on Ukraine\n\nChina's stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “impartial and constructive” while the U.S. has been “immoral and irresponsible” by spreading misinformation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday.\n\nLijian accused the U.S. of spreading misinformation over reports Beijing had agreed to a Russian request for military supplies. Lijian also said the U.S. played a major role in the development of the crisis, a reference to NATO expansion.\n\nLijian spoke at a press briefing on day after Yang Jiechi, one of China's top diplomats, met with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Yang called on the international community to support peace talks and said \"China always stands for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.\"\n\nState Department spokesman Ned Price declined to confirm whether U.S. officials believe Beijing has conveyed its support for Moscow's assault on Ukraine but said the U.S. is watching very closely whether China or any other country is providing any form of support, including material, economic or financial assistance.\n\nPoland on edge as Russian airstrikes hit near border\n\nKRAKOW, Poland — After a deadly Russian missile attack in Ukraine just 15 miles from the Polish border Sunday, some Poles are increasingly anxious – saving money, checking to see whether their passports are up to date and making plans to flee if war spills over to their country.\n\n“I said to my husband, ‘If only one bomb touches Polish ground, I will pack myself, pack my grandma, pack my mom, and we are going abroad,'” local artist Aga Gaj said.\n\nPoles are nervous following a Russian airstrike that killed 35 and injured at least 100 at a military base where Americans had trained Ukrainian forces before the war. The United States and NATO have regularly sent instructors to the base, known as the International Peacekeeping and Security Center. Just weeks before the war began, Florida National Guard members trained there. Read more here.\n\n– Katelyn Ferral, USA TODAY Network\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/15"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/19/ukraine-russia-invasion-putin-updates/7099086001/", "title": "Zelenskyy calls Mariupol terror a war crime; Russia uses first ...", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Saturday, March 19. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Sunday, March 20, as Russia's invasion continues.\n\nRussia's invasion of Ukraine has entered its fourth week without capturing Kyiv or toppling Ukraine's government, but the bombardment of Ukrainian cities continues — a move western defense experts warn could be a sign of a cruel and intentional strategy.\n\nThe situation grew increasingly dire in the port city of Mariupol, where Russian forces pushed deeper Saturday in an area already experiencing what onlookers describe as a humanitarian crisis.\n\n\"Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth,” Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin said in a video filmed Friday that was authenticated by The Associated Press..\n\nFighting shut down the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said Saturday, while other officials said forces that could help Ukraine defend Mariupol were facing massive resistance.\n\n\"There is currently no military solution to Mariupol,” Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said late Friday. “That is not only my opinion, that is the opinion of the military.”\n\nBritain’s defense intelligence chief described it as an emerging ”strategy of attrition.”\n\nRussian forces are besieging Ukrainian cities, relying increasingly on bombarding them from a distance with artillery, missiles and air strikes, according to the Pentagon.\n\n“This is likely to involve the indiscriminate use of firepower resulting in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis,” British Defense attache Mick Smeath said in a statement Saturday.\n\nMeanwhile in Russia, President Vladimir Putin is reinforcing his control of domestic media, attempting to obscure high casualties amid fierce resistance encountered in his invasion of Ukraine, according to a British Defense Ministry intelligence estimate.\n\nThe assessment was echoed by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank, in a report this week. The group warned that since Russia's \"lightning offensive designed to take the capital\" had failed, the military appeared to be settling in for an extended campaign \"designed to suffocate Ukraine.\"\n\nREFUGEE EXODUS:Millions of refugees are fleeing Ukraine. Where are they going?\n\nThe strategy would likely involve attacking civilian areas, destroying cities and blocking off supplies, possibly leading to famine, according to the analysis. The organization later drew parallels to an artificial famine engineered by the Kremlin in the 1930s that killed millions of Ukrainians — a Soviet attempt to \"subjugate the Ukrainian nation.\"\n\nANTI-TANK WARFARE: As Russian troops close in on major cities in Ukraine, anti-tank weapons can make a major difference\n\nA JOURNALIST AND A REFUGEE: How one reporter helps cover the war in Ukraine while living through the fallout.\n\nLatest developments:\n\n►At least 847 civilians, including 64 children, have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner reported Saturday, but the agency said the actual figures are much higher. Agents also estimated the violence had left nearly 1,400 civilians injured, including 78 children.\n\n►The Mariupol city council claimed Russian soldiers have forced several thousand city residents to be relocated to Russia. \"The occupiers illegally took people out of the Levoberezhny district and a shelter in the building of a sports club, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing,\" the council said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.\n\n►Saturday, Ukraine and Russia agreed to open 10 humanitarian corridors to assist in the evacuation efforts, according to Ukraine's deputy prime minster.\n\n►The U.N. migration agency says the fighting has displaced nearly 6.5 million people inside Ukraine, on top of the 3.2 million refugees who have already fled the country. Ukraine says thousands have been killed.\n\n►The Ukraine military claims to have killed another Russian general – the fifth since the invasion began.\n\nUK defense says Ukraine holding its airspace\n\nThe British defense ministry said the Ukrainian Air Force and air defense forces are “continuing to effectively defend Ukrainian airspace.”\n\n“Russia has failed to gain control of the air and is largely relying on stand-off weapons launched from the relative safety of Russian airspace to strike targets within Ukraine,” the ministry said on Twitter. “Gaining control of the air was one of Russia’s principal objectives for the opening days of the conflict and their continued failure to do so has significantly blunted their operational progress.”\n\nA Ukrainian military official meanwhile confirmed to a Ukrainian newspaper that Russian forces carried out a missile strike Friday on a missile and ammunition warehouse in the Delyatyn settlement of the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine.\n\nBut Ukraine’s Air Forces spokesman Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainskaya Pravda on Saturday that it has not been confirmed that the missile was indeed a hypersonic Kinzhal.\n\nRussian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said earlier Saturday that Russian military hit the underground warehouse in Delyatyn on Friday with the hypersonic Kinzhal missile in its first reported combat use. According to Russian officials, the Kinzhal, carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, has a range of up to 1,250 miles flies at 10 times the speed of sound.\n\nRUSSIAN PROGRESS IN UKRAINE:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nZelenskyy says Mariupol terror a war crime\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the siege of Mariupol will go down in history for what he's calling war crimes by Russia's military.\n\n“To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come,” he said early Sunday in his nighttime video address to the nation.\n\nZelenskyy told Ukrainians the ongoing negotiations with Russia were “not simple or pleasant, but they are necessary.” He said he discussed the course of the talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday.\n\n“Ukraine has always sought a peaceful solution. Moreover, we are interested in peace now,” he said.\n\nMeanwhile, Russia's military isn't even recovering the bodies of its soldiers in some places, Zelenskyy said.\n\n“In places where there were especially fierce battles, the bodies of Russian soldiers simply pile up along our line of defense. And no one is collecting these bodies,” he said. He described as battle near Chornobayivka in the south, where Ukrainian forces held their positions and six times beat back the Russians, who just kept “sending their people to slaughter.”\n\n- The Associated Press\n\n'PLEASE HELP US':Weary voices call from Mariupol, where bodies line streets\n\nExperts: Math of military occupation may be against Putin in Ukraine\n\nEstimates of Russian deaths vary widely. Yet even conservative figures are in the low thousands. That’s a much faster pace than in previous Russian offensives, threatening support for the war among ordinary Russians. Russia had 64 deaths in five days of fighting during its 2008 war with Georgia. It lost about 15,000 in Afghanistan over 10 years, and more than 11,000 over years of fighting in Chechnya.\n\nRussia’s number of dead and wounded in Ukraine is nearing the 10% benchmark of diminished combat effectiveness, said Dmitry Gorenburg, a researcher on Russia’s security at the Virginia-based CNA think tank. The reported battlefield deaths of four Russian generals — out of an estimated 20 in the fight — signal impaired command, he said.\n\nResearchers tracking only those Russian equipment losses that were photographed or recorded on video say Russia has lost more than 1,500 tanks, trucks, mounted equipment and other heavy gear. Two out of three of those were captured or abandoned, signaling the failings of the Russian troops that let them go.\n\nWhen it comes to the grinding job of capturing and holding cities, conventional military metrics suggest Russia needs a 5-to-1 advantage in urban fighting, analysts say. Meanwhile, the formula for ruling a restive territory in the face of armed opposition is 20 fighters for every 1,000 people — or 800,000 Russian troops for Ukraine’s more than 40 million people, said Michael Clarke, former head of the British-based Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank\n\nThat’s almost as many as Russia’s entire active-duty military of 900,000, and it means controlling substantial Ukrainian territory long term could take more resources than Russia can commit, he said.\n\n“Unless the Russians intend to be completely genocidal — they could flatten all the major cities, and Ukrainians will rise up against Russian occupation — there will be just constant guerrilla war,” said Clarke.\n\n- The Associated Press\n\nWHAT IS THE HOLODOMOR?:A brief history of the deadly famine in Ukraine many call genocide\n\nUkrainians evacuated along 8 of 10 agreed upon humanitarian corridors\n\nEvacuations from besieged cities proceeded Saturday along eight of 10 humanitarian corridors, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. She said a total of 6,623 people were evacuated, including 4,128 from Mariupol who were taken northwest to Zaporizhzhia.\n\nRussian forces pushed deeper into the besieged and battered port city of Mariupol, where heavy fighting on Saturday shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help.\n\nThe fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.\n\n-The Associated Press\n\nPope Francis visits Ukrainian children at Vatican hospital\n\nPope Francis has paid a visit to some of the Ukrainian children who escaped the Russian invasion and are currently being treated at the Vatican’s pediatric hospital in Rome.\n\nThe Vatican says the Bambino Gesu hospital is currently tending to 19 Ukrainian refugees, and that overall some 50 have passed through in recent weeks.\n\nSome were suffering oncological, neurological and other problems before the war and fled in the early days. Others are being treated for wounds incurred as a result of the invasion.\n\nThe Vatican says Francis travelled the short distance up the hill to the hospital on Saturday afternoon. He met with all the young patients in their rooms before returning back to the Vatican.\n\nFrancis has spoken out about the “barbarity” of the war and especially the death and injury it has caused Ukrainian children.\n\n-The Associated Press\n\nRussia says it used hypersonic missiles for the first time\n\nRussia said it used a hypersonic missile Friday to strike a western Ukraine target, the Interfax news agency reported.\n\nHypersonic missiles are missiles that can move at five times the speed of sound. The Russian military said these missiles are capable of hitting targets at a range of more than 1,200 miles, or roughly the distance from New York City to Kansas City.\n\n\"The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aero ballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region,\" the Russian defense ministry said Saturday.\n\nThis is the first known use of hypersonic missiles since Russian troops invaded Ukraine.\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\nOn Poland visit, senators reaffirm US support for Ukraine, call Putin 'weak'\n\nA bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators visited a refugee center in Poland on Saturday and met with officials from several countries to reinforce U.S. support for providing humanitarian assistance and lethal aid to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.\n\n“This invasion of Russia into Ukraine is abhorrent and we cannot stand for it,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. “The goal is a free and sovereign Ukraine. We want peace, but we want a free and sovereign Ukraine.”\n\nThe lawmakers displayed part of a missile that struck close to the Polish border. Ernst said lawmakers didn’t visit the border, but did stop in at a refugee center where people rested before resettling elsewhere in Poland or other countries.\n\nAID FOR UKRAINE:Biden calls Putin a 'war criminal' after signing off on $800 million in new military aid: March 16 recap\n\n“We do need to find new ways of getting much needed material into Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Ernst said after the delegation met with leaders from Poland, Ukraine and Germany.\n\nErnst, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard who served in the Iraq war and sits on the Armed Services Committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin should be held accountable for the war and for targeting women, children and the elderly.\n\n“It’s a truly weak man that targets children, elderly, women. Putin is a weak leader,” Ernst said. “He may be trying to project strength, but he is a weak man when he is going after weak individuals. We need to hold him accountable for the crimes that he is committing in Ukraine. This is abhorrent. It is an illegal war and he needs to held accountable.”\n\n- Bart Jansen\n\nUNICEF: 1.5M Ukrainian refugee children at risk of human trafficking\n\nThe more than 1.5 million children who have fled Ukraine as refugees face a higher risk for exploitation and trafficking, UNICEF said Saturday.\n\nWomen and children represent nearly all of the refugees who have left Ukraine since Feb. 24. UNICEF said that increases the proportion of potential trafficking victims.\n\n\"The war in Ukraine is leading to massive displacement and refugee flows - conditions that could lead to a significant spike in human trafficking and an acute child protection crisis,\" said Afshan Khan, UNICEF's Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. \"Displaced children are extremely vulnerable to being separated from their families, exploited, and trafficked. They need governments in the region to step up and put measures in place to keep them safe.\"\n\nWith more than 500 unaccompanied children identified crossing from Ukraine into Romania as of March 17, UNICEF warned that separated children are especially vulnerable to trafficking.\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\nRussian cosmonauts board space station in blue and yellow spacesuits\n\nThree Russian cosmonauts on Friday boarded the International Space Station donning spacesuits in the Ukrainian flag's colors. Images of the cosmonauts wearing the striking yellow and blue suits sparked speculation online that the colors were worn in protest of Russia’s invasion.\n\nThe cosmonauts are Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov. They docked at the station in their Russian Soyuz spacecraft at 3:12 p.m. EDT and are scheduled to stay aboard the station until September, according to Space.com.\n\nWhen asked about the colors in a live-streamed press conference after the docking, Artemyev indicated they were a coincidence, according to the BBC.\n\n\"It became our turn to pick a color,\" Artemyev said. \"We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. That's why we had to wear yellow.\"\n\nBut some on social media weren’t convinced.\n\nFormer NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Terry Virts suggested on Twitter that the colors were in support of Ukraine, and astronomer Jonathan McDowell speculated on Twitter that the colors were meant as an homage to the cosmonauts’ alma mater, Bauman University, which also has blue and yellow colors.\n\nThere are seven people already on the orbiting lab, according to Space.com: cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency, and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron and Mark Vande Hei.\n\n- Ella Lee\n\nZelenskyy calls on Swiss government to freeze assets of Russian oligarchs\n\nUkrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy urged the Swiss government to freeze the bank accounts of all Russian oligarchs, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.\n\nZelenskyy spoke to thousands of antiwar protestors in Bern, Switzerland via livestream on Saturday where he called on the Swiss government to take away privileges from those who are involved in the war.\n\nMore:Who are Russia's oligarchs and how do they play into the war in Ukraine?\n\n\"In your banks are the funds of the people who unleashed this war,\" Zelenskyy said. \"Help to fight this. So that their funds are frozen.\"\n\nThe Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) estimates that Switzerland's secretive banks hold up to $213 billion of Russian wealth.\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\nFormer presidents Bush, Clinton lay flowers at Ukrainian church in Chicago\n\nFormer Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited a Ukrainian church in Chicago this week.\n\nThe pair brought sunflowers to Saints Volodymyr & Olha Catholic Church. Chicago, a sister city of Kyiv, is home to many Ukrainian Americans.\n\nClinton shared a video of the visit on Twitter with the caption, \"America stands united with the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom and against oppression.\"\n\nBush posted the video on Instagram with the caption, \"America stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom and their future.\"\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\n6.5 million displaced within Ukraine, UN reports\n\nNearly 6.5 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine, the U.N. migration agency said Friday.\n\nThat's on top of the 3.3 million people who have crossed the Ukrainian borders since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which released the updated data in a paper issued Friday.\n\nThe paper noted that an additional 12 million people are thought to be stranded, unable to leave for security purposes or for lack of resources and information.\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\nPoland urges EU trade ban on Russia\n\nPoland is recommending the European Union impose a total ban on trade with Russia.\n\nSaturday, Polish Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki proposed more stringent sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. He said that a trade blockade should be added \"as soon as possible,\" and should include trade from Russia's seaports as well as land trade.\n\n\"Fully cutting off Russia's trade would further force Russia to consider whether it would be better to stop this cruel war,\" he said.\n\nTuesday the E.U. agreed to a fourth sanctions package that included restrictions on the Kremlin's military-industrial complex, an E.U. import ban on those steel products currently under EU safeguard measures and an E.U. export ban on luxury goods.\n\nThis comes as more American companies announce the suspension of business in Russia, putting a greater strain on the Russian economy. Friday Halliburton became the latest company to join that list.\n\n- Ana Faguy\n\nUkraine: It will take 'years' to defuse unexploded shells, mines from war\n\nKYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky says it will take years to defuse the unexploded ordnance once the Russian invasion is over.\n\nMonastyrsky told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that the country will need Western assistance to carry out the massive undertaking after the war.\n\n“A huge number of shells and mines have been fired at Ukraine, and a large part haven’t exploded. They remain under the rubble and pose a real threat,” Monastyrsky said in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. “It will take years, not months, to defuse them.”\n\nIn addition to the unexploded Russian ordnance, Ukrainian troops have planted land mines at bridges, airports and other key locations to prevent the Russians from using them.\n\n“We won’t be able to remove the mines from all that territory, so I asked our international partners and colleagues from the European Union and the United States to prepare groups of experts to demine the areas of combat and facilities that came under shelling,” Monastyrsky told the AP.\n\n– The Associated Press\n\nExperts: Graham's call for Putin's assassination is 'dangerous' for US\n\nSen. Lindsey Graham’s continued calls that Putin be “taken out” are alarming researchers and academics who warn the South Carolina Republican’s comments are reckless because they could be interpreted as the U.S. disregarding international law and be used to fuel disinformation in Russia.\n\n\"There are so many dangerous aspects to his comments,\" said Anthony Arend, co-founder of the Institute for International Law & Politics at Georgetown University. \"It sets the possible precedent that others will be able to look at the United States and say, 'Well, they're advocating it. Why don't we simply move to a foreign policy that more broadly incorporates assassinations or targeting regime leaders?'\"\n\nMore:Lindsey Graham called for Putin's assassination. Even discussing it brings danger to US, experts say.\n\nNika Aleksejeva, a Latvia-based researcher with the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, warned Graham's comments fuel a Kremlin narrative that portrays the U.S. as a violent and lawless sponsor of terrorism out to get Russia.\n\n\"The U.S. is painted as the great evil in Russia,\" she said. \"One of the disinformation narrative lines is that Ukraine is our brother nation, and Russia is forced to carry out this military operation because the U.S. made Ukraine go away from Russia – that the U.S. is to blame in all these problems that are now between Russia and Ukraine.\"\n\nGraham, who tweeted in early March that \"the only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,\" doubled down on his comments Wednesday.\n\n\"Yeah, I hope he'll be taken out, one way or the other,\" he told reporters during a Capitol Hill news conference. “I don't care how they take him out. I don't care if we send him to the Hague and try him. I just want him to go.”\n\n– Grace Hauck\n\nPutin appears at large rally as troops press attack in Ukraine\n\nVladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a Moscow stadium Friday and lavished praise on his troops fighting in Ukraine, three weeks into the invasion that has led to heavier-than-expected Russian losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home.\n\n“Shoulder to shoulder, they help and support each other,” the Russian president said of the Kremlin’s forces in a rare public appearance since the start of the war. “We have not had unity like this for a long time,” he added to cheers from the crowd.\n\nThe show of support amid a burst of antiwar protests inside Russia led to allegations in some quarters that the rally — held officially to mark the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which was seized from Ukraine — was a manufactured display of patriotism.\n\nSeveral Telegram channels critical of the Kremlin reported that students and employees of state institutions in a number of regions were ordered by their superiors to attend rallies and concerts marking the anniversary. Those reports could not be independently verified.\n\nMoscow police said more than 200,000 people were in and around the Luzhniki stadium. The event included patriotic songs, including a performance of “Made in the U.S.S.R.,” with the opening lines “Ukraine and Crimea, Belarus and Moldova, it’s all my country.”\n\nIn response to the rally, American conservative commentator Sean Hannity suggested on his radio show that Putin was “channeling his inner Donald Trump,” Business Insider reported. During his Fox News show later in the day, Hannity again accused Putin of making his “best attempt to look like Donald Trump” at the rally.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press, Ella Lee\n\nZelenskyy says Russia is creating 'humanitarian catastrophe'\n\nLVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are blockading Ukraine’s largest cities to create a “humanitarian catastrophe” with the aim of persuading Ukrainians to cooperate with them.\n\nHe says Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in the center and southeast of the country.\n\n“This is a totally deliberate tactic,” Zelenskyy said in his nighttime video address to the nation, filmed outside in Kyiv, with the presidential office in the lamplight behind him.\n\nHe said more than 9,000 people were able to leave besieged Mariupol in the past day, and in all more than 180,000 people have been able to flee to safety through humanitarian corridors.\n\nHe again appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with him directly.\n\nHe noted that the 200,000 people Putin gathered in and around a Moscow stadium on Friday for a flag-waving rally was about the same number of Russian troops sent into Ukraine three weeks ago.\n\nZelenskyy then asked his audience to picture the stadium filled with the thousands of Russians who have been killed, wounded or maimed in the fighting.\n\n— Associated Press\n\nJimmy Hill, American killed in Ukraine, stayed with sick partner\n\nEven as Russian forces massed on the border with Ukraine and the U.S. government urged Americans to leave the country, Jimmy Hill didn't flee. Instead, he drove even closer to Russian territory in search of treatment for his life partner, who was sick.\n\nJames Whitney Hill, 67, was killed by Russian artillery fire in Ukraine this week, at least the second American to die there since the invasion began Feb. 24. Before his death, he touched lives around the world through teaching and storytelling, friends and family told USA TODAY.\n\n\"He had worked tirelessly to find her treatment and refused to leave her bedside when the invasion began in Ukraine,\" his family said in a statement Friday about his life partner, Irina Teslenko, who has multiple sclerosis. READ MORE.\n\n– Grace Hauck", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/07/ukraine-russia-invasion-live-updates/9404740002/", "title": "Ukraine recap: Ukrainian intelligence says Russian general killed", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Monday, March 7. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Tuesday, March 8, as Russia's invasion continues.\n\nA third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine ended Monday without any significant breakthroughs, although Ukrainian officials said there were slight shifts on safe passages for civilians attempting to flee to war-torn country.\n\nMykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said without elaboration that “there were some small positive shifts regarding logistics of humanitarian corridors.” He said that consultations will continue on ways to negotiate an end to hostilities.\n\nPrevious efforts to set up safe passage for civilians over the weekend fell apart amid continued shelling. But the Russian Defense Ministry announced a new push Monday, saying civilians would be allowed to leave the capital of Kyiv, Mariupol and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy.\n\nHours after the talks, Russia announced a limited ceasefire that would happen on Tuesday morning and the opening of safe corridors for civilians to evacuate the war-torn country, a significant move that's likely to be met with skepticism after similar efforts failed.\n\nUkraine has yet to agree to the proposal.\n\nThe proposal made Monday by Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia during the U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine included that fleeing Ukrainians would not have to flee to Russia or or its ally Belarus, a key issue Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called \"just cynicism\" and a propaganda effort in the country's favor.\n\n“This proposal doesn’t have any demands about the citizens being sent necessarily to Russia, into Russian territory,” Nebenzia said. “There’s also evacuation offered towards Ukrainian cities to the west of Kyiv, and ultimately it will be the choice of the people themselves where they want to be evacuated to.\"\n\nThe announcement came hours after a third round of talks between the two countries. Ukrainian officials had said the talks didn't provide much momentum on a ceasefire or an end to the war but there were slight shifts on humanitarian corridors.\n\nLatest developments:\n\n►The U.S. is among 48 nations whose governments have committed \"unfriendly actions\" against Russia, the Kremlin says. Russian citizens, companies and government bodies that owe money to those countries can pay debts in rubles, the decree says.\n\n►Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after American Express, Visa and Mastercard cut off services in Russia citing the invasion.\n\n►Italian Premier Mario Draghi expressed little hope that peace talks will result in an end to the war. Russia will continue to pound Ukraine until “the country has surrendered, probably installs a friendly government and defeats the resistance. That’s what the facts demonstrate.”\n\n►President Joe Biden discussed the latest developments with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during an 80-minute teleconference, with leaders saying they were determined to continue \"raising the costs on Russia for its unprovoked and unjustified\" attack on Ukraine.\n\n►The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine surpassed 1.7 million on Monday, and an EU official warned the number could reach 5 million.\n\nQuick links:\n\nGET UKRAINE UPDATES:We'll email you the latest news once a day\n\nVISUALS:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\nWhat is going on with gas prices?:Are oil companies price gouging? What does this have to do with Russia? When will gas go down?\n\nRussian general killed in battle, Ukrainian intelligence claims\n\nThe Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a Russian general has been killed in battle, a rarity in modern times.\n\nUkraine identified him as 45-year-old Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, and said he had fought with Russian forces in Syria and Chechnya and had taken part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014. According to the intelligence agency, he was killed around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.\n\nIt was not possible to confirm the death independently. Russia has not commented.\n\nIt’s a rare occurrence for such a senior military official to die in action fighting, but Gerasimov marks the second known Russian general killed during the war in Ukraine. Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was killed last week.\n\n— Celina Tebor\n\nCongress comes to deal on bill banning Russian oil\n\nTop officials in the Congress reached an agreement Monday on legislation that would ban Russian oil imports to the U.S. and end Russia’s permanent normal trade relation status in response to the intensifying war in Ukraine, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations.\n\nVoting could come swiftly but no schedule has been set.\n\nThe White House has been reluctant to ban Russian oil imports as gas prices at the pump spike for Americans, but has not ruled out the option.\n\nEnding the normal trade relation status could result in steep tariffs on other Russian imports.\n\nPresident Joe Biden has been reluctant to ban Russian oil, fearing it could further fuel inflation heading into the midterm elections this November.\n\nThe national average price for unleaded gasoline hit $4.10 a gallon Monday, compared with $3.61 a week ago and $3.44 a month ago, according to AAA.\n\nU.N.'s nuclear watchdog: Another facility damaged by shelling\n\nThe U.N. nuclear watchdog said Ukraine has informed it that a new research facility producing radioisotopes for medical and industrial uses has been damaged by shelling in Kharkiv.\n\nThe International Atomic Energy Agency said the Ukrainian regulator told it that Sunday’s incident didn’t cause any increase in radiation levels at the site. It said the nuclear material at the facility is “always subcritical” and there is a very low stock of it, so the IAEA’s assessment is that the reported damage would have no “radiological consequence.”\n\nHowever, it adds to a string of concerns the Vienna-based IAEA has over nuclear facilities and material in Ukraine. Last week, Russian shelling started a fire at Europe's largest nuclear plant in Ukraine, causing worldwide fears of another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster.\n\nSince Russian forces took the plant, the IAEA said the Ukrainian regulator has informed it that it’s not currently possible to deliver spare parts or medicine to the plant.\n\nPentagon says Russia recruiting Syrian mercenaries\n\nRussia is recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight its war in Ukraine, a senior Defense Department official said Monday. The Pentagon did not have an estimate on the number of fighters the Russian military is seeking from Syria, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence findings. There are no indications that Syrians had arrived in Ukraine. Russia intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015, supporting the government of Bashar al Assad.\n\nThe recruiting effort is noteworthy given what the official described as Russia’s struggles to overcome significant resistance from Ukrainians. Meanwhile, nearly 100% of the Russian combat forces President Vladimir Putin deployed to Ukraine’s borders are now inside the country. The official said the main force of Russian troops appears stalled outside Kyiv. Ukrainian airspace remains contested, the official said, with Ukraine able to fly the majority of its warplanes.\n\nOver the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an additional 500 U.S. troops based in the United States to Greece, Poland and Romania. The group includes air-refuelers, maintenance and other support troops, the official said.\n\n– Tom Vanden Brook\n\nUnited Airlines suspending some India flights to avoid Russian airspace\n\nUnited Airlines on Monday said it will indefinitely suspend two of its four routes between the United States and India because of the war in Ukraine. The Chicago-based airline will no longer fly between San Francisco and New Delhi and between Newark, New Jersey, and Mumbai because of its decision not to overfly Russian airspace during the conflict.\n\nThe airline plans to continue operating flights between Newark and New Delhi and Chicago and New Delhi because it can more efficiently reroute those flights, according to United spokesperson Leslie Scott.\n\nAmerican Airlines is still operating its New York-Delhi flights, spokesperson Curtis Blessing said. In late February, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, the airline preemptively started rerouting the flight to avoid Ukraine airspace.\n\n– Dawn Gilbertson\n\nKindness amid chaos: Baby strollers left for refugees at train stations\n\nMany of the almost 2 million Ukrainians who have fled the war have escaped on packed trains with only the possessions they can carry on their backs. Most are women and children. At Poland's Przemyśl Główny train station, Italian photojournalist Francesco Malavolta captured a photo of special gifts left by local families for mothers of young children exiting the train – a line of donated strollers. Some of the strollers are packed with blankets and other necessities. Malvolta took a similar picture in Vyšné, Slovakia. He has also photographed many families, some with babies, scrambling to escape the fighting.\n\n\"The war is horrendous,\" he says on his Facebook page.\n\nBiden conferring with France, Germany and England on Ukraine\n\nBiden, conferred via video teleconference Monday with the leaders of France, Germany and England, has worked for weeks in close consultation with European allies over how to respond to Russia’s aggression. Macron, pressing ahead with diplomatic efforts to end the war, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, their fourth conversation since Russian forces attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24.\n\nMacron's office said the Putin call focused primarily on the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear plants. Macron told Putin these facilities must not be targeted by a Russian offensive, and Putin said he does not intend to attack the plants, Macron's office said.\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken will go to Paris on Tuesday to hear from Macron, who holds the European Union's rotating presidency.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nWar brings chaos to adoption plans\n\nInternational Adoption Net told USA TODAY that numerous U.S. families hoping to adopt from Ukraine have seen the process placed on hold because Ukrainian courts are closed. Daniel Nehrbass from Nightlight Christian Adoption said his agency had 11 families waiting to adopt 20 children from Ukraine, but that process has now halted. The State Department says it has asked the Ukrainian government to expedite new birth certificates and passports for all adopted children that require them.\n\n\"It's time to think about allowing these children to have refugee status in other countries,\" Nehrbass said.\n\n– Callie Carmichael\n\nUkrainian couple marries amid invasion\n\nA Ukrainian couple exchanged vows Sunday near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kyiv amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov, Ukrainian territorial defense members, said they have been together for more than 20 years. Their 18-year-old daughter watched the ceremony on a video call. The bride carried flowers and wore a white veil during the ceremony.\n\n\"We decided – who knows what will happen tomorrow – we should get married in front of the state, in front of God,\" said Ivashchenko, the bride.\n\nFylymonov, the groom, said, in a video translated by The Guardian that they live in \"challenging times... that’s why it is better do it sooner than later.” Read more here.\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nEU official warns refugee total could reach 5 million\n\nThe number of refugees who have fled Ukraine surpassed 1.7 million on Monday, and an EU official warned the number would likely reach 5 million. More than 1 million have crossed the border into Poland, according to the U.N. refugee agency.\n\nEU foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell called on mobilizing “all the resources” of the bloc of 27 nations to help countries welcoming the refugee. \"If they continue to bomb Ukrainian cities in an indiscriminate manner, we can expect 5 million migrants,\" EU foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell said. \"Not migrants, we can't call them migrants. These are exiled people.\"\n\n36 hours with a team building a field hospital in Ukraine\n\nUSA TODAY spent 36 hours with a team of overseas nurses, engineers and logistics personnel invited by Ukraine's authorities to build a field hospital for emergency and specialized trauma care in Lviv. It is being established to serve an expected wave of people – military and civilian – impacted by Russia's assault on Ukraine as Moscow counters resistance to its invasion with more firepower. The location of the planned hospital is on the fringes of Lviv in western Ukraine – identified as a potential capital if Kyiv falls to the Kremlin.\n\n\"I've set up hospitals in war zones, and we've deliberately marked ones that have been bombed and we've left them unmarked and gotten bombed,\" said Ken Isaacs, the American who is leading the effort to construct the hospital. \"When an airplane wants to bomb you, they bomb you.\" Read more here.\n\n– Kim Hjelmgaard and Jessica Koscielniak\n\nRussia snubs UN court hearings in case brought by Ukraine\n\nRussia has snubbed a hearing at the United Nations’ top court into a legal bid by Kyiv to halt Moscow’s devastating invasion of Ukraine. A row of seats reserved for Russian lawyers at the International Court of Justice was empty Monday morning as the hearing opened. The court’s president, American judge Joan E. Donoghue, said Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands informed judges that “his government did not intend to participate in the oral proceedings.” The hearing went ahead without the Russian delegation.\n\nThe International Court of Justice is opening two days of hearings at its headquarters, the Peace Palace, into Ukraine's request for its judges to order Russia to halt its invasion. Ukraine is scheduled to present its arguments Monday morning and Russia has the opportunity to respond on Tuesday.\n\nA decision is expected on the request within days, though that does not mean Russia would abide by any order the court might issue.\n\nBlinken travels to Baltic states\n\nBlinken has begun a trip to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine. The former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all members of NATO and Blinken aims to reassure them of the alliance’s protection. Since the invasion of Ukraine last month, NATO has moved quickly to boost its troop presence in its eastern flank allies.\n\nBlinken’s Baltic tour opened Monday in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where support for Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion government is palpable with signs of solidarity with Ukrainians in many businesses and on public buildings and buses.\n\nNew Zealand will rush through a new law to sanction Russia\n\nNew Zealand's government said Monday that it plans to rush through a new law that will allow it to impose economic sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nUnlike many countries that have already introduced sanctions, New Zealand's existing laws don't allow it to apply meaningful measures unless they're part of a broader United Nations effort. Because Russia has U.N. Security Council veto power, that has left New Zealand hamstrung.\n\nPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the new legislation would allow it to target people, companies and assets connected to those in Russia associated with the invasion, including oligarchs. It would allow New Zealand to freeze assets and stop superyachts or planes from arriving.\n\nThe bill will be specific only to the Ukraine invasion but could allow New Zealand to impose sanctions on countries seen to be helping Russia, such as Belarus.\n\nAustralian missiles on the ground in Ukraine\n\nAustralia’s prime minister says Russia and China’s closer relationship is opportunistic rather than strategic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday labeled the alliance an “Arc of Autocracy” and said Russia and China would prefer a new world order to the one that has been in place since World War II.\n\nMorrison has criticized Beijing’s failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s expansion of trade in Russian wheat while other countries are imposing sanctions. Australia last week promised Ukraine $50 million in missiles, ammunition and other military hardware to fight Russian invaders.\n\n“Our missiles are on the ground now,” Morrison said Monday.\n\nOIL FROM RUSSIA:How much oil does the US buy from Russia? Not much, but gas prices are rising amid Ukraine invasion\n\nGAS PRICES ARE RISING:What can Biden do to lower costs at the pump amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine?\n\nContributing: The Associated Press\n\nMore Ukraine-Russia news", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/28/russia-ukraine-updates/6969216001/", "title": "Ukrainian soldiers killed after Russian artillery hits base: Recap", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Monday, Feb. 28. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Tuesday, March 1, as Russia's invasion continues.\n\n***\n\nMore than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.\n\nDmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photographs of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching rubble. In a later Facebook post, he said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting on Sunday. The report could not immediately be confirmed.\n\nEarlier Monday, Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s second-largest city, rocking a residential neighborhood as they closed in on the capital, Kyiv, in a 40-mile convoy that included hundreds of tanks and other military vehicles.\n\nThe fighting continued as talks aimed at stopping the war yielded only an agreement to keep talking. The country’s embattled president said the stepped-up shelling was aimed at forcing him into concessions.\n\n“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method,\" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address. He did not offer details of the hours-long talks that took place earlier, but said that Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting each other with rocket artillery.”\n\nAs Russian forces marched forward and met stiff resistance from Ukrainian soldiers, countries tightened the vise around Moscow's economy Monday, announcing new sanctions on its central bank and individuals. Even Switzerland is breaking its neutral stance to join the EU in its actions.\n\nTRACK THE INVASION:Satellite images, surveillance footage, social media posts show the latest on the war in Ukraine\n\nFACT CHECK: What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine\n\nRUSSIA'S RICHEST TARGETED: Biden hits yacht-riding elites with sanctions. Will it help?\n\nMastercard blocks financial institutions over sanctions on Russia\n\nMastercard announced Monday it was blocking \"multiple financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network\" as a result of sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe U.S.-based financial services company said in a statement it will continue to work with regulators to stay in compliance and is actively monitoring and preparing to respond to cyberattacks.\n\nThe U.S. and EU have sanctioned top Kremin officials and Russian elites as well as taken steps to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT network, which allows for payments between financial institutions.\n\nThe financial corporation also said it would donate $2 million in humanitarian relief.\n\n— Celina Tebor\n\nUnited States expels Russian diplomats from U.N. headquarters\n\nThe United States is expelling 12 Russian diplomats stationed at the United Nation's headquarters in New York. for engaging in “espionage activities” that undermine U.S. national security.\n\nOlivia Dalton, a spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN, said the U.S. action has been in the works for “several months.”\n\nShe did not elaborate on the accusations that the Russians were spying on the U.S. but referred to the 12 individuals as “intelligence operatives from the Russian Mission who have abused their privileges of residency in the United States.”\n\n— Deirdre Shesgreen\n\nAustralia commits $50 million in support for Ukraine\n\nAustralia will provide Ukraine with $50 million in missiles, ammunition and other military hardware to fight Russian invaders.\n\nAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday elaborated on his country’s plans after revealing a day earlier that his government would provide Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with lethal military equipment. Morrison promised only non-lethal military equipment last week.\n\n“President Zelenskyy said: ‘Don’t give me a ride, give me ammunition,’ and that’s exactly what the Australian government has agreed to do,” Morrison said.\n\nAustralia had committed $50 million to provide both lethal and non-lethal defensive support for Ukraine through NATO, he said. “The overwhelming majority of that ... will be in the lethal category,” Morrison said.\n\n— Associated Press\n\nDisney, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. halt release of films in Russia\n\nThe Walt Disney Co., Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. are joining the list of businesses retaliating against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nDisney is pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming “Turning Red” from Pixar, in response to the attack, the company said in a statement Monday.\n\n“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation,” the statement said.\n\nThe company said it is working with non-governmental organizations to provide aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.\n\nWarnerMedia is putting the release of The Batman on hold in Russia. The film starring Robert Pattinson had been set to open in Russia on Thursday.\n\n“We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. “We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to this tragedy.”\n\nSony Pictures is also pausing planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius, which is due out in early April.\n\n\"Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly,\" a Sony Pictures spokesperson told USA TODAY in a statement.\n\n– Michael Collins, Charles Ventura\n\nUkraine official: 5 million rubles and full amnesty for Russian soldiers who stop fighting\n\nUkraine is offering Russian soldiers cash to stop fighting in a Kremlin-ordered invasion of the country.\n\n“We offer Russian soldiers a choice: to die in an unjust war or a full amnesty and 5 million rubles in compensation. If they lay down their arms and surrender voluntarily,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a statement posted to the department’s Twitter account.\n\nThe offer of 5 million rubles is worth less than $50,000 dollars as the currency has cratered amid global sanctions levied against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nDurbin requests Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians in U.S.\n\nSenate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters that he plans to send a bipartisan letter to President Biden this evening asking for Temporary Protected Status for all Ukrainians currently in the U.S.\n\n“There are 29,500 Ukrainians in the United States now on visas,\" said Durbin, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate. \"They include tourists and students and people working here.\"\n\nHe said some have expired visas and are now expected to return to Ukraine, which is “unacceptable under these current circumstances.” Temporary Protected Status would allow them to stay in the U.S. temporarily without fear of deportation.\n\n“That is something we could and should do immediately,” he said.\n\n– Dylan Wells and Rebecca Morin\n\nUkraine ambassador compares Russia to Nazi Germany\n\nUkraine’s ambassador to the United States said Monday Russian forces that invaded her country are acting like the Nazis during World War II and killing innocent civilians.\n\nRussian troops have shot into residential areas, orphanages, schools and kindergartens, Ambassador Oksana Markarova told reporters after a meeting with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill.\n\nFROM SOCCER TO VODKA: The sanctions, bans and boycotts placed on Russia\n\n“It is horrible,” she said. “They have to pay the price. They have to be isolated. They have to understand that it’s not OK in the 21st century to start a war and kill people in a neighboring sovereign country.”\n\nRussia is trying to inflict devastation on Ukraine, Markarova said, but Ukrainians continue to fight back and will not surrender. “We are defending our home,” she said. “We do not have any other option.”\n\nSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the Congress members who met with Markarova, praised the Ukrainians and said there was “universal” support among lawmakers at the meeting to offer assistance.\n\n“We’re exploring all the ways that we can help them,” he told reporters after the meeting.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nU.S. not ruling out closing airspace to Russian planes\n\nThe U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of banning Russian flights from its airspace in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said Monday.\n\n“There are obviously a range of options that remain on the table,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “So it's not off the table.”\n\nCanada and the 27-nation European Union have closed their airspace to Russian planes. Russia has responded by closing its airspace to airlines from 36 countries.\n\nOn Monday, Russia announced that it has closed its airspace to carriers from 36 nations, including European countries and Canada, responding in kind to their move to close their respective airspaces to all Russian aircraft.\n\nThe move, announced Monday by the state aviation agency, follows a decision by the EU and Canada over the weekend to close their skies to the Russian planes in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nIt added that planes from those countries could only enter Russia’s airspace with special permission.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nU.S. has no plans to update nuclear threat level\n\nThe U.S. sees no reason to update its nuclear threat level despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on high alert, the White House said Monday.\n\nThe U.S. is assessing Putin’s directive, but “at this time, we see no reason to change our own alert levels,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.\n\nNeither the U.S. nor NATO has any desire for conflict with Russia, Psaki said, “and we think provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided and will not indulge in it.”\n\n- Michael Collins\n\nPoll: Majority of Americans fear Russia could deploy nuclear weapons\n\nMost Americans are wary that Russia could use nuclear weapons if the United States and its NATO allies step in to stop the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, a new poll found.\n\nA Quinnipiac University poll conducted mostly before Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear forces on high alert found that more than six in 10 Americans are worried Russia could deploy nuclear weapons.\n\nPresident Joe Biden says they shouldn't.\n\nAsked Monday by a reporter as he attended a Black History Month celebration at the White House whether Americans \"should be worried about nuclear war,\" Biden answered with a simple 'no'.\"\n\nStill, there is growing support among Americans for U.S. military involvement. The share of respondents who support President Joe Biden’s decision to send U.S. troops to shore up NATO’s eastern flank increased from 54% in a Feb. 16 poll to 70% in the most recent survey.\n\nAbout 70 percent of respondents said American troops should get involved if Russia moves beyond Ukraine and into a NATO country, a prospect that nearly two-thirds believe Putin has in his sights.\n\nThe poll surveyed 1,364 U.S. adults between Feb. 25-27.\n\n-- Rick Rouan\n\nShell to cut ties with Russian natural gas company\n\nShell will exit a joint-venture with the Russian-owned natural gas company Gazprom a day after BP said it was cutting ties with a Russian state-owned oil company amid the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.\n\n“We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a prepared statement.\n\nThe company said it had about $3 billion in assets tied up in Russian ventures at the end of 2021. That includes interests in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and other joint ventures.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nTwitter to flag tweets sharing Russian state media content\n\nTwitter will begin flagging content shared on its platform from Russian state media as it tries to stem the tide of disinformation flowing from the Kremlin.\n\nThe social media platform announced its plan on Monday. Twitter already labeled the accounts of state media outlets, but now it will flag tweets from any account sharing that content, the company’s head of site integrity Yoel Roth said.\n\nRoth said about 45,000 tweets a day are sharing links to Russian state-affiliated media outlets.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nMacron: France will bring resolution to UN security council\n\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron said he will bring a resolution to the United Nations Security Council after reinforcing to the Kremlin the need to protect civilians in the invasion of Ukraine.\n\nMacron tweeted on Monday that he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to adopt a ceasefire and to stop attacks against civilians, residences and infrastructure. He asked Putin to respect humanitarian law, according to a translation of his tweet, and said France would bring the resolution to the UN.\n\nThe UN general assembly is scheduled to meet in an emergency special session on Monday.\n\nUkraine’s ambassador to the United States previously accused Russia of committing war crimes in the attack, including the use of heavy missiles and artillery to hit hospitals and kindergartens as well as infrastructure.\n\n– Rick Rouan\n\nZelenskyy asks European Union to grant Ukraine immediate membership\n\nUkraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has formally made his appeal for membership into the European Union.\n\nZelenskyy signed an application to grant Ukraine membership in the EU on Monday after urging the union publicly to expedite the process under a special procedure.\n\nThe request came after the European Union announced new actions against Russia, including plans to close its airspace to Russian airlines, bankroll weapons for Ukraine and ban pro-Kremlin media outlets.\n\n-- Rick Rouan\n\nFACT CHECK ROUNDUP:What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine\n\nRuble-to-bitcoin trades surge after sanctions crater Russian currency\n\nHolders of Russian currency are turning to bitcoin as the ruble cratered in the aftermath of global sanctions that have cut off Russia from western financial institutions.\n\nCoindesk, a cryptocurrency news organization, reported a spike on Monday in trading volume between the Russian ruble and bitcoin. Trading volumes have hit a nine-month high, according to Coindesk.\n\nThe increase came after the U.S., European allies and other countries around the globe imposed financial sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The value of the ruble compared with the U.S. dollar has plunged since the announcement of those sanctions.\n\n-- Rick Rouan\n\nKremlin: Sanctions 'problematic,' worsened economy\n\nAt the outset of a brewing financial crisis, the Kremlin conceded Monday that Western sanctions were affecting the economy but remained confident effects could be dampened.\n\n\"The economic reality has considerably changed,\" Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, said during a press call with reporters, according to Reuters and CNN. \"These are heavy sanctions, they are problematic, but Russia has the potential to offset the harm.\"\n\nThe U.S. and EU have sanctioned top Kremin officials and Russian elites as well as taken steps to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT network, which allows for payments between financial institutions. The West also took steps to stop the Kremlin from accessing its $640 billion in foreign reserves which Russian banks could use to buoy the isolated economy.\n\n\"Russia has been making plans for quite a long time for possible sanctions, including the most severe ones. There are response plans, they were developed and are being implemented as problems appear,” Peskov said.\n\nHe added that sanctions on Russian elites and Russian President Vladimir Putin himself were “pointless.”\n\n– Matthew Brown\n\nEU Foreign Affairs chief: 'Sanctions have a cost'\n\nDays after the United States and European Union levied stringent sanctions on the Russian elite and financial system, the EU’s foreign affairs chief reiterated that sanctions will have a negative effect on the global economy. It’s a price that the West must be ready to pay, he stressed.\n\n“This is not a free lunch. Sanctions will backlash. Sanctions have a cost,” Josep Borrell, vice president of the European Commission, said Monday. Borrell said it is important to “explain to public opinion” the costs of sanctions on the global economy.\n\nLEARN MORE:Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion of Ukraine\n\n“We have to be ready to pay this price now because if not, we will have to pay a much bigger price in the future,” Borrell continued. He noted there would be turbulence in global energy markets that would especially impact Europe in the short term, which the EU and U.S. are working to mitigate.\n\nWhile the U.S. is more insulated from the economic pain of isolating Russia than Europe, President Joe Biden has also cautioned Americans that the sanctions will have ripple effects for the U.S. economy that will be felt in the stock market and energy prices\n\n– Matthew Brown\n\nIOC calls for exclusion of athletes from Russia, Belarus\n\nIn a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country’s athletes and officials from international events.\n\nThe IOC said it was needed to \"protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.\"\n\nThe decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.\n\nThe Olympic body’s call also applied to athletes and official from Belarus, which has abetted Russia’s invasion.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nPUTIN'S MIND:'Erratic?' 'Delusional?' Lawmakers question Putin's stability as he puts nuclear forces on alert\n\nSwiss adopt EU sanctions\n\nThe Swiss government on Monday took the extraordinary step of joining in the EU's sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.\n\nSwitzerland's Federal Council decided to adopt the financial sanctions, whiich include freezing the assets of individuals and companies, as well as levying sanctions upon Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.\n\nThe Swiss government is also joining the EU in closing its airspace to all flights from Russia and to aircraft with Russian markings. The Federal Council is suspending visas for Russian nationals, excluding diplomatic passports, and is blocking entry for \"a number of individuals who have a connection to Switzerland and are close to the Russian president.\"\n\n– Katie Wadington\n\nUnited States imposes sanctions on Russia's Central Bank\n\nThe U.S. on Monday imposed new sanctions on Russia targeting the country's Central Bank, dealing a major blow to Moscow's economy, which holds more than $630 billion in foreign currency reserves.\n\nThe sanctions effectively cut off Russia's Central Bank from accessing assets either held in the U.S. or in U.S. dollars, severely restricting any effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to blunt the effects of previous sanctions that have sent the country's economy into a free fall.\n\nThe new restrictions, in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, also target Russia's National Wealth Fund and the Ministry of Finance.\n\nThe measures prohibit foreign financial firms with U.S. dollars from sending it to Russia's Central Bank, National Wealth Fund or finance ministry, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the announcement.\n\nThe official said the U.S. wanted to put the penalties in place before markets opened Monday after learning from allies over the weekend that the Russian Central Bank was attempting to move assets beginning Monday morning from institutions around the world.\n\n– Courtney Subramanian\n\nWHAT IS SWIFT?:How would a removal from SWIFT affect Russia?\n\nZelenskyy creates 'international legion,' enlists foreign fighters\n\nPresident Volodomyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of an “international legion” to enlist non-Ukrainians who want to support the war effort against Russia.\n\n“We already have thousands requests from foreigners, who want to join the resistance to the (Russian) occupiers and protect the world security from Putin regime,” a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Monday.\n\nWhile no other country has sent its own troops to Ukraine, the U.S., European Union and NATO have all ramped up the delivery of weapons to the eastern European country amid the Russian invasion.\n\nAnyone interested in joining the new unit should reach out to the Ukrainian embassies in their home countries, the statement said.\n\nThe Ukrainian government has also called on the support of its civilians to assist in defending the country from Russian invasion by directly resisting and confusing invading forces.\n\n– Matthew Brown\n\nU.S. closes embassy in Belarus\n\nThe State Department has shut down the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Belarus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday morning. Non-emergency personnel and family members at the embassy in Moscow have also been authorized to leave.\n\nBlinken said the steps were taken \"due to security and safety issues stemming from the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine.\"\n\nBelarus has served as a staging area for Russian troops for weeks ahead of the invasion that started on Thursday.\n\n– Katie Wadington\n\nPope Francis offers to help solve Ukraine crisis\n\nThe Vatican is offering to help in any negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.\n\nCardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s No. 2 official, told several Italian newspapers in an interview published on Monday that the Holy See is “offering its willingness to facilitate dialogue with Russia.\"\n\nOn Friday, Pope Francis took the extraordinary step of visiting the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to meet with the Russian ambassador. The pontiff urged an end to fighting and a return to negotiations, Parolin said.\n\nWhile Orthodox Christians are predominant among the faithful in Ukraine, the Catholic Church has a discreet presence in that country through believers who follow the Eastern Rite of Catholicism.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson: 'Putin must fail'\n\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed that Western allies would impose the harshest economic sanctions possible against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his \"abhorrent campaign against Ukraine.\"\n\nThe European Union has announced unprecedented new actions against Russia, outlining plans to close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund a weapons purchase to assist Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets, while the Associated Press reported the United States approved the delivery of anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to Ukraine.\n\nWestern powers in support of Ukraine could soon be joined by Switzerland, an oftentimes neutral country that on Monday is set to review potential sanctions and asset freezes against Russia, said President Ignazio Cassis via Reuters. Cassis said it was “very probable” the country would follow suit, the outlet reported.\n\n\"Putin must fail,\" the British prime minister wrote on Twitter.\n\n– Caren Bohan and Associated Press\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/28"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/26/russia-ukraine-invasion-update/6947419001/", "title": "Russian troops enter Ukraine's second largest city", "text": "Editor's note: This page recaps the news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Saturday, Feb. 26. Follow here for updates on the attack in and around Kyiv on Sunday, Feb. 27.\n\nRussian troops have entered Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and fighting is underway in the streets, according to the Associated Press.\n\nVideos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and a light vehicle burning on the street. Residents were urged to stay inside.\n\nThe troops in Kharkiv arrived hours after Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine targeting airfields and fuel facilities.\n\nEarlier there were two large explosions that rocked an area south of Kyiv just before 1 a.m. One of the blasts was near the Zhuliany airport, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said. The mayor of Vasylkiv, about 25 miles south of the capital, said an oil depot there was hit, according to the Associated Press.\n\nElsewhere, Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv. The explosion created mushroom-cloud and could cause an “environmental catastrophe,” warned the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection. Residents were advised to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze and to drink plenty of fluids.\n\nAt least 240 civilian casualties are confirmed by the United Nations, including at least 64 people killed in the fighting — though it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed. More than 150,000 people have fled the Ukraine to neighboring countries and the United Nations warned that number could grow to 4 million.\n\nMeanwhile, the United States and its European allies agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the international SWIFT messaging system, which allows for the movement of financial transactions.\n\nThey also moved to impose restrictions on Russia's central bank, a measure the White House and its partners said would further hammer Russia's financial systems and hit the country's wealthy and political elites.\n\nTo catch you up:\n\nWhy is Russia invading Ukraine?:Could it be the start of WWIII? We explain.\n\nBack in the U.S.:What is the draft? And can it ever be reinstated here?\n\nWhat is SWIFT?:How banning Russia from the banking system could impact the country?\n\nLet the news come to your inbox:Sign up here for Ukraine news to your email\n\nRussia targets Ukraine airfields in next phase\n\nRussia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine targeting airfields and fuel facilities in what appeared to be the next phase of an invasion that has been slowed by fierce resistance. The U.S. and EU responded with weapons and ammunition for the outnumbered Ukrainians and powerful sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow.\n\nHuge explosions lit up the sky early Sunday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.\n\n–Associated Press\n\n'You cannot defeat a whole nation'\n\nOn Sunday morning, Ukranian writer Illarion Pavliuk plans to set out on a dangerous journey to help his countrymen as explosions rock Kyiv, and outgunned Ukrainian forces continue to maintain control of their capital.\n\nPavliuk is not a solider, but he does have a military background. In 2015, he was an intelligence volunteer in the war in Eastern Ukraine. And yet, this is what Ukraine has become – a country where internationally acclaimed artists are forced to kiss their children goodnight before they go off to defend their homeland from the occupying force. \"We will never give up and we are going to win this war. You cannot defeat the whole nation. And Ukrainians are absolutely united as a nation now.\"\n\nHis words are haunting and powerful, with his children in the background.\n\n\"What can I tell you about this war? It is difficult to say a couple of words,\" he says. \"I would never ever imagine my four children dropping their toys and running to sit in the thickest doorway in the house because of cruise missiles above our city; ballistic missiles.\n\n\"And I would never imagine this and I will never forgive Russia.\"\n\n– Carli Pierson, USA TODAY\n\nRead the full interview:'We will never give up': A father prepares to leave his kids and fight for Ukraine\n\nFrench president asks Belarus leader to order Russian troops to leave\n\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Belarus counterpart to demand that the country, Ukraine’s neighbor, quickly order Russian troops to leave.\n\nIn a phone conversation Saturday, Macron denounced “the gravity of a decision that would authorize Russia to deploy nuclear arms on Belarus soil,” a statement by the presidential palace said.\n\nMacron told Alexander Lukashenko that fraternity between the people of Belarus and Ukraine should lead Belarus to “refuse to be a vassal and an accomplice to Russia in the war against Ukraine,” the statement said.\n\nBelarus was one one of several axes used by Russia to launch attacks on Ukraine, with Belarus the point to move toward the capital Kyiv, a senior U.S. defense official has said.\n\nMacron has pushed persistently to try to claw out a ceasefire amid the war, using the telephone to talk to all sides, diplomacy and sanctions by the European Union.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nUN: At least 240 civilian casualties\n\nGENEVA — The United Nations says it has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed, in the fighting in Ukraine that erupted since Russia’s invasion on Thursday — though it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed.\n\nThe U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs relayed the count late Saturday from the U.N. human rights office, which has strict methodologies and verification procedures about the toll from conflict.\n\nOCHA also said damage to civilian infrastructure has deprived hundreds of thousands of people of access to electricity or water, and produced a map of “humanitarian situations” in Ukraine — mostly in northern, eastern and southern Ukraine.\n\nThe human rights office had reported early Friday an initial count by its staffers of at least 127 civilian casualties – 25 people killed and 102 injured – mostly from shelling and airstrikes.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nUS, allies committed to removing certain Russian banks from SWIFT\n\nThe United States and its European allies have agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the international SWIFT messaging system, the White House announced on Saturday. The White House also announced that the US and allied countries will move to impose new ”restrictive measures” on Russia’s central bank.\n\nThe new economic penalties on Moscow come as Russia’s military continues to bombard Kyiv and other population centers in its deadly invasion of Ukraine.\n\nA senior administration official said the U.S. and EU will work to finalize the list of Russian banks that will be barred from the SWIFT system. But Russia will feel the impact of the decision well before it’s enacted, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.\n\n“I have great confidence the effects of these measures will be felt immediately in Russia’s financial markets,” the official said.\n\nThe U.S. official suggested some banks that handle energy transactions could be exempted in the SWIFT delisting process. That would help cushion the economic blow to Europe, which relies heavily on Russia for oil and gas.\n\nThe SWIFT system is based in Belgium, where officials will have the final sign-off on the list of barred institutions.\n\nThe U.S. and EU countries also announced new steps to limit the sale of “golden passports,” which allows wealthy individuals become citizens of European countries.\n\n– Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY\n\nZelenskyy says he’s open for talks with Russia\n\nUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s open for talks with Russia.\n\nZelenskyy said in a video message Saturday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev offered to help organize such talks. He added that “we can only welcome that.”\n\nZelenskyy also said he and Erdogan “agree that a ban on the passage of Russian warships into the Black Sea is very important today,” adding that “it has been done.” Turkey, however, hasn’t announced any ban for Russian warships to move through Turkish Straits following Erdogan’s talk with Zelenskyy.\n\nZelenskyy said that “Ukrainians’ readiness to protect our state, our solidarity and courage have thwarted the scenario of occupation of our country.”\n\n“The world has seen that Ukrainians are strong, Ukrainians are brave, Ukrainians stand on their land and will not surrender it,” he said.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nGermany to send anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, drops opposition to SWIFT sanctions for Russia\n\nIn a significant shift, the German government said Saturday it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine and supports some restrictions of the SWIFT global banking system for Russia.\n\nGermany’s chancellery announced it will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine “as quickly as possible.”\n\n“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”\n\nIn addition, the German economy and climate ministry said Germany is allowing the Netherlands to ship 400 German-made anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.\n\nGermany had long stuck to a policy of not exporting deadly weapons to conflict zones, including Ukraine. As recently as Friday, government officials said they would abide by that policy.\n\nGermany on Saturday also joined the rest of the European Union in voicing support for SWIFT sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.\n\nGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and German Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced the decision in a joint statement that indicated there might be limits in how far Germany is willing to go on the issue.\n\n“We are working flat out on how to limit the collateral damage of a disconnection from #SWIFT, so that it hits the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” the officials wrote in a statement.\n\nSWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. It is a global messaging system connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world.\n\nSWIFT was formed in 1973, and is headquartered in Belgium. It is overseen by the National Bank of Belgium, in addition to the U.S. Federal Reserve System, the European Central Bank and others, NBC News reported. It connects more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, so banks can be informed about transactions.\n\nEarlier Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also voiced his approval for disconnecting Russia from SWIFT.\n\nThe U.S. did not impose removing Russia from SWIFT following concerns from European allies in what was seen as America's harshest punishment at its disposal.\n\nWhat is SWIFT?:How could banning Russia from the banking system impact the country?\n\n– JJ Hensley and Associated Press\n\nRussian forces meet firm resistance on path to Kyiv\n\nRussian forces have grown increasingly frustrated by Ukrainian resistance, particularly near the capital of Kiev, and the Russian advance remains about 18 miles from the city, a senior Defense Department official said Saturday.\n\nRussia has, however, sent reconnaissance forces into Kyiv, the official said, declining to say how many of those troops have penetrated the city.\n\nThe official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the Pentagon had used several means to determine that Russian forces invading Ukraine had been stalled by determined resistance.\n\nThe official warned that the battlefield situation is fluid and changing rapidly.\n\nAddressing reports that some Russian military vehicles had run out of gas, the official said the invading force sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin had expended more fuel resources than it had planned for.\n\nUkrainian forces continue to contest the airspace over the country with warplanes and missile defense, the official said.\n\nAlso Saturday, the Pentagon announced that $350 in emergency military aid to Ukraine. That package includes Javelin anti-armor missiles, ammunition and body armor, according to the official. Prior to the invasion, military materiel had been arriving in Ukraine by cargo aircraft. U.S. military aid has continued to flow into Ukraine in the last few days but the official declined to say how it has arrived there.\n\nMeanwhile, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that “the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”\n\n“Russian forces are bypassing major Ukrainian population centres while leaving forces to encircle and isolate them,” the ministry said.\n\n– Tom Vanden Brook and Associated Press\n\nSnake Island defiance:Ukrainian soldier on Snake Island tells Russian officer 'go (expletive) yourself' before being killed\n\nFleeing to the border: Over 150,000 Ukrainians seek refuge\n\nMEDYKA, Poland – At least 150,000 people have fled Ukraine into Poland and other neighboring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion, the U.N. refugee agency said Saturday.\n\nSome walked many miles through the night while others fled by train, car or bus, forming lines miles long at border crossings. They were greeted by waiting relatives and friends or headed on their own to reception centers organized by neighboring governments.\n\n“The numbers and the situation is changing minute by minute,” said Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “At least 150,000 people have fled, they are refugees outside of Ukraine. ... At least 100,000 people – but probably a much larger number – have been displaced inside Ukraine.”\n\nThose arriving were mostly women, children and the elderly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy banned men of military age from 18 to 60 from leaving. Some Ukrainian men were heading back into Ukraine from Poland to take up arms against the Russian forces.\n\n- The Associated Press\n\nChelsea's Russian billionaire owner hands over Premier League club\n\nLONDON — Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich suddenly handed over the \"stewardship and care\" of the Premier League club to its charitable foundation trustees on Saturday.\n\nThe move came after a member of the British parliament called for the Russian billionaire to hand over the club in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nAbramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, made no mention of the war in his statement.\n\n– The Associated Press\n\nInvasion response:Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich passes 'stewardship and care' of Premier League club\n\nFormer president Poroschenko: everyone understands risk of death\n\nFormer Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko, Zelenskyy’s predecessor, said he was prepared to die to defend his country.\n\n“I think that we should do our best to protect our nation,” he told CNN in an interview Saturday. “To protect the nation against the Russian aggressor definitely bring the risk of life.”\n\nPoroschenko, who was wearing a flak jacket and standing outside in Kyiv with members of the Ukraine military, sounded clear-eyed and defiant.\n\n“Everybody here – all the young and old people – fully understand that we have this risk,” he said. “Somebody has a choice to go abroad. Somebody has a choice to be the refugee in some regions of Ukraine. But many, the biggest part, make a decision to take the rifle and to protect the nation.”\n\n“I proud for these people. I proud for this country. And I proud to be Ukrainian.”\n\n– Ledyard King\n\nBiden authorizes $350 million more in US military aid for Ukraine\n\nThe Biden administration is providing an additional $350 million in immediate U.S. military assistance to Ukraine as Russia continues a full-scale attack on the country with intense fighting in the capital city of Kyiv.\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken announced the drawdown of funds Saturday morning after Biden authorized the emergency military aid late Friday night through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.\n\n“This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing,” Blinken said in a statement. “It is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation.”\n\nThe aid brings the U.S.’s total assistance to Ukraine to more than $1 billion over the past year, according to Blinken, including $200 million in military assistance in December and $60 million last fall.\n\nZelenskyy has urged Ukraine civilians to join the fight against Russia, and as he remains defiant about not leaving Kyiv, he’s made clear about the need for more help.\n\n“I need ammunition, not a ride,” he said in a video Friday.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nIn Kyiv, residents seek shelter after night of explosions, street clashes\n\nKYIV, Ukraine – Russian troops pressed toward Ukraine’s capital Saturday after a night of air strikes and street fighting.\n\nUkrainian officials have reported some success in fending off assaults. A U.S. official told reporters Friday the Pentagon had information suggesting that Moscow had expected a faster advance on Kyiv.\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting he would stay. “The fight is here,” he said.\n\nSkirmishes reported on the edge of Kyiv suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. A missile struck a high-rise apartment building in the city’s southwestern outskirts near one of Kyiv’s two passenger airports, Mayor Vitali Klitchsko said, leaving a jagged hole of ravaged apartments over several floors. A rescue worker said six civilians were injured.\n\nRussia claims its assault on Ukraine is aimed only at military targets, but civilians have been killed and injured during Europe’s largest ground war since World War II.\n\n– Caren Bohan and Associated Press\n\nTikTok is Russia's newest weapon in arsenal for anti-Ukraine propaganda\n\nIn 2014, Russia flooded the internet with fake accounts pushing disinformation about its takeover of Crimea. Eight years later, experts say Russia is mounting a far more sophisticated propaganda effort as it invades Ukraine.\n\nArmies of trolls and bots stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiment. State-controlled media outlets look to divide Western audiences. Clever TikTok videos serve up Russian nationalism with a side of humor.\n\nThe effort amounts to an emerging part of Russia’s war arsenal with the shaping of opinion through orchestrated disinformation fighting alongside actual troops and weapons.\n\nAnalysts at several different research organizations contacted by The Associated Press said they are seeing a sharp increase in online activity by groups affiliated with the Russian state. That’s in keeping with Russia’s strategy of using social media and state-run outlets to galvanize domestic support while seeking to destabilize the Western alliance.\n\nResearchers saw a sudden and dramatic increase in anti-Ukrainian content in the days immediately before the invasion. On Valentine’s Day, for instance, the number of anti-Ukrainian posts created by the sample of Twitter accounts jumped by 11,000% when compared with just days earlier. Analysts believe a significant portion of the accounts are inauthentic and controlled by groups linked to the Russian government.\n\n– David Klepper, The Associated Press\n\nRussian propaganda:TikTok is Russia's newest weapon in arsenal for anti-Ukraine propaganda\n\nTroops from NATO member nations could be deployed to defend Slovakia\n\nSlovakia’s defense minister says up to 1,200 foreign troops from other NATO members could be deployed in his country in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nThe plan is part of the NATO initiative to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank by sending forces to help protect them. Slovakia borders Ukraine.\n\nDefense Minister Jaroslav Nad said forces from the Netherlands and Germany are among those expected to come. Germany will also provide the Patriot system to boost Slovakia’s air defense.\n\nThe country’s government and Parliament have not yet approved the plan.\n\nNad also said his country’s government has approved sending arms and fuel worth 11 million euros ($12.4 million) requested by Ukraine. The aid will include 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of fuel, 2.4 million liters (630,000 gallons) of aviation fuel and 12,000 pieces of ammunition.\n\n– The Associated Press\n\nZelenskyy mobilizes Ukrainian reservists and those eligible for service\n\nAfter Russia launched a military invasion into Ukraine early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called up reservists and those liable for service for a full military mobilization.\n\nAs many Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries, the Ukraine State Border Guard Service announced that men ages 18 to 60 were prohibited from leaving the country, ahead of a possible draft to increase the country's military service.\n\nTalk of conscription led to questions in the U.S. about whether the government could ever reinstate the draft. That is highly unlikely in a country where antiwar sentiment has grown in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress would have to reinstate the draft since induction authority expired in 1973. If approved, the president would then be authorized to induct civilians through the Selective Service Administration into the armed forces under an amendment to the Military Selective Service Act.\n\nEven though there is no draft currently, almost all men and male immigrants aged 18 to 25 are required to register with the Selective Service. Women make up close to 17% of the U.S. armed forces, but Congress would have to pass legislation amending the act to require women register.\n\n– Chelsey Cox\n\nRussian protesters risk arrest to decry Putin's war\n\nMOSCOW – Risking arrest and intimidation, Russian citizens have taken to the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities to protest President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nRussians with prominent platforms – celebrity actors, television presenters, comedians and pop stars – risked their state contracts and jobs to make anti-war statements.\n\nMany Russians have seen horrifying images from the Ukraine conflict, broadcast by independent media. Some show the Russian army destroying apartment blocks with people inside, a tank rolling over a vehicle with an elderly man inside and bleeding women crying for an end to the fighting.\n\nIn St. Petersburg, Sergei Bobovnikov, an antique art expert, joined a street rally Thursday night where hundreds of people crowded the central avenue, Nevsky Prospect.\n\n\"No to war!\" they chanted. \"Hands off Ukraine!\"\n\nSome 1,745 people in 54 Russian cities were detained, at least 957 of them in Moscow, according to the Associated Press.\n\nMeanwhile, cities across Europe saw large gatherings where people voiced their outrage.\n\nIn London, demonstrators outside the Downing Street residence of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held up placards Friday that read \"Stop the war\" and \"Total embargo on Russia.\"\n\nFrom New York to Paris, cities lit up buildings in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.\n\n– Anna Nemtsova, Caren Bohan and Associated Press\n\nRussian official shrugs off Western sanctions\n\nA senior Russian official has warned that Moscow could react to Western sanctions over its attack on Ukraine by opting out of the last remaining nuclear arms pact and freezing Western assets.\n\nDmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, shrugged off a set of crippling sanctions that the U.S., the European Union and other allies slapped on Russia as a reflection of Western “political impotence.”\n\nIn comments posted on his page on Russian social media VKontakte, Medvedev said the sanctions could offer Moscow a pretext for a complete review of its ties with the West, suggesting that Russia could opt out of the New START nuclear arms control treaty that limits the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nCzechs to send more arms to Ukraine\n\nThe Czech Republic’s government has approved a plan to send more arms to Ukraine.\n\nThe Defense Ministry said it is immediately sending machine guns, submachine guns, assault rifles and pistols together with ammunition worth 188 million Czech crowns ($8.6 million).\n\nThe ministry said the Czechs will transport the weapons and deliver them to a place determined by the Ukrainian side.\n\nThe Czech Republic has already agreed to donate some 4,000 pieces of artillery shells worth 36.6 million Czech crowns ($1.7 million) to Ukraine.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\n'Our world is crumbling':Ukrainians try to flee homes with food, belongings amid Russian invasion\n\nPoles quit World Cup qualifying against Russia\n\nWARSAW, Poland -- The Polish Football Association says it will not play its World Cup qualifying match against Russia due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\n\nMore:Poland refuses to play against Russia in 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff\n\n“No more words, time to act!” said association president Cezary Kulesza on Twitter, saying the move was prompted by the “escalation of the aggression.”\n\nThe match had been scheduled for March 24.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nUkrainian health minister: Nearly 200 dead, 1,000 wounded\n\nThe Ukrainian health minister says that 198 people have been killed and more than 1,000 others have been wounded in the Russian offensive.\n\nHealth Minister Viktor Lyashko said Saturday that there were three children among those killed. His statement made it unclear whether the casualties included both military and civilians.\n\nHe said another 1,115 people, including 33 children, were wounded in the Russian invasion that began Thursday with massive air and missile strikes and troops forging into Ukraine from the north, east and south.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nZelenskyy: Ukraine is fighting 'with weapons in hand'\n\nZelenskyy detailed further diplomatic efforts to drum up support for Ukraine Saturday, tweeting about a conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.\n\n\"Ukraine is fighting the invader with weapons in hands, defending its freedom and European future. Discussed with @vonderleyen effective assistance to our country from (the European Union) in this heroic struggle. I believe that the #EU also chooses Ukraine,\" he tweeted.\n\n-- Luciana Lopez\n\nZelenskyy: 'Our weapons are our truth'\n\nIn a selfie-style video posted to twitter early on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to stay and fight on.\n\n\"I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,\" he declared, denouncing as disinformation claims that he had surrendered or fled.\n\n-- Associated Press\n\nRussia-Ukraine explained:Inside the crisis as US calls Russian movements an invasion\n\nSean Penn calls Russian invasion of Ukraine 'a brutal mistake' while filming documentary there\n\nSean Penn, in Ukraine working on a documentary about the ongoing Russian assault, called the invasion \"already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken.\"\n\n\"If he doesn't relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind,\" Penn said in a statement to USA TODAY early Saturday morning. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people \"have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.\"\n\n-- Brian Truitt\n\nRead the whole story here:Sean Penn calls Russian invasion of Ukraine 'a brutal mistake' while filming documentary there\n\nBiden's hitting Russia's yacht-riding rich with sanctions. Will it blunt Putin's Ukraine invasion?\n\nRussia's wealthy oligarchs and political elites flaunt a level of in-your-face affluence across the world. This week, their wealth and connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin made some of them targets of President Joe Biden's sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.\n\nBut if the Biden administration really wants to hurt Russian oligarchs enough to rein in Putin's actions in Ukraine, it needs to hit them much harder – and hit a lot more of them, some U.S. officials and kleptocracy experts told USA TODAY.\n\nBy any measure, the new rounds of U.S. financial blockages issued this week go far beyond what has been done in the past to pressure Putin into curbing his rogue behavior, White House officials said. The sweeping actions would cause extreme hardship for some of Russia’s largest financial institutions and a small handful of Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats that Biden said use them as their own “glorified piggy bank.”\n\n-- Josh Meyer\n\nUS sanctions on Russian oligarchs miss richest of rich\n\nThe term Russian oligarch conjures images of posh London mansions, gold-plated Bentleys and sleek superyachts in the Mediterranean, their decks draped with partiers dripping in jewels.\n\nBut the raft of sanctions on oligarchs announced by President Joe Biden this week in response to the invasion of Ukraine may do little to dim the jet-setting lifestyles of Russia’s ultra-rich and infamous – much less force a withdrawal of tanks and troops.\n\nU.S. sanctions target Russian President Vladmir Putin and a handful of individuals believed to be among his closest security advisers, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.\n\nBut the list is just as notable for who isn’t on it — most of the top names from Forbes’ list of the richest Russians whose multi-billion-dollar fortunes are now largely intertwined with the West, from investments in Silicon Valley start-ups to British Premier League soccer teams.\n\nCiting the concerns of European allies, the U.S. also didn’t impose what was seen as the harshest punishment at its disposal, banning Russia from SWIFT, the international financial system that banks use to move money around the world.\n\n-- Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/02/26"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_12", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/06/dod-did-not-shoot-down-chinese-balloon-when-first-detected/11198088002/", "title": "DOD did not shoot down the Chinese balloon when it was first ...", "text": "The Pentagon did not shoot down the Chinese balloon as it approached Alaska in late January because it did not pose a military threat to the United States or Canada, the top commander for defending the United States said Monday.\n\nThe balloon, which Pentagon officials said was built to spy on sensitive military sites, was shot down Saturday off the coast of South Carolina after entering the country in Alaska. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, briefed reporters on the decision to allow the balloon to track across the United States, recovery efforts and previous balloon incursions.\n\nThe balloon captivated Americans’ attention, fueled rage on Capitol Hill and created a diplomatic rupture with China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China as the balloon floated over the United States.\n\nDebris stretches the length of 15 football fields\n\nThe balloon measured 200 feet, and the intelligence payload was about the size of a regional jetliner and weighed thousands of pounds, VanHerck said. Debris from shooting it down earlier could have killed civilians on the ground, Pentagon officials have said.\n\nThe debris field in the ocean off the coast of South Carolina stretches 15 football fields by 15 football fields, VanHerck said. It is being treated as potential hazardous waste because explosives might have been aboard to destroy sensitive equipment. However, there has been no indication that the balloon carried explosives, he said.\n\nBy the time it crossed into the United States at the Aleutian Islands Jan. 28, the balloon had been assessed as a surveillance device. It did not pose a military threat, VanHerck said, so it could not be shot down.\n\n“I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent,” VanHerck said.\n\nMilitary officials took action to shield sensitive sites along the balloon’s path to limit its effectiveness, VanHerck said. Intelligence was also gained by studying its capabilities. He refused to say if electronic jamming devices were used to prevent it from transmitting information to China.\n\nOn Saturday, Pentagon officials revealed that suspected Chinese spy balloons had entered U.S. airspace three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration. Those incursions were not known at the time they occurred, VanHerck said. The U.S. intelligence community determined they occurred after the fact, he said.\n\nNASA provided models that showed the debris from shooting it down could stretch over six miles, VanHerck said. That is why commanders waited until it was six miles offshore before an F-22 fired an AIM-9 sidewinder missile with an explosive warhead into the balloon at 2:39 p.m. ET on Saturday, he said.\n\nNavy and Coast Guard ships are patrolling the area where it splashed down, VanHerck said. Strong currents prevented recovery efforts on Sunday, he said. Navy explosive ordnance disposal teams were on the site Monday assessing the debris, which is in about 50 feet of water.\n\nThey will look for explosives that may have been aboard the balloon to destroy it, although there are no initial signs of such devices, he said. They will also look for potentially hazardous waste such as batteries and broken glass from solar panels.\n\nFBI counterintelligence officials are embedded with the Navy to examine and exploit potential sensitive material that is recovered, VanHerck said.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/04/what-should-biden-do-chinese-spy-balloon/11180635002/", "title": "US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast", "text": "WASHINGTON – A U.S. warplane shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, sending its surveillance gear into relatively shallow water where recovery efforts began immediately, Pentagon officials announced.\n\nThe balloon was downed after it passed into U.S. territorial waters, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.The balloon, which carried a large payload of spy gear according to U.S. officials, had soared over several strategic sites, including nuclear missile silos, and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.\n\nMore:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon after Americans reported sightings Saturday\n\nPresident Joe Biden ordered the Pentagon to down the balloon on Wednesday but commanders worried about debris killing people on the ground.\n\n\"After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload,\" Austin said. \"In accordance with the president’s direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities.\"\n\nSenior Pentagon officials, briefing reporters Saturday, revealed that suspected surveillance balloons from China had breached U.S. airspace three times during the Trump administration and at other times during Biden's tenure. The balloon shot down Saturday had made the longest incursion, they said. The officials described the shoot down and recovery efforts on condition of anonymity under Defense Department ground rules.\n\nHow the US shot down the balloon\n\nThe Pentagon scrambled F-22 warplanes from Virginia and F-15s from Massachusetts to down the balloon after it passed the coastline of South Carolina, the officials said.\n\nBackstory:US tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon as it drifts across Montana to Midwest\n\nAn F-22, the most sophisticated warplane in the U.S. arsenal, flying at 58,000 feet fired a single AIM 9X sidewinder air-to-air missile and struck the balloon at 2:39 p.m. EDT, the official said. The balloon had been flying at about 65,000 feet when the shootdown occurred six nautical miles off the South Carolina coast in U.S. territorial waters, according to one of the officials. That was the first opportunity to do so that was deemed safe. No people or vessels were struck by the debris.\n\nRecovery efforts began immediately and are ongoing. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships are patrolling the area. The debris is in about 47 feet of water, a relatively shallow site that a salvage ship and divers will investigate in the coming days.\n\nWhat was the balloon in the US for?\n\nDefense officials refuted the Chinese claim that the balloon was collecting weather data and had been blown off course. It had passed over sensitive military sites, including nuclear missile silos in Montana, and was clearly spying. The Pentagon took efforts to shield information the balloons sensors could glean from those sites, the official said.\n\nThe balloon entered Alaskan airspace at the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28, the Pentagon said. It drifted into Canadian airspace on January 30 and breached the airspace in the continental United States at Idaho on Jan. 31. Commanders declined to shoot down the balloon over Montana, fearing debris could kill people or damage buildings on the ground.\n\nDebris from shooting it down could scatter over a seven-mile swath,officials estimated.\n\nThe debris recovered from the ocean will be examined to help determine Chinese spying capabilities, the Pentagon said. However, intelligence has already been gathered by tracking it over the United States.\n\nBefore the downing, Biden had said earlier Saturday, “We’re going to take care of it,” when asked by reporters about the balloon.\n\nTelevision footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.\n\nBiden was first briefed on Tuesday about the balloon, the same day a White House spokesman talked to reporters about the importance of improving engagement with the Chinese.Three days later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken scrapped a trip to China because of the balloon.\n\nWhat was China's response to the balloon's downing?\n\nChina said that it has the right to \"take further actions\" against the U.S. for taking down the balloon.\n\nIn its statement Sunday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.” China's Ministry of Defense echoed the statement later in the day, saying it “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”\n\nThe Associated Press contributed to this report.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/04"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/07/chinese-spy-balloon-missile-nuclear-sites/11206332002/", "title": "Chinese spy balloon went over key military sites sites, lawmaker says", "text": "China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites in addition to ones in Montana passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner said.\n\n“If you take the path that this balloon did, and you put up an X every place where you have a missile defense site, actual nuclear weapons infrastructure, you're going to follow this path,” Turner, R-Ohio, said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday. “So I think the natural conclusion is, it is intelligence-gathering with respect to try to affect in some way the command and control of our missile defense and nuclear weapons.”\n\nTurner did not elaborate or share other details about the investigation into China’s balloon, in some cases citing classified information. But he said the U.S. intelligence community is scheduled to brief him and other members of congressional leadership who comprise the Gang of Eight later this week on the balloon and efforts to gain any intelligence from the recovery of it.\n\nThe Gang of Eight refers to a group of congressional lawmakers who are responsible for reviewing and receiving highly sensitive intelligence information given to them by the executive branch. It includes top-ranking Republicans and Democrats and top Intelligence Committee lawmakers in the House and Senate.\n\nShooting down the balloon:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast\n\nBlinken puts off trip to China over spy balloon\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China because the Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the U.S. was a \"clear violation\" of sovereignty and international law, Biden administration officials said Friday.\n\nThat, and the takedown of the balloon, have heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing and sparked criticism from Republicans that the Biden administration should have done more. Beijing has also criticized Biden, saying he overreacted by ordering an F-22 fighter jet to take out the puffy white dirigible.\n\nMeanwhile, China won’t take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s calls, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.\n\nOn Saturday, “immediately after taking action to down the PRC (People's Republic of China) balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe,” Ryder said in a statement. “We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC in order to responsibly manage the relationship. Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue.”\n\nThe Pentagon maintains open lines with adversaries, including Russia, to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to confrontation.\n\nGOP Intelligence Committee chair worried balloon mission exposed U.S. security gaps\n\nTurner said Tuesday that the balloon’s journey across the U.S. – including past Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana – highlights not only the fear of intelligence gaps on what the U.S. knows about China’s intentions and capabilities but also “actually what those gaps can mean in real security threats.\"\n\n\"And that doesn't just mean spy balloons or even surveillance,\" he said, \"it can also mean an actual threat to our country that these gaps could penetrate.”\n\nThe Pentagon referred to a background briefing Thursday by a senior defense official when asked about Turner’s remarks.\n\nIn that briefing, the defense official was asked whether the balloon was trying to collect intelligence on siloed nuclear weapons in Montana. “Yes, so clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,” the official said. “And so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites.”\n\nU.S. response:State Department calls out China for knowingly sending spy balloon over the United States\n\n\"But we know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over. And we are taking steps to be extra-vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk, the official said.\n\nA Turner spokesperson said Tuesday that the congressman could not comment further on the specifics of where the balloon traveled and what it surveilled but referred to remarks Turner made on NBC’s “Meet the Press With Chuck Todd” on Sunday.\n\nOn that show, Turner criticized the Biden administration for waiting too long to shoot down the balloon, describing it as “sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over.”\n\n“The satellite had completed its mission. This should never have been allowed to enter the United States, and it never should have been allowed to complete its mission,” Turner said.\n\nThe White House has said Biden waited until the balloon – described as the size of three buses – was over water before shooting it down to prevent anyone from being injured or killed by the debris.\n\nAnd Biden directed the military to \"ensure we protected all sensitive sites from collection, which was straightforward because we could track the path of the balloon and ensure no activities or sensitive unencrypted (communications) would be conducted in its vicinity,\" White House spokesman John Kirby said. \"At the same time, we turned the tables on China and collected against the balloon so that we would learn more about China’s capabilities and tradecraft.\"\n\nU.S. Northern Command commander Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said Monday that the balloon itself was 200 feet tall and that its surveillance payload was about the size of a regional commercial aircraft and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Its size and weight fed into the decision to wait until the balloon was over water to shoot it down, VanHerck said.\n\nBut Turner said that decision jeopardized national security, despite the Biden administration's assurances that it was taking steps to cover up sensitive facilities as the balloon made its way west to east.\n\nThe balloon, with its high-tech payload of surveillance devices, “didn`t go and look at the Grand Canyon. They went and looked at our nuclear weapons sites and the missile defense sites throughout the country,\" Turner said.\n\nAlso Tuesday, the Navy released its first photos of its balloon recovery effort and said it was being led by its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Military officials described the mission as an extensive operation that included the use of underwater drones, warships and inflatable vessels, according to a release from the Navy.\n\nSome of the photos, taken Sunday, show naval operators from the Navy explosive team pulling debris from the balloon onto a boat, including huge swaths of white fabric. The Navy said the debris is being taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.\n\nStay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/10/white-house-says-second-high-altitude-object-shot-own-over-alaska/11229937002/", "title": "US shoots down second 'high altitude object' following spy balloon row", "text": "WASHINGTON — The U.S. shot down an unidentified object Friday over frozen waters near Alaska at the order of President Joe Biden, less than one week after shooting down a Chinese spy balloon off the East Coast.\n\nJohn Kirby, a White House spokesman, described a \"high altitude object\" roughly the size of a small car traveling in Alaska's air space. He said the Pentagon was not ready to determine whether the object was a balloon, where it was from or whether it was conducting surveillance.\n\n\"It was a success,\" Biden told reporters about the military operation to down the object.\n\nThe object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, significantly lower than the 65,000-foot altitude of last week's Chinese spy balloon, and “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,\" Kirby said. The Pentagon first detected the object Thursday evening by ground radar and shot it down \"out of an abundance of caution\" Friday at 1:45 p.m. ET over the frozen Arctic Ocean waters near Alaska's northeast border close to Canada.\n\n\"We're going to remain vigilant about the skies over the United States,\" Kirby said.\n\nKirby said the pilots tracking the object confirmed that it was unmanned before shooting it down. He said the object traveled over land in Alaska before it was downed.\n\nIf it turns out to be another Chinese surveillance craft, that revelation could rupture already strained relations with America's top adversary. Beyond the threat to civilian airliners, a surveillance craft could spy on several sensitive military sites in Alaska, including sophisticated radar systems and missiles designed to detect and intercept ballistic missiles headed toward the United States.\n\nRecovery crews aboard C-130, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters were converging on the site late Friday to recover the wreckage, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters.\n\nThe object was downed by a sidewinder missile shot from an F-22 fighter jet, the same warplane and weapon that were used to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.\n\nKirby said the U.S. will try to learn more information about the object from the debris, which he said was spread out over a smaller area than the spy balloon.\n\nThe Chinese spy balloon, which transfixed America over the past week, had a flight path that took it over sensitive military sites, and it \"had propulsion capability and steerage capability and could slow down, speed up,\" Kirby said. In contrast, he said, the object shot down Friday \"did not appear to have the ability to independently maneuver.\"\n\n\"I want to stress again, we don't know what entity owns this object,\" Kirby said. \"There's no indication that it's from a nation or an institution or an individual. We just don't know. We don't know who owns this object.\"\n\nLast week's spy balloon crossed the continental U.S. and some of the military’s most sensitive sites, including nuclear missile siloes. Its breaching of U.S. airspace cratered relations with China, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip to Beijing.\n\nBiden has faced criticism from Republicans who say the White House should have ordered it be shot down immediately. The president said he was waiting for the balloon to reach the ocean so falling debris would not hurt civilians.\n\nKirby did not say whether the Biden administration planned to reach out to China about the origins of the object shot over Alaska.\n\nMeanwhile, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand met with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Friday to discuss issues of mutual military cooperation, including the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the airspace over both countries.\n\nAnand thanked Austin “for the United States’ close collaboration during the response to China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon,” according to a readout of the meeting provided to USA TODAY by the Canadian embassy in Washington.\n\nAnand and Austin “agreed that continued cooperation between Canada and the United States, including through NORAD, ensures the security and defense of North America – and that NORAD modernization is a pressing mutual priority.”\n\nNORAD, short for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is the bi-lateral U.S.-Canada military command that provides continuous real-time worldwide detection, validation and warning of incoming ballistic missiles and other potential airborne threats – including balloons.\n\nReach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison. Josh Meyer is at @joshmeyerdc.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/10"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/02/03/china-spy-balloon-path/11174459002/", "title": "Chinese spy balloon shot down after drifting across continental US", "text": "An Air Force jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, after it drifted for five days across Idaho, Montana and the continental U.S. before reaching the Atlantic.\n\nAn F-22 Raptor jet fired a single missile that sent the balloon into the ocean at about 2:39 p.m. Efforts to recover its surveillance equipment were underway.\n\nThe Pentagon had been tracking the balloon, which appeared over Billings, Montana, Wednesday after passing near an American missile launch site.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/03/pence-documents-live-updates/11170329002/", "title": "FBI eyes Pence locations search, Southwest COO to testify: recap", "text": "Former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home and a Washington, D.C. office may soon be searched for additional classified records. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is monitoring a Chinese spy balloon that was spotted drifting over the northern United States - though China says it's not a spycraft.\n\nHere's what else is going on in politics:\n\nStay in the conversation on politics:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nBiden to travel to Wisconsin and Florida following SOTU speech\n\nFollowing the State of the Union Tuesday, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and cabinet secretaries plan to \"blitz the country\" to highlight programs and projects made possible by legislation he pushed through Congress and signed.\n\nOn Wednesday, Biden will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to \"discuss how his economic plan is creating good-paying, union jobs and delivering real results for the American people,\" according to an advisory from the White House. The following day, he will travel to Tampa, Florida, – a state with disproportionately high percentage of seniors – to promote ways of strengthening Social Security and Medicare.\n\nIt's traditional for presidents to barnstorm the country following the State of the Union, where he's expected to emphasize his agenda and build on promises made in his speech.\n\n- Maureen Groppe\n\nSouthwest Airlines COO to testify before Senate Commerce Committee\n\nFollowing flight cancellations that left thousands of passengers stranded across American airports over the holidays, Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson will testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation next week.\n\nThe hearing follows massive cancellations from the airline during the holidays that affected over 15,000 flights.\n\nOther witnesses include Captain Casey A. Murray, the president of Southwest Airlines Pilots Association; Paul Hudson, the president of Flyers’ Rights; Sharon Pinkerton, the senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America; and Dr. Clifford Winston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.\n\n- Rachel Looker\n\nMore:After meltdown, Southwest cancels hundreds of flights into the new year\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken postpones China trip, citing spy balloon\n\nSecretary of State Antony Blinken postponed an imminent trip to China because a Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the northern U.S. is a \"clear violation\" of sovereignty and international law, senior state department officials said Friday.\n\nBlinken had been set to leave for China Friday night, though the trip had not been officially announced. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Blinken will reschedule the trip when conditions are right.\n\nChina denied that the balloon is a spycraft, calling it a “civilian airship” that blew off course. U.S. officials refute that and have considered shooting it down.\n\n– Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee\n\nGOP Indiana Rep. Spartz won't seek reelection\n\nGOP Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana announced Friday she won't seek reelection to the House of Representatives or her home state's open Senate seat in 2024.\n\nSpartz, a Republican from Noblesville representing Indiana's 5th Congressional District, had been considering a run at the Senate seat that Mike Braun will vacate to run for governor next year. Spartz' Indiana colleague in the House, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, announced his candidacy for the Senate seat several weeks ago.\n\nThe seat is unlikely to flip to Democrats next year as it is considered solidly Republican by the Cook Political Report.\n\nMore:Victoria Spartz won't seek office after term ends\n\nChina says balloon flying over Montana is not spycraft\n\nChina denied Friday that a balloon flying over the United States is a spycraft but a “civilian airship” that blew off course.\n\nThe airship is used for meteorological and other research, the Chinese government said in a statement in which it expressed regret for its “unintended entry” into U.S. airspace.\n\nU.S. officials maintain that it is a Chinese spy balloon and have considered shooting it down.\n\n– Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook\n\nMore on the spy balloon:Blinken postpones China trip amid spy balloon row; US officials scramble to get rid of it\n\nRubio: China ‘bigger and stronger adversary’ than Soviet Union during Cold War\n\nIn the aftermath of a Chinese spy balloon found in American airspace, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Friday urged America to “wake up” to the threat the Asian power poses.\n\nRubio, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence select committee, said that China is a “bigger and stronger” adversary than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War, citing not military strength but also industrial, technological and economic power.\n\n\"The most important thing we need to do now is wake up and finally, for those who are still resistant to this notion, understand that China is a geopolitical competitor and adversary, the first we've had since the end of the Cold War,\" Rubio said.\n\n“We need to readjust everything we do in this country to that reality,\" he added.\n\n- Ella Lee\n\nChina, US tensions rise over suspected Chinese spy balloon\n\nThe discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over American airspace has further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington\n\nChinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and urged calm while the facts are established.\n\nThe balloon’s appearance adds to national security concerns among American lawmakers over China’s influence in the U.S., ranging from the prevalence of TikTok to purchases of American farmland. Other issues – like Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – have also increased tensions.\n\n– Ella Lee, Associated Press\n\nChinese spy balloon:Chinese spy balloon spotted in American skies, Pentagon says; US weighed shooting it down\n\nMontana lawmakers slam Biden on Chinese spy balloon\n\nAfter a Chinese spy balloon was spotted drifting over Montana airspace, lawmakers in the state are demanding answers from the Biden administration over its implications for state and national security.\n\nSen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting a “full security briefing\", raising concern that Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base and U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile fields were the target of an intelligence collection mission.\n\nMontana’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, said he is “deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security.” Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke called the balloon a provocation, urging Biden to “Shoot. It. Down.”\n\nThe decision not to shoot down the balloon was made due to concerns that debris could injure Americans on the ground or destroy property, a senior Defense Department official said Thursday.\n\n– Ella Lee\n\nChinese spy balloon latest:Blinken postpones China trip\n\nPentagon: Chinese spy balloon spotted in American skies\n\nA Chinese spy balloon has been spotted drifting over the northern United States, and Pentagon officials have considered shooting it down, Defense Department officials said late Thursday.\n\nThe decision not to shoot down the balloon – which was over Montana when the U.S. considered destroying it – was made because of concerns that debris could injure Americans on the ground or destroy property, according to a senior Defense Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.\n\nThe balloon is designed for surveillance, but is likely unable to collect more information than is available to spy satellites, the official said. It’s not the first time Chinese spy balloons have flown over the United States, according to the official.\n\n-Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee\n\nPaul Ryan on Trump:Former House speaker says he would not back Trump, if ex-president is GOP's 2024 nominee\n\nPaul Ryan: Trump loses elections and 'even diehard Trump supporters know this'\n\nFormer GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan is doubling down on his belief that former President Donald Trump is the wrong choice for Republicans in 2024.\n\nPoor results in the November midterms caused friction within the GOP, resulting in the infighting on display during the House speaker election, Ryan said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. Many losing 2022 candidates, he added, were backed by Trump.\n\n“I think people will move past (Trump) because we want to win,” Ryan said. “The evidence is inescapable that we just lose elections with Trump. And I think even diehard Trump supporters know this.”\n\n-Lawrence Andrea, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Ella Lee\n\nNew Jersey Republican councilwoman shot to death. What we know\n\nInvestigators continue to search for clues in the violent slaying of a New Jersey councilwoman, whose shooting death remains a mystery and has drawn international attention.\n\nSayreville Republican Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was shot to death outside of her home Wednesday evening and was found dead and alone in her car by police. A 30-year-old married mother of a 12-year-old daughter, Dwumfour had been elected to the council as a Republican in November 2021 and served just over one year.\n\nPolice are working with FBI officials on the case and have revealed no suspects or motive for the killing. They declined to state if a suspect has been identified or if the public is in danger.\n\n-Asbury Park Press staff, Ella Lee\n\nNorth Korea warns of 'overwhelming nuclear force'\n\nNorth Korea said it is prepared to respond to U.S. military moves with \"the most overwhelming nuclear force,\" and warned that the expansion of U.S. military exercises with South Korea is pushing tensions to an \"extreme red line,\"\n\nThe statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came in response to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said Tuesday in Seoul that the United States would increase its deployment of advanced military assets to the Korean Peninsula, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, as it strengthens joint training and operational planning with South Korea.\n\nSouth Korea’s security jitters have risen since North Korea test-fired dozens of missiles in 2022, including potentially nuclear-capable ones designed to strike targets in South Korea and the U.S. mainland.\n\n--The Associated\n\nClassified documents much more than a Biden, Pence, Trump problem, analysts say\n\nIt’s not just former presidents and vice presidents who have been caught mishandling classified and even top-secret documents, according to lawmakers and security analysts. And it’s not just those who have left office but potentially millions of people who are currently working in sensitive positions that require a U.S. national security clearance.\n\n“The universe of individuals who not only have access to classified information in one form or another but who have at different times mishandled it spreads across the entire gamut of the federal workforce and of cleared officials in the judiciary and Congress,” said Bradley Moss, a Washington, D.C. national security lawyer who handles mishandling of documents cases.\n\nMoss and others interviewed by USA TODAY estimated that there are more than four million people with security clearances, including those in and out of government. In 2017, the Director of National Intelligence put the number at nearly 3 million people, including more than 1.6 million with access to confidential or secret information and another 1.2 million with access to top secret information.\n\n– Josh Meyer\n\nFBI expected to search Pence locations for govt records\n\nFederal authorities and representatives of Mike Pence have been discussing voluntary searches of the former vice president’s Indiana home and a Washington, D.C., office for additional classified records, according to media reports.\n\nThe anticipated action comes after the FBI searched President Joe Biden’s Delaware vacation home Wednesday, the third Biden location where authorities have sought additional government records.\n\nNo classified documents were recovered at Biden’s Rehoboth Beach residence, but the FBI took some handwritten notes dating to his time as vice president, the president's lawyer said.\n\nPlans for a Pence-related search, first reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, follow the discovery last month of a small number of documents bearing classified markings at the former president’s Indiana home.\n\nCNN also reported that authorities are expected to search a Washington office linked to Pence.\n\n– Kevin Johnson\n\nFrom office to beach house:Timeline of investigation into Joe Biden classified documents\n\nHouse GOP launches another investigation\n\nThe House Judiciary Committee is deepening its investigation of political bias with a new focus on Charles McGonigal, a former FBI special agent who pleaded not guilty last week to charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions in connection to a Russian oligarch.\n\nIn a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., requested documents, personnel records and communications related to McGonigal by Feb. 16.\n\nMcGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York for 22 years until 2018, is accused of working for Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nLaw barring guns for people with domestic violence restraining orders is unconstitutional, court rules\n\nA federal appeals court Thursday ruled that a law barring people who are the subject of a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm is unconstitutional in a case likely headed to the Supreme Court.\n\nA three-judge panel of the Louisiana-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said the federal law may have been based on “salutary policy goals meant to protect vulnerable people in our society,” but that it still conflicts with the Second Amendment.\n\nThe ruling from the judges – two of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump and a third by former President Ronald Reagan – is a result of the Supreme Court’s major guns ruling last year, in which a 6-3 majority said that in order to pass constitutional muster a gun regulation must be consistent with the nation's “historical tradition of firearm regulation.\"\n\n– John Fritze", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/12/united-states-china-relations-unidentified-objects/11242418002/", "title": "Heightened concerns over US-China relations after objects shot down", "text": "The takedown of four unmanned aircraft has raised new concerns about relations between the United States and China, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers putting a new focus Sunday on national security.\n\n“We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend and that we need to have appropriate sensors to do so,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on CNN’s \"State of the Union.\" “We certainly now ascertain there is a threat.”\n\nOn Sunday, the U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object over Michigan. The shootdown occurred hours after airspace was temporarily closed over Lake Michigan by the Federal Aviation Administration and NORAD and after lawmakers had made the rounds on the Sunday political talk shows.\n\nU.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets downed the object, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment.\n\nOn Feb. 4, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the South Carolina coast. Less than a week later on Feb. 10, an unidentified object was shot down over Alaska. The next day, another unidentified object was shot down in northern Canada.\n\nRelated:How the Pentagon shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, echoing Chinese spy balloon\n\nSmart analysis delivered to your inbox:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nLate discovery of balloon program is 'wild,' Schumer says\n\nSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on ABC’s \"This Week\" that “it is wild” that the U.S. did not learn of China’s balloon program “until a few months ago.\"\n\nSchumer said he was briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday night regarding the aircraft, saying that the U.S. believes the two unidentified objects that were destroyed in recent days were also balloons, but that they were \"much smaller\" than the initial balloon shot down Feb. 4.\n\nRep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, said he was “glad” to see a swift response from the White House, but told ABC’s \"This Week\" that “we've got a whole lot bigger problem with China than the spy balloons,\" saying the White House needs to be more \"firm\" against China.\n\nRelated:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon\n\nHours after the second aircraft was shot down, the Department of Commerce announced sanctions against six Chinese companies which it said were supporting China’s military aerospace programs.\n\n“Today’s action demonstrates our concerted efforts to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than forty countries,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said in a statement.\n\nTurner: Preferable to be 'trigger happy'\n\nLawmakers on Sunday also expressed concerns over the U.S. military’s protocol when unidentified objects are discovered.\n\nWhen asked about whether the U.S. has changed its posture towards flying objects, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said “I certainly hope not.”\n\n“If that’s where we’re going to go, there will be an accident. At some point we’re going to shoot down something we don’t want to shoot down,” Himes said on NBC's \"Meet the Press.\"\n\nTurner said the White House does “appear somewhat trigger happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”\n\nThe first balloon's path visualized:U.S. tracked suspected Chinese spy balloon for 5 days before shooting it down over the Atlantic\n\nSeveral lawmakers raised questions about the spy balloon’s flight path and whether it flew over sensitive military and nuclear weapon sites. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester noted on CBS' \"Face the Nation\" that the balloon flew over his home state of Montana, which houses 150 nuclear missiles.\n\nConcerns about TikTok, foreign ownership of U.S. farmland\n\nThe discovery of the balloon and two other unidentified objects has raised concerns about other issues pertaining to China. Tester pointed out his own concerns over foreign, including Chinese, ownership of U.S. farmland.\n\n“I don’t think they should have any opportunity to try to dictate our food supply,” said Tester, who introduced a bipartisan bill in January with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., aimed at preventing foreign companies from owning domestic farmland.\n\nRelated:Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownership\n\nSchumer also suggested that Congress should take a closer look at TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to which Comer agreed, citing worries over Chinese data collection.\n\n“(TikTok) would be a concern if we continue to see escalation among China and the United States,” Comer said.\n\nBan TikTok?:Restrictions on the popular video app are spreading across the U.S.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/12"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/05/bidens-state-union-china-spy-balloon-live-updates/11186653002/", "title": "Biden's State of the Union, China spy balloon downed: recap", "text": "Democrats and Republicans found themselves on Sunday morning pressed over the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast.\n\nThe balloon debacle comes ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he's expected to lay out his administration's priorities for the remainder of his term and give America answers about what his political future holds.\n\n“The operation took place without any damage or injury to any American lives or property,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on CNN’s State of the Union, defending the White House over the balloon.\n\nHere's what else is going on in politics:\n\nButtigieg defends the White House over Chinese spy balloon: Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner.\"\n\nButtigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner.\" Shot down sooner: While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, \"before it entered U.S. airspace.\"\n\nWhile the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, \"before it entered U.S. airspace.\" Bye, Iowa: Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states.\n\nDemocrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states. New poll on Biden: 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer another nominee over Biden, according to a poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.\n\nStay in the conversation on politics:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nBiden aide: Republicans have no debt ceiling/spending cut plan of their own\n\nDuring his Sunday show tour, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeated the president's pledge that he would not negotiate a necessary debt ceiling increase with Republicans – and added that the GOP hasn't proposed anything to negotiate about anyway.\n\nHouse Republicans have said they will block a debt ceiling hike unless the Biden administrations cuts overall spending, but they have not offered a specific set of cuts.\n\n\"It's very hard to understand what exactly they're proposing to cut,\" Buttigieg said on ABC's This Week, adding that a refusal to act on the debt ceiling would lead to a government default on existing debt that would wreck the economy.\n\nThe debt ceiling standoff is expected to be discussed during Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nSchumer: Senate will get a classified briefing Feb 15 on the Chinese balloon\n\nThe full U.S. Senate will receive a classified briefing Feb. 15 on the Chinese surveillance balloon threat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday.\n\nIn announcing the briefing, Schumer praised the Biden administration for taking out the Chinese balloon and criticized Republicans for second-guessing.\n\n\"The bottom line here is that shooting down the balloon over water wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain,\" Schumer told reporters.\n\nWhile Republicans said Biden waited too long to take out the balloon, Schumer said the critics \"were breathless, political, and premature.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\n'Too late:' McConnell attacks Biden over Chinese balloon\n\nMitch McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, weighed in on the Chinese balloon affair Sunday, saying it reflected habitual slowness by the Biden administration.\n\n\"As usual when it comes to national defense and foreign policy, the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late,\" McConnell said in a written statement. \"We should not have let the People’s Republic of China make a mockery of our airspace.\"\n\nMcConnell, the Senate minority leader, said the incident may well be part of an upcoming budget debate with Biden over military spending: \"Let’s hope his budget proposal this year is more decisive, serious, and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nHouse GOP opens investigation into Hunter Biden’s art\n\nHunter Biden’s paintings have drawn the eye of House Republicans, but not for the art.\n\nThe House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know who bought the art and how much they paid, after list prices initially ranged up to $500,000. The chair called the figures \"exorbitant\" for a \"novice artist\" and questioned whether it amounted to influence peddling over federal policy.\n\nRep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the committee, wrote to George Berges, Hunter Biden’s art dealer, requesting a transcribed interview by Feb. 15.\n\n“Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions,” Comer wrote.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nGallagher, chair of House committee on China, attacks White House over balloon\n\nRep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chair of the House select committee aimed at increasing the United State’s competitiveness with China, compared the suspected spy balloon to “a robber on your front porch.”\n\n“Letting a Chinese surveillance balloon lazily drift over America is like seeing a robber on your front porch and inviting him in,” said Gallagher on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.\n\nGallagher warned the balloon could signal future aggression from China, saying “It's time to push back before it's too late, before something far more dangerous than a balloon is flying over American territory.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nRepublicans: Biden team should have shot down the Chinese balloon earlier\n\nCongressional Republicans took to the Sunday shows to bash Biden over the China surveillance balloon, saying the entire incident reflected administration weakness toward an increasingly aggressive China.\n\nWhile the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's \"Meet That Press\" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier.\n\n\"This should have been taken down before it entered U.S. airspace when it was over Alaska,\" said Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.\n\nAdministration officials said they waited until the balloon was over the ocean so as to minimize the risk to aircraft and people on the ground.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nRubio: Balloon ‘not a coincidence’\n\nSen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Biden administration over the suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying the timing was “not a coincidence.”\n\n“It’s not a coincidence this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to Blinken’s visit to China,” Rubio said on CNN’s State of the Union.\n\nThe Biden administration is scheduled to brief the “Gang of Eight” this week about the balloon. The group is comprised of Congress’ four party leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which includes Rubio.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nEx-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, crucial supporter of U.S. after 9/11, dies at 79\n\nPervez Musharraf, the Pakistan leader who provided crucial support to the U.S.-led \"war on terror\" following the 9/11 attacks, has died at 79, the Pakistan military announced Sunday.\n\nNo cause of death was revealed, but Musharraf, had been battling a rare disease, amyloidosis, and was being treated at a hospital in Dubai, Pakistani media reported.\n\nMusharraf seized power in 1999 from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. Sharif had tried to remove Musharraf from his position as military leader – a year after Sharif had appointed him.\n\nThe Pakistan military issued a statement expressing \"heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf. ... May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family.\"\n\n– John Bacon\n\nButtigieg say Biden will use State of the Union to promote his economic policies; stays mum on 2024\n\nButtigieg went on the Sunday shows to promote President Biden's prime time State of the Union speech on Tuesday – and to avoid discussing Biden's plans to seek re-election in 2024.\n\n\"That's out of my lane,\" Buttigieg said on ABC's \"This Week.\"\n\nButtigieg, who said it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss politics in his position as Transportation Secretary, said Biden would use the State of the Union to argue that his economic policies are working; the Cabinet member also made it clear that he hopes Biden will stay on the job after 2024.\n\n\"I'm humbled and honored to be part of his team,\" Buttigieg said.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nButtigieg: The U.S. waited to shoot down the Chinese balloon until it drifted out over the ocean\n\nResponding to Republican criticism, Buttigieg said Sunday the Biden administration waited several days to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon because it was over American land and air space.\n\nShooting the huge and heavily-equipped balloon over land would have been risky for aircraft and people on the ground, Buttigieg said on NBC's Meet The Press.\n\nRelated:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast\n\nSo the U.S. waited until it drifted out over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration \"worked closely with the Pentagon,\" Buttigieg said. \"This thing was brought down in a safe manner, and flights are back to normal in the U.S.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nAhead of State of the Union, Democratic voters aren't keen on Biden: poll\n\nDemocratic voters aren’t keen on Biden running for reelection in 2024, with 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they would prefer another nominee rather than Biden, according to a poll released by the Washington Post and ABC News on Sunday.\n\nThe poll comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, where he is expected to also make the case for his 2024 campaign, which he has yet to formally announce.\n\nOn the Republican side, 49% of GOP voters and GOP-leaning independents would prefer if a candidate other than former President Donald Trump compared to the 44% that do support Trump. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nIs he running?:5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden to answer America's questions in the State of the Union\n\nThe State of the Union address Biden is slated to deliver Tuesday night is likely to draw his biggest audience of the year and provide a blueprint for the rest of his presidency – from his stance toward the Republicans who have taken control of the House to the political question looming over his future.\n\nIs he running for re-election?\n\nHe's not likely to directly answer that, of course. A formal announcement of his intensions isn't expected until later this month or next. But the balance he strikes between seeking common ground with the GOP and promoting Democratic causes that have limited prospects of passage will be a clue.\n\n– Susan Page\n\nChinese spy balloon shot down\n\nThe United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.\n\nAn operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and estimated to be about the size of three school buses.\n\nTelevision footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nOn Chinese spy balloon, the question of 'why'\n\nAmong the many lingering questions about the Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States is why the balloon was in U.S. airspace – and why now.\n\n“What are they signaling? And what do they hope to achieve?\" said Kari Bingen, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. \"Because this is something that you can't miss. They were going to get caught. That's what's so brazen about it.\"\n\nIn his first remarks about the balloon, which the Chinese maintain is a “civilian airship” used mostly for weather research that was blown off course, Biden projected confidence: \"We’re gonna take care of it,\" he told reporters Saturday.\n\n– Josh Meyer, Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee\n\nDemocrats approve 2024 primary calendar\n\nDemocrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election.\n\nThe national party green-lit a calendar that makes South Carolina the initial contest, elevates Nevada to the second position alongside New Hampshire and welcomes Georgia and Michigan to the early primary window for the first time.\n\nDemocrats are seeking to amplify diverse voices earlier in their presidential selection process. The calendar Democrats approved on Saturday will only apply to 2024. They have vowed to revisit it before the 2028 election.\n\n– Francesca Chambers\n\nContributing: Associated Press\n\n'Four more years':Biden hints at 2024 as he rallies Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/07/turkey-syria-quake-death-toll-over-5000-sotu-preview-5-things-podcast/11200997002/", "title": "Death toll rises to 5000 in Turkey/Syria quake, State of the Union ...", "text": "On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Death toll rises to 5,000 after quake hits Turkey, Syria\n\nMore than 5,000 people are now dead and more are missing in rubble after a devastating earthquake. Plus, USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page previews President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Denver has a new approach to homelessness, Defense officials say they did not immediately shoot down the Chinese balloon because they didn't think it was a threat, and Dr. Andrew Hammond, from the International Spy Museum, talks about the history of spy balloons.\n\nPodcasts:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.\n\nHit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nGood morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 7th of February 2023. Today, a staggering death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Plus, a look ahead to tonight's State of the Union, and we talk about the history of spy balloons.\n\nThe death toll has surged past 5,000 after a devastating earthquake and a series of aftershocks slammed the Turkey/Syria border collapsing thousands of buildings.\n\n[Audio: Screams as a building collapses]\n\nThe US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.8 quake hit just after 4:00 AM local time yesterday, just two hours before another 7.5 magnitude quake hit nearby. Turkey's President, Recep Erdoğan, has declared seven days of national morning. He spoke with President Joe Biden yesterday, who pledged US support. The White House said part of that assistance would include sending two urban search and rescue teams. Erdoğan called the quake the country's biggest disaster since a 1939 earthquake killed some 30,000 people.\n\nAcross the border in Syria, a region is struggling to recover after already being slammed by the Syrian Civil War in refugee crisis in recent years. In both countries, the death toll is expected to rise potentially by the thousands as many remain trapped beneath rubble.\n\nEarlier this morning, Ghanaian soccer star Christian Atsu was pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey with injuries, according to the BBC. You can follow along with updates to the recovery mission on USATODAY.com.\n\n♦\n\nPresident Joe Biden will give his State of the Union address tonight, and as USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page told me, it could give a blueprint for the rest of his presidency.\n\nSusan, thanks for coming on the podcast.\n\nSusan Page:\n\nHey, it's my pleasure.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nSo what's at stake in this particular State of the Union?\n\nSusan Page:\n\nA lot's at stake. It's a real pivot point for President Biden. He's finished two years of his term with some really significant legislative successes, but now we have a Congress that is divided, Republicans taking over the house. Everything is about to get much harder.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nCan President Joe Biden show the American people that he can reach across the aisle to get things done with this divided Congress?\n\nSusan Page:\n\nWe expect him to talk about that, because he's had decades where he has insisted that bipartisanship is the way to go back to when he was a senator, when he was vice president, and during his first two years as president. But it's going to be a tough sell, because you look at the House Republicans who now control that chamber. They have a significant caucus, the Freedom Caucus, that is opposed to cooperation on almost everything, starting with raising the debt ceiling, which is likely to be the first crisis of this year.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nAnd how about when it comes to the American people, Susan? A USA TODAY Suffolk University poll in December found that about two thirds of Americans felt the country was not heading in the right direction. They also expressed little confidence in either party, or even a branch of government to turn things around. So what can President Biden then say to convince those Americans otherwise?\n\nSusan Page:\n\nAmericans are not happy with their government. They're not happy with the president, with the Congress, with either party, with the Supreme Court. They don't think the government is working for them. And this, even though we've had some good economic news inflation easing a bit, the job market continuing to be strong. I think President Biden's going to try to do a little bit of a selling job saying that we've made big progress on things including the pandemic, including inflation, although we obviously have farther to go. And he's also going to try to make the case that he deserves some of the credit for the good news and ameliorate some of the concerns people have about the bad news. That's a big job at a time Americans do not have very much faith in their government.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nSo this address comes just weeks after the death of Tyre Nichols. We know that his parents are expected to attend this address. Will Biden address them directly, Susan? And what can we expect from him in general on the issue of police reform?\n\nSusan Page:\n\nI would expect him to acknowledge their presence, and to talk about that terrible case and the terrible beating that their son endured at the hands of police. And I think there'll be some contrast to what President Biden said in last year's State of the Union address about police. Last year he talked about police reform, but he talked more about pushing back on the idea of \"defund the police.\" That was his more dominant message a year ago. I don't think that's going to be true this time. I think he is going to talk about the continued problem of systemic violence on the basis of race by some police officers and the need to address that. The problem is, hard to imagine anything actually gets done. But I think it is going to be an issue he's going to talk about and highlight, and identify as a priority for himself.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nSo we don't expect Biden to announce formal reelection plans or the lack thereof during the State of the Union address, but might he hint at that question with some of this speech?\n\nSusan Page:\n\nI think we can look for some hints about whether he's going to run again. We think he is. He says he's inclined to run again. He hasn't said he's firmly decided. If he talks about the legislation he can get through in the next two years, that is not a guy who's running for reelection. If he talks about the legislation he would aspire to pass if and when Democrats control the Congress, again, that's a guy running for reelection.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nAll right, Susan Page is the Washington Bureau Chief for USA TODAY. Great insight as always. Thanks, Susan.\n\nSusan Page:\n\nThank you.\n\n♦\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nBans on tent cities haven't solved America's homelessness crisis, so a Denver program has a new approach. Compassion. Experts say the number of unhoused people, which was at around 590,000 nationally as of last year, is expected to rise as surging rents push people from their homes. Some cities have turned to draconian measures, including citywide sweeps that remove their makeshift tent shelters and belongings.\n\nBut in Denver, where some 2000 people sleep without shelter each night, a new program sees park rangers and mental health counselors walk through parks together to help people seeking refuge. They give out hand warmers and Gatorade and ask how they can help.\n\nAnd new funding from Congress and the Biden administration will help more cities start similar mental health co-responder programs. But it's still not clear if they'll follow Denver's lead or how much success the programs will have. For more on the homelessness crisis and how cities are dealing with it, find a link in today's show notes.\n\n♦\n\nThe Pentagon did not shoot down the Chinese balloon as it approached Alaska last month because it didn't pose a military threat to the US or Canada. That's according to Air Force General Glen VanHerck, Commander of US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The US shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Officials said it was built to spy on sensitive military sites. The debris field after the shooting stretched about 15 football fields. It's being treated as hazardous waste. But VanHerck said there's no indication the balloon carried explosives. Over the weekend, Pentagon officials also revealed that suspected Chinese spy balloons had entered US airspace three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration.\n\n♦\n\nDid you know that spy balloons actually date back to the American Civil War? With the technology in the news this week, USA TODAY producer Callie Carmichael thought it was a good time to hear the history of this specific type of balloon. She spoke with Dr. Andrew Hammond, historian and curator of the International Spy Museum for more.\n\nCallie Carmichael:\n\nSo tell us a little bit about the history of spy balloons?\n\nDr. Andrew Hammond:\n\nSo here at the International Spy Museum, we have an exhibit that looks at looking to try to get intelligence. So by that I mean balloons, cameras that were attached to pigeons in World War I, lights that were developed during the Cold War, aerial reconnaissance from a military plane. So we look at all of that, all the ways that you can use things in the air to try to gather intelligence. And the role of balloons is really, really fascinating. So here in Washington, D.C., there were actually balloons that were tested down on the mall to try to convince Abraham Lincoln about how they could be used to gather intelligence.\n\nAnd during the Civil War, that's when balloons started to be used. At one point, they actually attached some of these balloons to a ship. So that meant that the balloons were mobile on the ship. Some people say this is the world's first aircraft carrier. So the American Civil War, they're quite important there. They play quite an interesting role. And then up until the modern day, they have certain pros and certain cons.\n\nCallie Carmichael:\n\nYeah, I would love to hear some of the pros and cons of why you use a balloon and not something else?\n\nDr. Andrew Hammond:\n\nSo if you think about the different platforms that you can attach say a camera to, or ways to gather intelligence. So in World War I, I mentioned the pigeon camera. They strapped a tiny little camera onto a pigeon and sent it to fly over the trenches of the enemy. One of the problems there is, okay, it's aerial, it's moving, it's getting us stuff that we never had before. But then you have to make sense of the imagery because the pigeons flying one direction and another direction, and you have to make sense out of all of the imagery that comes on the other end.\n\nThen you have aircraft. So what are the pros there? Well, you can make them go in a particular direction. You can have someone up there actually viewing with their own eyes, with binoculars, for example.\n\nThen we come up to satellites. So satellites are fantastic. You can see such huge swathes of the world. You can get incredible resolution, especially these days.\n\nBut with every platform there's pros and cons, and I think that balloons, they have certain pros and certain cons. And these stratospheric blends are very, very interesting. So whereas in the Civil War, it would be hydrogen, which is flammable, these balloons are helium. The balloons in the Civil War would be much smaller. These balloons are gigantic. They are huge. The size of three buses. So they're so big and they travel a particular part of the Earth's atmosphere.\n\nSo this balloon, we've been told that it's at 60,000 feet. So it's way, way up there and it's slowly making its way across the United States. And then, I think another pro and con, if you have a balloon, an intelligence, there's what's called plausible deniability. So that people can say, \"Well, this is what this is.\" And you can say, \"Well, actually it's not. It's a weather balloon.\" So we see this now with this balloon. On the US side, it's a spy balloon. China has said that it's a civilian balloon that blew off of course.\n\nAnd let's face it, we're talking about probably the world's most important bilateral relationship. So by that, I just mean the relationship between two countries. This is probably the most important one in terms of global security. So that's why it's so important. That's why everybody's looking at this, because there's already tension in the relationship. But it's even more fascinating if you place it within the history of spy planes, spy satellites, spy balloons.\n\nCallie Carmichael:\n\nThank you so much. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us.\n\nDr. Andrew Hammond:\n\nThank you. Bye bye.\n\nTaylor Wilson:\n\nThanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning right here, wherever you get your pods. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/02/16/what-does-ufo-uap-stand-for/11265209002/", "title": "What does UFO stand for? Definitions, NASA studies on UFOs and ...", "text": "In the week following the takedown of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, three more unidentified objects have been shot down over Alaska, Lake Huron and Yukon, Canada.\n\nA car-sized object in Alaska flew over “sensitive military sites” Feb. 10. It was much lower in altitude and smaller than the Chinese spy balloon, but it's the repeated headline, not the size, that’s raising questions about these four objects.\n\nHere’s everything you need to know about how NASA and the U.S. government classify unidentified objects.\n\nWhat does UFO mean?\n\nUFO stands for “unidentified flying object,” a term for an aerial phenomenon whose cause or identity is unclear to the observer.\n\nThe United States Air Force coined the term in 1952, just five years after pilot Kenneth Arnold added “flying saucer” to the world’s lexicon. In 1947, Arnold flew past Mt. Rainier in Washington state where he saw “nine bright saucer-like objects.” Though he denied initially describing them as saucers, the name had already made its mark in popular culture.\n\nAccording to the Air Force Declassification Office, UFOs were initially defined “as those objects that remain unidentified after scrutiny by expert investigators, though today the term UFO is colloquially used to refer to any unidentifiable sighting regardless of whether it has been investigated.”\n\nUnidentified object over Alaska:See how the Pentagon shot it down\n\nYour questions answered:How many spy balloons? Are we under alien attack? Did we know this was coming?\n\nWhat does UAP mean?\n\nThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses the more precise term “unidentified anomalous phenomena” to describe “observations of the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or as known natural phenomena.” Until December 2022, it was known as “unidentified aerial phenomena” rather than anomalous.\n\nNASA began a study in October 2022 to further UAP data analysis, with promises of a mid-2023 report on its findings. The study is searching for the nature and origins of UAP, scientific analysis techniques, examining the risk to the National Air Space and ways to enhance air traffic management data acquisition systems.\n\nIn NASA’s 2021 UAP report, they classified five explanatory categories:\n\nAirborne clutter\n\nNatural atmospheric phenomena\n\nUSG or U.S. industry development programs\n\nForeign adversary systems\n\nOther\n\nThe report was largely inconclusive, but it stated that UAP “clearly pose” a risk to aviators and U.S. national security and NASA found “potential patterns” in shape, size and propulsion.\n\nChinese spy balloon:Lawmakers say it flew over missile and nuclear weapons sites\n\nUFOs:US government receives over 500 reports, unclassified report says", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/16"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_13", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/02/06/amc-ticket-prices-seat-location-movies/11196849002/", "title": "AMC ticket prices will soon be different depending on seat location", "text": "You may have to pay extra to get good seat at AMC Theatres.\n\nThe country's largest movie theater chain announced Monday plans to price tickets based on seat location within the auditorium, meaning moviegoers will pay different prices depending on their proximity to the screen.\n\nThink concert ticket pricing – the closer you are to the stage the more you're going to pay. In this case, the closer you are to the screen, the cheaper your ticket. How much more exactly? AMC hasn't announced yet.\n\nBut the new pricing initiative, called Sightline at AMC, already kicked off in select locations and will roll out nationwide by the end of the year, AMC said.\n\nSightline at AMC offers three tiers of seats:\n\nStandard Sightline: The \"most common\" seats, which are available for \"the traditional cost of a ticket.\"\n\nValue Sightline – Seats in the front row, which are \"available at a lower price than Standard Sightline seats\"\n\nPreferred Sightline – Seats typically in \"the middle of the auditorium,\" which are priced at \"a slight premium to Standard Sightline seats.\"\n\nValue sightline pricing is only available to members of the AMC Stubs loyalty club, including the free tier, while paid members can reserve preferred sightline seats at no additional cost.\n\nDiscounted tickets:AMC theaters celebrates Black History Month with $5 tickets for select movies\n\nBox-office record breakers:What is the highest grossing movie of all time?\n\nThe ticketing initiative represents the latest attempt by a major movie theater chain to boost attendance and revenue after the COVID-19 pandemic forced theaters to shutter.\n\nSightline ticketing applies to all showtimes after 4 p.m. at participating locations. It's not applicable on Tuesdays, when AMC sells tickets at a discount.\n\nAMC said theaters that offer variable pricing will provide a detailed seat map that will outline each option when patrons purchase tickets online, on the AMC app and at the box office.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/05/14/looking-back-when-carmike-ruled-sioux-falls-cinema-scene/5091098001/", "title": "Looking Back: When Carmike ruled the cinema scene in Sioux Falls", "text": "Eric Renshaw\n\nFor the Argus Leader\n\nStarting in the 1980s, Carmike Theatres seemed to come from nowhere to virtually dominate the business of movie exhibition. The company, based in Columbus, Georgia, grew from the ambition of Carl L Patrick. Carl was born in Honaker, Virginia in 1918. When he was ten, his father, Deward, died, leaving Carl, his mother, Virginia, and his brother, Harold, to fend for themselves. After graduating from the Dublin, Maryland high school, Patrick worked as a laborer before entering the Army in 1941. He was injured during the war and returned home in 1943. He was discharged with the rank of major In 1945.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/05/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2017/12/14/emax-auditorium-emagine-novi-giant-movie-screen/952862001/", "title": "New movie screen at Emagine Novi is Michigan's largest", "text": "John Monaghan\n\nSpecial to the Detroit Free Press\n\n\"Star Wars: The Last Jedi\" will be everywhere this weekend, but audiences who catch it at the Emagine Novi will have bragging rights for having viewed it on Michigan's largest movie screen. The theater's new Super EMAX auditorium, which opens Friday, sports a 4K digital image that’s 92 feet wide by more than 48 feet tall.\n\nJust how big is that?\n\n\"It's the size of a professional basketball court,\" says Anthony LaVerde, the new CEO of Troy-based Emagine Entertainment. \"The only screen bigger is at Grauman's Chinese IMAX Theatre in Hollywood.\"\n\nRead more:\n\nReview: ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is an epic space opera\n\nReview: ‘Ferdinand’ spoiled by forgettable story filler\n\nThe theater will be open to the public Friday starting at 6 a.m. A ribbon-cutting ceremony starts at 9 a.m., and a ticketed screening of \"Star Wars: The Last Jedi\" follows at 9:30 — the first of several throughout the day. Many of the opening weekend Super EMAX screenings are sold out. Tickets are $11 for matinees and $15 for shows after 6 p.m. The movie will also be shown on other screens at the Emagine Novi.\n\nThe auditorium opening caps a nearly $5-million restoration project at the multiplex, which is at the Fountain Walk Shopping Center on West 12 Mile Road. The updates also include a larger lobby and a cafeteria-style concession counter that includes a pizza oven, quesadilla bar and self-serve soda fountain. That new food service has been operational since late summer.\n\nThe Super EMAX theater, which seats 300, was created by combining two 280-seat auditoriums. It has powered recliner chairs whose cup holders can support concession trays. Like the lobby, the Super EMAX auditorium is decorated in earthy browns, beiges and blacks, a sharp departure from the bright purple that was once associated with Emagine. The freshly installed carpet and seats give the theater a new car smell.\n\nThe theater has a sit-down bar, though you can also bring alcohol into the auditorium. The ticket counter that once greeted audiences upon arrival is now off to the side, making the lobby, which has sleek chairs and couches, appear less like a movie theater and more like the lobby of a grand hotel.\n\nTo fill a screen so big, the Super EMAX 4K digital projection system uses a laser light source to provide the 48,000 lumens of light required to present a bright, clear picture. The Emagine's conventional EMAX screens (featured in all of its metro Detroit locations) require about 28,000 lumens. As of now, the Super EMAX screen is not equipped to show 3D films.\n\nThe Super EMAX auditorium also boasts a 64-channel Dolby Atmos immersive audio system.\n\n\"They can take a bird tweeting and put it in the rear corner, in this one speaker, so when you watch the movie, it's as if that sound is coming from behind you,\" says David Zylstra, Emagine’s vice president of technology.\n\nThe state’s largest movie screen previously was the IMAX screen at the Henry Ford in Dearborn. The theater severed ties with IMAX in late 2015 around the time of the release of \"Star Wars: The Force Awakens.\" Many fans were disappointed that they couldn’t view that film on the Henry Ford screen, which measured 84 feet by 62 feet.\n\nThe Henry Ford has since reopened with a slightly smaller, more rectangular screen measuring 80 feet by 44 feet. \"The Last Jedi\" will play there as well as part of what the theater calls the Giant Screen Experience.\n\nIMAX has been associated with large screens since the 1970s. There are still three metro Detroit theaters that sport the IMAX banner: the AMC Livonia 20, AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights and the Star Great Lakes 25 in Auburn Hills. (IMAX also supplies the domed image for documentaries at the Michigan Science Center.)\n\nLaVerde bristles at the notion that the EMAX name is simply Emagine's version of IMAX (“they are completely different technologies,\" he says) and points to other aspects of the auditorium that are unique to Emagine. These include the extra-wide 7-foot spaces between aisles and the front-row love seats (called cuddle chairs) that were designed by Paul Glantz, Emagine Entertainment cofounder and former CEO who now serves as the company's chairman.\n\n\"The chairs in the first row of an auditorium are inherently unsalable. No one typically wants to sit in them,\" says Glantz. He notes that the new cuddle chairs are not only some of the most comfortable and intimate in the theater, but a full 45 feet away from the screen.\n\n\"People are going to be wowed,\" he says.\n\nLaVerde takes over as CEO\n\nOn Tuesday, Anthony LaVerde was named Emagine Entertainment’s new CEO. He is replacing cofounder and longtime CEO Paul Glantz, who will now serve as chairman.\n\nThe announcement came as expansion plans are under way by the theater chain, which has 206 screens in Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota. Emagine, based in Troy, launched its first metro Detroit location in Novi in 2002 and has since opened other theaters in Canton, Royal Oak, Rochester Hills, Birmingham and Macomb.\n\nLaVerde, who has spent the past two decades working in finance in New York City and Chicago, moved to the Detroit area in 2016. He has worked for the past seven months as Emagine's chief of staff.\n\n\"I hope to drive additional industry-leading innovations, enhance the brand and expand an already successful business,\" he said in a statement.\n\n\n\n", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/12/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/tourism/2018/02/21/new-14-screen-movie-theater-coming-indio-community-maya-cinemas-sees-under-served/359558002/", "title": "New 14-screen movie theater planned in Indio", "text": "Indio may soon be home to two multi-screen movie theater complexes.\n\nPasadena-based Maya Cinemas has announced plans to build a 14-screen complex on a vacant lot on Avenue 42, between Monroe Street and Spectrum Street.\n\nRegal owns an eight-screen complex at 81725 Highway 111.\n\n“Maya has been engaged in building a theater in the Coachella Valley for over five years,” said Lynnelle Sanchez, vice president of development and corporate affairs. The Indio location, she said, “meets our business model of where and how we select a location.”\n\nTECHNOLOGY: Box office sales are down, but cinema still thriving\n\nConstruction is expected to begin the fourth quarter of 2018 and take about a year to complete, Sanchez said.\n\nMaya Cinemas was started in 2001 by award-winning film producer Moctesuma Esparza, whose more than 40 movies and documentaries include “Selena,” “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals.”\n\nThe company’s mission is to develop movie theaters in locations with a strong Latino presence.\n\n“Latinos represent 23 percent of movie tickets sold while being 17 percent of the population,” Sanchez said.\n\nFILM FEST: Transplant recipient’s journey inspires east valley students\n\n“Latinos go to the movies more often than the rest of the population – 11 movies a year vs. eight movies a year for non-Latinos,” Sanchez said.\n\n“There are very few modern quality first-run theaters in Latino markets across the United States,” she said. “Moctesuma was exposed to this during his national premieres for some of his movies in major cities with huge Latino populations.\n\n“When he produced ‘Selena,’ 10 years after 'Milagro Beanfield War,' the inventory of quality movie theaters in Latino neighborhoods had declined,” she said. “Being in the exhibition industry creates an opportunity to fulfill another goal for Maya Cinemas which is to grow in size in order to provide opportunities to people of color to have access to Hollywood, especially Latinos by showing their films that will otherwise not be shown in major movie theater chains.”\n\nThe company has four theaters currently open, all in California – in Bakersfield, Salinas, Fresno and Pittsburgh – with a fifth scheduled to open in Delano in May.\n\nTheaters show first-run movies with the latest in projection and sound technology, have luxury recliner seats and offer tickets prices, generally slightly under other theaters, Sanchez said.\n\n“Maya Cinemas builds, owns and operates its theaters,” Sanchez said. “We are a family oriented, value-driven movie theater company offering various community engagement programs…”", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/02/21"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2018/05/22/new-knoxville-movie-theater-central-cinema-open-central-street-happy-holler/634315002/", "title": "New Knoxville movie theater, Central Cinema, to open on Central ...", "text": "A new Knoxville movie theater is coming to Central Street.\n\nCentral Cinema, 1205 N. Central St., was first announced in June 2017 by General Manager Nick Huinker and his partners with Knoxville Horror Film Fest.\n\nMore:'Solo: A Star Wars Story:' How to celebrate the film in Knoxville\n\nMore:Dollywood: Theme park's Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival to start Friday\n\n\"The group developed the business with the help of a $30,000 crowdfunding campaign, and are eager to unveil the finished product after a year of delays and false starts,\" according to a press release.\n\nIt will open in June and announce its opening date and programming lineup at Ijams Nature Center’s “Movies Under The Stars” screening of \"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial\" from 6-10 p.m. on June 2.\n\n“It’s taken longer than we figured, but our donors have been patient and supportive the whole time,” said Programming Director William Mahaffey in the release. “We’re eager to finally get out there and live up to their expectations.”\n\nFacility and programming details\n\nCentral Cinema will have a 100-seat, wheelchair-accessible 4K digital auditorium, a concession lounge with popcorn, snacks, soft drinks and beer and a rear patio where attendees can come early or stay late to socialize.\n\nTicket prices will top out at $9 for evening screenings, and concession prices will be \"well below chain theater prices,\" according to the press release.\n\nThe theater's programming will feature popular classes, first-run independent films and monthly and community-driven events.\n\n“A good movie with the right crowd is one of the best shared cultural experiences you can have, but the multiplex version of that has built up a lot of baggage,” said Huinker in the release. “If you drive to surrounding cities you can find independent cinemas fighting back against that excess by taking film culture seriously, and we feel Knoxville’s cultural boom has cleared the way for success in doing the same.”\n\nAdvertising, event opportunities\n\nBefore it opens in June, Central Cinema is looking for local groups and businesses to collaborate with on advertising, partnered events and client services for both public and private use of the venue, according to the press release.\n\nMore:Memorial Day Weekend 2018: What's there to do in Knoxville?\n\nThe theater also plans to work with local interest groups to increase on-screen representation of marginalized communities.\n\nInfo: https://www.facebook.com/CentralCinemaKnox/.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/05/22"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/media/cineworld-regal-bankruptcy/index.html", "title": "Cineworld, the world's second largest movie theater chain, files for ...", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nCineworld Group — the world’s second largest movie theater chain and owner of Regal Cinemas — said Wednesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.\n\nThe British company, which owns more than 500 movie theaters across the United States, said that it commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to shed company debt. It also expects the action will “strengthen its balance sheet and provide the financial strength and flexibility to accelerate, and capitalize on, Cineworld’s strategy in the cinema industry.”\n\nThe company added that it has access to nearly $2 billion in financing from existing lenders to keep operating. Cineworld also said in the filing that it “expects to operate its global business and cinemas as usual throughout this process.”\n\nThe company warned late last month that a voluntary Chapter 11 filing was one of the options it was reviewing to reduce its debt.\n\n“We have an incredible team across Cineworld laser focused on evolving our business to thrive during the comeback of the cinema industry,” Mooky Greidinger, Cineworld’s CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our business, with the enforced closure of cinemas and huge disruption to film schedules that has led us to this point.”\n\nGreidinger added that the bankruptcy filing is “part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our financial position and is in pursuit of a de-leveraging that will create a more resilient capital structure and effective business.”\n\n“This will allow us to continue to execute our strategy to reimagine the most immersive cinema experiences for our guests through the latest and most cutting-edge screen formats and enhancements to our flagship theatres,” he added. “Our goal remains to further accelerate our strategy so we can grow our position as the ‘Best Place to Watch a Movie.’”\n\nLike many theaters, Cineworld has struggled during the pandemic, which devastated the industry and is still impacting exhibition. The global health crisis caused theaters around the world to close and the company lost $2.7 billion in 2020 and another $566 million in 2021.\n\nThe economics have improved for theaters, but a return to normal is still far off.\n\nThe domestic box office rebounded this summer thanks to big hits like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic Park: Dominion” as well as smaller hits like “Elvis” and “The Black Phone.” Yet, movie attendance has dried up in recent weeks amid a dearth of new films and supply chain issues hitting Hollywood and many features going straight to streaming.\n\n— Mark Thompson and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.", "authors": ["Frank Pallotta"], "publish_date": "2022/09/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/billgoodykoontz/2020/06/05/arizona-movie-theaters-scottsdale-tucson-sedona-reopen/3160034001/", "title": "When movie theaters reopen in Arizona: AMC, Harkins, RoadHouse ...", "text": "AMC Theaters announced Thursday that it will reopen most of its movie theaters around the country, beginning July 15.\n\nAnd after a social-media firestorm, the nation's largest chain will require its audiences to wear masks.\n\n\"We’re thrilled to welcome you back and to celebrate 100 years of movies at AMC,\" the announcement posted to its website says. \"We will reopen in waves, with the first set of AMC theatres opening doors on 7/15.\"\n\nThere is no indication which theaters, or where, will open that day. Requests for more information were not answered.\n\nThe website says that AMC will reduce audience capacity to 30% or less. Theaters will be cleaned between screenings. Wearing of masks is recommended, the website says, and required in locations that mandate their use. Disposable masks will be on sale.\n\nAMC CEO and president Adam Aron told Variety that he was reluctant to require masks in all theaters.\n\n“We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy,” Aron says in the interview. “We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary. We think that the vast majority of AMC guests will be wearing masks. When I go to an AMC feature, I will certainly be wearing a mask and leading by example.”\n\nHowever, by Friday Aron had changed his tune.\n\n“This announcement prompted an intense and immediate outcry from our customers, and it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks,” he said in a statement. “Accordingly, and with the full support of our scientific advisors, we are reversing course and are changing our guest mask policy. As we reopen theatres, we now will require that all AMC guests nationwide wear masks as they enter and enjoy movies at our theatres.”\n\nThe website recommends social distancing.\n\nWhat we know about FilmBar and Harkins\n\nDowntown Phoenix's indie movie theater FilmBar will begin renting its theater for private parties of a maximum of 10 people on Friday, June 19. Masks will be required when audience members are not seated. The cost is $150, but Kelly Aubey, who owns FilmBar, said all screenings were sold out through the end of July.\n\nHe hopes to open a second screening room next week, he said. There are no immediate plans to reopen the theater fully.\n\nScottsdale-based Harkins Theatres has not announced its plans for reopening.\n\nRoadHouse Cinemas opened its Scottsdale and Tucson locations on June 10. The Sedona International Film Festival is opening its Mary D. Fisher Theatre on June 12.\n\nTechnically, theaters could have opened when Arizona’s stay-at-home order expired on May 15. Few, if any, did, citing safety concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Doug Ducey closed theaters on March 20, as cases began to rise.\n\nDuring the closure, Alamo Drafthouse’s Arizona theaters declared bankruptcy.\n\nCOVID-19 cases have continued to rise in Arizona over the past few days.\n\nWhat safety precautions will be in place?\n\n“At this time, we are working on bringing back about 30% of our employees and eventually will return to a full staff,” said Azra Bajraktarevic, the general manager of the Scottsdale RoadHouse theater. “We are implementing temperature checks for employees before they clock into work, and vendors that are dropping off supplies.”\n\nIn addition, “We have signs printed and placed around our building to help with social distancing as well as sanitizers at every auditorium entrance.”\n\nAs for seating, “We are implementing a new technology with our online ticket sales that will allow a group to purchase tickets, and then the system will automatically block the seats on either side to help with social distancing. The last few weeks, our managers have put in a ton of hours to deep clean and sanitize all locations.”\n\nAfter each show, theaters will be cleaned again, and all chairs, cups, cupholders, call buttons and handrails will be sanitized, Bajraktarevic said.\n\nMeanwhile, the Sedona International Film Festival has released its parameters for opening. They include:\n\nLimited seating capacity for each show to allow for social distancing (33 people maximum).\n\nSpecified seating chart to accommodate social distancing.\n\nRequiring masks for all volunteers and staff.\n\nTemperature checks for all shifts for volunteers and staff.\n\nSanitizer available throughout the lobby, venue and restrooms.\n\nSanitation after every show, with a designated cleaning team.\n\nDisinfecting common areas and high-traffic areas after every show.\n\nAddition of Plexiglas dividers at concession stand and ticketing area.\n\nRequiring masks for all patrons for entrance/exit to the theater (will provide masks, if needed).\n\nUV wand cleaning and sanitizing of seats after every show.\n\nIn addition, according to the release, the theater has installed a new UV Air Pure Air Scrubber System to purify the air continuously through the HVAC systems in the theater and festival office.\n\n“Patrons and guests can be assured they are breathing the cleanest, safest and freshest air while they are here enjoying films on the big screen,” Pat Schweiss, the director of the theater and the festival, said in the release.\n\nReach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.\n\nSubscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/06/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2020/06/11/marcus-theatres-begin-reopening-next-week-wisconsin-elsewhere/5341004002/", "title": "Marcus Theatres to begin reopening next week in Wisconsin ...", "text": "Marcus Theatres Corp. will begin reopening cinemas next week in Wisconsin and two other states with limited schedules, 50 percent capacity and other measures to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.\n\nThe reopening of the nation's fourth-largest theater circuit begins on June 19 with six locations, including Marcus Ridge, in New Berlin; Renaissance, in Sturtevant; BistroPlex, in Greendale, and Valley Grand Cinemas, in Appleton.\n\nMarcus also will open theaters in Omaha, Nebraska, and Roswell, Georgia.\n\nThose initial openings will follow local health and safety guidelines, and will help Marcus fine-tune future phased openings in time for expected summer blockbusters, the company announced Thursday.\n\nAt first, theaters will be open only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays.\n\nAlso, hours initially will be limited to late morning through early evening.\n\nMarcus plans to initially show movies that were popular when theaters nationwide closed in March. Those films include “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Bad Boys for Life,” “Jumanji: The Next Level,” and “The Invisible Man.\"\n\nAlso showing will be older movies, including a “Harry Potter\" series.\n\nTicket prices will be $5. But those prices will rise with new releases.\n\nGuests will still reserve seats. A checkerboard seating pattern, and a couple of empty seats between groups, will create social distancing that follows public health guidelines.\n\nStaggered show times will limit the number of people in common areas of the theaters, and extra time between shows will allow for thorough cleanings, according to a company statement.\n\nWhen movies end, guests will be asked to exit while practicing social distancing between groups, disposing trash, and avoiding congregating in the lobby.\n\nCinema employees will undergo wellness checks, and use face masks and gloves. Patrons will be encouraged to wear face masks.\n\nConcession stands will be open. But cinemas with in-theater dining will require customers to pick up their orders instead of having them delivered to their seats.\n\nAlso, theater bars and lounges will be open, but table service will be temporarily unavailable.\n\nAnd the theater chain's Zaffiro’s restaurants will open with proper spacing between tables, a maximum of six guests per party and other safety enhancements.\n\nMarcus is encouraging customers to use the theater chain's app and website to order both tickets and concessions.\n\n“We continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of Marcus Theatres and Movie Tavern by Marcus guests and associates, and have been very thoughtful about the reopening process we are implementing,” said Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and chief executive officer.\n\n“We know people are eager to return to theaters for movies on the big screen provided they feel confident that we’ve created a safe and comfortable environment — and that consumer confidence is very important to us,\" he said, in a statement.\n\nThe company announced March 17 it was closing its theaters — affecting 6,500 employees.\n\nIt owns or operates 1,106 screens at 91 locations in 17 states under the Marcus Theatres, Movie Tavern by Marcus and BistroPlex brands. That includes 295 screens at 24 locations throughout Wisconsin — making it the state's largest circuit.\n\nOther theater chains that are reopening include AMC Theatres. In Wisconsin, AMC operates six cinemas totaling 73 screens, including AMC Mayfair Mall 18 in Wauwatosa.\n\nMarcus Theatres is a division of Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp., which also operates hotels — another industry devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nMarcus Corp. lost $19.3 million during the first three months of 2020.\n\nThe company's Marcus Hotels & Resorts Inc. division owns or manages 20 hotels, totaling 5,400 rooms, in Wisconsin and seven other states. It closed the hotels in March and April.\n\nMarcus Hotels has started reopening some properties, including downtown Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel.\n\nMarcus Hotels received $11 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans to keep 1,400 to 1,500 employees on the company's payroll for up to three months.\n\nAlso, Marcus Corp. received a new $91 million bank loan to help it deal with the pandemic's economic effects.\n\nTom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/06/11"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/08/01/moviepass-nears-death-which-rival-ticket-service-should-you-try/838632002/", "title": "With MoviePass cutting back, which movie ticket subscription is your ...", "text": "Your MoviePass deal just got a lot less sweet.\n\nOn Monday, the harried movie ticket subscription service announced that it's scaling back its plan to three movies a month, after nearly a year of allowing users to see one film a day for just $9.95.\n\nThe news comes after a particularly frustrating couple of weeks for subscribers, marked by a $5 price hike (later reversed), restrictions on seeing major new movies and multiple outages when the app wouldn't work – the result of the company running out of cash.\n\nFortunately for thrifty moviegoers, theater chains have smelled blood in the water and devised their own money-saving subscription plans. Cinemark Movie Club, for instance, gives you one movie ticket (3D showings excluded) at Cinemark theaters for $8.99 per month; unused tickets roll over and the fee includes 20% off concessions. Alamo Drafthouse is also starting to test subscription models for its boutique dine-in cinemas, which would offer unlimited movies and reserved seating.\n\nUSA TODAY tested out a couple of the highest-profile subscription plans to see how they stack up against MoviePass.\n\nMoviePass\n\nIf you're already a MoviePass subscriber, you're probably familiar with the increasing restrictions on using the service: In addition to seeing only three movies a month (starting Aug. 15) and having to buy your ticket at the theater, you can't see films more than once and may need to snap a photo of your ticket stub to verify your purchase. There are also some major releases, such as summer blockbuster \"Mission: Impossible – Fallout,\" that may charge additional fees or not be available on the app at all.\n\nDespite the inconveniences, MoviePass' greatest advantage over its competitors is that most every theater accepts it, giving cinephiles the option to see films they might not normally cough up $15 for. We happily chose Kelly Macdonald drama \"Puzzle\" at New York's cozy Angelika Film Center, which we purchased with MoviePass with no issues.\n\nAMC Stubs A-List\n\nA little more than a month ago, MoviePass' most vocal detractor, AMC, announced its own rival subscription plan, which gives you three movies a week at AMC theaters (3D and IMAX included) for $19.95 a month. So far, the service has drawn in 175,000 subscribers, with plenty more likely to follow if their experiences have been as positive as ours.\n\nOf the three major subscriptions, Stubs A-List is easily the most convenient. At any given time, you can buy up to three tickets for movies currently playing or opening that week. All you have to do is select the theater, date and showtime for the movie of your choice, pick your seat and click a box to reserve your ticket. And unlike MoviePass – which requires you to use a company-issued debit card to buy your ticket – Stubs A-List is all digital, so you can simply pull up the ticket on your app once you get to the theater. Plus, there are no restrictions on how many times you see a film. (We opted for \"Mission: Impossible\" twice in one day and have zero regrets.)\n\nSinemia\n\nThe fledgling subscription service has been around for a few years, but has only recently ramped up its offerings to rival MoviePass. Sinemia features a variety of membership plans, such as $3.99 for one 2D movie a month or $14.99 for three movies per month, which also includes 3D and IMAX-4DX showings. They also introduced four tiers of \"family plans,\" beginning at $7.99 for two people to see one 2D movie a month.\n\nHowever you do the math, it's still not as great a deal as either MoviePass or Stubs A-List. It's also a huge headache to use if you don't opt for a physical Sinemia card. In order to purchase a ticket using their cardless service, you find your desired theater in the \"planning\" tab of the app. Once you enter the approximate date, time and number of people for the movie you'd like to see, Sinemia generates a temporary credit card number for you to use on Fandango, MovieTickets.com or another ticket-selling website to go through the process of actually ordering the ticket.\n\nIt's an unnecessarily confusing process bringing two apps into the mix. Not only did we have to check into the Sinemia app for our afternoon showing of \"Skyscraper\" – which you can only do a half-hour before or after the movie starts – but we also had to use Fandango to pull up the ticket on our phone once we got there.\n\nSo which is the best deal?\n\nIt all comes down to a matter of taste. For those who don't mind waiting a couple weeks to see the hot new releases, MoviePass is still the most affordable option and offers the widest variety of choices. If you're unlikely to branch out into lesser-known films and wished MoviePass had let you see \"Avengers: Infinity War\" more than once, you can't beat AMC Stubs A-List for its user-friendly service, reserved seats and ability to re-watch recent flicks. Sinemia simply has too many kinks to work out before we can wholeheartedly recommend.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/08/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/04/02/regal-cinemas-movie-theaters-reopen-knoxville-united-states-covid-19/7048932002/", "title": "Regal Cinemas movie theaters open in Knoxville, beyond — what to ...", "text": "Seeing a movie on the big screen is an experience of the senses, from the taste and smell of buttery popcorn to the sights and sounds of cinematic action.\n\nIf you're still trying to get a sense of what theaters will look like when Regal reopens Friday, we have you covered.\n\nHere are five things to know about reopening plans for the Knoxville-based cinema chain.\n\n1. What theaters are opening?\n\nRegal's reopening is happening in phases. Regal Pinnacle at Turkey Creek is the only theater opening Friday in Knoxville, just in time for \"Godzilla vs. Kong.\"\n\nWhile this could be disappointing for local movie lovers, at least it's the flagship theater, complete with state-of-the-art renovations and a variety of viewing options.\n\nThe next round of Regal reopenings is scheduled for April 16, coinciding with the release of \"Mortal Kombat.\"\n\nHere is the full list of Regal reopening dates planned for Knoxville:\n\nA full list of nationwide reopening dates is available at regmovies.com.\n\n2. What movies are playing?\n\nWhile Regal turned to some classic movies for its short-lived reopening between August and October, an impressive lineup of films from 2020 and 2021 is on tap for opening day at the Pinnacle.\n\nFrench Exit\n\nGodzilla vs. Kong\n\nThe Girl Who Believes in Miracles\n\nThe Unholy\n\nNobody\n\nThe Courier\n\nBoogie\n\nChaos Walking\n\nTom & Jerry\n\nMinari\n\nThe Marksman\n\nNews of the World\n\nPromising Young Woman\n\nWonder Woman 1984\n\nMonster Hunter\n\nThe Croods: A New Age\n\nThe first showtime is \"The Courier\" at 12:10 p.m., with \"Godzilla vs. Kong\" in 4DX going on last at 11:05 p.m.\n\nWhile the company has not announced plans for Regal Unlimited passes, guidelines from previous shutdowns stated membership fees would be paused until theaters reopened. At that point, contracts would extend by the length of time theaters were closed.\n\n3. How did we get here?\n\nRegal was forced to close theater doors for the first time in March 2020 as COVID-19 began to run rampant in the U.S.\n\nKnox News previously reported the company furloughed 40,000 U.S. employees and temporarily closed most of its theaters after a short-lived reopening from August to October.\n\nThe company reported 664 employees, more than 443 of them full-time, in the Knoxville area in 2020, according to the Knox.biz Book of Lists. The number includes in-theater and corporate employees. It's Knoxville's 74th-largest employer.\n\nAs theaters struggled to stay open and find movies to play, studios reacted to theater shutdowns by releasing movies straight to streaming.\n\nIt begs the question: What will make this reopening any different?\n\nCineworld, the parent company of Regal, has struck a new deal with Warner Bros. Pictures Group to give films an exclusive 45 days in theaters before moving to other platforms.\n\nThis shortened theatrical release window will begin in 2022.\n\n4. What are safety measures?\n\nFace masks are required through the entire theater building, including the auditorium, except when actively eating or drinking.\n\nRegal is encouraging guests to purchase tickets in advance through the Regal mobile app.\n\nCapacity is determined by local mandates. The theater's reservation system helps maintain social distancing by placing two seats between groups (one seat at theaters with recliners).\n\nIt will be the responsibility of guests to maintain two seats of distance at theaters without reserved seats.\n\nOther safety guidelines include:\n\nAdding hand sanitizer stations\n\nClosing vending machines and water fountains\n\nScreening employees and requiring hand washing every 30 or 60 minutes\n\nMandating masks for employees\n\nIncreasing fresh-air intake by at least 50% in auditoriums\n\nA complete list of safety guidelines is available at regmovies.com/corona-virus-response.\n\n5. What about snacks?\n\nNo, you still can't hide snacks in your purse. But you don't have to wait in line for food either, as the Regal app allows guests to purchase concessions while in the theater.\n\nFor those who prefer the old-fashioned way, every other register will be closed for social distancing. A reduced menu will be available, and self-service condiment stations will be closed.\n\nRefills for large drinks and large popcorn will be given in new containers. Remember, Regal made the switch from Coke to Pepsi in 2020.\n\nLocations with restaurants and in-theater dining will not offer these services for the time being. That includes Cinebarre at West Town Mall.\n\nHowever, locations with bars will allow walk-up service.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/04/02"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_14", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/06/jupiter-new-moons-discovered-solar-system/11197895002/", "title": "12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter, giving it the most in our ...", "text": "There's a new moon king in our solar system: 12 new moons were discovered around Jupiter, which makes it the planet with the most moons.\n\nJupiter is already the biggest planet in our solar system. It used to be known as the planet with the second-most moons with 80, trailing only Saturn with 83.\n\nAstronomers using telescopes in Hawaii and Chile in 2021 and 2022 were able to spot the moons and report them to the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. Astronomers then followed up the observations to make sure the moons orbit the planet, and that was recently confirmed.\n\nScott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, who was part of the discovery team, posted the findings online.\n\nJames Webb Space Telescope: Webb telescope reveals icy space cloud containing the 'building blocks of life'\n\nHabitable planet? NASA just found a planet almost the size of Earth and it's in the habitable zone of a star\n\nWhat are Jupiter's newly discovered moons like?\n\nSheppard told The Associated Press the moons range in size from .6 miles to 2 miles in diameter, but only half of them are big enough – at least 1 mile in diameter – to have a name.\n\nThe moons also take a much longer time than ours to orbit its planet. Sky and Telescope reported all of the newly discovered moons take more than 340 days to orbit Jupiter, and nine of them take at least 550 days. By comparison, our moon takes about 27 days to orbit Earth, NASA says.\n\nHow many moons does each planet have?\n\nThe discovery gives Jupiter 92 total moons, the most of any planet in the solar system. Counting the new moons, here's how many moons each planet has, according to NASA (which has not officially recognized Jupiter's new moons):\n\nMercury: 0\n\nVenus: 0\n\nEarth: 1\n\nMars: 2\n\nJupiter: 92\n\nSaturn: 83\n\nUranus: 27\n\nNeptune: 14\n\nSheppard, who has been part of past moon observations on Jupiter and Saturn, believes there are moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn that haven't been discovered yet. He said both planets have small moons believed to once be bigger moons that collided with space debris like asteroids.\n\nWhat's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day\n\nMissions to Jupiter moons\n\nThe discovery comes as space agencies are preparing to observe the planet and its moons.\n\nThe European Space Agency will be launching its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, in April to observe the planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with the goal of characterizing the moons \"as both planetary objects and possible habitats.\"\n\nIn October 2024, NASA plans to send its Europa Clipper orbiter to observe the planet and its moon Europa. The moon is believed to be mostly water ice and have twice as much water as Earth, and there is evidence of an ocean of water or slushy ice beneath the surface. The goal is to see whether Europa could be suitable for life.\n\nContributing: Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press\n\nFollow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/09/dwarf-planet-quaoar-ring-confusing-scientists/11219864002/", "title": "Dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring, and scientists are confused by it", "text": "Just on the outskirts of our solar system exists the dwarf planet Quaoar, and recent observations of the planet found a dense ring around it, but scientists can't figure how – or why – it's there.\n\nDiscovered in 2002, Quaoar exists in the Kuiper Belt, a region in space beyond Neptune where at least 3,000 planets are known to orbit the sun. The planet is about 690 miles wide, making it the seventh largest trans-Neptunian object, while former solar system planets Pluto and Eris are the biggest in the region. Pluto and Eris are now considered dwarf planetsQuaoar is about 4 billion miles away from the sun and takes around 286 years to orbit it, and has a small moon called Weywot.\n\nThe recent observations were made by scientists with the European Space Agency from 2018 to 2021 using ground-based telescopes and the agency's space telescope Cheops. It was during these observations that scientists made the puzzling discovery.\n\nPutting a ring on it\n\nSince Quaoar is so small and far from Earth, scientists observed the planet through a process called occultation, when the planet crossed in front of a succession of distant stars, allowing it to block out light.\n\nScientists noticed drops in brightness from the planet but weren't sure if it was because of effects from Earth's atmosphere. That was when the Cheops satellite came to the rescue, as it was also able to spot the changes in brightness.\n\n\"When we put everything together, we saw drops in brightness that were not caused by Quaoar, but that pointed to the presence of material in a circular orbit around it,\" Bruno Morgado, lead researcher from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said in a statement. \"The moment we saw that we said, 'Okay, we are seeing a ring around Quaoar.'\"\n\nMoon king: 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter, giving it the most in our solar system\n\nHabitable planet?:NASA just found a planet almost the size of Earth and it's in the habitable zone of a star\n\nThe ring doesn't fit\n\nIt's not unusual for planets to have rings, especially since Saturn has them. Even dwarf planets like Chariklo and Haumea have rings.\n\n\"What makes Quaoar’s ring unique, however, is where it is found relative to Quaoar itself,\" the agency said.\n\nKnown as the Roche limit, scientists have long believed any object with a gravitational field can't form a ring beyond a certain distance. When it gets beyond a certain distance, the objects making up the ring will morph into a moon, according to the theory.\n\nSaturn, Chariklo and Haumea all follow the Roche limit, except Quaoar; the ring is \"7½ times the radius of Quaoar,\" meaning it's past the Roche limit and should have formed into a moon.\n\nWhy does Quaoar have a ring?\n\nScientists have not yet understood why the planet has a ring and hasn't morphed into a moon.\n\nThe leading theory is the icy planet has such frigid temperatures that it's preventing particles from sticking together.\n\nScientists said more investigation is needed, but acknowledged what was known about space has now been challenged.\n\nFollow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/02/13/asteroid-meteor-over-europe-burns/11250325002/", "title": "Asteroid hits Earth hours after being spotted, meteor turns into ...", "text": "An asteroid hit Earth hours after it was discovered Monday, turning into a dazzling fireball that was spotted throughout Europe.\n\nAround 12:18 p.m. ET Sunday, astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky detected an asteroid – initially dubbed Sar2667 – at the Piszkéstető Observatory in Hungary, the European Space Agency said in a news release. After a second observation was made minutes later, it was reported to the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center.\n\n'100% impact probability'\n\nAbout 40 minutes after the asteroid was discovered, the Višnjan Observatory in Croatia confirmed the object. The ESA said various impact assessment systems observed the asteroid and determined it has a \"100% impact probability\" above the English Channel – the strip of the Atlantic Ocean between southern England and northern France.\n\nLuckily, astronomers said it was a 3-foot asteroid, officially named 2023 CX1, meaning it posed no threat to Earth or humanity.\n\nAsteroid: A huge asteroid that flew by Earth was one of the closest approaches ever, NASA says\n\nMore: NASA's new asteroid-hunting telescope is made to protect Earth from disaster\n\nAsteroid 2023 CX1 hits Earth, turns into fireball seen throughout Europe\n\nAstronomers around the world continued to observe the asteroid through Sunday night into Monday morning, spotting it until it became \"invisible\" as it fell into Earth's shadow, the ESA said.\n\nAt 2:58 a.m. UT (9:58 p.m. ET), the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere, turning into a \"beautiful fireball\" that streaked across the European skies. A fireball is another name for an usually bright meteor that has burned up in Earth's atmosphere, NASA says.\n\nThe meteor was spotted throughout western Europe, as the International Meteor Organization said it received 61 reports of the fireball across Wales, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.\n\nThe ESA said its possible some fragments of the asteroid could have survived and made it near the coast north of Rouen in Normandy, France.\n\nSeveral videos of the fireball were posted on Twitter.\n\nConfusing scientists: Dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring instead of a moon, and scientists don't know why\n\nMoon king: 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter, giving it the most in our solar system\n\nAsteroids spotted just before hitting Earth\n\nOfficials said this was the seventh time an asteroid had been detected just before it hit Earth.\n\nOne of the most recent instances also involved Sárneczky; in March 2022, a fridge-sized asteroid – about 6½-feet-long – hit Earth two hours after he initially spotted it.\n\nNASA's Asteroid Watch said although asteroids like 2023 CX1 aren't a threat to humanity, they are an \"excellent exercise\" of Earth's planetary defense capabilities, as the ESA added spotting these asteroids just before they hit Earth is \"a sign of the rapid advances in global detection capabilities.\"\n\nFollow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/13"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/08/12/which-planet-has-most-moons-solar-system/10246652002/", "title": "Which planet has the most moons? The many moons of the solar ...", "text": "This great big solar system has plenty of secrets to tell. Just recently, NASA’s new James Webb Telescope dazzled us mere earthlings with the first images released to date of galaxies eons in the past.\n\nThe planetary systems surrounding us are similar in some ways and drastically different in others. When we look up at our moon it feels singular, but, in fact, there are many moons in the solar system, belonging to different planets.\n\nHere are some fun facts about the other planet’s moons – from Venus, to Jupiter, to Saturn.\n\nMore about the James Webb Telescope:James Webb Telescope photos are dazzling. What to know about the NASA space camera.\n\nWhich planet has the most moons?\n\nSaturn wins out for the most moons, followed closely by Jupiter.\n\nHow many moons does Saturn have?\n\nSaturn has 82 moons. Of those, 53 are confirmed moons, and 29 are provisional, meaning they need to be confirmed by additional observation.\n\nWhat are the planets in the solar system?\n\nNASA lists these as the terrestrial planets of the inner solar system:\n\nMercury\n\nVenus\n\nMars\n\nNeptune\n\nSaturn\n\nEarth\n\nUranus\n\nJupiter\n\nA moon is defined by NASA as a \"natural satellite,\" usually a solid body, without an atmosphere -- though a few, like Earth's, do have atmospheres. The majority of planetary moons likely were formed from the \"rings\" or discs of gas and dust circling planets early on in the solar system.\n\nThe race to the moon continues:Florida coast braces for NASA's Artemis I moon launch, expecting at least 100,000 visitors\n\nHow many moons does Jupiter have?\n\nJupiter has 79 moons. Like Saturn, 53 are confirmed. In contrast though, Jupiter only has 26 additional provisional moons.\n\nA planet bigger than Jupiter?:Images of exoplanet 9 times the size of Jupiter help explain how gas giants are born\n\nWhich planet has no moons?\n\nBoth Mercury and Venus have no moons.\n\nWhat is Earth’s moon called?\n\nEarth has only one moon (as you might have notice if you’ve ever looked upward at night.) Our moon is called just “the moon” because, according to NASA, it was the only moon we knew about for quite awhile.\n\nMany of the other moons of the solar system claim their names from mythological characters. One of Neptune’s moons for example is called \"Triton\" after the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.\n\nNews from Earth's moon:Space junk crashes into far side of moon. It will take some time before we see the damage.\n\nHow many moons does Neptune have?\n\n14. Neptune has the fourth most moons in the solar system.\n\nHow many moons does Uranus have?\n\n27. With nearly 30 moons, the planet of Uranus has the bronze medal for third most moons in the solar system.\n\nSome history on the planet Uranus:'Cataclysmic' collision turned Uranus on its side 4 billion years ago\n\nWhich planets have rings?\n\nSaturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all have rings. Saturn’s is the brightest though, and therefore the planet most thought of as \"ringed\" in the popular imagination.\n\nSaturn’s rings are composed of ice and rock, and some scientists think their formation might have something to do with the planet’s plentiful moons.\n\nWhat planet rains diamonds?\n\nThis sounds like a question straight out of a sci-fi novel. Astoundingly, it has basis in reality. On Uranus, Neptune and Saturn scientists believe there is likely diamond rainfall.\n\nOn Saturn, a video from BBC Earth describes a scenario where soot clouds, deep in the planet, reach such a point of pressure that the chunks of soot turn to diamonds.\n\nAmerican Scientist also reports that scientists have believed diamond-rain to be a phenomenon on both Neptune and Uranus, but since the planets are so far away, on the outer fringes of the solar system, it has been difficult to study.\n\nWhat is the brightest planet right now?\n\nAccording to The Center for Astrophysics, a collaboration between Harvard and The Smithsonian, in August of 2022 viewers will be able to see Mars and Jupiter overhead in the night sky (though you might need binoculars, or a telescope.)\n\nThe month of August actually began with a conjunction of Mars and Uranus, the CFA reports, and closer to the middle of the month, Jupiter and the Moon will appear only a finger width’s distance from one another.\n\nWhat do the stars say about you:What is my zodiac sign? Horoscopes, astrology, and what the stars says about you\n\nJust curious?:We're here to answer life's everyday questions", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/08/12"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/26/world/jupiter-opposition-closest-to-earth-scn/index.html", "title": "When to watch Jupiter as it makes its closest approach to Earth ...", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nJupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in 59 years on Monday, September 26, according to NASA.\n\nThe largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant will be at opposition, meaning Earth is directly between it and the sun, said Trina L. Ray, deputy science manager for the Europa Clipper mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.\n\nThe space agency originally said Jupiter would be making its closest approach to Earth in 70 years, but corrected its statement after discovering the error, a NASA spokesperson said.\n\nThere will be about 367 million miles (590.6 million kilometers) between Earth and Jupiter, according to NASA. Jupiter is about 600 million miles (965.6 million kilometers) away from our home planet at its farthest point, the space agency said.\n\nJupiter is at opposition about every 13 months, the length of time the Earth takes to orbit the Sun in relation to Jupiter, according to EarthSky.\n\nNeither Earth nor Jupiter orbits the sun in a perfect circle, which is what makes each opposition a slightly different distance, said Ray, who is also NASA’s investigation scientist for the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface, or REASON.\n\nHow to watch\n\nJupiter will appear brighter and bigger in the sky, making the event a great opportunity to catch a glimpse, NASA said.\n\nThe gaseous planet will rise around sunset and look pearly white to the naked eye, said Patrick Hartigan, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston.\n\nWith a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you will be able to see the planet’s bands, according to NASA.\n\nStargazers may also be able to see three or four of Jupiter’s moons, including Europa, Ray said.\n\n“Since I am working on a spacecraft that we are going to send to the Jupiter system to explore Europa,” she said, “I’m always excited to see Jupiter and even Europa with my own eyes.”\n\nFor a precise time of when to look in the sky, use The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s visible planets calculator.\n\nSaturn and Mars will also be visible, so try and spot those planets while viewing Jupiter’s opposition, Hartigan said.\n\nRemaining events in 2022\n\nThree more full moons will occur this year, according to the Farmer’s Almanac:\n\nOctober 9: Hunter’s moon\n\nNovember 8: Beaver moon\n\nDecember 7: Cold moon\n\nNative American tribes have different names for the full moons, such as the Cheyenne tribe’s “drying grass moon” for the one happening in September, and the Arapaho tribe’s “popping trees” for the full moon occurring in December.\n\nCatch the peak of these upcoming meteor shower events later this year, according to EarthSky’s 2022 meteor shower guide:\n\nDraconids: October 8-9\n\nOrionids: October 20-21\n\nSouth Taurids: November 5\n\nNorth Taurids: November 12\n\nLeonids: November 17-18\n\nGeminids: December 13-14\n\nUrsids: December 22-23\n\nAnd there will be one more total lunar eclipse and a partial solar eclipse in 2022, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. The partial solar eclipse on October 25 will be visible to people in parts of Greenland, Iceland, most of Europe, northeast Africa, and western and central Asia.\n\nThe total lunar eclipse on November 8 can be seen in Asia, Australia, the Pacific, South America and North America between 3:02 and 8:56 a.m. ET. But for people in Eastern North America, the moon will be setting during that time.\n\nWear proper eclipse glasses to view solar eclipses safely as the sun’s light can damage the eyes.", "authors": ["Megan Marples Ashley Strickland", "Megan Marples", "Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/09/26"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/world/nasa-juno-jupiter-io-exploration-scn/index.html", "title": "The most volcanic world in the solar system is about to be visited by ...", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nA NASA spacecraft is gearing up for the first of a series of close encounters with the most volcanic place in the solar system. The Juno spacecraft will fly by Jupiter’s moon Io on Thursday, December 15.\n\nThe maneuver will be one of nine flybys of Io made by Juno over the next year and a half. Two of the encounters will be from a distance of just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away from the moon’s surface.\n\nJuno captured a glowing infrared view of Io on July 5 from 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) away. The brightest spots in that image correspond with the hottest temperatures on Io, which is home to hundreds of volcanoes — some of which can send lava fountains dozens of miles high.\n\nNASA's Juno mission captured an infrared view of Io in July. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM\n\nScientists will use Juno’s observations of Io to learn more about that network of volcanoes and how its eruptions interact with Jupiter. The moon is constantly tugged by Jupiter’s massive gravitational pull.\n\n“The team is really excited to have Juno’s extended mission include the study of Jupiter’s moons. With each close flyby, we have been able to obtain a wealth of new information,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, in a statement.\n\n“Juno sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we’ve been thrilled at how well they can perform double duty by observing Jupiter’s moons.”\n\nThe spacecraft recently captured a new image of Jupiter’s northernmost cyclone on September 29. Jupiter’s atmosphere is dominated by hundreds of cyclones, and many cluster at the planet’s poles.\n\nJupiter's northernmost cyclone, seen to the right along the bottom edge of image, was captured by Juno. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSSImage\n\nThe Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 to uncover details more about the giant planet and is focused on performing flybys of Jupiter’s moons during the extended part of its mission, which began last year and is expected to last through the end of 2025.\n\nJuno flew by Jupiter’s moon Ganymede in 2021, followed by Europa earlier this year. The spacecraft used its instruments to look beneath the icy crust of both moons and gathered data about Europa’s interior, where a salty ocean is thought to exist.\n\nINTERACTIVE: Explore where the search for life is unfolding in our solar system\n\nThe ice shell that makes up Europa’s surface is between 10 and 15 miles (16 and 24 kilometers) thick, and the ocean it likely sits atop is estimated to be 40 to 100 miles (64 to 161 kilometers) deep.\n\nThe data and images captured by Juno could help inform two separate missions heading to Jupiter’s moons in the next two years: the European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer and NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.\n\nThe first, expected to launch in April 2023, will spend three years exploring Jupiter and three of its icy moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa — in depth. All three moons are thought to have oceans beneath their ice-covered crusts, and scientists want to explore whether Ganymede’s ocean is potentially habitable.\n\nEuropa Clipper will launch in 2024 to perform a dedicated series of 50 flybys around the moon after arriving in 2030. Eventually transitioning from an altitude of 1,700 miles (2,736 kilometers) to just 16 miles (26 kilometers) above the moon’s surface, Europa Clipper may be able to help scientists determine whether an interior ocean truly exists there and if the moon could support life.", "authors": ["Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/12/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/14/nasa-asteroid-risk-to-earth/11247589002/", "title": "NASA: Asteroid will pass by Earth Wednesday at 2.8 million miles ...", "text": "NASA has cleared up previously unconfirmed reports of a massive asteroid supposedly hurtling closely towards Earth on Wednesday.\n\nA massive asteroid named 2005 YY128 will fly by Earth at a safe distance on Feb. 15, Paul Chodas, the director for the Center of Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told USA TODAY.\n\n“Yes, the asteroid is probably fairly large, probably between 1,903 and 4,265 feet ” Chodas said in a statement on Monday.\n\nAstronomers have been tracking this asteroid for 17 years and can accurately predict when it orbits the sun, Chodas said.\n\n'One of the closest approaches ever':A huge asteroid is going to fly by Earth, NASA says\n\nAsteroid Launcher:See what would happen if a mega asteroid hit your home, city or state\n\nEven though the astronomical event is called an \"Earth Close Approach,\" astronomers predict “with certainty” that the asteroid will only get within 2.8 million miles of Earth – about 12 times farther away than the moon, Chodas said.\n\nChodas called stories that suggest the asteroid could crash into Earth “simply bogus.”\n\n“The asteroid poses absolutely no risk to humans,\" Chodas added.\n\nIt does, however, offer scientists the chance to take some up-close measurements of the asteroid with radar.\n\nJupiter:12 new moons discovered orbiting planet, giving it the most in our solar system\n\nHow can NASA divert asteroids?\n\nThe best way to divert large asteroids heading for collision with Earth is to discover them years or even decades ahead of time, Chodas said.\n\n“If this asteroid, for example, had been heading for an impact this week, we would have been able to predict (a collision) way back in 2005-6, and there would have been roughly 17 years in which to divert its path,” Chodas said.\n\nThe successful DART mission last year has proven NASA's ability to be able to deflect near-Earth objects, or NEOs, years before a potential impact by using a spacecraft that intentionally rams into asteroids to change its velocity and orbit, just slightly.\n\n\"All of this is quite hypothetical, of course, as there are no known large asteroids heading for impact with Earth,” Chodas wrote with \"no\" capitalized.\n\nAlso, NASA recently announced that work on NEO Surveyor – an asteroid-hunting telescope designed to protect Earth from disaster – had begun.\n\nNASA's new asteroid-hunting telescope:Made to protect Earth from disaster\n\nAsteroid hits Earth hours after spotted:Meteor turns into 'beautiful' fireball over Europe\n\nThe new telescope is designed to advance NASA’s planetary defense efforts by discovering 90% of NEOs that make their way into Earth’s neighborhood. The telescope is expected to be capable of spotting any asteroids – 460 feet or larger– and within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit, and capable of posing any risk to humans.\n\nThe telescope, set to launch no earlier than June 2028, will be able to find NEOs within a decade of launch.\n\nCamille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY's NOW team.\n\nWhat's everyone talking about?Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/24/fact-check-dennis-hopes-sale-land-moon-isnt-legal/8215690002/", "title": "Fact check: Dennis Hope's sale of land on the moon isn't legal", "text": "The claim: A man named Dennis Hope has been selling land on the moon for the past 35 years\n\nFancy moving away from Earth, or at least pretending to? NASA is seeking volunteers to simulate life on Mars by spending a year in a 3D-printed habitat.\n\nBut if living in a 1,700-square-foot space with three other people doesn't quite align with your space aspirations, some social media users say you might be able to buy land on the moon.\n\n\"For more than 35 years, Dennis Hope has been selling land on the Moon,\" reads an Aug. 16 Facebook post. \"He claims to be the rightful owner of the Moon and has already made more than $10 Million by selling land on the Moon.\"\n\nFact check:Elon Musk did not offer to buy and delete Facebook\n\nHope is real, and he does claim to have sold millions of dollars worth of land on the moon. But his intergalactic venture isn't exactly legal.\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.\n\n'Lunar property' is a failure to launch\n\nIn the 1980s, Hope, freshly divorced and unemployed, turned to real estate hoping to make a fortune. He set his sights on the moon.\n\nBusiness Insider reported in 2013 that Hope uncovered what he believed was a loophole in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which says \"no nation by appropriation shall have sovereignty or control over any of the satellite bodies.\"\n\nHope interpreted the treaty to mean private citizens could lay claim to the moon. So he wrote to the United Nations in November 1980 declaring the moon was his.\n\n\"I sent the United Nations a declaration of ownership detailing my intent to subdivide and sell the moon and have never heard back,\" he told U.S. News and World Report in 2013. \"There is a loophole in the treaty – it does not apply to individuals.\"\n\nThere's just one problem with that – it does.\n\nTanja Masson-Zwaan, president of the International Institute of Space Law in the Netherlands, told National Geographic in 2009 that the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty applies to governments and their private citizens.\n\nBut that hasn't stopped Hope from shooting for the moon.\n\nOn his website, Hope claims to have sold more than 600 million acres of land on the moon, as well as on Jupiter's third moon and the planets Mars, Venus and Mercury.\n\nFact check:False claim about LeBron James, 'Space Jam' ticket sales started as satire\n\nTo buy one acre of \"lunar property,\" Hope charges $19.99, or $36.50 total after a shipping and handling fee, \"lunar tax\" and a fee for an official copy of the deed. For anyone interested in larger plots, he does offer discounts.\n\nIf an entire dwarf planet is more your style, Hope is selling Pluto for a cool $250,000.\n\nHope estimates he's made about $12 million from his intergalactic ventures. Don't expect to see luxury condominiums on the moon anytime soon, though.\n\n\"What (Hope) is doing does not give people buying pieces of paper the right to ownership of the moon,\" Masson-Zwaan told National Geographic.\n\nOur rating: Missing context\n\nBased on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the claim that a man named Dennis Hope has been selling land on the moon for the past 35 years. In the 1980s, Hope claimed he discovered a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty that lets individuals own parts of the moon. Since then, he claims to have sold more than 600 million acres on the moon and various other celestial bodies. But a space law expert says the treaty does pertain to private citizens, and Hope's claim to the moon is not valid.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/08/24"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/20/neptune-new-moon-hippocamp-discovered-using-hubble-space-telescope/2926292002/", "title": "Neptune new moon: Hippocamp discovered using Hubble Space ...", "text": "A new moon was discovered orbiting Neptune, scientists announced in a study Wednesday, joining the other 13 we already knew about.\n\nThe moon, named Hippocamp after the sea creature of Greek mythology, is Neptune's smallest moon, with a diameter of only 21 miles.\n\nHippocamp orbits close to Proteus, the largest and outermost of the planets' inner moons. The largest moon of Neptune is Triton, in an orbit farther out.\n\nCompared with the planet’s other inner moons, Hippocamp is tiny, \"which suggests a violent history for the region,\" Anne Verbiscer, a University of Virginia astronomer, said in a companion article in Nature.\n\nThe moon may have formed from ejected fragments of the larger moon after it was hit by a comet billions of years ago, according to the study. This supports the idea that all of Neptune's seven inner moons were formed and shaped by powerful collisions with comets.\n\nAll of the inner moons are thought to be younger than Neptune, having formed relatively soon after the capture of Triton.\n\n\"The first thing we realized was that you wouldn't expect to find such a tiny moon right next to Neptune's biggest inner moon,\" said study lead author Mark Showalter, a SETI astronomer. \"In the distant past, given the slow migration outward of the larger moon, Proteus was once where Hippocamp is now.\"\n\nMore:Huge storms spotted on Uranus and Neptune\n\nIt's so small that it wasn't detected in 1989 during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune. Hippocamp was spotted by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope. Showalter and his colleagues discovered it using a special image-processing technique that made Hubble’s cameras extra-sensitive.\n\nMore:Astronomers discover 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter, including an 'oddball'\n\n“The authors were actively hunting for moons to add to Neptune’s retinue,” Verbiscer said. She said that unlike Hippocamp, other recent discoveries in our solar system have been serendipitous: Last year, planetary scientists reported the discovery of 12 moons of Jupiter, which were identified during a search for the elusive Planet X that is proposed to lurk in the outermost region of the solar system.\n\n\"Applying the techniques that were used to find (Hippocamp) might result in the detection of other small moons around giant planets, or even planets that orbit distant stars,\" Verbiscer said.\n\nIn Greek mythology, the sea monster Hippocamp (aka HIppocampus) often is depicted as having a horse's upper body along with the lower body of a fish.\n\nThe study was published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/02/20"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/world/celestial-events-2023-scn/index.html", "title": "Watch the night sky for these celestial events in 2023 | CNN", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n\nCNN —\n\nStunning meteor showers, full moons and eclipses will light up the sky in 2023.\n\nThe year is sure to be a sky-gazer’s delight with plenty of celestial events on the calendar.\n\nA comet discovered in March 2022 will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12, according to NASA. The comet, spotted by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, is named C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and will make its closest pass of Earth on February 2.\n\nThe comet should be visible through binoculars in the morning sky for sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere during most of January and those in the Southern Hemisphere in early February, according to NASA.\n\nINTERACTIVE: The best space photos of 2022\n\nOn any given day, there is always a good chance that the International Space Station is flying overhead. And if you ever want to know what planets are visible in the morning or evening sky, check The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s calculator.\n\nHere are the rest of 2023’s top sky events, so you can have your binoculars and telescope ready.\n\nFull moons and supermoons\n\nMost years, there are 12 full moons — one for each month. But in 2023, there will be 13 full moons, with two occurring in August.\n\nThe second full moon in one month is known as a blue moon, like the phrase “once in a blue moon,” according to NASA. Typically, full moons occur every 29 days, while most months in our calendar last 30 or 31 days, so the months and moon phases don’t always align. This results in a blue moon about every 2.5 years.\n\nThe two full moons in August can also be considered supermoons, according to EarthSky. Definitions of a supermoon can vary, but the term generally denotes a full moon that is brighter and closer to Earth than normal and thus appears larger in the night sky.\n\nSome astronomers say the phenomenon occurs when the moon is within 90% of perigee — its closest approach to Earth in orbit. By that definition, the full moon for July will also be considered a supermoon event, according to EarthSky.\n\nHere is the list of full moons for 2023, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac:\n\nJanuary 6: Wolf moon\n\nFebruary 5: Snow moon\n\nMarch 7: Worm moon\n\nApril 6: Pink moon\n\nMay 5: Flower moon\n\nJune 3: Strawberry moon\n\nJuly 3: Buck moon\n\nAugust 1: Sturgeon moon\n\nAugust 30: Blue moon\n\nSeptember 29: Harvest moon\n\nOctober 28: Hunter’s moon\n\nNovember 27: Beaver moon\n\nDecember 26: Cold moon\n\nWhile these are the popularized names associated with the monthly full moon, each one carries its own significance across Native American tribes (with many also referred to by differing names).\n\nLunar and solar eclipses\n\nThere will be two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses in 2023.\n\nA total solar eclipse will occur on April 20, visible to those in Australia, Southeast Asia and Antarctica. This kind of event occurs when the moon moves between the sun and Earth, blocking out the sun.\n\nAnd for some skywatchers in Indonesia, parts of Australia and Papua New Guinea, it will actually be a hybrid solar eclipse. The curvature of Earth’s surface can cause some eclipses to shift between total and annular as the moon’s shadow moves across the globe, according to NASA.\n\nLike a total solar eclipse, the moon passes between the sun and the Earth during an annular eclipse — but it occurs when the moon is at or near its farthest point from Earth, according to NASA. This causes the moon to appear smaller than the sun, so it doesn’t completely block out our star and creates a glowing ring around the moon.\n\nA Western Hemisphere-sweeping annular solar eclipse will occur on October 14 and be visible across North, Central and South America.\n\nBe sure to wear proper eclipse glasses to safely view solar eclipses, as the sun’s light can be damaging to the eye.\n\nMeanwhile, a lunar eclipse can occur only during a full moon when the sun, Earth and moon align and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow. When this occurs, Earth casts two shadows on the moon during the eclipse. The partial outer shadow is called the penumbra; the full, dark shadow is the umbra.\n\nWhen the full moon moves into Earth’s shadow, it darkens, but it won’t disappear. Instead, sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere lights the moon in a dramatic fashion, turning it red — which is why the event is often referred to as a “blood moon.”\n\nDepending on the weather conditions in your area, it may be a rusty or brick-colored red. This happens because blue light undergoes stronger atmospheric scattering, so red light will be the most dominant color highlighted as sunlight passes through our atmosphere and casts it on the moon.\n\nA total lunar eclipse appeared in the skies of Canta, east of Lima on May 15, 2022. Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images\n\nA penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on May 5 for those in Africa, Asia and Australia. This less dramatic version of a lunar eclipse happens when the moon moves through the penumbra, or the faint, outer part of Earth’s shadow.\n\nA partial lunar eclipse on October 28 will be visible to those in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, parts of North America and much of South America. Partial eclipses occur when the sun, Earth and moon don’t completely align, so only part of the moon passes into shadow.\n\nMeteor showers\n\nThe new year kicks off with the Quadrantid meteor shower, which is expected to peak in the overnight hours between January 3 and 4 for those in North America, according to the American Meteor Society.\n\nIt’s the first of 12 meteor showers throughout the year, although the next one, the Lyrid meteor shower, doesn’t peak until April.\n\nHere are peak dates of other showers to watch in 2023:\n\nLyrids: April 22-23\n\nEta Aquariids: May 5-6\n\nSouthern delta Aquariids: July 30-31\n\nAlpha Capricornids: July 30-31\n\nPerseids: August 12-13\n\nOrionids: October 20-21\n\nSouthern Taurids: November 4-5\n\nNorthern Taurids: November 11-12\n\nLeonids: November 17-18\n\nGeminids: December 13-14\n\nUrsids: December 21-22\n\nIf you live in an urban area, you may want to drive to a place that isn’t littered with city lights. If you’re able to find an area unaffected by light pollution, meteors could be visible every couple of minutes from late evening until dawn.\n\nFind an open area with a wide view of the sky. Make sure you have a chair or blanket so you can look straight up. And give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness — without looking at your phone! — so the meteors will be easier to spot.", "authors": ["Ashley Strickland"], "publish_date": "2022/12/30"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_15", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:39", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/11/28/nba-mvp-power-rankings-lebron-james-playing-better-than-ever/900605001/", "title": "NBA MVP rankings: Is LeBron James playing better than ever?", "text": "\"LeBron James sits near top of NBA MVP conversation.\"\n\nYawn.\n\nTalk about a played out story line.\n\n\"LeBron James carries injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers to NBA-best eight-game winning streak behind career-best numbers.\"\n\nNow that's something we can get behind.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nBelow are USA TODAY Sports’ weekly MVP rankings, as voted on by Sam Amick, Jeff Zillgitt, Michael Singer and AJ Neuharth-Keusch.\n\n5. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors\n\nLast week's rankings: No. 5\n\nSeason stats: 26.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 46.5% shooting\n\nCurry, shooting a career-worst 37% from beyond the arc, is still on pace to finish in the top 10 on the all-time single-season three-pointers made list — a list in which he already holds five spots. He also leads the league with a plus-minus of 11.7 and has the highest offensive rating (117.8) among players who average more than 30 minutes per game.\n\n4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 3\n\nSeason stats: 29.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 blocks, 55.2% shooting\n\nAntetokounmpo's week was overshadowed by his sideline shouting match with assistant coach Sean Sweeney, which was captured on TV and quickly became a hot topic in the hoops world. Antetokounmpo, though, says the incident was \"something common.\"\n\n\"You always fight with your brothers,\" Antetokounmpo said Sunday. \" ... Me and Sweeney, we’re so tight. He always speaks the truth to me and I always speak the truth to him. We’ve done this in the past, just this time it was caught on national TV.\"\n\n3. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 4\n\nSeason stats: 22.8 points, 5.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 47.6% shooting\n\nThe Celtics have lost two of their last four games, but still own the best record in the NBA at 18-4 — a testament to Irving, Al Horford, coach Brad Stevens, and the rest of this group that has exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. In the last six games, Irving ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring (28.8 points per game) and has shot 58.9% from the field and 46.7% from three.\n\n2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 2\n\nSeason stats: 28.6 points, 8.5 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 57.8% shooting\n\nJames, a month away from his 33rd birthday, is playing some of the best basketball of his career. He's posting career-highs in shooting, both from the field (57.8%) and beyond the arc (42.3%), and his true-shooting percentage (65.7%) leads all players who attempt at least 10 shots per game.\n\nJames also leads the NBA in clutch scoring, averaging 5.5 points (on 62.2% shooting) when the score is within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. The only reason he's not No. 1 on our list right now is because of ...\n\n1. James Harden, Houston Rockets\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 1\n\nSeason stats: 31.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 45.6% shooting\n\nIn five games since Chris Paul's return, Harden is averaging a league-best 34.4 points (on 49.5% shooting), 5.2 three-pointers made (on 46.4% shooting), 8.2 assists, 5.4 rebounds and is a plus-14.6. The Rockets, meanwhile, are 5-0 during that span and have won 16 of their first 20 games, including nine of their last 10. Still worried about how the two future Hall of Fame guards will fit together?\n\nFollow USA TODAY Sports' AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/11/28"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/12/19/decade-best-ranking-top-50-athletes-over-last-10-years/4399929002/", "title": "LeBron James, Serena Williams, Tom Brady: 1-50 rank of decade's ...", "text": "Ten years. In the world of sports, it can seem like an eternity.\n\nAs this decade began, the Yankees were reigning World Series champions, the Saints were about to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, Kobe Bryant was on his way to leading the Lakers to back-to-back NBA titles and Tiger Woods – with 14 major victories by the age of 34 – was seemingly a lock to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18.\n\nHow things have changed. The Yankees, Saints and Lakers have yet to return to the pinnacle of their sports, and Woods went 11 years before winning his 15th major.\n\nThen again, some stars who ruled the sports world in 2010 have managed to stay on top. Which ones deserve recognition as the greatest athletes of the past decade?\n\nThirty-five members of the USA TODAY Sports staff voted to determine the top 50 athletes of the decade. Points were given in descending order, so an athlete who was voted No. 1 received 25 points, followed by No. 2 receiving 24 points and so on. Point totals are in parentheses.\n\n1. LeBron James (786 points)\n\nThe start of the decade coincided with James entering his prime, having just turned 25. He delivered, playing in eight NBA Finals and winning three titles, being voted MVP twice and winning a gold medal in 2012. Plus nobody has scored more points since the start of the 2009-10 season than James. But it's his impact off the court that elevates James beyond other athletes of the 2010s, adding to his philanthropic efforts and becoming a leading voice on social and political issues.\n\n2. Serena Williams (781 points)\n\nNarrowly beat out by James, Williams is arguably the the greatest tennis player in history with 23 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, more than any man or woman in the Open Era. Not all of those majors came in this decade, but winning 10 of them – as well as Olympic golds in singles and doubles – after turning 30 might be an even more impressive feat.\n\n3. Tom Brady (742 points)\n\nA sixth-round draft choice in 2000, Brady's career has spanned two decades, and he's still going strong at 42. In the 2010s, he won two MVP awards (2010 season and '17) and led the Patriots to five Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl titles (2014 season, '16 and '18).\n\n4. Simone Biles (740 points)\n\nBiles hit the elite gymnastics scene as a 14-year-old in 2011. Two years later she claimed her first world championship gold medals, winning the floor exercise and all-around competitions. She won eight more golds at worlds in 2014-15 before leading the USA to team gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Individually, Biles won gold in the floor exercise, vault and all-around competitions with a bronze in the balance beam. After taking 2017 off, she returned by winning seven more individual golds at the 2018 and 2019 world championships.\n\nTEAM OF THE DECADE:US women end 2010s where they started it, as world's best\n\nCOACH OF THE DECADE:In evaluating coaches, no one was better than Nick Saban\n\n5. Usain Bolt (654 points)\n\nBolt was already an international star and Olympic champion when the decade started. But he added to his legacy by becoming the only sprinter to win gold medals in both the 100 and 200 meters in three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016). He also won 11 gold medals at the track and field world championships from 2009 to 2015. And he currently holds the world record in both the 100 and the 200.\n\n6. Mike Trout (610 points)\n\nTrout made his major league debut in 2011 at 19 and a season later won the AL Rookie of the Year award and finished second in AL MVP voting. He hasn't slowed down since. An eight-time All-Star, Trout has won three MVP awards and finished second four times. The only blemish on his career is a lack of postseason success, but he's only 28.\n\n7. Steph Curry (571 points)\n\nThe seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Curry quickly established himself as one of the game’s best shooters. He led the NBA in 3-point field goals for five consecutive seasons, including a record 402 in 2015-16. An All-Star in each of the past six seasons, Curry was named the league’s MVP in 2015 as he led the Warriors to their first NBA title in 40 years. The following year, Curry repeated as MVP as the Warriors finished with an unprecedented 73-9 record but lost the NBA Finals in seven games to the Cavaliers. Entering the 2019-20 season, Curry and the Warriors have represented the Western Conference in each of the past five NBA Finals, winning three.\n\n8. Lionel Messi (570 points)\n\nIn the decade’s greatest soccer rivalry, Messi comes out slightly ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. A prolific goal-scorer, Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards (five this decade) as the world’s top player. He has spent his entire pro career with Barcelona, where he holds the record of six Golden Boot awards as the leading scorer in the top division of the five major European leagues. The native of Argentina is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 70 goals in 138 international appearances. He also led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final.\n\n9. Michael Phelps (541 points)\n\nAlthough many of his accomplishments came in the 2000s, Phelps arguably did enough alone in this decade to be considered the greatest swimmer in history. Following his unprecedented eight gold medal-winning performance at the 2008 Olympics, Phelps cut back his schedule – winning four golds and two silvers in 2012 in London. He was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the 2016 Rio Games, then added another five golds and one silver. His victories in the 200-meter butterfly and 200 medley made him, at 31, the oldest individual champion in Olympic swimming history.\n\nFROM BASEBALL:Dream team, position-by-position for the decade\n\nDARKEST MOMENT:Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal rocked the world\n\n10. Novak Djokovic (479 points)\n\nMen's tennis has been ruled by three players this decade. Of the three, Djokovic holds the upper hand. Of his 16 Grand Slam tournament titles, 15 have come since 2011 – including all five Wimbledon crowns and six of his record seven Australian Open titles. His 2015 season, in which he won three majors and reached the final in a fourth, is considered one of the greatest in history.\n\n11. Katie Ledecky (443 points)\n\nLedecky is quite simply the most dominant freestyle swimmer in history. At 15, she claimed her first Olympic title in 2012, setting a record for an American and winning the 800-meter freestyle by more than four seconds. Breaking world records and going undefeated in every international final she entered between the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Ledecky hit more milestones at the 2016 Rio Games. She won gold in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter free, posting world-record times in the 400 and 800 that still stand. All told, she’s set 14 world records.\n\n12. Kevin Durant (398 points)\n\nStarting in the 2009-10 season, Durant led the league in points five years in a row with the Thunder, went to the 2012 Finals, was league MVP in 2013-14 and won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. But Durant didn’t become an NBA champion until he joined the Warriors in 2016. He won back-to-back titles (winning Finals MVP) and was the leading playoff scorer last season until he was hurt before the Finals.\n\n13. Rafael Nadal (396 points)\n\nThe King of Clay won the French Open eight times during the decade and three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2010. He’s the reigning champion at the French and U.S. Open. Nadal was ranked No. 1 for 140 weeks, including now, and No. 2 for 133 weeks.\n\n14. Cristiano Ronaldo (387 points)\n\nHe signed with Real Madrid before the turn of the decade and dominated, scoring 40 or more goals three times and winning back-to-back Ballon D’Or awards in 2013 and 2014 and 2016 and 2017. He was named the top forward as Portugal won UEFA Euro 2016. He transferred to Juventus in 2018 and led that team to a first-place finish in his first year.\n\n15. Aaron Rodgers (297 points)\n\nThe Packers' quarterback was MVP of the 2011 Super Bowl XLV win against the Steelers, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He was NFL MVP in 2012, when the Packers went 15-1, and he had a career-best 4,643 passing yards and 45 TD passes. He picked up six All-Pro nods and won 10 or more games seven times, including this season.\n\n16. Roger Federer (273 points)\n\nHe began the decade ranked No. 1 and finished No. 3. There was a lot of fluctuation in there, including a drop to 16, but he won five Grand Slam tournaments and the Federer-Nadal rivalry remains fun to watch.\n\n17. Sidney Crosby (268 points)\n\nThe hockey world wondered if the Penguins' star would be able to return from a concussion suffered in the 2011 Winter Classic. He spent parts of two seasons on the sideline but came back strong. He led the league with 104 points in 2013-14 to win MVP and was playoff MVP twice as the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, the first NHL team to do that since the late 1990s.\n\nFROM HOCKEY:The people, places, things that have changed NHL\n\nFROM NASCAR:Top feuds feature familiar names, iconic moments from decade\n\n18. Clayton Kershaw (256 points)\n\nThe Dodgers' pitcher dominated in the regular season, winning the Cy Young Award in 2011, 2013 and 2014. He was voted National League MVP in 2014, when he went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA. He hasn’t been able to repeat that dominance in the postseason, though, with a combined 5.40 ERA in World Series games.\n\n19. Alex Ovechkin (239 points)\n\nThe runaway NHL goal-scoring leader of the decade. The Capitals' star scored his 600th goal on March 12, 2018, and is closing in on 700. Ovechkin eliminated the one blemish on his career by winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.\n\n20. Carli Lloyd (217 points)\n\nA force on the U.S. Women’s National Team, she scored the winning goal in the 2012 Olympics, was captain of the 2015 World Cup team and had a hat trick in the championship game against Japan. She scored three goals in the 2019 World Cup as the USA repeated as champion.\n\n21. American Pharoah (160 points)\n\nYes, horses are athletes too. American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015, the first to do so since Affirmed in 1978. He took the Kentucky Derby by 1 length, the Preakness Stakes by 7 lengths and the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths. Trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the first to win all four races in one year.\n\n22. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (154 points)\n\nMayweather added to his perfect record by winning nine fights in the decade, including a 10th-round TKO of UFC fighter Conor McGregor in August 2017. That gave Mayweather a 50-0 record, surpassing Hall of Fame boxer Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark. Mayweather announced on Instagram in November that he was “coming out of retirement in 2020,” but no bout has been scheduled.\n\n23. Max Scherzer (123 points)\n\nScherzer started the decade as an up-and-comer who just completed his first full season in the major leagues. He finishes the 2010s with the most strikeouts and wins in the decade, three Cy Young Awards and a newly earned World Series title.\n\n24. Lindsey Vonn (119 points)\n\nVonn's decade as a skier was filled with remarkable achievements and excruciating injuries. She won Olympic gold in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. In 2013, she suffered torn knee ligaments and a broken leg and did not fully recover in time for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Vonn returned to the Games in 2018, taking bronze in the downhill. She announced her retirement in 2019 after claiming a record 82 World Cup victories, the most of any female skier in history. She also has seven world championship medals and was the first female skier to win medals at six world championships.\n\n25. Mikaela Shiffrin (118 points)\n\nThe world’s dominant slalom skier has won the World Cup season title six times. Shiffrin, 24, also has won three consecutive overall World Cup titles. Currently tied for second on the list of World Cup victories with 62, Shiffrin could pass Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 before the Beijing Olympics in 2022. At the 2014 Olympics at 18, she became the youngest to win Olympic gold in slalom. Four years later, Shiffrin won gold in the giant slalom and silver in the combined.\n\n26. Maya Moore (104 points)\n\nThe five-time, first-team All-WNBA honoree helped the Lynx win four championships since her rookie year in 2011. Moore was also named MVP in 2014. She has missed only one game in eight seasons, with career averages of 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. In February, Moore, 30, announced that she would sit out the 2019 season to focus on family and “some ministry dreams.”\n\n27. James Harden (86 points)\n\nA seven-time All-Star and two-time NBA scoring champion, Harden was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year (2011-12) with the Thunder before he was traded to the Rockets. Since the trade, Harden, 30, has averaged 29.4 points and 7.7 assists. He’s led the NBA in scoring each of the past two seasons: 30.4 points in 2017-18 – when he was the league MVP – and 36.1 points in 2018-19.\n\n28. Justin Verlander (83 points)\n\nVerlander won two Cy Young Awards in the decade, including one in 2019 when he became the oldest pitcher to achieve the feat since 42-year-old Roger Clemens did it in 2004. Now 36, Verlander is second to Max Scherzer in wins and strikeouts in the 2010s and first in innings pitched. He also won a World Series title with the Astros in 2017.\n\n29. Elena Delle Donne (69 points)\n\nShe is the first player in WNBA history to win MVP honors with two teams: the Sky in 2015 and the Mystics in 2019. A seven-year veteran, Delle Donne, 30, led the Mystics to the team’s first league championship in 2019. She is the first player in WNBA history to shoot over 50% from the field, over 40% from 3-point territory and over 90% from the free throw line in a season (2019).\n\n30. Tiger Woods (57 points)\n\nWoods hasn’t been the same since he crashed his Escalade outside his Florida mansion on the day after Thanksgiving in 2009. He endured personal scandal and several surgical procedures on his back. But Woods had his share of moments of triumph on the golf course. He was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2013 and won 11 tournaments in the 2010s. His Masters victory in 2019 was one of the decade's most dramatic moments and marked his 15th career major, keeping Woods within reach of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.\n\n31. Abby Wambach (55 points)\n\nInducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in September, Wambach, 39, is the career-leading goal scorer in women's international soccer with 184 goals. In the 2010s, she was a member of the U.S. women's team that won gold at the 2012 Olympics and the 2015 World Cup. She was the FIFA world women's player of the year in 2012.\n\nT32. Allyson Felix (49 points)\n\nFelix finishes the decade as the most decorated woman in U.S. Olympic track and field history with nine medals. She captured three gold medals in 2012 and two more in 2016 to bring her career total to six, most of any female track and field athlete in Olympic history. She won her 12th gold at the world championships in 2019, her first since becoming a mother.\n\nT32. Marcel Hirscher (49 points)\n\nAt just 30 years old, the Austrian is already widely considered the greatest Alpine skier ever. Hirscher won a record eight consecutive overall World Cup titles from 2012 to 2019, plus six titles each in the slalom and giant slalom disciplines and two Olympic gold medals in 2018.\n\n34. Drew Brees (48 points)\n\nBrees earned nine of his 13 career Pro Bowl nods in the 2010s and was the 2011 Offensive Player of the Year. He leads quarterbacks for the decade in touchdowns, yards, pass attempts and completions. He also finishes the decade as the NFL's career leader in passing yards and touchdowns.\n\n35. Megan Rapinoe (46 points)\n\nRapinoe played in three World Cups during the decade, winning two, including the performance of a lifetime to lead the Americans to a second consecutive title in 2019. She was awarded the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals and earned the Golden Ball as the best player.\n\n36. Diana Taurasi (35 points)\n\nConsidered one of the greatest female basketball players in history, Taurasi spent the 2010s burnishing her Hall of Fame résumé. She earned five All-Star nods and seven All-WNBA selections during the decade and won her third WNBA championship and second Finals MVP in 2014. Taurasi became the WNBA’s all-time leader scorer in 2017 and won Olympic gold medals with the U.S. in 2012 and 2016.\n\n37. Klay Thompson (35 points)\n\nThompson teamed with Steph Curry to form the Splash Brothers, the best shooting backcourt in NBA history and cornerstones of a Warriors dynasty that won three championships. Thompson was a five-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA third-team pick during the decade.\n\n38. Patrick Kane (34 points)\n\nThe top pick in the 2007 draft, Kane became a cornerstone of the Blackhawks' teams that won three Stanley Cup championships during the decade. Kane won the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion and the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2015-16, becoming the first American-born player to win each.\n\n39. Alex Morgan (28 points)\n\nMorgan became the latest international soccer star for the U.S. She appeared in three World Cups, helping the U.S. win the 2015 and 2019 titles. In April 2019, Morgan became the seventh American woman to score 100 international goals, and she finishes the decade with 107.\n\n40. Lewis Hamilton (25 points)\n\nHamilton established himself as one of the most accomplished drivers in Formula One history with five championships in six years (2014-15, 2017-19). His six total championships and 84 race wins are both second behind Michael Schumacher, and Hamilton holds the F1 career record with 88 poles.\n\nT41. Canelo Alvarez (21 points)\n\nCanelo became one of boxing’s biggest draws this decade, signing a massive deal with the DAZN streaming service for his fights in 2018. In the ring, the four-division champion has gone an impressive 23-1-1 over the past 10 years.\n\nT41. Sue Bird (21 points)\n\nBird finishes the decade among the best women to ever play basketball. She won two of her three WNBA titles (2010 and 2018), made five All-Star teams and three All-WNBA teams and became the league’s all-time assists leader in 2017. Bird also helped the U.S. win Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016.\n\nT41. Aaron Donald (21 points)\n\nThe accolades started piling up in 2013 for Donald, as he was named the ACC defensive player of the year and cleaned up in award season, taking home the Nagurski Award, Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. He continued in the NFL as he was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and captured back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2017 and 2018, the latter when he led the league with 20½ sacks.\n\nT41. Brooks Koepka (21 points)\n\nThe 29-year-old golfer became one of the best big-game players on the planet in the last few years of the decade. He captured four major titles – twice taking home the PGA Championship (2018 and 2019) and twice winning the U.S. Open (2017 and 2018). When he wasn’t winning in 2019 he was in the hunt, finishing second at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open and fourth at the British Open.\n\n45. Jon Jones (20 points)\n\nThere was plenty of controversy for “Bones” during the decade as he was stripped of his light heavyweight championship multiple times. But there was no disputing his dominance in the octagon. He never lost a UFC bout in the decade, racking up 16 wins.\n\n46. JJ Watt (18 points)\n\nPerhaps no defensive player was as dominant as Watt in the 2010s. He won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards (2012, 2014, 2015) and twice led the league in sacks. Watt's career has been slowed of late by injuries, but in 2017 he made perhaps his biggest impact off the field when he was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year after helping to spearhead a massive fundraising effort in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.\n\n47. Julio Jones (17 points)\n\nThe wide receiver began the decade as a star on Alabama as the Crimson Tide captured their first national championship in 17 years in January 2010. He was drafted by the Falcons with the sixth overall pick in 2011 and hasn’t slowed down, twice leading the league in receiving yards while clearing 900 yards in all but one year of his NFL career.\n\nT48. Larry Fitzgerald (16 points)\n\nFitzgerald has spent the decade continuing to build one of the most impressive resumes of any wide receiver in NFL history. The greatest player in Arizona Cardinals history is now second in career receptions and yards and sixth in touchdowns. He also has the most receptions of the 2010s.\n\nT48. Shaun White (16 points)\n\nOne of the most recognizable names in extreme sports, White won Olympic gold medals in snowboard halfpipe at the 2010 and 2018 Winter Games. He also spent the early part of the decade dominating at the X Games.\n\n50. Adrian Peterson (14 points)\n\nPeterson has rushed for over 9,000 yards this decade, claiming the rushing title in 2012 and 2015 – the former accompanied by the league MVP as he nearly broke Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.\n\nOthers receiving votes\n\nJimmie Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Breanna Stewart, Mo Farah, Eliud Kipchoge, Kyle Busch, Justify, Lamar Jackson, Von Miller, Chandler Jones, Miguel Cabrera.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/12/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2018/04/29/lebron-james-first-round-playoffs-pacers-nba-history/563121002/", "title": "LeBron James' series vs. Pacers one of the best in NBA history", "text": "The Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round series against the Indiana Pacers came down to a win-or-go-home Game 7, but when it was all said and done, LeBron James had completed one of the greatest playoff series performances in NBA history.\n\nSunday's outing — he finished with 45 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals — was just the exclamation point.\n\nBut before we look ahead to Cleveland's Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Toronto Raptors, let's look back at these past seven games during which James' per-game averages of 34.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists put him in a league of his own. As if he wasn't already.\n\nBy the numbers ...\n\n► This was the fifth playoff series of James' career in which he averaged at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, something no player in NBA history has done more than once, according to NBA.com/stats.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\n► James scored 241 points in the first round — 61 more than second-place Giannis Antetokounmpo. He also ranked second in the league in rebounds, second in assists and first in minutes.\n\n► After James' scoring total, Kevin Love ranked second on the Cavs with 80 points. James also led Cleveland with 54 assists; Jeff Green was second with 11. No other Cavalier scored more than 20 points or tallied more than five assists in any of the seven games against Indiana.\n\n► James ranked third in the league in first-round \"clutch\" points scored with 18 — three of which came on his game-winning, buzzer-beating jumper in Game 5.\n\n► By picking off a pass in the second quarter of Game 7, James became the NBA's all-time leader in postseason steals (396), passing Scottie Pippen.\n\n► His 45 points on Sunday were the second-most in a Game 7 win in playoff history, behind only Sam Jones (47 points in 1963), according to ESPN Stats and Info. Game 7 also marked James' 200th time scoring 20 or more points in a playoff game — the most of all-time.\n\n► James now has a career first-round record of 13-0. He's also 5-2 in Game 7s with five consecutive victories.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/04/29"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2020/10/01/lebron-james-best-teammates-ranking/3585297001/", "title": "Ranking LeBron James' six best teammates throughout his career", "text": "LeBron James' quest for his fourth NBA title began Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Lakers rolled the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Finals. Over the course of his 17-year career, which has featured 10 Finals appearances, James has had a number of great sidekicks, several who were key in helping him hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy.\n\nHere's a ranking of his most complimentary teammates, excluding those he played with just in All-Star Games and with Team USA.\n\n1. Anthony Davis. While James has been on teams with dominant backcourt players in his career, Davis is his first dominant, MVP-caliber big man. Davis' numbers for 2019-20 were 26.1 points and 9.3 rebounds a game, and his game-winner in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals is evidence of James not needing to be the end-of-game hero he's been on other teams.\n\n2. Dwyane Wade. When James first signed with the Heat in 2010 following \"The Decision,\" among the criticisms of his move from the Cavaliers was that the Heat would be Wade's team. That was quickly put to rest as James used his four-year tenure in Miami to solidify himself as the best player in the league. He won two titles and was MVP two times with the Heat largely thanks to his chemistry with Wade in the open court and Wade's complementary style as a combo guard/scorer.\n\n3. Kyrie Irving. When James returned to Cleveland a second time, Irving was the key complementary piece in initiating a championship run. His clutch 3-pointer in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals helped the Cavs upset the 73-win Golden State Warriors, one of the greatest teams in NBA history. Irving's style as a creative, scoring point guard meshed well with James at that stage of his career, when he had found a way to score more with his back to the basket while using his size to dominate.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\n4. Chris Bosh. The third wheel of the Heat's Big Three with James and Wade, Bosh left the Toronto Raptors as a top-10 player. While he had to sacrifice, he remained an All-Star and was a fitting third option that stacked up with the likes of other all-time third options like Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant from the 1990s Chicago Bulls. Bosh averaged 17.3 points per game with the Heat during James' four years and rose to the occasion when the backcourt wasn't firing on all cylinders, providing clutch jumpers and interior defense.\n\n5. Kevin Love. Love was an elite player on the Minnesota Timberwolves and became a viable third option alongside James and Irving with the Cavaliers. His defense on Steph Curry in Game 7 of the '16 Finals is most remembered, helping Cleveland secure the upset and the championship. He averaged 17.2 points a game in James' four seasons the second time around with the Cavs.\n\n6. Ray Allen. One of the best 3-point marksmen of all-time and a Hall of Famer, Allen left the rival Boston Celtics to join the Heat and he became the most pivotal role player of James career, helping Miami oust the San Antonio Spurs for the 2013 NBA title thanks to a career-defining three to force overtime in Game 6 of the Finals.\n\nFollow reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/10/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2012/12/06/kobe-bryant-can-catch-kareem-abdul-jabbar--for-nba-scoring-title-but-will-he-want-to/1751811/", "title": "Does Kobe Bryant want the NBA scoring title? NBA A-Z", "text": "Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports\n\nBryant became the newest member of the NBA's 30,000 point clubThe Memphis Grizzlies are atop Sam Amick's power rankings, while LeBron James leads the MVP race and Damian Lillard is in front for ROY Pau Gasol has been in trade talk, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon\n\nAs Kobe Bryant's bosses can attest, what he says and what he does aren't always the same thing (see retracted trade demand, summer 2007).\n\nSo while the 34-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star and newest member of the 30,000-point club might have said as recently as October that he plans on retiring after two more seasons, there's a certain we'll-believe-it-when-we-see-it component that means this question is still in play: can Bryant surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer? The answer is yes - if he wants to.\n\nBryant already has the votes of Lakers legends Magic Johnson and Jerry West as the best Laker of all time, and his top priority in these twilight years is to match or even surpass Michael Jordan when it comes to his ring count (he trails six to five). But his possible path from 30,001 points to passing Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and finally Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) is entirely possible so long as he stays healthy. If Bryant was able to keep up his career-long pace of scoring an average of 25.4 points per game, the then-38-year-old would break the record approximately a third of the way through the 2016-17 season.\n\nA dropoff in production would complicate things, as Bryant would surely want to wrap up the record in that 2016-17 season rather than deal with the PR nightmare of returning in 2017-18 to predictable accusations that he was ending his career the way he began it - by being too driven by individual achievement. Yet if he averages 21.3 points per game from here on out as opposed to 21.5, for example, that's precisely what could occur. His contract status and the outside chance that he could finish his career elsewhere would come into play, too, as Bryant is only signed through next season (when he'll make a league-high $30.4 million).\n\nNone of which resonates with Bryant right now because of the tall task at hand. His so-called Super Team Lakers are an underwhelming 9-10, and Bryant and Dwight Howard spent Wednesday night bickering about blown defensive assignments on the New Orleans Arena court and on the bench.\n\nIt was a small situation that could certainly grow bigger if this purple-and-gold tide isn't turned, as Bryant's notoriously-edgy leadership style is precisely the kind that has never worked well with the more-easygoing Howard. Add in the backdrop of Howard's looming free agency this summer and his ominous comments on Sunday that \"if I have to play on another team or do whatever I have to do to get (a championship), that's my goal,\" and it's safe to assume Bryant isn't thinking about scoring titles at the moment.\n\nStill, even with all the extra playoff and international mileage, Bryant is one of the special few who could likely play into his late 30s while still holding onto his hoops dignity. He has the mindset to do it, and - thanks partly to the blood-manipulation treatment he had done in Germany two summers ago on his knees - he has the body too.\n\nYet West, the former Lakers general manager who brought Bryant to Laker Land as a rookie in 1996 by way of the trade with the Charlotte Hornets for Vlade Divac, would consider Bryant the best Laker of all time even if he quit tomorrow. His sentiment echoed that of Johnson, the five-time champion who reiterated his stance on ESPN on Wednesday night that Bryant was the best of all the Lakers. West, who is now a consultant for the Golden State Warriors, said he viewed Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain differently because they didn't play their entire careers with the Lakers but he clearly sees Bryant above Johnson and himself on the Lakers' long list of greats.\n\n\"What he has accomplished with this team, I don't think there's any question in my mind at this point in time - because of him being with this team for his whole career - that he has been the greatest Laker player,\" West - who earned 14 All-Star berths, one championship, one MVP and made nine Finals appearances - told USA TODAY Sports by phone on Thursday. \"I do think he's the greatest Laker player we've ever seen.\"\n\nAs for the scoring record and whether Bryant will pursue it, West doesn't see him chasing the mark unless he's still playing at the highest level.\n\n\"The one thing he's been able to avoid are really serious injuries,\" West said. \"That is a factor in anyone's success…(But) he's not going to go out there and play - like a lot of guys do - past their prime, trying to chase a record. I don't think that's who he is, at the end of the day.\n\n\"I just think that he's just one of those guys who loves to compete, loves to win, understands that he's been doing it for so long, at a high level, and now the team hasn't played as well as (they were expected to). Does that wear on him? I'm sure. And then having you guys ask him the question, 'How long will you play?' I think he'll play as long as he feels like he can play like he is right now, and then he will move away from it.\"\n\nBut therein lies the rub. Bryant looks like he could play until he's 50.\n\nWith nearly a quarter of the season behind us, Bryant is not only showing no signs of decline but is showing yet another uptick in his offensive game. His field-goal percentage is up significantly from last season (49% compared to 43%), as is his three-point percentage (37.2 compared to 30.3). More importantly, his shot attempts - which reached chucker levels of 23 per game last season, a league-high - are back down to a more-reasonable 19.2. Meanwhile, his league-leading 28 points per game is on pace to be his most since the 2007-08 campaign.\n\n\"Frankly, I think he's having one of his better offensive years I've seen,\" West said. \"He just seems to be in a great place right now, particularly from an offensive standpoint.\n\n\"He has an incredible desire to win and excel, and his work ethic and his skill level are what places him among the truly great, great players we've ever had in this league.\"\n\nSpeaking of the Lakers: A Pau Gasol glance\n\nWith incessant chatter continuing about whether sidelined star Pau Gasol will be traded, here's the good news for the veteran forward: it doesn't appear he's going anywhere anytime soon. Former coach Mike Brown surely wishes they would have shown this sort of patience with him, but it appears the decision to fire him five games in and replace him with Mike D'Antoni will be the only drastic move early on in these parts.\n\nSpecifically, the fact that injured point guard Steve Nash headed to Laker Land, in part, because he wanted to play with the big Spaniard is helping Gasol's cause. In declining overtures from Toronto and New York in the summer in order to approve a Lakers sign-and-trade with the Suns that netted him a three-year, $27 million deal, Nash was opting for the team that afforded him the best shot at a title. He was considered a key component to this new-look roster then, and even moreso now that the new coach just so happens to be his Seven-Seconds-or-Less partner from their memorable Phoenix days.\n\nSo while the opening act couldn't have gone much worse, the Lakers and Nash want to give him time to work his magic with Gasol, Howard, Bryant et al before making any more major moves. Nash has been out with a non-displaced fracture in his left fibula since Oct. 31, has had his return delayed by the nerves in the leg that are causing pain. Gasol his missed the last two games while resting his knees (tendinitis) and his return date is unclear.\n\nBarring the arrival of a too-good-to-be-true offer on the desk of general manager Mitch Kupchak (and the ones involving Toronto and Minnesota reported by ESPN.com obviously don't qualify), Gasol isn't expected to be made available anytime soon. The trade deadline, for those who haven't marked their calendars, is Feb. 21.\n\nBreakout player of the week: Houston center Greg Smith\n\nThe undrafted second-year big man out of Fresno State can always tell his grandkids that he started the first bickering bout between Howard and Bryant, as it was his 21-point, nine-rebound outing against the Lakers in Tuesday night's home win that sparked their discontent. Howard kept helping defensively off of Smith, kept getting burned when no one came to his aid on the rotations, then finally spoke up a day later when it kept happening in New Orleans and a shouting match ensued.\n\nMeanwhile, Smith - who had 13 points in a win over Utah on Saturday - reveled in the fact that he had his best game of his career twice in one week. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder spent most of his rookie campaign starring for the Rockets' farm team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League, while only playing in eight games for Houston. He hardly saw the floor for the Rockets in November, either not playing at all or playing single-digit minutes in eight of 14 games.\n\nPutbacks\n\n* With so much attention paid to whether Bryant can catch up with Kareem, here's a worthwhile look from Basketball Prospectus guru Kevin Pelton analyzing which players have the best shot at catching Kobe and the rest of the 30,000-point club.\n\n* Not to put a damper on the big night of Sacramento Kings guard and 2009 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, who buried two late three-pointers against Toronto on Wednesday to secure the 107-100 win. But when teammate DeMarcus Cousins told reporters afterward that it was the first time he'd seen Evans hit two threes in a row since he'd entered the league in 2010, it was a brutal reminder that Evans' lack of an outside game continues to haunt him. It's early, but it's worth nothing that his three-point percentage has improved from last season (20.2 to 30.8) while his overall accuracy remains the same (45.3)\n\n* At the risk of being deemed the Grinch of all NBA media, there's this holiday tidbit relating to the NBA commercial that has been lifting spirits the league over: perception doesn't meet reality here. Entertaining and creative though the commercial is, Howard revealed recently that the players who are shown standing side by side and dribbling to the tune \"Carol of the Bells\" - from the Lakers center to Joe Johnson, Russell Westbrook, and Dwyane Wade - were all filmed individually and, essentially, photo-shopped together. Each player, Howard said, was using a system similar to the popular \"Rock Band\" video game in order to determine when to dribble all the right notes.\n\nPersonal Power Rankings\n\nMy top five:\n\n1. Memphis Grizzlies (13-3): The Grizz aren't likely to be alone at the top come June, but their overtime loss to the rested San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 1 wasn't enough to drop them down a notch (they also downed Phoenix in overtime on Tuesday). What's more, their Nov. 14 win vs. Oklahoma City is still coming in handy when it comes to tie-breakers such as these.\n\n2. Oklahoma City Thunder (15-4): The Lakers were supposed to be the team with the new-look roster that would cruise through the regular season and have to prove itself in the playoffs, but the post-James Harden Thunder have stolen that role thus far. Before downing Brooklyn 117-111 on Tuesday, they dominated Charlotte, Houston, Utah, and New Orleans by an average of 25 points. New addition Kevin Martin, as we've chronicled recently, is a big reason why.\n\n3. San Antonio Spurs (15-4): Coach Gregg Popovich's controversial plan in Miami paid off when the Spurs outlasted the Grizzlies in San Antonio two nights later, and a 110-99 win vs. Milwaukee followed on Wednesday night. A four-game road trip through Charlotte, Houston, Utah and Portland looms, but not as large as the Dec. 17 showdown against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.\n\n4. New York Knicks (14-4): A 1 ½ game lead over Miami in the Eastern Conference in early December without Amar'e Stoudemire (left knee) and with Raymond Felton (offseason addition to replace Jeremy Lin) running the show? Not many saw this coming, but the Knicks are apparently for real.\n\nEven fewer folks could have predicted Thursday night's 112-92 shocker over the Heat that came with Carmelo Anthony sitting out because of the stitches in his left hand. It was the kind of win that could take this team to the next level by giving Anthony's supporting cast even more collective confidence. Felton had 27 points to lead the way, while J.R. Smith, Steve Novak and Rasheed Wallace combined for 43 points off the bench. Stoudemire is reportedly targeting a return around Christmas.\n\n5. Miami Heat (12-5): USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt was there to chronicle the Heat's shocking loss to Washington on Tuesday, so it's on record that it really did happen. Then on Thursday night, a TNT audience watched in amazement as the Knicks handed the Heat their worst home loss since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined forces in the summer of 2010. The 112-92 loss made the decision to have them leapfrog Miami in the rankings here easy.\n\nThe Heat should have a chance to get on a roll again considering its next five games are at home (and five of the next seven). That includes a Christmas Day Finals rematch against the Thunder.\n\nMVP Pulse\n\nMy top 5:\n\n1. LeBron James, Miami: Considering James went for 31 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and two turnovers in the loss to the Knicks, it's tough to include him in the blame game. But King James won't be the King of this MVP mountain for long unless the Heat fix what ails them. Through 17 games, he is averaging 25.2 points, a career-high 9.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game.\n\n\n\n2. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City: He's trailing Kobe Bryant by 1.5 points per game for the league's scoring lead (28 to 26.5), but every other part of his game is on the rise. For those who missed it, I sat down with Durant in OKC last week to delve into this topic and much more. ESPN's First Take crew discussed Durant's affinity for Larry Bird as well.\n\n3. Tim Duncan, San Antonio: The 36-year-old is clearly sipping from the same fountain of youth as Bryant, as he continues to get better with age. Check out this progression from the last three seasons and realize that it's definitely not normal: 13.4 points per game to 15.4 to his current mark of 18.8 (on 53.3% shooting); 8.9 rebounds to nine to 10.1 currently. Great stuff all around from the Big Fundamental, who is also averaging 2.4 blocks.\n\n4. Carmelo Anthony, NY: The extra hustle that Anthony has been providing wound up hurting him, as his stage dive into the Charlotte crowd on Wednesday night resulted in five stitches in his left hand and his absence from Thursday night's game at Miami. But even though the Knicks won that game without him, Anthony (26.5 points per game on 45.7% shooting overall and 43.5% from three-point range) remains the epicenter of what has been an impressive start.\n\n5. Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers: Paul has more help in his second season in Los Angeles and thus his scoring is down (19.8 ppg to 16.1), but his 9.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game tell the tale of one of the game's most well-rounded players. The 12-6 Clips have won four in a row (Minnesota, Sacramento, Utah, Dallas) after dropping four straight prior to that stretch.\n\nRookie Watch\n\nMy top 3:\n\n1. Damian Lillard, Portland PG: His 19.3 points per game not only leads rookies, but was tied for ninth in the league overall entering Thursday night. His 6.3 assists per game leads all rookies. The small-school success story, in other words, continues.\n\n2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte SF: The 7-10 Bobcats already matched their seven-win campaign in 2011-12 that set a new league low in winning percentage, so there's credit to be had here. Kidd-Gilchrist is a defense-first talent who has fit in right away under first-year coach Mike Dunlap, not to mention the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for November. He averaged 10.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals in 27.3 minutes played to earn the honor..\n\n3. Harrison Barnes, Golden State SF: Being the starting small forward on a surprise Warriors team (11-7) is almost enough to put him here regardless of production, but the No. 7 pick out of North Carolina has made an impact (9.8 points on 45.2% shooting, 4.8 rebounds per) - not to mention having one of the best dunks of the year so far.\n\nNBA A-Z is the NBA insider column from USA TODAY Sports writers Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt. Send the guys your feedback and ideas to @sam_amick and @JeffZillgitt.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2012/12/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/draft/2019/06/20/nba-draft-best-player-picked-every-slot-league-history/1479116001/", "title": "All-time NBA draft: Best player picked at every slot, from 1-30, in ...", "text": "Before the next batch of NBA newcomers makes the transition to the big leagues on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), we're taking a step back and looking at the best player picked at every slot, from 1-30, in history.\n\nApologies in advance to guys like Manu Ginobili (No. 57 overall pick in 1999), George Gervin (No. 40, 1974) and Mo Cheeks (No. 36, 1978) — you just missed the cut.\n\nKeep in mind: This list isn't scientific. Nor is it perfect. It's simply our take.\n\n1. LeBron James, 2003 - Surprise: The No. 1 spot is littered with Hall of Famers, and many of them — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal, to name a few — can make a case here. But we're going with James, the second-best player in pro hoops history.\n\nADDITIONAL DRAFT CONTENT:\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\n2. Bill Russell, 1956 - His 11 championships remain one of the most unbreakable records in sports.\n\n3. Michael Jordan, 1984 - He's the greatest basketball player ever. Next.\n\n4. Chris Paul, 2005 - Don't let reports of Houston's turmoil or Paul's disappointing 2018-19 season cloud your judgement. Rings or no rings, he's one of the greatest point guards ever.\n\n5. Kevin Garnett, 1995 - In addition to Garnett, the No. 5 slot also features Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Dwyane Wade. We wouldn't fault you for putting any of them here.\n\n6. Larry Bird, 1978 - Bird's only real competition here is Adrian Dantley, and it isn't a competition at all.\n\n7. Stephen Curry, 2009 - Recency bias may play a bit of a role here, as the late Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek — the No. 7 pick in 1962 — was one of the greatest champions in the history of the sport. But if Curry hasn't already passed him on every all-time list, it's only a matter of time.\n\n8. Robert Parish, 1976 - Speaking of Celtics legends ...\n\n9. Dirk Nowitzki, 1998 - In case you needed a reminder, Michael Olowokandi and Raef LaFrentz were taken ahead of Nowitzki in the 1998 draft.\n\n10. Paul Pierce, 1998 - Oh, look. A Celtics legend.\n\n11. Reggie Miller, 1987 - There's something about this slot and great shooters. Klay Thompson, JJ Redick, Robert Horry and Allan Houston were all taken 11th overall.\n\n12. Julius Erving, 1972 - He was not only one of the greatest players ever but also one of the coolest.\n\n13. Kobe Bryant, 1996 - Karl Malone could easily go here, but we're taking the Mamba and his five rings over the Mailman and his zero.\n\n14. Clyde Drexler, 1983 - He glided right into this spot.\n\n15. Steve Nash, 1996 - It goes to Nash for now, but check back in a few years. Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are gaining ground.\n\n16. John Stockton, 1984 - The NBA's all-time leader in assists and steals, Stockton blows every other No. 16 pick out of the water.\n\n17. Shawn Kemp, 1989 - Don Nelson (No. 17 pick in 1962) won five NBA championships. Kemp delivered one of the most disrespectful dunks of all-time. Advantage, Kemp.\n\n18. Joe Dumars, 1985 - Dumars, the 1989 Finals MVP and a four-time All-Defensive First Team selection, was one of the best defenders in league history, and his importance to the success of those Bad Boy Detroit Pistons can't be overstated.\n\n19. Nate Archibald, 1970 - Archibald is still the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring and assists in a single season.\n\n20. Larry Nance, 1981 - Nance was so much more than the winner of the first Slam Dunk Contest.\n\n21. Rajon Rondo, 2006 - Rondo was a draft-day steal, and he quickly made an impact for Boston, helping lead the Celtics to a title in his second season.\n\n22. Reggie Lewis, 1987 - In one of the most tragic stories in NBA history, the uber-talented Lewis died after collapsing on the court after just six seasons in the league. He was selected to his first and only All-Star Game the year before.\n\n23. Alex English, 1976 - The greatest player in Denver Nuggets history, English was an eight-time All-Star and had a career scoring average of 21.5 points per game — the highest for any player ever taken at No. 23.\n\n24. Arvydas Sabonis, 1986 - He may not be the best or most accomplished NBA player drafted in the No. 24 slot (Kyle Lowry, Andrei Kirilenko, Sam Cassell, Terry Porter and Latrell Sprewell were, too), but Sabonis was one of the greatest European players in league history, and his international impact is still felt today.\n\n25. Mark Price, 1986 - He was just the second player ever, after Bird, to join the NBA's 50-40-90 club.\n\n26. Vlade Divac, 1989 - An international star. And the guy who was traded for Kobe.\n\n27. Dennis Rodman, 1986 - Rodman takes the all-time crown, but the 27th pick has been a gold mine in recent years, with Kyle Kuzma, Pascal Siakam, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert.\n\n28. Tony Parker, 2001 - A six-time All-Star and four-time champion, Parker, who retired earlier this month, was as consistent as they come.\n\n29. Dennis Johnson, 1976 - The late Johnson was underrated on draft day and he's still underrated today.\n\n30. Spencer Haywood, 1971 - The only Hall of Famer to be drafted with the 30th pick, Haywood's impact on the court was matched by his impact off of it, where he laid the groundwork for future NBA players with his fight to change the league's eligibility rules.\n\nFollow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/06/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2023/01/26/lakers-top-25-nba-all-time-scoring/11090198002/", "title": "Lakers rule the NBA's all-time leading scorers list. Who's on top?", "text": "The Los Angeles Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics for the most NBA championships – a combined 34 titles between the two franchises – so it's only right that the list of the game's all-time scoring leaders is filled with Purple and Gold.\n\nThe top four scorers in the league's history all played for Los Angeles for part of their career, if not all. Eight of the top 25 are Lakers, and one legend is on the move to the top.\n\nLebron James is closing in on the No. 1 spot currently held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a record he's held for 39-years. James is less than 300 points away from taking the crown. While we countdown the days until James passes Abdul-Jabbar, lets look back at all the scoring greats that came before him in Los Angeles.\n\nLEBRON JAMES TRACKER: The race to eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA points record\n\nHISTORY LESSON:Which NBA players have led the league in all-time points scored?\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nNBA POINTS TITLE:Stats, fun facts to know as LeBron James chases down Kareem Abdul-Jabbar\n\nHere's the Lakers all-time points leaders in the top 25, from Kobe Bryant to Jerry West.\n\n--\n\nKareem Abdul-Jabbar\n\nRanking: No. 1\n\nTotal games: 1,560\n\nTotal points: 38,387\n\nFun fact: \"The Captain\" spent six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he had a career-high 55 points against the Boston Celtics on December 10, 1971. But his highest scoring game as a Laker came on November 26, 1975 against the Portland Trail Blazers.\n\nAlthough James looks poised to pass Abdul-Jabbar as the scoring leader, Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leader in minutes played (57,446) and field goals made (15,837).\n\nLeBron James\n\nRanking: No. 2\n\nTotal games: 1,405\n\nTotal points: 38,230\n\nFun fact: King James is will on his way to surpassing Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA scoring King. He dropped a career-best 61 points against the Charlotte Bobcats on March 3, 2014 when he was a member of the Miami Heat. He had a 57-point game as a Cavalier on 11/3/2017 against the Washington Wizards and most recently dropped 56 points on the Golden State Warriors as a Laker on March 5, 2022 when he was 37-years old.\n\n“It’s funny, our [media] guys were following me off the floor tonight going to the locker room and they asked me how it feels to score 56. I said, ’Right now, I don’t give a (expletive) about the 56. I’m just happy we got the win,'\" James said postgame.\n\nKarl Malone\n\nRanking: No. 3\n\nTotal games: 1,476\n\nTotal points: 36,928\n\nFun fact: \"The Mailman\" spent nearly his entire year on the Utah Jazz, where he dropped a career-high 61 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 27, 1990, shooting 82% from the field (21 of 26 field goals and 19 of 23 free throws). He spent the last season of his 19-year career in Los Angeles, where he averaged 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds.\n\nKobe Bryant\n\nRanking: No. 4\n\nTotal games: 1,346\n\nTotal points: 33,643\n\nFun fact: \"The Black Mamba\" dropped a career-high 81-points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, the second most points ever scored in a single NBA game, only behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point performance in 1962. (See below for more.)\n\n\"The day that I actually scored 81 was my grandfather’s birthday, who had passed away a few years before. And my grandmother, who had never seen me play in the NBA…flew out to California and she came to watch me play for the first time, the only time, and that so happened to be the night I scored 81,\" Bryant later recalled.\n\nBryant scored 60 or more points six times in his career, including the last game of his 20-year career with the Lakers on April 13, 2016, where he dropped 60 against the Utah Jazz.\n\nWilt Chamberlain\n\nRanking: No. 7\n\nTotal games: 1,045\n\nTotal points: 31,419\n\nFun fact: Every basketball fan has seen the historic photo of Philadelphia Warriors (now Golden State Warriors) star Chamberlain holding a sign reading \"100.\" The image was taken after he scored a career-high 100 points on the New York Knicks on April 2, 1962, a feat that hasn't been matched six decades later.\n\nChamberlain scored 60 or more points 32 times in his 15-year career, including five 70+ point games. He's also the only player to average 50 points in a season (1961-62).\n\nShaquille O'Neal\n\nRanking: No. 8\n\nTotal games: 1,207\n\nTotal points: 28,596\n\nFun fact: O'Neal is one of the greatest centers of all time and his dominance was on full display on his 28th birthday on March 6, 2000, when he dropped a career-high 61 points and 23 rebounds in a win against the Clippers, all without hitting a 3-pointer.\n\nThe game was at the Staples Center, but the Lakers were the road team. O'Neal said the Clippers charging him for tickets inspired his performance. He could've had more.\n\n\"I'm actually kind of upset at Phil (Jackson) because I think we had five minutes left and he took me out,\" Shaq later recalled. \"I think he did that because he didn't want me to score more than Michael (Jordan). That's what I think. That's my theory.\"\n\nO'Neal could have been higher on list had he fine tuned one area of his game – free throws. He missed a staggering 5,317 free throws in his career, which could have lifted him to No. 4 spot over his counterpart Kobe Bryant. Would've, could've, should've.\n\nCarmelo Anthony\n\nRanking: No. 9\n\nTotal games: 1,260\n\nTotal points: 28,289\n\nFun fact: Anthony spent the last season of his 20-year career with the Lakers, where he averaged only 13.3 points in 2021-22. His best career performance came when he played on the New York Knicks and dropped 62 points on the Charlotte Bobcats on January 24, 2014.\n\n\"I came into the game locked in. I didn't know I was going to have this type of performance. It's an unbelievable feeling,\" he said postgame. \"It's just a zone you get into sometimes. Only a certain group of people know what that zone feels like. Tonight was one of those zones. My teammates saw that.\"\n\nJerry West\n\nRanking: No. 23\n\nTotal games: 932\n\nTotal points: 25,192\n\nFun fact: West has had many iconic performances in his career, like his game-tying 60-footer in Game 3 of the 1970 Finals against the New York Knicks, but his best scoring game came several years earlier when he dropped 63 points against the Knicks on January 17, 1962.\n\nWest is the only player to be named Finals MVP on a losing team after he averaged nearly 38 points in a seven-game series loss to Boston in 1969.\n\nFollow Cydney Henderson on Twitter @CydHenderson.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/01/26"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/01/30/nba-mvp-race-durant-lebron-westbrook-harden/97218826/", "title": "Week 13 NBA MVP race: James Harden goes superhuman", "text": "AJ Neuharth-Keusch\n\nUSA TODAY Sports\n\nUSA TODAY Sports' top five candidates for the 2016-17 NBA MVP award (from Sunday, Jan. 22 through Saturday, Jan. 28).\n\nAlso receiving votes: Washington Wizards' John Wall, Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas\n\n► Power rankings: Wizards crack top 10, Warriors lonely at the top\n\n► Rookie of the Year race: Embiid dominates after All-Star snub\n\n5. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nLeonard, who missed two of San Antonio's three games this week with a hand injury, struggled from the field in his first game back on Friday, making just six of his 16 shot attempts (for 23 points) in a loss to the Pelicans, putting an end to his streak of six games with 30 or more points. On the season, the two-way superstar is averaging a career-high 25.4 points to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists — also a career-best. His offensive rating of 114.5 (points scored per 100 possessions) is fifth in the NBA among players who average 30 or more minutes a game.\n\n4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers\n\nThe headlines of James' week centered around his decision to publicly criticize the Cavs' roster, saying the team isn't better than last year \"from a personnel standpoint\" and that they need to improve \"if\" they want to repeat as champions. But that's not to say he wasn't elite on the court.\n\nThough the Cavs have hit a bid of a midseason road block, dropping six of their last 10 games, James hasn't lost a step. The four-time MVP put together back-to-back triple-doubles this week — 26 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in Monday's loss to the Pelicans and 24 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in Wednesday's loss to the Kings. He followed those performances with a 31-point (13-for-18 shooting), 11-assist, five-rebound outing in a win over the Nets on Friday.\n\n3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors\n\nDurant, who leads all small forwards in points (26.1) and field goal percentage (54.7%), was ridiculously efficient in Golden State's 144-98 rout of the Clippers on Saturday, scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting (3-for-4 from three) to go along with seven assists and four rebounds. He dropped 33 points (11-for-20) and added five rebounds and four blocks in Wednesday's win over the Hornets. His offensive rating of 116.2 is the highest of his 10-year career.\n\n2. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder\n\nWestbrook, who has six triple-doubles in his last eight games, led the Thunder to three straight wins this week. He put up 38 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals against the Jazz on Monday, 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the Pelicans on Wednesday and 45 points, eight rebounds and three assists against the Mavericks on Thursday. He also shot 11-for-24 (45.8%) from beyond the arc on the week.\n\nOn the season, the Oklahoma City superstar is averaging 31 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.2 assists — still on pace to become just the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double throughout an entire season.\n\n1. James Harden, Houston Rockets\n\nHarden added another chapter to his storybook season this week, pouring in 51 points (on 57.1% shooting), 13 rebounds and 13 assists in a 123-118 win over the 76ers on Friday night. He became the first player in NBA history to post multiple 50-point triple-doubles in a single season. It was his 14th triple-double of 2016-17 and pushed his averages to 29.1 points (tied for second in NBA), 11.6 assists (first) and 8.2 rebounds (third among guards).\n\n\"He played about as good as you can play,\" Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said after Harden's performance. \"I've been around a lot of players, but it doesn't get much better than that. I've never seen better than that.\"\n\nList of voters: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The Arizona Republic's Doug Haller; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; USA TODAY Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/01/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/11/14/nba-mvp-power-rankings-kristaps-porzingis-legitimate-candidate/861374001/", "title": "NBA MVP rankings: Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis a legitimate candidate", "text": "Kristaps Porzingis is a legitimate NBA MVP candidate.\n\nWe're serious.\n\nThe 7-foot-3, 22-year-old Latvian has taken charge of these New York Knicks during the first dozen games of the post-Carmelo Anthony era, righting the franchise's ship after it spent years in choppy — oftentimes unnavigable — waters.\n\nThe Knicks are above .500 (an accomplishment in and of itself) and own a 6-3 record at Madison Square Garden, while Porzingis ranks third in the NBA in scoring (29.5 points per game), fourth in blocks (2.2 per game) and has already scored 30 or more points eight times.\n\nHe entered the season with three such games in his career.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nOdds are the Knicks, competitive as they've been thus far, won't win enough games to get Porzingis MVP consideration once we reach the latter portion of the season. But for now, we can't help but sit back and enjoy the show.\n\nBelow are USA TODAY Sports’ weekly MVP rankings, as voted on by Sam Amick, Jeff Zillgitt, Michael Singer and AJ Neuharth-Keusch.\n\n5. DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans Pelicans\n\nLast week's ranking: Not ranked\n\nSeason stats: 28.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.6 blocks\n\nThe only players in NBA history to average at least 28 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists? Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. Those numbers were maintained throughout an entire season, sure, but Cousins' 2017-18 campaign is off to a historic start nonetheless. What's more, Cousins, after attempting no more than 22 three-pointers during each of his first five seasons in the NBA, has already let 107 threes fly this year, making 37 of them. He ranks in the top 10 among all NBA players in both categories.\n\n4. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 5\n\nSeason stats: 29.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 2.2 blocks\n\nTo put Porzingis' scoring prowess into historical context, he just became the fourth player in NBA history 22 years old or younger to score 30 or more points in five of his first six games of a season. He's also the first player in Knicks history to score 300 points through the first 10 games of a season.\n\n3. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 3\n\nSeason stats: 28.1 points, 8.8 assists, 7.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks\n\nJames — whose week consisted of a viral ride on the New York City subway, some cryptic (and not-so-cryptic) Instagram posts, and barbs directed at ex-Knicks president Phil Jackson — is averaging 38.1 minutes per game, a league-high and the most since his first season in Miami. With the NBA Finals not for another seven months, the question is begged: Is this sustainable?\n\n2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 2\n\nSeason stats: 31.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 blocks\n\nAntetokounmpo's rise to superstardom has been one of the most intriguing story lines in recent NBA seasons. What's more intriguing is the fact that the rise is far from finished. The recent addition of point guard Eric Bledsoe should help Antetokounmpo in the long run, too, by bolstering Milwaukee's bench with Malcolm Brogdon and adding another capable ballhandler to the mix.\n\n1. James Harden, Houston Rockets\n\nLast week's ranking: No. 1\n\nSeason stats: 30.2 points, 10.2 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 steals\n\nAnother week, another top spot for Harden, who has willed the Rockets to a Western Conference-leading 11-3 record. His MVP case may take a hit when Chris Paul returns, but his status is secure for now. In Thursday's win over Cleveland, he became the first player since Michael Jordan (in 1989) to tally 35 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds and five steals in a game.\n\nFollow USA TODAY Sports' AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/11/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2020/10/13/lebron-james-nba-championship-ranked/5965519002/", "title": "Lakers star LeBron James' best NBA championship teams, ranked.", "text": "LeBron James strengthened his case as one of the best basketball players of all-time by leading the Los Angeles Lakers to this season's NBA championship. James claimed his fourth title on his third NBA team, winning his fourth Finals MVP in the process.\n\nBut which of James' four NBA title teams is best? The debate will continue if James keeps winning rings with the Lakers, as the future Hall of Famer eyes his 18th NBA season in 2020-21 when he'll be 36 years old.\n\nWhile it is important to consider James' best individual accomplishments in spearheading a title — his 2016 Cavs upsetting the 73-win Golden State Warriors atop that list — this ranking overviews which teams are better overall based on most talented teammates, best team chemistry, and best collective team motivation. It is also necessary to understand where James was at in his career and what caliber of player he was on each specific title team.\n\nNBA FINALS:LeBron knows there's always something left to prove\n\nOPINION:Stop constantly comparing LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Just appreciate them.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nMORE:Ranking the 17 NBA championships in Lakers franchise history\n\n1. 2012-13 Miami Heat. James was MVP for a second consecutive season, having developed his game as a go-to scorer and a 27-game winning streak helped propel a 66-win season for this group, who added veteran sharpshooter Ray Allen to the core of the Big Three — James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The role players were stellar on this team and Miami had to win the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games against the Pacers and the Finals against the Spurs in seven games. This isn't just one of James' best, it's considered one of the best teams in NBA history. Coach Erik Spoelstra also was at his best in this season and is arguably James' best coach over the course of his 17-year career.\n\n2. 2011-12 Miami Heat. A year removed from losing in the Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in the first year of the Heat's Big Three, this lockout-shortened season saw James put together one of his best career seasons to win that year's regular season and Finals MVP. If there were any doubt that James was Batman and Wade was Robin from the previous season, James' clutch play in the playoffs punctuated his greatness on this team. It was also the best the Big Three played together, with Wade and Bosh settling into their roles around James. This team didn't win the Eastern Conference, but overcame a determined run by the Boston Celtics Big Three in seven games, before crushing a Kevin Durant-led Oklahoma City Thunder team 4-1 in the Finals.\n\n3. 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers. From a strictly up-against-the-odds motivational standpoint, this team staged one of the biggest upsets in NBA history by dispatching the 73-win Warriors when trailing 3-1. Then factor in James bringing Cleveland its first NBA title — ending the city's sports title drought — and it's undeniably a top hallmark of James' career. A healthy Kyrie Irving was a fitting sidekick to James, hitting a monstrously clutch jumper in Game 7, while Kevin Love proved to be a strong third option.\n\n4. 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers. Finishing fourth on this list isn't a knock on James or this team as much as it is a compliment to James' three previous teams. While James has never had a better teammate and sidekick than big man Anthony Davis, the rest of the roster wasn't as impressive as previous James squads. While Rajon Rondo brought his vintage self to the Finals, Danny Green's open miss in Game 5 was just a sample of where Los Angeles needed more from the supporting cast and will need more to repeat. If Kyle Kuzma can fully transition into a third weapon, a future version of the Lakers could vault ahead of the aforementioned teams. What was most impressive about this group was winning in the bubble in an adversity-fueled season that had a four-month break. Ample credit there goes to the coaching dynamic of head coach Frank Vogel and assistant Jason Kidd.\n\nFollow reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/10/13"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_16", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/07/biden-state-of-the-union-sotu-address-updates/11204405002/", "title": "State of the Union 2023 address recap: Biden lays out ambitious ...", "text": "WASHINGTON, D.C — President Joe Biden took credit Tuesday for what he said was the country's economic revival while pushing an agenda of reducing prescription drug costs, protecting abortion rights and banning assault weapons.\n\nThe economy was reeling two years ago, Biden said in his second State of the Union address delivered in a packed House chamber. In a preview of an expected reelection campaign announcement, he noted that the unemployment rate was at 50-year low while inflation has been easing.\n\n“We’ve been sent here to finish the job,” Biden said, invoking a phrase he used several times in his speech.\n\nBut the rancorous atmosphere in the House chamber telegraphed fights ahead, including over budget priorities and avoiding a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt. At several points in Biden’s speech, was interrupted by Republicans, who criticized his handling of border policy and pushed back when he accused them of trying to cut popular entitlements.\n\nSOTU analysis:Pivot point: Joe Biden faced a different chapter of his presidency in his State of the Union\n\nHeckles, spats and deflection:The biggest moments you missed from Biden's State of the Union\n\nState of the Union takeaways:Blue-collar Joe, GOP boos and a 2024 preview\n\nThe latest on Biden's speech:\n\nBlue-collar pitch: Promoting his economic plan, Biden assured Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten,” arguing that “too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible.”\n\nPromoting his economic plan, Biden assured Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten,” arguing that “too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible.” Biden calls Pelosi 'greatest speaker’ ever: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway.\n\nFormer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway. Biden touts progress on insulin prices while pushing for more: Biden renewed his call to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American.\n\nBiden renewed his call to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American. Biden spars with GOP over Social Security and Medicare: The president prompted protests in the chamber from Republican lawmakers when he repeated his accusation that the GOP was trying to cut entitlements. When the protests continued, Biden said he wasn’t arguing that all Republicans back reviewing entitlement programs every five years. “But it’s being proposed,” he said.\n\nSanders: Biden has 'failed' American people; calls for 'new generation'\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, at age 40 the youngest governor in the country, didn't hesitate to point out that 80-year-old Joe Biden is the oldest president in history – and added that it is time for a \"new generation\" of Republican leadership.\n\n\"Biden and the Democrats have failed you,\" Sanders said in the formal GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address. \"It's time for a change.\"\n\nSpeaking from the governor's mansion in Little Rock, Ark., Sanders cited domestic issues like inflation, immigration, and crime. Also criticizing the president's foreign policy, Sanders said Biden is \"unfit\" to be Commander-in-Chief.\n\nCiting the Republican majority in the House, Sanders said: \"We will hold the Biden administration accountable.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nThe GOP:In Republican response to Biden's State of the Union, a vow to block the president's agenda\n\nBiden calls Paul Pelosi 'tough'\n\nBiden called out the political violence that was unleashed in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.\n\n“With democracy, everything is possible. Without it, nothing is,” he said.\n\nBiden introduced Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was violently attacked in their home by an intruder, saying the assailant was “unhinged by the Big Lie” that the election was stolen.\n\n“Here tonight in this chamber is the man who bears the scars of that brutal attack, but is as tough and strong and as resilient as they get. My friend, Paul Pelosi,\" he said. “But such a heinous act never should have happened.”\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nPaul Pelosi attack:Video footage of violent home attack on Paul Pelosi released\n\nBiden gets personal and celebrates Cancer Moonshot initiative\n\nBiden celebrated the Cancer Moonshot initiative, aimed at advancing cancer prevention and treatment,\n\n“Our goal is to cut the cancer death rates at least by 50% in the next 25 years. Turn more cancers from death sentences to treatable diseases. Provide more support for patients and their families.” The issue is also deeply personal to Biden, as one of his sons, Beau Biden, passed away due to brain cancer. “It’s personal to so many of us.”\n\nBiden also singled out Maurice and Kandice Barron, a pair of guests invited by First Lady Jill Biden. Their daughter, Ava Barron, was diagnosed with a form of kidney cancer when she was one year old. “She turns four next month,” Biden said to wide cheers from the audience. “They just found out Ava’s beating the odds and is on her way to being cured from cancer.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nCancer treatment:New cancer therapy takes personalized medicine to a new level\n\nBiden says US stood up to China\n\nFacing Republicans who’ve accused him of being too soft on China, Biden said he responded clearly last week when a Chinese surveillance balloon floated over the United States.\n\nChina knows that if U.S. sovereignty is threatened, Americans will act to protect the country.\n\n“And we did,” Biden said, an apparent reference to his decision to shoot down the balloon.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nChinese spy balloon:Chinese spy balloon went over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says\n\nBiden: Stop production, trafficking of fentanyl\n\nCiting Americans’ growing dependence on prescription drugs, Biden called for a major campaign to stop the production, sale and trafficking of fentanyl.\n\nBiden noted that fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year. But his remarks were met with contempt from some members of Congress.\n\n“It’s your fault!” several Republicans shouted.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\nBiden says VA working to end 'the silent scourge of suicide'\n\nBiden said when he first appointed Denis McDonough to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, the country was losing up to 25 veterans a day to “the silent scourge of suicide,” and continues to lose 17 per day.\n\n“The VA is doing everything it can, including expanding mental health screenings and a proven program that recruits veterans to help other veterans understand what they’re going through and get the help they need,”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nMilitary suicide:Amid suicide crisis, the Army says it will rush mental health providers to Alaska\n\nBiden calls for higher teacher pay\n\nBiden hasn't touched much on education issues during the address but did take a moment to outline several priorities on that front. Among them: expanding access to preschool and raising teacher pay.\n\nIn 2021, teachers made less than 77 cents on the dollar compared with other college graduates. Yet surveys show teachers work more than 50 hours a week on average. Close to 1 in 5 work elsewhere at another job. It's no surprise that nearly half of U.S. schools are short teachers. Some states and districts have proposed or enacted pay bumps but they've been modest at best.\n\nFederal legislation again before Congress this session would set a teacher salary floor of $60,000. While raising teacher pay has garnered the support of some Republicans, the American Teacher Act is unlikely to get far. In some states teachers make less than $50,000 on average.\n\n– Alia Wong\n\nTeacher shortage:Amid crippling teacher shortages, some schools are turning to unorthodox solutions\n\nBiden urges lawmakers to protect abortion rights\n\nBiden called on lawmakers to “restore” abortion rights after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.\n\n“The vice president and I are doing everything to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient safety,” Biden said, noting that states across the country have implemented abortion bans and restrictions.\n\n“Make no mistake about it. If Congress passes a national ban, I will veto it,” the president vowed.\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nRoe v. Wade overturned:Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion\n\nAbortion pills:20 Republican attorneys general warn CVS, Walgreens against selling abortion pills by mail\n\nBiden renews call to stand with Ukraine 'as long as it takes'\n\nCalling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “test for the ages,” Biden said the U.S. passed that test by standing for sovereignty.\n\nThat matters, Biden said, because it “prevents open season for would-be aggressors.”\n\nHis argument – and promise to stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes” – comes as some Republicans are calling for greater scrutiny, or even a curtailment, of U.S. involvement.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nUkraine latest:Ukraine pushes to exclude Russia from 2024 Paris Olympics\n\nBono at the SOTU:Here's why musician, advocate Bono is at Biden's State of the Union address\n\nAmerica’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts, said Biden.\n\nSince launching a new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97%, Biden said.\n\n“We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” he said.\n\nHe urged Congress to pass his plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. He also asked Congress to pave a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nBorder politics:Republicans said Biden wasn't doing enough on the border. New GOP-led House is demanding answers\n\nBiden highlights ‘courage’ of Brandon Tsay and calls for assault weapon bans\n\nBiden singled out Brandon Tsay’s heroism two weeks ago when he disarmed the Monterey Park shooter who killed 11 people who attended a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. Tsay, who is in attendance, received a standing ovation from lawmakers as Biden acknowledged him.\n\n“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same as well,” Biden said. “Ban assault weapons once and for all.”\n\nMass shootings typically lead lawmakers to call for such actions but it’s unlikely that a ban will pass in a divided Congress with many Republican lawmakers who have vowed that they will not waver on gun control.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\n'Still too high':Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders independent panel to study military suicide\n\nMarjorie Taylor Greene yells at Biden multiple times\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a fervent opponent of Biden who has called for his impeachment, yelled at him twice during the State of the Union address.\n\nThe first time came as Biden said Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare – an accusation that Greene refuted when she stood up yelled “Liar!”\n\nGreene later yelled, “China spied on us!” near the end of Biden’s speech.\n\nShe also yelled to “close the border” and “it’s your fault” when the president talked about the fentanyl crisis.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nHeckling lawmakers:Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nBiden on Tyre Nichols’ death: ‘Something good must come from this’\n\nBiden used his speech to pay tribute to Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers.\n\nBiden called for more police training and more resources to reduce violent crime, along with more investments in housing, education and training.\n\nNoting that Nichols’ mother and stepfather were seated in the first lady’s box, Biden urged lawmakers to commit themselves to making the words of Nichols’ mother come true: “Something good must come from this.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nTyre Nichols killing:7 more Memphis police employees under investigation in Tyre Nichols' death, city attorney says\n\nBiden invokes Uvalde massacre in call for gun reform\n\nIn a call to action on gun violence, Biden invoked his trip to Uvalde, Texas, after the Robb Elementary School shooting where 19 students and two teachers were killed.\n\n“Do something, do something. That was the plea of parents who lost their children in Uvalde, I met with everyone.” Biden said, then pointing to the bipartisan gun reform law he signed. “Thank god we did. Passing the most sweeping gun safety law in three decades.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nUvalde shooting:Her daughter was killed in Uvalde. She's suing police, the school district and a gunmaker.\n\nCOVID is under control but vigilance necessary, says Biden\n\nWhile COVID-19 deaths are down nearly 90%, and the end of the public health emergency is close, Biden said the country will remember the pain of losing loved ones will never go away for many.\n\n“Families grieving. Children orphaned. Empty chairs at the dining room table. We remember them, and we remain vigilant,” he said.\n\nBiden said it was important to remain vigilant and monitor dozens of variants and support new vaccines and treatments. He urged Congress to fund these efforts and keep America safe.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nThe COVID emergency declaration is ending:What it means for tests, vaccines, treatment\n\nBiden: Police departments 'must be held accountable'\n\nSaying Tyre Nichols’ mother wants something good to come from his death at the hands of police officers in Memphis, Biden called for police reform.\n\n“When police officers or departments violate the public trust, they must be held accountable,” he said.\n\nBiden also pointed to an executive order he signed affecting federal officers that banned chokeholds, restricted no-knock warrants, and implemented “other key elements of the George Floyd Act.”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nTyre Nichols:Ex-Memphis police officer took a photo of Tyre Nichols after beating, document says\n\nBiden urges Congress to act on labor reform\n\nBiden called for Congress to take up labor reform and worker protections as he touted his support for unions and his pledge to be “the most pro-union president.”\n\n“I’m so sick and tired of companies breaking the law by preventing workers from organizing,” said Biden. “Workers have a right to form a union.”\n\nBiden also urged action on additional worker protections and benefits, including paid family and medical leave and affordable child care, specifically calling for the return of the expanded Child Tax Credit.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nLabor secretary makes move:Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh stepping down as Biden Labor Secretary for job with NHL union\n\nBiden calls for rebooting the expanded Child Tax Credit\n\nParents who qualify for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) won’t be getting as hefty checks as last year. That’s because the enhanced CTC, which parents could also opt to receive in installments rather than waiting to receive it in a lump sum payment when they file their taxes, expired.\n\nThe enhanced CTC increased payments from $2,000 per qualifying child to $3,600 for children ages 5 and under and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17. This year it will go back to $2,000 for qualifying children of all ages.\n\nIn his remarks, Biden vowed to “restore the full Child Tax Credit which gave tens of millions of parents some breathing room and cut child poverty in half, to the lowest level in history.”\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nChild tax credit this year:How much is the Child Tax Credit for 2023? Here's what you need to know about qualifying.\n\nBiden: Ban ‘junk fees’ on hotel bills, other services\n\nBiden urged Congress to pass legislation to ban excess fees that companies often tack onto hotel bills, airline tickets and other services.\n\n“Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” he said.\n\nThe Junk Fee Prevention Act, if approved, would bar so-called “resort fees” that can add up to $90 a night on hotel bills, stop cable internet and cell phone companies from charging up to $200 more when a customer switches providers, and prohibit airlines from charging up to $50 roundtrip for families to sit together, Biden said.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nJunk fees:Biden moves to limit credit fees to $8 for missed payments in latest \"junk fee\" crack down\n\nSocial Security and Medicare benefits draw tension during speech\n\nBiden’s State of the Union address comes as he and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have started talks on the debt ceiling and government spending.\n\nTension has been building between the two parties over Social Security and Medicare benefits. McCarthy said Republicans aren’t going to cut those programs, but Democrats say the math will force those cuts if the GOP demands lowered government spending.\n\nBiden in his speech said Republicans want to cut the programs, to which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up and yelled “Liar!” as other members booed the president.\n\n“OK, so we agree,” Biden said. “Social Security and Medicare is off the books.”\n\nBipartisan cheers returned to the chamber.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nMedicare:Medicare launches plan to negotiate prices for the costliest drugs. Here's what to know.\n\nBiden takes credit for deficit cuts\n\nBiden celebrated the government’s deficit cuts seen under his administration in his State of the Union address.\n\n“For the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion, the largest deficit reduction in American history,” Biden said. The deficit’s cut was partly a result of higher tax revenues that Biden touted but also the end of spending related to the pandemic.\n\nBiden also took a jab at former President Donald Trump for increases in the federal deficit under Trump’s administration. “Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row,” Biden said, to boos and jeers from Republican lawmakers.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nWhat happens if the US hits the debt ceiling?:Here's what to expect if we reach debt limit.\n\nBiden says Republicans want to ‘take the economy hostage’ in debt ceiling talks\n\nBiden accused Republicans of wanting to “take the economy hostage” unless he agrees to their demands for spending cuts during debt ceiling talks.\n\nBiden demanded Republicans show “what their plans are.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has not specified what Republicans want axed.\n\n“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years,” Biden said, prompting loud boos from Republicans in Congress.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nMedicare and debt ceiling fight:How Medicare and Social Security benefits factor into the Kevin McCarthy debt ceiling fight\n\nBiden defends Inflation Reduction Act\n\nPresident Biden touted the Inflation Reduction Act which he signed into law, saying he was taking on powerful interest to bring health care costs down.\n\n“You know, we pay more for prescription drugs than any major country on earth,” he said. “Big Pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars – and making record profits.”\n\nHaving capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare, Biden said it was time to help Americans not on Medicare, including 200,000 young people with Type I diabetes who need insulin to save their lives. “Let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it,” he said. The law also caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at a maximum $2,000 per year.\n\nHe also promised to veto any attempts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nCredit fees:Biden moves to limit credit fees to $8 for missed payments in latest \"junk fee\" crack down\n\nBiden tangles with GOP lawmakers over Social Security and Medicare\n\nBiden got into an unusual back and forth with Republicans over whether GOP lawmakers want to end the automatic continuation of Social Security and Medicare.\n\nWhen some vocally protested, Biden responded: “Anyone who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”\n\nWhen the protests continued, Biden said he wasn’t arguing that all Republicans back reviewing entitlement programs every five years.\n\n“But it’s being proposed,” he said.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nMedicare debate:How Medicare and Social Security benefits factor into the Kevin McCarthy debt ceiling fight\n\nCheers and boos for Biden\n\nProgressive members of the House, known as “the Squad,” cheered as President Joe Biden pushed for fair taxes and called out low tax rates for billionaires.\n\n“You tell ‘em, Joe,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.\n\nHe also had plenty of jeers from the Republican side of the chamber when he slammed former President Donald Trump’s fiscal record and accused the House GOP of trying to cut Social Security and Medicare. The latter attracted loud boos.\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up and yelled, “Liar!” from the back of the chamber.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nTalkative Biden:On average, Biden is most talkative president in six decades of State of Union addresses\n\nBiden repeats call for ‘billionaire’s tax’\n\nBiden used his speech to call again for Congress to pass a so-called “billionaire’s tax,” saying some of the biggest corporations in the country are raking in billions of dollars in profits but paying no federal income taxes.\n\n“That’s simply not fair,” he said.\n\nBiden did not spell out the specifics of his proposal. But in the past, he has called for a 20% levy on households with a net worth of more than $100 million.\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nWhat are the tax brackets?:What are the 2022 US federal tax brackets? What are the new 2023 tax brackets? Answers here\n\nBiden calls climate crisis ‘an existential threat’\n\nBiden said “the climate crisis doesn't care if you're in a red or blue state” as he touted his administration’s work to take on what he called “an existential threat.”\n\nHe pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the largest climate package ever, and investments from his infrastructure law.\n\nHe later went off-script, saying, “We’re still going to need oil and gas for a while.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nUN Secretary-General::'No more baby steps' on climate change\n\nBiden to Congress: Continue insurance subsidies that lowered uninsured rates\n\nBiden celebrated the fact that a record number of Americans have health insurance while calling on Congress to continue expanded insurance subsidies that helped boost that rate.\n\nThose enhanced subsidies for people who purchase insurance on their own, instead of getting coverage from the government or an employer, expire after 2025.\n\n“Let’s finish the job and make the savings permanent,” Biden said as he also called for extending expanded Medicaid coverage to all states.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nBiden takes made in America a step further\n\nBiden touted American manufacturing gains and a campaign promise to move more production to the U.S. from foreign countries. Biden then announced, “new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America.”\n\n“American-made lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cables,” he said. “And on my watch, American roads, American bridges, and American highways will be made with American products.”\n\nBiden’s message echoes former President Donald Trump’s prior State of the Union addresses where he boasted about initiatives to bring back manufacturing jobs that have been lost over the years.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nInsulin costs:Medicare caps insulin costs at $35 a month. Can Biden get that price for all Americans?\n\nBiden touts legislative victories in infrastructure and manufacturing\n\nBiden championed his series of legislative victories that ranged from tackling the country’s supply chain shortage and sweeping investments in domestic manufacturing and infrastructure.\n\n“We’re gonna make sure the supply chain for America begins in America,” Biden said, touting a bipartisan bill he signed that made investments to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductors.\n\n“To maintain the strongest economy in the world, we need the best infrastructure in the world,” said Biden, pointing to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. “Folks, we’re just getting started.”\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nWhy Bono is at SOTU:Here's why musician, advocate Bono is at Biden's State of the Union address\n\nBiden appeals to middle and working class people on manufacturing\n\nIn an appeal to middle class and working class people, Biden said he ran for president “to make sure the economy works for everyone” so that everyone can have pride in what they do for a living.\n\n“For decades, the middle class was hollowed out,” he said. “Too many good-paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas. Factories at home closed down. Once-thriving cities and towns that many of you represent became shadows of what they used to be.”\n\nBiden then spoke about his administration’s accomplishments in the manufacturing sector.\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\nMore:As Biden prepares 2024 reelection run, Dems worry blue-collar voters are slipping away\n\nBiden: ‘COVID no longer controls our lives’\n\nBiden said the nation’s economy is roaring back from the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n“Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much,” he said. “Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”\n\nBiden said his administration has created 12 million jobs, “more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nA full House – literally – for State of the Union\n\nPresident Joe Biden entered a full House chamber Tuesday.\n\nThe capacity crowd included House and Senate members, current and former Supreme Court justices, family and honored guests.\n\nBiden’s first words were met with a standing ovation, as he honored Republican and Democratic leaders – but also as he described the state of the union.\n\nThe applause came from Democrats and Republicans, and the standing ovations were sometimes led by a row of powerful Senate moderates, including Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Kyrsten Sinema, who recently changed her party affiliation to independent.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nBiden: Pelosi is 'greatest speaker’ ever\n\nFormer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t sitting behind Biden for his address but she got a special call-out from the president anyway.\n\n“I want to give special recognition to someone who I think will be considered the greatest speaker in the history of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi,” Biden said.\n\nPelosi stepped down from Democratic leadership after the midterm elections. Biden also congratulated her successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black American to be House minority leader.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nWhat are burn pits?:Why were burn pits used? Toxic fumes, medical risks explained.\n\nBiden begins speech telling McCarthy he looks forward to ‘working together’\n\nBiden began his remarks congratulating Kevin McCarthy, the new Republican House speaker, and saying he looks forward to “working together.”\n\nBiden also congratulated Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies, the first African American man to lead a party, and gave shout outs to Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.\n\n“The story of America is a story of progress and resilience. Of always moving forward. Of never giving up,” Biden said.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nLabor Secretary Marty Walsh is designated survivor for 2023 State of the Union\n\nSecretary of Labor Marty Walsh is the designated survivor for this year's State of the Union address.\n\nEvery year, a top government official is chosen as the “designated survivor” as a way to maintain the presidential line of succession in case of a catastrophic event where multiple officials in the line are unable to assume office.\n\n– Ken Tran\n\nMarty Walsh:Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh stepping down as Biden Labor Secretary for job with NHL union\n\nBono is at the State of the Union\n\nBono, the Irish lead singer of U2, is attending the State of the Union as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.\n\nBono is a longtime social justice advocate who co-founded the nonprofit ONE Campaign to address poverty and preventable diseases and Prouct RED to address HIV and AIDS in Africa.\n\nHe’s sitting next to Paul Pelosi, husband of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\n2 Californians will sit behind Biden\n\nVice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may not share a political party. But they do have something in common. Both are from California.\n\nThat gave them at least one thing to talk about as they stood on the rostrum, waiting for Biden’s speech to begin.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nBiden gets a Supreme Court majority for speech, if not policies\n\nAt least for tonight, President Joe Biden landed a majority of the Supreme Court.\n\nFive sitting Supreme Court justices stepped into the House chamber before the president’s remarks: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.\n\nThat’s a decent turnout for an event some current and former justices have derided as a “political pep rally” and a “childish spectacle.”\n\nWhether the president can cobble together a majority for any of his policies pending at the court – on immigration, student loan debt relief or environmental rules – remains to be seen.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nBiden to get bipartisan escort into House chamber\n\nBiden will be escorted into the House chamber by a bipartisan group of House and Senate officials, including Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.\n\n–Michael Collins\n\nFace masks uncommon as pre-pandemic normality returns\n\nFew lawmakers were wearing face masks as they filed onto the House floor for Biden’s State of the Union speech.\n\nAnd unlike last year, members of Congress were allowed to bring guests, a return to pre-pandemic normality.\n\n“Today, COVID no longer controls our lives,” Biden will declare, according to speech excerpts the White House released in advance.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nState of the economy:A look at economy's strengths, weaknesses as Biden sets to boast of record job growth in State of Union\n\nBiden arrives at Capitol\n\nBiden’s motorcade arrived at the Capitol at 8:40 p.m. ahead of his 9 p.m. State of the Union speech.\n\n“Great shape, getting better,” Biden said when a reporter asked him, “What’s the state of the union?” before he departed the White House.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\n5 big questions for Biden's speech:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nPoll: Republicans want GOP leaders to 'stand up’ to Biden\n\nIf Biden doesn’t find a receptive audience to his call for the two parties to work together, Republican voters could be the reason.\n\nMost Republicans (64%) want GOP congressional leaders to “stand up” to Biden on matters important to GOP, even if that makes it harder to address critical problems facing the country, according to recent polling from the Pew Research Center.\n\nAnd more are concerned that GOP lawmakers won’t focus enough on investigating the administration than the share worried that they will focus too much on investigations.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nBiden approval rating hovering in low 40s ahead of speech\n\nBiden’s second State of the Union address Tuesday comes as he remains under water politically, with more than half of voters disapproving of his job performance, according to most polls.\n\nA Washington Post-ABC poll released this week found 42% of voters approve of Biden’s job performance, while 53% disapprove. That closely matches the FiveThirtyEight average of polls.\n\nBiden’s job performance has stayed below since August 2021 in most polls. Even more troubling for Biden, most Americans can’t identify his achievements. Sixty-two percent of Americans said Biden has accomplished \"not very much\" or “little or nothing,\" in the same Washington Post-ABC News poll, while only 36% said he has accomplished \"a great deal\" or \"a good amount.\"\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nWhat to watch for:The State of the Union is Tuesday: Here's what you can expect from Joe Biden's speech\n\nVice President Kamala Harris chats with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ahead of speech\n\nVice President Kamala Harris shook hands with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the two chatted, as they stood behind the rostrum waiting for Biden to enter the House chamber.\n\nThis will be the first State of the Union with McCarthy as speaker since Republicans took control of the House during the midterm elections.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nBiden heads to the Capitol\n\nBiden left the White House at 8:30 p.m. en route to the Capitol. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived ahead of him along with the majority of his Cabinet.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nPaul Pelosi arrives at State of the Union\n\nPaul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived at the State of the Union about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.\n\nThis marks his first visit to a joint session of Congress since a video release of a brutal October attack that left him with head and hand injuries requiring surgery.\n\n– Candy Woodall\n\nLawmakers arrive for State of the Union\n\nIf handshakes across the aisle are any reliable indication, there was a hint of bipartisanship in the air as lawmakers arrived for President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union before a divided Congress.\n\nThere was also the smell of cigars in the House gallery hallways on the third floor, a sign of the changing guard and new House rules.\n\nSeveral guests and congresswomen were wearing white, as a nod to the suffragettes. That included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who despite earlier posts did not bring a white balloon into the chamber to troll Biden about what she describes as a delayed response in taking down the Chinese spy balloon.\n\n- Candy Woodall\n\nBiden traveling to Wisconsin and Florida after speech\n\nBiden administration officials will hit the road this week, holding events in at least 20 states to highlight parts of the president’s message.\n\nBiden himself will talk about his economic agenda in Wisconsin Wednesday and will discuss Social Security and Medicare in Florida Thursday.\n\nVice President Kamala Harris is heading to Georgia and Minnesota. Multiple other cabinet members are also fanning out across the country.\n\n- Maureen Groppe\n\nHow would Biden’s billionaire tax work?\n\nTonight Biden will resurface his plan to levy more taxes on the ultra-wealthy. But how would that work?\n\nUnder the current tax system, you don’t have to pay taxes on assets like stocks, homes and artwork that can appreciate over time until you sell it. But if you hold onto them until you die, you won’t have to pay any taxes. And on top of that, heirs that inherit your assets won’t have to pay taxes if they sell them.\n\nThe Biden Administration refers to this as a tax loophole, as billionaires benefit the most since they’re more likely than working-class Americans to get compensated via stocks or other assets that appreciate over time or inherit them.\n\nTo end the practice, Biden is proposing “minimum income tax” on American households worth more than $100 million. His plan calls for the wealthiest Americans to pay a tax rate of at least 20% on their full income, including unrealized gains from assets that have increased in value since their purchase.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nTaxing billionaires:Should the wealthy pay taxes on expensive art and wine? Joe Biden thinks so. Here's how it would work\n\nOcasio-Cortez lays out expectations for Biden’s speech, working with Republicans\n\nAhead of Biden’s address, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.-N.Y., said she’s hoping to “hear a really strong vision” from Biden and explained how Democrats and Republicans could find common ground after the GOP gained control of the House during the midterm elections.\n\nThe New York lawmaker told CNN she hopes to hear “about not just what we've done so far, but also our plans on executing on the enormous bills and successes that we've had in the last one to two years,\" saying “There still is implementation and execution on these plans to address our priorities around climate, taxing the rich and so much more.”\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nBiden's 'finish the job' call in State of the Union echoes FDR\n\nHistorian Michael Beschloss hears echoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt in Biden’s State of the Union address.\n\nBiden will call on Republicans to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the country, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House.\n\n“Finish the job” was used as a rationale for FDR's reelection, Beschloss tweeted about the phrase’s historical lineage. It was also a slogan for the World War I effort. And in a famous radio address during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed to “finish the job.”\n\nAt the start of Biden’s administration, many comparisons – not all of them favorable – were made between the size and scope of Biden’s ambitions, Roosevelt’s programs and the World War II spending that lifted the nation out of the Great Depression.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders: Biden is more interested in 'woke fantasies' than concerns of everyday Americans\n\nIn delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sander plans to attack Biden and the Democrats over a panoply of issues that include inflation, taxes, education and so-called \"culture wars.\"\n\n\"And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day,\" Sanders plans to say, according to speech excerpts released by her office.\n\nAnother excerpt: \"Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nState of the Union guests:Lawmakers highlight policing, abortion, wrongful imprisonment\n\nHow long does the State of the Union last? What it will take for Biden to set a SOTU record\n\nBiden’s first State of the Union address in 2022 was somewhere between the longest and shortest speeches ever given, according to The American Presidency Project. Will he keep his second address tonight short and sweet, or will he be long-winded?\n\nIf he intendeds to break the record for the shortest speech ever, he’d have it keep it under 28 minutes and 55 seconds. That was the time Richard Nixon took to deliver his address in 1972. To beat the longest address ever, he’d have to outdo his fellow Democrat former President Bill Clinton, who went on for 1 hour, 28 minutes and 40 seconds for his final State of the Union speech in 2000. Clinton also claims the spot for the second longest address, clocking in at 1 hour, 24 minutes and 58 seconds in 1995.\n\n– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy\n\nBiden to promise investment in ‘places and people that have been forgotten’\n\nBiden will spend part of his address promoting his economic plan and assuring Americans that he wants to invest in “places and people that have been forgotten.”\n\nAmid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible, he will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House.\n\n“Maybe that’s you watching at home,” Biden will say. “You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away. I get it. That’s why we’re building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.”\n\n– Michael Collins\n\nBiden to praise recovery from Jan. 6 riot, COVID\n\nPresident Joe Biden will say “the story of America is a story of progress and resilience” in his State of the Union address as he touts a rebounding economy, COVID-19 recovery and democracy that survived the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, according to excerpts of the speech provided by the White House.\n\nBiden will tout 12 million new jobs created under his presidency – many that came back following the pandemic – to claim economic progress. And he will reflect on a period two years ago when businesses and schools closed at the height of the pandemic.\n\n“Today, COVID no longer controls our lives,” Biden plans to say. “And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nBiden to ask Republicans to work with him in SOTU speech\n\nPresident Joe Biden will make a plea to Republicans in Congress to work with him. He said after the November elections that Americans sent a divided Congress to Washington because they want them to work together.\n\n“The people sent us a clear message,” Biden will say, according to excerpts released from the White House. “Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.”\n\n– Erin Mansfield\n\nWhy Sen. Patty Murray and other lawmakers will be wearing crayons at State of the Union\n\nWashington Sen. Patty Murray and some of her Democratic colleagues will be wearing crayon pins to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday to signal their support for greater investments in child care. Such care now costs more than $10,000 a year on average, and roughly half of Americans live in a child care desert. Insufficient child care takes a toll on America's economy, recent research shows, costing taxpayers $122 billion annually.\n\nPartisan gridlock has prevented progress on major child care reforms, such as Murray's Child Care for Working Families Act, which would generally cap child care expenses at 7% of a family's household income. Biden, who alluded to that cap in his last State of the Union, has also struggled to gain traction on his child care proposals.\n\n– Alia Wong\n\nLawmakers to highlight key social issues through guests\n\nTuesday night’s State of the Union address will be the first year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic where lawmakers are allowed to bring their own guests. As part of tradition, lawmakers tend to invite guests that draw attention to issues important to them.\n\nSeveral Democratic lawmakers have invited guests to champion abortion access such as Roslyn Roger Collins, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Metropolitan New Jersey, who will attend the address alongside Rep. Bob Mendendez, D-N.J., according to Planned Parenthood.\n\nIn the wake of the brutal beating and subsequent death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are bringing guests who have been impacted by police violence. House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has invited Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died at the hands of a New York police officer in 2014.\n\n– Christine Fernando and Ken Tran\n\nRepublican response: Sarah Huckabee Sanders follows in historic footsteps with her State of the Union response\n\nArkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the first former White House press secretary to deliver a formal State of the Union response – she is not, however, the first governor of Arkansas to do the honors.\n\nBack in 1985, the Democrats picked a young governor of Arkansas to deliver their response to President Ronald Reagan.\n\nHis name? Bill Clinton ... then-future President Bill Clinton.\n\nSanders will give the Republican rebuttal after Biden's speech.\n\n– David Jackson\n\n5 big questions for the SOTU:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden and China: Spy balloon likely to be addressed\n\nThe speech is a chance for Biden to respond to those who have criticized how he handled the suspected Chinese spy balloon that drifted over the United States last week – and to send a public message to China. Republicans have accused Biden of showing weakness by not shooting down the balloon sooner.\n\nTensions have been rising with China, which the U.S. considers its biggest strategic and economic competitor. The nations have clashed over Taiwan, technology, human rights, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other disputes.\n\nThe Biden administration has been trying to stabilize the relationship, building what it’s called “guardrails” as it normalizes interaction. But one effort to do that – sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China – was postponed because of the balloon incident.\n\n– Maureen Groppe and Michael Collins\n\nIntel chair: China balloon flew over nuke sites\n\nBiden to lay out 'forceful approach’ to combatting fentanyl\n\nThe Biden administration will launch a national campaign to educate young people on the dangers of fentanyl, part of the “forceful approach” for going after fentanyl trafficking and reducing overdose deaths.\n\nOther steps include:\n\nUsing new large-scale scanners to improve efforts to stop fentanyl from being brought into the U.S. through the southern border.\n\nWorking with package delivery companies to catch more packages containing fentanyl from being shipped around the country.\n\nWorking with Congress to make permanent a temporary tool that that’s helped federal agents crack down on drugs chemically similar to fentanyl.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\n5 big questions on Biden's speech:Is he running? 5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union\n\nBiden to plug job market as recession looms\n\nPresident Joe Biden is expected to take credit for a booming job market and easing inflation when he speaks to the nation Tuesday night.\n\nBut he’ll likely leave out a litany of trouble spots, including a slumping housing market, a monthslong manufacturing downturn and elevated recession risk this year. Meanwhile, inflation is still high and economists pin at least some of the blame on Biden for showering Americans with cash in early 2021 while the economy was already healing.\n\n– Paul Davidson\n\nState of the economy:A look at economy's strengths, weaknesses as Biden sets to boast of record job growth in State of Union\n\nWho is Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Arkansas governor to giver Republican response to Biden's State of the Union address\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders, one-time White House press secretary for former President Trump and current governor of Arkansas, will deliver the Republican rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address tonight.\n\nSanders, the youngest governor in the U.S., hails from a prominent political family. Her father Mike Huckabee was the 44th governor of Arkansas, serving from 1996 to 2007 before launching an unsuccessful presidential bid during the 2008 election. The younger Sanders has since cut out her own place in GOP politics, emerging as one of the more high-profile members of the Trump administration.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nBono, Tyre Nichols’ family members among guests sitting with first lady Jill Biden Tuesday night\n\nThe lead singer for the rock group U2, Bono, and Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, are among the White House guests attending President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday.\n\nGuests are chosen to highlight themes of the president’s speech or because they represent his policy initiatives.\n\nBono is the cofounder of the ONE campaign to fight poverty and preventable diseases, and (RED), which fights HIV/AIDS in Africa. Other guests who will be sitting with first lady Jill Biden during the speech include:\n\nThe mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers.\n\nBrandon Tsay, the man who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman who killed 11 people and injured 10 others during a Lunar New Year celebration.\n\nA Texas woman who almost died because doctors were concerned that intervening when her pregnancy ran into difficulties would violate the state’s abortion ban.\n\nOne of the Massachusetts same-sex couples who sued the state for the right to marry in 2001.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nWhat to expect from tonight's speech:Here's what you can expect from Joe Biden's speech\n\nBiden's speech comes amid job gains\n\nOne accomplishment Biden is sure to bring up tonight is the level of job gains under his presidency. Since he took office the unemployment rate went from 6.3% to 3.4%, per the latest jobs data.\n\nDespite recession fears and massive tech layoffs, U.S. employers added 517,000 new jobs last month, well exceeding economists' expectations of around 180,000 new jobs.\n\nThe blowout jobs report paved the way for the Federal Reserve to pass more rate hikes aimed at lowering inflation, Fed Chairman Powell said in remarks he delivered earlier today. But the rate hikes could push the economy closer to a recession, which the central bank has avoided so far.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nBiden’s student loan forgiveness plan remains stalled\n\nBiden has yet to fulfill his campaign promise of canceling at least $10,000 in student loan debt. Last year he unveiled a plan to make good on his promise.\n\nHowever the plan is being stalled by legal challenges. Six states – Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina – formed a coalition to fight the proposal. They argue that canceling student loan debt extends beyond the administration’s legal authority.\n\nThe Supreme Court is set to hear arguments for the case later this month. The Biden administration claims it is well within their legal realm to proceed with its plan. It cannot do so unless the Court rules in its favor, however.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nStock market under Biden\n\nSince President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10%. Last year the index fell into a bear market, meaning it dropped 20% below a market peak set last January.\n\nDuring former President Donald Trump's time in office, the Dow gained 56%. That represents an annualized gain of close to 12%, one of the best stock market performances under a Republican president according to data from LPL Financial.\n\n– Elisabeth Buchwald\n\nWhat time is the State of the Union speech tonight?\n\nBiden’s State of the Union speech is Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.\n\nHow to stream the SOTU\n\nThe speech will be livestreamed by USA TODAY.\n\nWho is the designated survivor tonight?\n\nThe State of the Union address, delivered to a joint session of Congress and a crowd that includes all nine Supreme Court justices, poses a unique scenario in which every key member of the nation’s leadership is in one room.\n\nThat makes it both a momentous affair, and a significant national security risk. For this reason, each year one member of the president’s Cabinet dubbed the \"designated survivor\" hangs back.\n\nThe practice dates back to the Cold War, during which fears of a Soviet Nuclear attack abounded and a fresh urgency surrounded protocols for the order of presidential succession. The designated survivor for 2023 has not yet been announced, but heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy have most frequently been chosen.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nWhat channel is the State of the Union on?\n\nThe major TV networks and other news outlets, such as Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and PBS, are providing live coverage of the address.\n\nWhat is the State of the Union address?\n\nThe State of the Union address isn’t just a tradition in the nation’s capital. It's rooted in the Constitution.\n\nArticle II of the Constitution says the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.\"\n\nThat doesn’t mean the president has to give a speech – as they often do today.\n\n\"From that very general mandate in the Constitution has evolved into what we recognize today as a yearly event, with lots of pomp and circumstance,\" Claire Jerry, a curator of political history at the National Museum of American History, told USA TODAY.\n\n– Marina Pitofsky\n\nWhen did the annual message become known as State of the Union address?\n\nFrom 1790 to 1946, the speech delivered by the president to Congress was known simply as the \"Annual Message.\"\n\nIn 1947 is became the ‘State of the Union’ and has since been referred to by that name.\n\n– Anna Kaufman\n\nWhat is the origin of the state of the union address?\n\nArticle II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that the president will “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”\n\nThis language birthed the practice, allowing the executive to deliver to a joint session of Congress and the American people.\n\nIn the modern era, the speech has become a vehicle for administrations to roll out their policy priorities for the coming year and spotlight key agenda issues.\n\n– Anna Kaufman", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/11/29/biden-france-macron-state-dinner-what-to-know/10790781002/", "title": "What to know: Biden hosts French President Macron for state dinner", "text": "WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden this week will host French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, for the Biden administration’s first state dinner.\n\nWhite House spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that the dinner, which is scheduled for Thursday, “is an opportunity to highlight a foundational component of this administration's approach to foreign policy and that's through alliances.”\n\n“France is a vital global partner and, of course, the United States’ oldest ally,” Kirby said. “Our partnership and tackling tough global challenges underpinned by our shared commitment to democratic principles, values and institutions, and our cultural ties remain a source of strength and importance to our bilateral relationship.”\n\nStay in the conversation on politics:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nThe state dinner is occurring nearly halfway through Biden’s term as president. The White House previously said that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay in the event.\n\nThis is not the first time Macron has attended a state dinner at the White House. In April 2018, then-President Donald Trump hosted the French president for Trump’s first official state dinner.\n\nWhat Macron’s schedule looks like\n\nThe French president arrives in Washington this week ahead of Thursday’s dinner.\n\nMacron on Wednesday will join Vice President Kamala Harris in visiting NASA headquarters. Kirby said the visit will “showcase our deepening collaboration on space in support of Earth climate and space science and space exploration.”\n\nOn Thursday, Biden and the first lady, along with Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, will greet Macron and his wife for the official arrival ceremony.\n\nBiden and Macron will have a bilateral discussion on the same day where the two leaders “will discuss our continued close partnership on shared global challenges and areas of bilateral interest,” according to the White House. They will then hold a press conference following the bilateral meeting.\n\nOn Capitol Hill:Is a government shutdown coming? Will same-sex marriage pass? Breaking down Congress' big week\n\nHarris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday will also host a luncheon at the State Department for Macron.\n\nHarris and Emhoff will also be in attendance at the state dinner.\n\n“Throughout all of these events, you can expect to see on display both our long shared history as allies as well as our deep partnership and taking on the most urgent global challenges of today and tomorrow,” Kirby said Monday.\n\nWhat to expect at the state dinner\n\nThe dinner is a black tie event where many lawmakers, ambassadors and diplomats are often in attendance.\n\nSome celebrities have also made appearances.\n\nThis year, musician and Grammy winner Jon Batiste is set to perform.\n\n“An artist who transcends generations, Jon Batiste’s music inspires and brings people together,” said Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, whose office is overseeing dinner preparations. “We’re thrilled to have him perform at the White House for the first state dinner of the Biden-Harris administration.”\n\nWhat is a state dinner?\n\nThe state dinner is a long-standing tradition at the White House that gives the president and first lady the chance to honor a world leader with their spouse, according to the White House Historical Association.\n\nThe first-ever White House state dinner was held in December 1874 by President Ulysses S. Grant, who hosted King David Kalakaua of the Kingdom of Hawai’i.\n\nAmong the world leaders who have been hosted at the White House include General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union in December 1987, who was hosted by then-President Ronald Reagan.\n\nMore:Supreme Court returns to immigration in test of Biden's power to choose deportation targets\n\nIn 2001, then-President George W. Bush held a white-tie state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, \"to mark the 400th anniversary of the English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia,\" according to the White House Historical Association.\n\nContributing: Associated Press; Merdie Nzanga\n\nReach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/29"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/french-president-state-dinner-white-house/index.html", "title": "The Bidens' first state dinner features butter-poached lobster with a ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPresident Joe Biden hosted French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Thursday, using the very first state dinner of his presidency to shore up relations with a key American ally whose friendship has until recently been on the rocks.\n\nSources close to the planning described a super-sized event under a tent on the White House grounds, including not only the many Democrats clamoring for social time at the White House but also a number of officials and policy staffers interested in strengthening relations with France.\n\nIn his remarks celebrating ties between the two nations, Biden offered a toast to “the enduring alliance between France and United States,” calling the alliance “a partnership that’s marked by so many firsts.”\n\nThe two presidents raised glasses, with Biden saying, “Vive la France and God bless America.”\n\nThe moment takes on extra meaning because of how long the Bidens have waited to hold a state dinner – so long, in fact, that many Democrats worried they were squandering it as a valuable diplomatic tool.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback Hear what Biden said about a potential meeting with Putin 02:29 - Source: CNN\n\nAdvisers to the president told CNN the dinner is part of the US effort to revitalize ties with France. It comes a year after the US announced a surprise US-Australia submarine partnership – upending France’s own submarine deal with Australia and infuriating French officials. The perilous relations are no small matter, given the array of major challenges facing the larger western alliance.\n\n“If you look at what’s going on in Ukraine, look at what’s going on in the Indo-Pacific and the tensions with China, France is really at the center of all those things,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications. “President Macron has been the dynamic leader inside the G7 … so the President felt that this was exactly the right and the most appropriate country to start with for state visits.”\n\nIn an early sign of that diplomacy, the Elysee confirmed to CNN on Thursday a series of gifts exchanged between the world leaders and their spouses.\n\nMacron gifted his US counterpart a centerpiece from French goldsmith and tableware house, Christofle, the Elysee said. The present, crafted in 2012, is a tribute to the French transatlantic liner, the “Normandie,” which sailed with a Christofle silverware collection in the interwar period, per the Elysee.\n\nBiden was also presented with a vinyl record and CD of the soundtrack of the film “A man and a woman,” directed by Frenchman Claude Lelouch. The Elysee described the gift as a “nod to the personal history of the Biden couple” as they watched the 1966 film during their first date. The film also won France’s highest film award, the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival.\n\nFirst lady Jill Biden received two French literary works: a copy of “Madame Bovary,” by Gustave Flaubert, as well as a collection of essays written by Albert Camus, per the Elysee.\n\nFinally, Biden received two gifts from the Elysee Palace gift shop, a watch from watchmaker LIP and a jumper from the French brand Saint James.\n\nButter-poached Maine lobster and calotte of beef, shallot marmalade, are seen at the White House during a media preview of the state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron. Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA/AP\n\nThe dinner has domestic political overtones, as well. As the Bidens roll out the red carpet for Macron and his wife Brigitte, there’s word they have two more state dinners in the works along with several other social events to come. Several people with knowledge of White House planning and operations, who spoke to CNN for this story, confirmed this State Dinner will be one of several hosted by the Biden administration in upcoming months.\n\nIt may suggest, said those familiar with the thinking around future state dinners, Biden indeed wants to run for a second term, something he has said he intends to do, but a decision that also hinges on the consent and support of his wife and extended family.\n\n“These are intricate – and expensive – events,” said one of the people, who has worked in the White House, of state dinners. “If the administration is willing to sink budget dollars into them, there’s probably a larger strategy at play.”\n\nThe guest list for Biden’s first state dinner was big from the start, made extra-large to include all of the people who have missed out on key social time with the president due to Covid-19 restrictions. Having done the mental calculations months ago as planning began, said two people familiar with the dinner’s details, the East Wing, the West Wing, the State Department and the National Security Council’s lists ballooned.\n\nAmong those attending the state dinner were celebrities and musicians, as well as top lawmakers, according to a printout of guests from the White House. Stephen Colbert, Anna Wintour and John Legend were among the invitees to rub shoulders with the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy.\n\nTwo guests of Macron – the head designers for fashion house Oscar de la Renta, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia – confirmed to CNN that Jill Biden wore the luxury label at the dinner.\n\nGarcia said they collaborated with the first lady for about two months on the dress, getting her input on what she wanted for the look, which included “a sense of ease.”\n\nThis first State Dinner offered the opportunity to finally make amends to VIPs and diplomats, members of Congress and deep-pocketed donors. A decision was made to hold the dinner in a tent on the South Lawn, which would allow them to comfortably seat the more than 400 guests expected to attend. (The White House is referring to the tent as a “pavilion,” as it has clear panels on the sides.)\n\nAn indoor dinner in the State Dining Room is limited by space restrictions – only about 120 guests can be accommodated. The second and last Trump administration State Dinner, for Australia, was held in the Rose Garden, which could seat approximately 200 for a formal dinner.\n\n“We’ve always expected a larger guest list as it’s the first state dinner of the Biden Administration,” Vanessa Valdivia, Jill Biden’s press secretary, told CNN.\n\nA table is set during a media preview ahead of the State Dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2022. Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images\n\nThe dinner for France was actually supposed to take place months prior, said the two people, but scheduling conflicts, including campaign trips for midterm elections, foreign travel and the wedding of Naomi Biden, meant the date was pushed back more than once. Thursday evening was ultimately where the schedules of several executive branch agencies landed with clear calendars.\n\nUnfortunately for the White House social offices and usher’s office, the final date also meant pulling off the ritual of holiday decorations and dozens of White House holiday parties in tandem with a debut State Dinner, something that has not been done before during a modern presidency. The White House calligraphers, kitchen staff, service teams and floral shop all worked to juggle the demands of overlapping, high-caliber events.\n\nAncillary kitchen space has been added with refrigeration units placed outside the White House kitchen area, as is usually the case for multiple or large social events, especially during the busy holiday party season where there can be as many as two or three receptions per day. (Three of the industrial-sized refrigerators outside earlier this week were labeled with the word “cheese,” in black magic marker – unclear whether for the French dinner, or holiday party nibbles.)\n\nFor the State Dinner, the Bidens have opted to use rental dishes, glasses, flatware, table accoutrements and linens. The venue, though on the White House grounds, does not allow for the official White House china services to be used for the dinner, said White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo. White House curators, who oversee the use of all items in the White House collection, do not count the temporarily installed tent as part of the campus – and thus the china of presidents’ past would not be part of the service.\n\nThe overall design and the floral arrangements were put together by an event planner, Jung Lee, and her company, Fete, a posh party design outfit favored by celebrities.\n\nA stage and dance floor was erected in the tent for the evening’s entertainment from singer Jon Batiste, a New Orleans native, a city Jill Biden said Wednesday is “shaped by both French and American culture.” The Macrons will visit New Orleans after Washington, before returning to France.\n\nWhite House Executive Chef Cris Comerford presents the menu during a media preview ahead of the State Dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2022. Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images\n\nThe décor for the dinner was inspired by red, white and blue, the shared colors of the American and French flags, and “our common values: liberty and democracy, equality and fellowship,” said Biden at a preview of the table settings and menu.\n\nThe trick of a successful State Dinner format, says a former White House social secretary, is to seamlessly and organically combine elements from both the United States and the visiting country, an offering of hospitality on the side of a main course of diplomacy. But without being too hokey about it.\n\nThe flowers on the tables Thursday night were mostly roses; American Beauty varietals and Piano Roses, deep red blooms because, as Elizondo said, Emmanuel Macron likes the piano. French-made Champagne flutes were used for toasting, but filled with American sparkling wine. Tall candelabras holding blood-red candles are meant to mimic the Statue of Liberty, France’s gift to the United States. And so on.\n\nThe table setting is something the first lady has said is always her first consideration when hosting anyone for a meal, a memory from her childhood and her mother. “Even if we were only having fish sticks from the freezer, she always made our dinners feel special,” said Biden, who is expected to make remarks at the dinner.\n\n“The first lady has been involved since the beginning, it’s been important to her that the dinner reflects the warmth and approachable hospitality that the Bidens are known for,” Valdivia said.\n\nA person with knowledge of the first lady’s hands-on approach to the dinner said she was involved with all aspects of the planning, down to doing tastings of each dish and overseeing the seating chart, much like her immediate predecessor, Melania Trump, whose first state dinner also happened to be for the Macrons. Unlike the Trump dinner, the Bidens served caviar and butter-poached lobster for a first-course, Calotte of beef and watercress and sunchoke salad for the main. Trump went with goat cheese gateau with tomato jam, and a rack of lamb. Though the two dinners would share a dessert: crème fraiche ice cream.\n\nA table is set during a media preview ahead of the State Dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2022. Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images\n\nAnother common thread with Biden’s immediate predecessor is the lack of a high number of state dinners by this time in his presidency. However, for much of it, Biden has not been able due to the pandemic to host parties. Trump had a third State Dinner in the works – for the King and Queen of Spain – but canceled it as the pandemic took hold around the world.\n\nBiden is also not as inclined socially to host big events at the White House, Covid-19 restrictions or not. The first couple has notably spent most weekends away from Washington in Delaware or Camp David, and as a closely bonded family, there are few occasions where guest lists for dinners expand beyond relatives.\n\nPrevious presidents have used the White House frequently to entertain, typically with a subtext, whether political or cultural. In recent history, Barack and Michelle Obama hosted birthday parties and music concerts, bringing together celebrities and politicians for fun-filled, late nights of elbow-rubbing and bonding. The Obamas’ State Dinner for then-French President Francois Hollande in 2014 brought a star-studded guest list that included Bradley Cooper, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stephen Colbert and Elon Musk.\n\nSinger Mary J. Blige entertained at the dinner. By contrast, Trump’s two state dinners lacked bold-faced guests and headliners, as his political leanings were often antithetical from those of mainstream Hollywood. (For the Trump State Dinner for Macron, the Washington National Opera performed, which a guest told CNN was lovely, “but it wasn’t Beyonce.”)\n\nUS President Gerald Ford dances with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a state dinner in Washington, DC, in 1976. Ricardo Thomas/Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library/Reuters US President Franklin D. Roosevelt holds up the United Nations Declaration next to Bolivian President Enrique Penaranda after Penaranda signed it during a state dinner at the White House in 1943. \"Roosevelt is really the first to start using the dinners a bit more strategically,\" Matthew Costello, a historian with the White House Historical Association, said in 2020. George R. Skadding/AP Nikita Khrushchev, left, was the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States. He's joined by his wife, Nina, and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and first lady Mamie Eisenhower, center, in 1959. After Roosevelt, state dinners became a delicate dance of strategy during the Cold War era. Costello said the official visits were opportunities to pull Western allies closer, or to try to thaw icier relationships. The Washington Post/Getty Images US President John F. Kennedy and Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba are trailed by their wives, Jackie and Moufida, as they walk down White House steps to pose for photos in 1961. Bill Allen/AP US President Lyndon B. Johnson welcomes Barbados Prime Minister Errol W. Barrow and his wife, Carolyn, for a state dinner in 1968. Johnson threw 54 state dinners during his time in office, which is more than any other president. AP US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev share a toast during a state dinner in 1973. Charles Tasnadi/AP US President Gerald Ford dances with first lady Betty Ford during a state dinner held in honor of Jordan's King Hussein in 1974. David Hume Kennerly/Hulton Archive/Getty Images First lady Betty Ford, center left, and decorator Betty Sherrill, center right, look over table settings as they prepare for a state dinner in honor of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 1976. AP US President Jimmy Carter offers a toast while hosting Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and his wife, Cho Lin, at a state dinner in 1979. There was no hard liquor served at state dinners hosted by Carter, but they did serve beer and wine. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images First lady Nancy Reagan meets with White House chefs ahead of a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982. The White House/The New York Times/Redux Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, shakes hands with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio while attending a state dinner at the White House in 1987. At center is US President Ronald Reagan. \"The Reagans loved to throw state dinners,\" Costello said. \"In the 80s, global change was reaching a fever pitch, and Reagan had secured the admiration of several leaders.\" Ronald Reagan Library/Archive Photos/Getty Images Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his wife, Naina, stand next to US President George H.W. Bush, right, and his wife, Barbara, before a state dinner in 1992. Following the Cold War, state dinners began to taper off. Dirck Halstead/The Chronicle Collection/Getty Images Singer Whitney Houston performs at a state dinner in honor of South African President Nelson Mandela in 1994. Ron Sachs/CNP/ABACA/Reuters US President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton stand with Mandela and his daughter Zindzi before the state dinner in 1994. Wally McNamee/Corbis/Getty Images Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, take their seats in 2003 for a state dinner held in honor of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP US President George W. Bush, right, sits with first lady Laura Bush, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip as they listen to a performance by violinist Itzhak Perlman after a state dinner in 2007. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama await the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, for a state dinner in 2009. Pete Souza/White House/AP Obama listens to Singh during toasts in 2009. Jason Reed/Reuters The White House's State Dining Room is seen ahead of a state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at the state dinner in 2018. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison share a toast at a state dinner in 2019. It was Trump's last state dinner. Joshua Roberts/Reuters US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden greet French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, as they arrive for a state dinner at the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday, December 1. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: White House state dinners Prev Next\n\nGoing back further, presidents accumulated State Dinners as a means to help soothe icy relationships, or build support on geopolitical crises.\n\nFranklin Delano Roosevelt, for example, continued to hold State Dinners during World War II, to pull in allies. Dwight Eisenhower in 1959 hosted Nikita Khrushchev, the first State Dinner for a Soviet leader, to help quell concerns of escalating nuclear tension. Jimmy Carter was not a big party guy – the State Dinners hosted by the president and Rosalyn Carter did not include hard liquor, just beer and wine – but he had held 33 State Dinners by this time in his tenure. After the signing of the Panama Canal treaties, Carter hosted one state dinner for 18 Latin American heads of state, according to data collected by the White House Historical Association.\n\nAs time went on, guest lists for the dinners routinely grew, observed by the orders for presidential china sets, which went from accommodating about 100 people, to the most recent official set for the Obamas, which accommodated 320 people. Biden, in other words, still has the time and the space to showcase the highest form of diplomacy this country can offer another world leader. And he intends to.\n\n“There are more being planned and in the works for the future,” said one of the people with knowledge of the larger Biden State Dinner strategy. “This is just the start.”\n\nThis story has been updated with additional developments.", "authors": ["Kate Bennett"], "publish_date": "2022/12/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/09/27/white-house-state-dinners-what-know/8121529001/", "title": "Biden's first state dinner will honor French president. Here's what to ...", "text": "President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the White House on Dec. 1 for Biden's first state dinner, the White House said Monday.\n\nThe dinner will \"underscore the deep and enduring relationship between the United States and France, our oldest ally, founded on our shared democratic values, economic ties, and defense and security cooperation, said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.\n\nJean-Pierre also said the leaders will talk about \"continued close partnership on shared global challenges and areas of bilateral interest.\"\n\nShe noted that COVID played a role in delaying Biden’s first state dinner. The dinner is occurring at nearly halfway of Biden's presidency.\n\nHere is what you need to know about White House state dinners.\n\nWhat is a state dinner?\n\nA state dinner, which showcases power and influence, gives the president and first lady the chance to honor a world leader with their spouse, according to the White House Historical Association.\n\nTrump and Macron state dinner:President Trump after picking something off Macron's suit: 'We have to make him perfect'\n\nMacron:President Trump after picking something off Macron's suit: 'We have to make him perfect'\n\nHistory of state dinners\n\nPresident Ulysses S. Grant held the first White House state dinner in December 1874.\n\nHe hosted King David Kalakaua of the Kingdom of Hawai’i.\n\nThe White House has hosted many notable world leaders at state dinners.\n\nPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted King George VI of the United Kingdom in June 1939.\n\nFormer President Ronald Reagan hosted General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union in December 1987.\n\nFormer President George W. Bush in 2001 held a white-tie state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, \"to mark the 400th anniversary of the English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia,\" the White House Historical Association said.\n\nHas Macron been invited to a White House state dinner before?\n\nFormer President Donald Trump hosted Macron at a state dinner in April 2018, Trump's first official state dinner.\n\nWho is invited to a state dinner?\n\nAmbassadors, diplomats and members of Congress are among guests that have been invited to state dinners in the past.\n\nIt is not uncommon to see celebrities attending, and that there is often entertainment from a noted musician, group or production\n\nHow many people typically attend?\n\nThe White House Historical Association says that the room where the event takes place usually seats 120 people.\n\nWhere are they held?\n\nThe dinner is has often been held in the state dining room at the White House. They also have been held in the East Room, and during former President Barack Obama's years, in a tent on the grounds.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/09/27"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/middleeast/saudi-arabia-biggest-rave-mime-intl/index.html", "title": "Why Saudi Arabia is hosting one of the world's biggest raves | CNN", "text": "Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.\n\nAbu Dhabi, UAE CNN —\n\nElectronic music, strobe lights, glittered faces and hundreds of thousands of people in mixed-gender gyrations are all part of a new kind of ritual in Saudi Arabia that didn’t exist just three years ago.\n\nThe kingdom’s Soundstorm music festival, which began in 2019, is back again for its fourth year and will start on Thursday.\n\nIn just five years since Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on musical events, the kingdom’s concert scene has arguably outshined even that of Dubai, long seen as the Gulf region’s premier entertainment hub.\n\nThe country that has been better known as the birthplace of Islam than a rave capital has gone through a tremendous makeover since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) took control of the everyday running of the kingdom in 2017. Soundstorm is an eye-catching symbol of that change.\n\nFor three days every winter, hundreds of thousands of people from across Saudi Arabia and the region descend on a desert site outside the capital Riyadh to listen to some of the top Western and Arab acts .\n\nThe rave is a manifestation of the ethos behind Saudi Arabia’s socioeconomic transformation, according to Anna Jacobs, a senior analyst at the Crisis Group think tank. “(It) is a particularly powerful example because it seeks to bring together young people and women from across Saudi Arabia and the world,” she said.\n\nDavid Guetta, Post Malone and Bruno Mars are just a few of the stars performing at this year’s event, which prides itself as being “the loudest festival in the region,” aiming to “amplify the unseen” as it supports local and international music in the Middle East. Tickets cost between 149 riyals (around $40) for a single day and 6,699 riyals (around $1,800 ) for a three-day VIP treatment.\n\nThe festival reportedly welcomed 730,000 partygoers last year. By contrast, Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival, considered North America’s biggest dance music festival, had an attendance of over 400,000 this year.\n\nAn event like Soundstorm was inconceivable in the country just six years ago, when the notorious religious police would roam the streets and censure Saudis for mixing with the opposite sex or flouting social norms. But it is now part of a liberalization initiative spearheaded by MBS, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. It accompanies a series of steps to relax social rules, including lifting the ban on women’s driving and reining in the religious police.\n\nIn 2016, Saudi Arabia established the General Entertainment Authority in tandem with Vision 2030 – the crown prince’s plan to diversify its economy beyond oil, which accounts for more than half of the government’s revenue. Among its goals was to almost double household spending on cultural and entertainment activities within the kingdom. Riyadh is now seeing more than $64 billion in entertainment investment, reported Arab News, with a significant proportion of that going to the live music industry.\n\nVision 2030 prides itself on offering “world-class entertainment” and says that it has organized up to 3,800 entertainment events in the country, attended by more than 80 million people.\n\n“The whole principle about allowing festivals is to provide youth with domestic entertainment and local tourism opportunities so they don’t need to travel abroad in search of fun,” said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and analyst.\n\nSome conservatives may find the festival unacceptable, Shihabi said, but given that youth make up the majority of the country’s population, they remain the primary beneficiaries.\n\nAround two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s population is 34 years old or younger, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics. Analysts say it’s the youth that MBS needs to placate, not the conservatives.\n\nAlcohol continues to be banned in the kingdom, as are sexual relations between men, and unmarried couples.\n\nThe festival is not, however, without international criticism and accusations of whitewashing the kingdom’s human rights record. Last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that performers should either “speak up” about Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations or not attend the festival at all.\n\n“Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars hosting massive entertainment and cultural events in a deliberate (attempt) to whitewash the country’s abysmal human rights record and the Soundstorm music festival is no different,” Joey Shea, a researcher at HRW told CNN. “The creation of the country’s local entertainment industry was accompanied by waves of arbitrary arrests of dissidents, activists, human rights defenders and ordinary Saudi citizens.”\n\nShihabi rejects the argument that the festival whitewashes the country’s rights record, saying that it “has little to do with any global image and is purely focused on servicing local needs.”\n\nMdlbeast, the organizers of Soundstorm, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.\n\nSome however argue that opening up countries to international norms and values can allow for better discussion on human rights shortcomings.\n\n“I think there is a way for these major international events – whether that be the World Cup in Qatar or music festivals in Saudi Arabia – to help open public discourse to critical debate,” said Jacobs.\n\n“They can help cultivate healthy criticism and discussion around human rights issues in the region,” she added, “and as the Gulf continues to solidify its position as the region’s center of gravity, I think this is what we will see.”\n\nIran protests\n\nThe families of Iran’s World Cup football team had been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players failed to “behave” ahead of the match against the United States on Tuesday, a source involved in the security of the games said.\n\nFollowing the refusal of Iranian players to sing the nation’s national anthem in their opening match against England on November 21, the source said that the players were called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.\n\nThe source said that they were told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.\n\nHere’s the latest:\n\nThe Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization said on Tuesday that at least 448 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding the protests. CNN cannot independently verify the death toll.\n\nMembers of the activist art group Pussy Riot wore shirts in support of Iranian protesters at Tuesday’s World Cup game between Iran and the United States in Doha.\n\nTwo Iranian footballers were freed from detention on Tuesday, according to reports. Voria Ghafouri, who was facing charges of incitement against the regime, was released on bail, reported Iranian judiciary news site Mizan News. And a former member of Iran’s national team, Parviz Boroumand, who was arrested during protests in Tehran, was also released, according to state news agency IRNA.\n\nFrench Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced Monday that a third tranche of European Union sanctions against Iran is “being prepared” over the ongoing repression of protests.\n\nThe digest\n\nQatar to send 2 million tons of LNG to Germany in new energy deal\n\nQatarEnergy signed a deal on Tuesday that will allow Germany to receive flows of Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) over a period of at least 15 years, Qatar’s state news agency QNA said. The deal is the first of its kind to Europe from the expansion project of Qatar’s North Field, the world’s biggest gas field, and is meant to make up for some of the shortage triggered by Russian supply cuts.\n\nBackground: Until the Ukraine war, Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas. Talks with Qatar have been in the works for months, as Germany and other European countries try to find alternative energy sources as the market tightens following sanctions on Russian supplies. The contract provides Germany with two million tons of LNG annually and the first shipment is due in 2026.\n\nWhy it matters: Tensions were high this month as Germany ramped up its criticism of Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, questioning its human rights record and later opposing the Gulf country’s ban on the rainbow-colored armband. Europe’s biggest economy has been running short on natural gas, with German economy minister Robert Habeck previously saying that rationing could not be ruled out ahead of the coming winter.\n\nUS State Department approves potential anti-drone system sale to Qatar for $1 billion\n\nThe US State Department has approved the potential sale of an anti-drone system to Qatar in a deal valued at $1 billion, Reuters cited the Pentagon as saying on Tuesday. The principal contractors will be Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman Corp, the Pentagon said.\n\nBackground: The potential sale approval comes after US President Joe Biden earlier this year designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally of the US, granting special status to a key friend in a turbulent region. Separately, Qatar has also played a role in the Iran nuclear talks and in relations with Afghanistan, where Washington’s interests were represented by the small Gulf country.\n\nWhy it matters: The approval comes as the use of drones rises in Middle East warfare. In 2019, a drone attack blamed on Iran knocked off half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production. Iran, which has friendly relations with Doha, has also been accused by the US of supplying Russia with drones in its war with Ukraine. The Pentagon said the proposed sale will improve Qatar’s capability to meet threats by providing electronic and kinetic defeat capabilities against drones.\n\nUS-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fear Turkish ground invasion could start in a week\n\nThe head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday said a Turkish ground invasion could take place in a matter of days if Turkey does not see forceful opposition to a military incursion from countries such as the US and Russia.\n\nBackground: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a recent series of airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Syria, and has warned that a ground operation will soon follow. The operation is meant to target Kurdish groups that Turkey believes were behind a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul earlier this month.\n\nWhy it matters: The SDF’s backbone is the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Turkey considers a wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and seeks to eliminate. But the group has been instrumental in the fight against ISIS since 2014 and has warned that a Turkish assault will complicate the fight against the militants. It is unclear if the US will heed its calls to restrain Turkey. The US has reduced the number of patrols with SDF ahead of a possible incursion.\n\nWorld Cup\n\nQatar’s World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi said that between 400 and 500 migrant workers have died as a result of work done on projects connected to the tournament – a greater figure than Qatari officials have cited previously.\n\nIn an interview with Piers Morgan which aired on TalkTV on Monday, Al-Thawadi was asked about the number of migrant workers fatalities due to construction for the World Cup and said: “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500.\n\n“I don’t have the exact number, that’s something that’s been discussed. One death is too many, it’s as simple as that.”\n\nIn November 2022, a government official told CNN there had been three work-related deaths on World Cup stadiums and 37 non-work-related deaths.\n\nRead more:\n\nAround the region\n\nA rendition of the Rashid Rover provided by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre\n\nOn Thursday, the UAE is set to become the first Arab country to launch a mission to the moon. The Rashid Rover will begin its trip from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida where it aims to land on the lunar surface in the coming months.\n\nBeginning construction in 2017, the solar-powered rover has been developed by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and is named after the emirate’s late ruler Sheikh Rashid Al Saeed.\n\nThe rover will take a low-energy route and is expected to land on the lunar surface in March 2023. The vehicle will be delivered by the Japanese HAKUTO-R lander and will touch down on the Atlas crater.\n\nIt will spend one lunar day (equivalent to 14.75 days Earth time) where it will analyze the plasma of the moon’s surface and conduct experiments on lunar dust. It will then spend another lunar day in which it will attempt to survive the moon’s harsh environment, before decommissioning.\n\nThe launch aims to be the first step in the UAE’s greater space prospects. By 2117, the country aims to have a colony built on Mars’s surface. “We are starting small,” Hamad Al Marzooqi, project manager of the Emirates Lunar Mission at the MBRSC, told CNN. “But we hope that this small step will be eventually the starting point to reach our targets.”\n\nThe UAE launched a mission to Mars in February last year.\n\nBy Ollie Macnaughton\n\nPhoto of the day", "authors": ["Nadeen Ebrahim"], "publish_date": "2022/11/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/03/ukraine-russia-invasion-live-updates/7259342001/", "title": "Ukrainians returning home find death and destruction: April 3 recap", "text": "This story covers news out of the war in Ukraine on Sunday, April 3. For the latest updates, click here.\n\nUkrainians returning to Kyiv as Russian forces pulled out over the weekend found a shocking trail of destruction and death, including slain civilians lying on the streets with their hands bound.\n\nIryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, said on Facebook that the bodies of 410 civilians were removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces.\n\nOleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said scores of the dead were found on the streets of Bucha – about 35 miles northwest of Kyiv – and the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel in what looked like a “scene from a horror movie.”\n\nArestovych said some people were shot in the head and had their hands bound, and some bodies showed signs of torture, rape and burning. Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told Agence France-Presse that 280 people had been buried in mass graves in the city, and reporters from the news organization counted at least 20 bodies on one street.\n\nZelenskyy said Sunday that the deadly attacks on civilians – including evidence of a massacre in Bucha – are more proof that Russia is committing \"genocide\" in his country.\n\nNoting that Ukraine's population includes more than 100 nationalities, Zelenskyy told CBS' \"Face The Nation\" that Russia's actions are \"about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities. We are citizens of Ukraine, and we don't want to be subdued to the policy of the Russian Federation.\"\n\nWhile Russia redeploys troops in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, Zelenskyy called for a total Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. There are no signs Russia would consider such a move as part of peace talks. \"This is the bare minimum that we have to start the de-occupation with,\" he said.\n\nUSA TODAY ON TELEGRAM: Join our new Russia-Ukraine war channel to receive updates straight to your phone.\n\nTHE NEWS COMES TO YOU: Get the latest updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here.\n\nLatest developments:\n\n►The Russians are holding 11 mayors in captivity in the Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions, and they killed another one, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchukf said in a social media posting.\n\n►Enrico Letta, the leader of Italy’s Democratic Party, called for a boycott of Russian oil and gas in reaction to images of atrocities against civilians by Russian soldiers retreating from Kyiv. Italy gets 40% of its natural gas from Russia.\n\n►At the conclusion of a two-day trip to Malta, Pope Francis urged about 20,000 people in attendance during a Sunday Mass to “think of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the martyred Ukraine, which continues to be bombarded in this sacrilegious war.”\n\n►The president of Lithuania on Saturday announced it would no longer import Russian gas, making it the first nation in the European Union to achieve independence from Russian gas supplies.\n\n►Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s ruling conservative party, said he's open to the permanent stationing of U.S. nuclear weapons in his country as a deterrence against Russian aggression.\n\nZelenskyy addresses Grammys: 'Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos'\n\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the 64th Grammy Awards Sunday, speaking in a pre-recorded segment shown at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena before John Legend performed a tribute to the war-torn country.\n\nZelenskyy urged music artists assembled to \"tell our story\" of his country facing a humanitarian crisis since Russia's invasion in February. He described the devastating impact on life and music.\n\n\"The war. What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our children draw swooping rockets, not shooting stars,\" said Zelenskyy. Read more here.\n\n— Bryan Alexander\n\nBlinken: US, allies collecting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine\n\nAmid a flood of new pictures of murdered civilians in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that allies are collecting evidence of war crimes by Russia.\n\n\"We can't become numb to this, we can't normalize this,\" Blinken said on CNN's \"State of the Union.\"\n\n\"We will look hard and document everything that we see, put it all together,\" he said.\n\nBlinken did a round of Sunday show as news organizations flashed pictures of slain civilians and property destruction after Russian troops withdrew from Bucha, near Kyiv. He described the Bucha massacre as a \"punch in the gut.\"\n\nThe secretary of state expressed cautious optimism about signs of Russian withdrawal from areas around Kyiv. He noted that the Russians also appear to be redeploying to the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.\n\n\"They could be regrouping,\" Blinken said.\n\nEither way, Blinken said the war has already been a \"dramatic strategic setback\" for Russia, and that the Ukrainian people have made it clear they will not be subjugated by a Russian occupation.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nUkraine: Retreating Russians left boobytraps\n\nAs Ukrainian forces moved to retake control of areas surrounding Kyiv from retreating Russians, they proceeded with caution to avoid unexploded ordnance and boobytrapped streets and homes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukraine officials said.\n\nZelenskyy said Russians were leaving behind a \"catastrophic\" situation: land mines in streets, civilian homes and even on dead civilian bodies. Ukrainian soldiers were removing bodies from the streets with caution.\n\nResidents of the town of Bucha said civilians were killed without apparent provocation.\n\nEU developing new Russia sanctions\n\nThe European Union will level new sanctions in the wake of killings of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, the president of the European Council said Sunday. Charles Michel, tweeting about \"haunting images\" out of Bucha, said \"further EU sanctions & support are on their way.\"\n\nSeveral other European leaders condemned the atrocities, and Germany’s defense minister even suggested the EU consider banning Russian gas imports, which many of the member countries depend on.\n\nThe EU is helping Ukraine and nongovernmental organizations gather evidence for investigations of Russia by international courts for its actions in Ukraine, he said. The U.N.'s International Court of Justice last month ruled that Russia should \"immediately suspend\" its military operations in Ukraine.\n\nKyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is among the officials accusing Russia of war crimes, telling the German newspaper BILD: \"What happened in Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv can only be described as genocide.''\n\nIn an interview published Saturday, the former chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunals, Carla Del Ponte, called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Putin is a war criminal,” she told Swiss newspaper Le Temps.\n\n– Katie Wadington\n\n'A different kind of war': Intelligence secrets revealed as weapon against Putin\n\nIn the age of social media and widespread disinformation, a new weapon has emerged to counter aggression by a foreign power – the revelation of intelligence secrets.\n\nThe kind of assessments that were previously kept under wraps are now being shared by U.S. and British intelligence agencies in an effort to expose what is happening on the battlefield – and inside the Kremlin – during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nEven before the war began Feb. 24, U.S. officials detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to attack Ukraine and create a false flag operation as a pretext for going to war. This past week, the U.S. publicized its findings that Putin was being misled by his military advisers, and Britain's spy chief said demoralized Russian troops were refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their own equipment.\n\nMark Galeotti, a Russia expert at University College London, said the public intelligence campaign “reflects the fact that we now live in a different age, politically and internationally. And this is a different kind of war.”\n\nHike in gas prices comes with costlier cars as well\n\nRussia's war in Ukraine is widely blamed for a drastic increase rise in gas prices. The vehicles the fuel goes into are getting more expensive as well.\n\nThe global auto industry has yet to overcome the pandemic-induced shortage of computer chips and other vital parts that has shrunk production, slowed deliveries and sent prices for new and used cars soaring. Now it faces another major challenge.\n\nThe Russian invasion of Ukraine, a key producer of electrical wiring, has led to a scarcity of that vital component. And if Russian exportation of metals such as palladium for catalytic converters and nickel for electric vehicle batteries gets disrupted or halted, the cost of vehicles amid surging demand figures to continue rising.\n\nMark Fulthorpe, an executive director for S&P Global, expects a tight supply and high prices well into 2023.\n\n“Until inflationary pressures start to really erode consumer and business capabilities, it’s probably going to mean that those who have the inclination to buy a new vehicle, they’ll be prepared to pay top dollar,” Fulthorpe said.\n\nKirby mum on Belgorod attack responsibility\n\nPentagon press secretary John Kirby on Sunday dismissed questions surrounding Friday’s explosion at a Russian fuel depot in Belgorod. The attacked facility housed civilian-used petroleum.\n\nWhile the Russians have pinned the attack on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to take responsibility for it. The attack was the first inside Russia since it invaded its neighbor Feb. 24.\n\nKirby, speaking on \"Fox News Sunday,\" also declined to attribute the attack to the Ukrainians: \"I’ll let (Zelenskyy) speak to the operations that they conduct, that’s the appropriate thing. We want to preserve as much of their operational security as we can.”\n\nThe Pentagon spokesman emphasized that the Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves and that the U.S. is focused on helping them do that. \"Russia is the aggressor and they are attacking inside Ukraine, very very brutally,\" Kirby said. \"It’s not just that they're hitting oil and weapons depots and airfields, I mean they’re hitting residential areas, they’re killing civilians.\"\n\n– Ana Faguy\n\nRussia targets Odesa fuel sites in new strikes\n\nRussian forces launched an airstrike Sunday on the Black Sea port of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, sending up clouds of dark smoke that veiled parts of the city. The Russian military said the targets were an oil processing plant and fuel depots around Odesa, which is Ukraine's largest port and home to its navy.\n\n\"I live in that eight-floor building. At 6 in the morning, Russia launched an attack, and this piece of rock reached my house,” said Maiesienko Ilia, who lives near one of the targeted facilities.\n\nThe Odesa city council said Ukraine’s air defense shot down some missiles before they hit the city. Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Nazarov said there were no casualties from the attack.\n\nThe smaller port of Mariupol, located to the east on the Sea of Azov, remained cut off from the rest of the country as Russian and Ukrainian soldiers fought for control of the besieged city. About 100,000 civilians, less than a quarter of the prewar population of 430,000, are believed to be trapped there with little or no food, water, fuel and medicine.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nToo soon for Zelenskyy, Putin to meet, Russia indicates\n\nRussia's top negotiator in talks with Ukraine says it’s too early to talk about a meeting between the countries’ leaders.\n\nVladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation in Tuesday’s talks in Istanbul, said “there is still a lot of work to do” to finalize a draft agreement before Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could meet.\n\nIn remarks carried Sunday by the Interfax news agency, Medinsky reaffirmed that the parties reached a tentative agreement on the need for Ukraine to adopt a neutral status and refrain from holding foreign military bases in exchange for international security guarantees.\n\nThe Kremlin demands that Ukraine acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and recognize the independence of Russia-backed separatist regions in Donbas, Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nZelenskyy: Troops shell retreating Russians\n\nUkraine has regained control over some areas of the Kyiv region as Russian forces pulled back over the last few days. But leaders warn this does not signal that Russia is giving up; rather, forces could be refueling and shifting their strategy to the Donbas region and the south of Ukraine.\n\nIn his nightly video address Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said troops were not allowing the Russians to retreat without a fight: “They are shelling them. They are destroying everyone they can.”\n\nMeanwhile, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Saturday that the capital was \"liberated\" from invading Russian forces.\n\n\"Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader,\" she said in a Facebook post.\n\nUS to facilitate transfer of Soviet-era tanks, reports say\n\nThe Biden administration intends to work with allies to provide Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to help its defense in the eastern Donbas region, according to a report from The New York Times.\n\nCNN confirmed the report, citing unnamed officials who said the T-72 tanks would be delivered within \"days, not weeks.\"\n\nThe report, citing an unnamed U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity, says the move was requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who held an hourlong phone call with President Joe Biden this week.\n\nThe U.S. would act as an intermediary, according to the Times. The official said the tanks would allow Ukraine forces to conduct long-range artillery strikes on Russian targets in Donbas, which borders Russia.\n\nThe White House declined to comment to USA TODAY.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/04/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/50-states/2021/12/20/alaska-america-bathtub-miracle-glamping-opposition-news-around-states/49552231/", "title": "Alaska for America, bathtub miracle: News from around our 50 states", "text": "From USA TODAY Network and wire reports\n\nAlabama\n\nMontgomery: Nearly two dozen organizations have sent a letter asking the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to investigate the state’s plan to use $400 million in pandemic relief funds to build two super-size prisons. The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, The Sentencing Project and others signed on to a letter arguing that prison construction is an improper use of money from the American Rescue Plan and asking Chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters to hold hearings on the matter. “Directing COVID relief funds to a massive prison construction plan that long predates the pandemic is an absurd and inappropriate use of (American Rescue Plan) funds,” the organizations wrote. Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation in October to tap $400 million of the state’s money from the federal plan to help build two super-size prisons. The Republican governor at the time called the construction plan “a major step forward” for the prison system, which faces various federal court orders and a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department. Republican legislative leaders and Ivey have said they are confident they can use the pandemic money for prison construction because the American Rescue Plan says states can use the money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs.\n\nAlaska\n\nAnchorage: The newly crowned Miss America has made history, becoming both the first Korean American and the first Alaskan to hold the title in the competition’s 100-year history. “I never could have imagined in a million years that I would be Miss America, let alone that I would be Miss Alaska,” a beaming Emma Broyles said Friday. In fact, she was sure they had it wrong. The final two contestants were Broyles and Lauren Bradford, Miss Alabama, and Broyles said she was thinking Bradford was going to make an amazing Miss America. “And then they said Alaska, and I said, ‘No way. Are you sure? Do you want to check that card again?’ ” she said. “I am so, so grateful to everybody back at home who’s been supporting me for so long, and I’m so glad that I’m able to bring home the title of Miss America to the state of Alaska for the first time in history.” Broyles, 20, said her grandparents immigrated to Anchorage from Korea about 50 years ago, before her mother was born. Her mother is a special education teacher at Service High School in Anchorage, the same school Broyles attended. Broyles has chosen the Special Olympics for her social impact initiative. Besides her mother’s position, her older brother, Brendan, has Down syndrome and competes in athletic events with Special Olympics Alaska.\n\nArizona\n\nPhoenix: Gov. Doug Ducey has extended an executive order prohibiting state and local governments from requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The prohibition includes an exception for hospitals and other licensed health care institutions. It’s a small part of a nine-page order signed Wednesday that largely deals with surveillance and monitoring of health care institutions during the pandemic. Ducey in August issued an executive order barring the state and local governments from requiring vaccines, based on an existing public health law. However, after the outbreak worsened again during the fall, the state university system, the city of Tucson and Pima County decided to require their employees to be inoculated. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement Friday that the city will keep its employee vaccine mandate in place. The city says Ducey has no authority to block its immunization rules. Phoenix also mandated employee vaccinations, but it and at least one university have since paused their mandates after a court blocked the Biden administration’s mandate that federal contractors require employee vaccinations. Ducey’s office did not announce the latest order, which was reported by local news outlets.\n\nArkansas\n\nLittle Rock: The state on Friday reported its first case of the omicron variant as the state’s coronavirus cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to increase. The Arkansas Department of Health did not release information about the person’s location, age or gender, nor whether they had been vaccinated. However, department spokeswoman Meg Mirivel said the case was not associated with travel. The variant’s appearance in the state had been expected as it spreads throughout the United States. The variant has been detected in at least 40 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, more than 75 countries have reported confirmed omicron cases. “This was expected, and we expect more cases of the variant to be confirmed in the near future,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted. “This is not a surprise, but it is a compelling reason to get a booster shot now.” The state reported 1,111 new virus cases, bringing its total since the pandemic began to 542,426. The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by nine to 538. The state reported 17 new COVID-19 deaths. Arkansas ranks 35th in the country for new virus cases per capita, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers.\n\nCalifornia\n\nSan Francisco: The California Coastal Commission has approved a plan to poison invasive mice threatening rare seabirds on the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The agency that regulates California’s coastline voted 5-3 Thursday night to approve a plan to drop about 3,000 pounds of poisoned bait from helicopters onto the rocky islands off the San Francisco coast that are home to hundreds of thousands of breeding birds. The move still requires approval from the regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, officials said. The Farallon Islands refuge is home to an estimated 300,000 breeding seabirds, including the rare ashy storm-petrel. But officials say the population is threatened by mice that arrived on the islands aboard ships more than a century ago. In recent years, the mouse population has exploded, attracting burrowing owls that also prey on the ashy storm-petrel, officials said. “This project is necessary and is the right thing to do to stop the ecosystem carnage done by mice: a human-caused problem,” Gerry McChesney, manager of the wildlife refuge, said at the meeting. The proposal has won both support and condemnation from various conservation groups. Critics contend other wildlife could be poisoned by the rodenticide. Famed animal researcher and conservationist Jane Goodall spoke against the proposal at the hearing. “This poison will inflict pain and suffering on a great many sentient animals,” she said.\n\nColorado\n\nDenver: The 110-year prison sentence meted out last week to the truck driver who killed four people when he lost his brakes on Interstate 70 put a renewed spotlight on the state’s mandatory-minimum sentencing laws and on district attorneys’ ability to use such laws to ensure convictions lead to prison time. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was sentenced to a prison term twice as long as some Colorado murderers after his convictions triggered provisions in state law that forced District Court Judge Bruce Jones to lay down a minimum 110-year sentence. The judge said during the sentencing hearing that he had no discretion to set a lesser prison term but wished he could. One family member of a man who died in the fiery 28-car pileup in Lakewood said he did not want a life sentence for the truck driver. And the day after the sentencing, First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King – who pursued the convictions that led to the 110-year sentence – said in a statement that she would “welcome” a reconsideration of the prison term. Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence stretched to more than a century because under Colorado law, first-degree assault and attempted first-degree assault are so-called crimes of violence in which prison sentences must run consecutively, not concurrently, when they spring from the same incident.\n\nConnecticut\n\nHartford: An appeals court ruled Friday that a local historical society cannot try to impose its conservation rules on a congregational church that dates back to 1700 and is located on the celebrated Lebanon Town Green. The ruling by the state Appellate Court is the latest chapter in years­long legal proceedings over who owns the mile-long green and how to shield it from development that would harm its historic character. As a result of those proceedings, the Lebanon Historical Society has conservation authority over 95% of the green, meaning any construction and property improvements must adhere to its building rules and restrictions. But the First Congregational Church of Lebanon is on the 5% of the green the society does not control. In a lawsuit filed in 2019, the historical society is seeking authority to regulate the remaining 5%, saying it needs to be protected like the rest of the green. The church argued that just because the society controls adjacent property doesn’t mean it has legal standing to try to impose that authority on the property where the church buildings stand. Three judges on the Appellate Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling in favor of the church, saying the case has implications for property owners statewide. The historical society intends to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, a lawyer said.\n\nDelaware\n\nWilmington: A lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of two men who claim they were unjustifiably beaten by officers at Sussex Correctional Institution aims to investigate what the filing describes as an “ongoing and egregious pattern of the use of excessive force” against people housed in the prison. The lawsuit was submitted to U.S. District Court in Wilmington on behalf of William “Bill” Davis and Isaac Montague. Both claim that they were beaten as pretrial detainees and that officers deployed pepper spray directly into their noses and mouths as they were held down in two separate incidents this fall. “Justice? I think they definitely need to be charged criminally because eventually they are going to kill somebody,” said Davis, a resident of Bear and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The lawsuit follows other litigation against the Delaware Department of Correction in which people imprisoned by the state claim that officers engage in violence and other violations of basic rights with impunity. Both Davis and Montague are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware. It is the first time the organization has represented prisoners in recent years and the first such lawsuit since hiring Susan Burke, who took over as the chapter’s legal director earlier this year. “We intend to do a lot of prison litigation,” Burke said.\n\nDistrict of Columbia\n\nWashington: A new mural honoring civil rights icon John Lewis now decorates the walls of the barbershop where the late congressman was a regular customer, WUSA-TV reports. The artwork was officially unveiled at HIS grooming Thursday afternoon. Posts on the shop’s Instagram page show that the piece depicts Lewis in the chair getting his head shaved. After Lewis’ death in 2020 of pancreatic cancer, shop owner Jared Scott spoke about the first time Lewis came into his business for a hot shave with a straight razor. “My heart skipped a few beats,” Scott said. “My hands were trembling.” Lewis continued to visit HIS Grooming nearly a dozen times over the course of a year. The art project honoring Lewis has been in the works for a while, but a special event for its unveiling will have D.C. Council members in attendance, as well as U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s delegate to Congress.\n\nFlorida\n\nGulf Breeze: A man who was rewarded by the Planters peanut company for being a good Samaritan is continuing to help others in his Panhandle city. Over the previous two Christmas seasons, Mike Esmond donated about $12,000 to pay off utility bills for people in Gulf Breeze who needed some extra help. Then, in March, Planters sent Esmond a check for $104,000 for his good works as part of the company’s “A Nut Above” campaign. Since then, Esmond has continued helping with past-due utility bills, paying off balances for 677 accounts. “In other words, I paid everybody’s past-due account for a while, about March to August, like six months straight,” Esmond said. Last week, he donated funds to pay off 29 accounts, putting his total donations at about $85,000 this year and more than $96,000 over three years. He said he’s continuing his effort in hopes of inspiring others, and it’s been touching to hear how the donations have helped older residents who may need additional assistance. “I’ve had some older, retired people call me crying on the phone because I paid their bills, because they live on Social Security, and they don’t know what’s going on,” Esmond said. The U.S. Army veteran said he was inspired to help with utility bills because of his own experience in the 1980s, when he couldn’t afford to pay his winter gas bill.\n\nGeorgia\n\nAtlanta: Johnny Isakson, an affable Republican politician who rose from the ranks of the Georgia Legislature to become a U.S. senator known as an effective, behind-the-scenes consensus builder, died Sunday. He was 76. Isakson’s son John Isakson said his father died in his sleep before dawn at his home in Atlanta. John Isakson said although his father had Parkinson’s disease, the cause of death was not immediately apparent. “He was a great man, and I will miss him,” John Isakson said. Johnny Isakson, whose real estate business made him a millionaire, spent more than four decades in Georgia political life. In the Senate, he was the architect of a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers that he said would help invigorate the struggling housing market. As chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, he worked to expand programs offering more private health care choices for veterans. Isakson’s famous motto was that “there are two types of people in this world: friends and future friends.” That approach made him exceedingly popular among colleagues. In a farewell Senate speech, he pleaded for bipartisanship at a time of bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats. He cited his long friendship with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat and civil rights hero, as an example of two men willing to put party aside to work on common problems.\n\nHawaii\n\nHonolulu: A working group tasked by the Legislature to come up with recommendations for a new management plan for the state’s tallest peak and its affiliated telescopes released the first draft of its proposal Friday. Mauna Kea is the proposed site for what would be the world’s largest optical telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope. The giant telescope project has sparked a cultural movement among Native Hawaiians who believe the mountain is sacred. Construction of the massive instrument has been blocked by opponents. The group suggested a new governing entity for the mountain, which is managed by the University of Hawaii. The group recommended the school not have a seat on the board of the new governing body. The university’s lease expires in 2033. “The University of Hawaii was represented at the table during the working group discussions,” said the group’s chairperson, Rep. Mark Nakashima, a Democrat whose Hilo district includes Mauna Kea. “One of the premises of the resolution was that the university failed in some of its duties and responsibilities to the Native Hawaiian population, and so it was not included in the final management structure.” The group could not come to a consensus on whether someone from the astronomy field should participate and recommended any such involvement be in an advisory capacity.\n\nIdaho\n\nKuna: Lawmakers are looking at a $400 million tax relief package for the upcoming legislative session that includes a $200 million income tax cut, a top Republican House member said. House Assistant Majority Leader Jason Monks said Friday that the income tax cut involves lowering the top income tax bracket from 6.5% to 6%. Monks spoke at a legislative district town hall meeting in Kuna with several other lawmakers. Monks said Republican Gov. Brad Little is behind the income tax cut plan, as is the House Revenue and Taxation Committee chairman. “They’re greasing the skids pretty good on this,” Monks said. He said the other $200 million would come from a one-time tax relief package. Republican lawmakers last year passed nearly $400 million in tax relief that Democrats said mainly benefitted the wealthy. Idaho’s budget surplus is estimated at $1.6 billion, much of that attributed to the $5 billion the federal government has sent to Idaho in coronavirus relief money. The Legislature is scheduled to meet in Boise on Jan. 10, and lawmakers will look at setting state agency budgets. Republican Gov. Brad Little earlier this month hinted at possible tax cuts stemming from the projected surplus.\n\nIllinois\n\nHoffman Estates: Sears plans to sell the sprawling suburban Chicago corporate headquarters that’s been the struggling retailer’s home for three decades. Transformco, Sears’ parent company, confirmed last week that in early 2022 it plans to market the 273-acre corporate headquarters in the northwest suburb of Hoffman Estates. Transformco has been downsizing Sears’ operations and corporate staff for several years. “These changes have reduced our needs for a corporate campus that was built 30 years ago for the needs of a more centralized business,” Transformco spokesman Larry Costello said in a statement. Costello said employees have been operating under a hybrid structure during the pandemic, with a mix of in-office and remote work. He declined to say how many employees are based out of Hoffman Estates or where a future headquarters might be located. The Hoffman Estates campus was home to more than 4,000 Sears employees as recently as 2017, according to company filings. The site features a 2.3 million-square-foot corporate office and 273 acres, including 100 acres of undeveloped land.\n\nIndiana\n\nIndianapolis: More than half of the state’s population remains unvaccinated against COVID-19, and its largest hospital system is so strained that it has asked the Indiana National Guard for assistance. A new WalletHub report adds another dire distinction to the resume: Indiana is the least safe state in the country during the pandemic – not just one of the worst or the worst in the Midwest but the absolute worst. Indiana ranked 51st on the list of “Safest States During COVID-19,” which includes all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The rankings came from the following data, according to WalletHub: vaccinations, deaths, hospitalizations, transmission rate and positive testing rate. All five categories were averaged together and graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the most safe. Indiana received a score of 17.67 out of 100. Hoosiers fared poorly in each individual category. When looking at vaccination rates, Indiana ranks No. 48. For COVID-19 hospitalizations, it ranks No. 46, tied with South Dakota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan. As of Thursday, the state reported more than 3,000 hospitalized patients, according to the Indiana State Department of Health’s dashboard. The state’s latest average positivity rate was 13.8%, as of Dec. 10. Nearly 18,000 Hoosiers have died of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.\n\nIowa\n\nDes Moines: Property owners who ask to remove their names from online property searches to conceal their address may keep their names confidential under a ruling the state Supreme Court published Friday. Des Moines Register reporter Clark Kauffman filed a complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board against Polk County Assessor Randy Ripperger in 2017 after Ripperger refused to release a list of people who had requested their names be removed from the county’s online search-by-name property search database. The list includes police officers, prosecutors, judges and crime victims who want to make it harder for criminals or harassers to find out where they live. There are more than 3,500 property owners on the list. Kauffman alleged that Ripperger was violating the state’s open records law by refusing to provide the list of names. Kauffman said in a hearing that he sought the disabled name list to determine who opts in to the policy and find out if developers, landlords or slumlords are trying to keep their names from public disclosure. The board, which under Iowa law is empowered to enforce the state’s open records law, found in 2018 that Ripperger had violated the law. An administrative law judge and a state court judge affirmed that conclusion, and Ripperger appealed. The court concluded the list of names fits within an exception the Legislature allowed in the state law.\n\nKansas\n\nTopeka: A moratorium on voluntary admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital will be lifted in January to provide more space for adults with long-term mental health issues. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services announced Thursday that the ban, which has been in place since 2015, will end as of Jan. 3. The hospital, one of two state-run hospitals for the seriously mentally ill, stopped taking voluntary admissions after receiving citations for not doing enough to help suicidal patients and routinely housing three patients in rooms meant for two because of capacity issues. The policy caused problems for other mental health providers, law enforcement and health care facilities who struggled to place people with serious mental health issues. The department also has created a new classification for mental health providers called State Institutional Alternative, which allows private psychiatric facilities to accept mentally ill patients who have been approved for admission to state hospitals. Currently, eight hospitals in the state are classified as SIAs, and they have cared for 122 adults and 291 youth since September. The agency is also planning renovations on the Osawatomie campus that will eventually increase capacity to 72 certified beds and 110 licensed beds.\n\nKentucky\n\nMadisonville: Two babies survived a tornado that ripped the bathtub in which they were sheltering out of the ground and tossed it with them inside, their grandmother said. Clara Lutz told WFIE-TV she put 15-month-old Kaden and 3-month-old Dallas in the bathtub Dec. 10 with a blanket, a pillow and a Bible. Then the house in Hopkins County started shaking. “Next thing I knew, the tub had lifted, and it was out of my hands,” Lutz said. “I couldn’t hold on. I just – oh my God.” Lutz, who had been hit in the back of the head by the water tank from the tub, said she began looking everywhere among the wreckage for the children. Her house was stripped to the foundation. “All I could say was, ‘Lord please bring my babies back safely. Please, I beg thee,’ ” she said. The bathtub was found in her yard, upside down, with the babies underneath. Authorities from the sheriff’s office drove to the end of her driveway and reunited her with the two children, she said. Dallas had a big bump on the back of his head and had to go to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville because his brain was bleeding, but the bleeding stopped before Lutz got to the hospital, she said. Lutz said the parents of the children live on the north end of the county, and their home was nearly untouched by the tornado.\n\nLouisiana\n\nNew Orleans: A man convicted in a killing has been exonerated and freed after being locked up for 12 years. Kendall Gordon walked out of the criminal courthouse in New Orleans a free man Thursday, days after local prosecutors asked a judge to void his conviction and release him, news outlets report. Gordon was serving a life sentence in the shooting death of a young woman during a 2009 home invasion and robbery. But the justice advocacy group Innocence Project New Orleans and the District Attorney’s office said DNA collected from the crime scene linked someone else to the crime. Also, a key witness recanted. “Darceleen Comadore consistently described the intruders that entered her home as an older man and a younger man, explicitly pointing out that the younger intruder had been shot and wounded while in her home by his accomplice,” the IPNO said in a news release. “Ms. Comadore believed she recognized the younger wounded intruder and identified him as Kendall Gordon.” However, she changed her story after learning that another man, Jessie Bibbins III, 18, had been shot and killed with the same weapon as the victim in her home. Bibbins was found dead less than 3 miles from the crime scene, wearing clothes matching those worn by the younger intruder, IPNO said.\n\nMaine\n\nPortland: New England’s commercial shrimp fishery will remain shut down because of concerns about the health of the crustacean’s population amid warming ocean temperatures. The cold-water shrimp were once a winter delicacy in Maine and beyond, but the fishing industry has been shut down since 2013. A board of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Friday to keep the fishery shuttered for at least three more years. The shrimp prefer cold water, and their population health is imperiled by the warming of the ocean off New England. The Gulf of Maine, in particular, is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans. Scientists have also said recently that warming waters led to increased predation from a species of squid that feeds on shrimp. The board last voted to extend the existing moratorium on commercial fishing of the shrimp in 2018. The board could have decided to reopen the fishing industry Friday but chose not to do so in the face of discouraging news from scientists. Recent surveys of the shrimp show far less of them than historical averages, and there have been seven consecutive years of low abundance, said Maggie Hunter, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Warming waters remain a problem, Hunter said.\n\nMaryland\n\nBaltimore: The state’s Public Service Commission on Friday awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits to two developers who have proposed two projects off Maryland’s coast. The decision will support plans by US Wind Inc. and Skipjack Offshore Energy to build separate projects that would produce more than 1,600 megawatts of energy, the PSC said in a news release. The new proposed projects are in addition to the 368 megawatts of offshore wind already being developed by both companies off Maryland’s shore and whose offshore wind renewable energy credits were approved by the commission in 2017. In the second-round application period that ended in June, US Wind submitted three bids, and Skipjack submitted two bids. The proposals were evaluated on a number of criteria, including impacts to customer electric bills; Maryland’s health, environmental and climate interests, including progress toward lowering the state’s greenhouse gas emissions; and economic development benefits, the PSC said. The second-round projects are both expected to be operational before the end of 2026. They are subject to review by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.\n\nMassachusetts\n\nWorcester: Nurses at St. Vincent Hospital have reached a tentative agreement to end one of the longest nurse strikes in state history. The deal between the Massachusetts Nurses Associates and Tenet Healthcare, the Dallas-based company that owns the Worcester hospital, was announced late Friday. Union members will vote on the proposal at a later date. The hospital said in a statement that 700 nurses will be able to resume their old jobs, and the nurses hired to replace them will also be able to retain their current positions. “We are glad to finally end the strike and put our sole focus back on patient care,” Carolyn Jackson, the hospital’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We will be setting a new tone at Saint Vincent Hospital: We are one team with a common purpose. Not striking nurses versus replacement nurses. Not nurses versus management.” U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a former Boston mayor and labor leader in Massachusetts, helped broker the accord during an in-person meeting Friday, the union said in a statement. Federal mediators have been working for two weeks with both sides to reach an accord. The nurses walked out in March complaining that staffing levels were too low and that they had too many patients to care for safely.\n\nMichigan\n\nLansing: The University of Michigan and Michigan State University will require all students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccination for the next semester in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The two universities, with the two largest student enrollments in the state, released statements Friday announcing the requirement, noting the omicron variant being found in the state. MSU said in its release that the deadline to get a booster shot is the beginning of the spring semester Jan. 10, while Michigan’s release said Feb. 4. Both schools already require vaccination against COVID-19 and have set their policies to reflect access and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to receive a booster for anyone who is 18 or older and six months out from the last vaccine in their initial series. In July, both university presidents announced vaccines would be required for the fall semester due to spread of the highly infectious delta variant. The first case of the omicron variant was found in Kent County earlier this month. The CDC says the omicron variant may be even more contagious than the highly spreadable delta variant.\n\nMinnesota\n\nMinneapolis: Hennepin County’s sheriff has pleaded guilty to drunken driving. Dave Hutchinson entered the plea Thursday to the misdemeanor charge and said he has enrolled in an outpatient treatment program to address his issues with alcohol. Hutchinson crashed his SUV on Interstate 94 near Alexandria on Dec. 8 at 2:30 a.m. after attending a state sheriffs conference. Hutchinson’s blood alcohol level was 0.13%. The legal limit to drive is 0.08%. The sheriff said in a statement that the crash was a “wakeup call” for him. He suffered three broken ribs and head and hip injuries when he rolled the SUV. “I understand the seriousness of my actions, for which I take full responsibility,” Hutchinson said. Hutchinson entered his guilty plea to fourth-degree driving while intoxicated via a plea petition. Douglas County Attorney Chad Larson said a plea agreement calls for a stayed jail sentence of 90 days, up to two years of probation, a $500 fine, a chemical-use assessment and a requirement that he follow the assessment’s recommendations. Hutchinson also must abstain from alcohol and nonprescribed controlled substances and submit to random testing. Larson said it’s a standard misdemeanor sentence for anyone with a first-time drunken-driving conviction.\n\nMississippi\n\nJackson: Five universities are receiving nearly $10 million from the state to cover tuition for aspiring educators. The Mississippi Teacher Residency Program is part of an effort to address the state’s teacher shortage. There were 3,036 certified teacher vacancies in Mississippi’s public schools from Aug. 21 to Oct. 11, 2021, according to a Department of Education survey. The grants will cover tuition and expenses for up to 240 people seeking a graduate degree in elementary and secondary education and are being paid for with American Rescue Plan relief dollars. The money is being split among Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University. Anyone accepted into the program will receive full scholarships, testing fees, books and mentor stipends. The grant includes training alongside a mentor teacher, testing support, professional development, and a commitment to teaching in a district serving low-income children, racial and ethnic minorities, and children with disabilities.\n\nMissouri\n\nColumbia: The state treasurer will no longer help schools refinance bond debt unless superintendents promise not to enforce face mask requirements and other COVID-19 safety measures issued by local officials. Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick this month began requiring school districts trying to refinance bond debt to certify that they’ll obey Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s warning against coronavirus-related mandates, Missourinet reports. Schmitt this month threatened to sue school districts and local health departments that require masks. He cited a November ruling from Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green. “These schools received certification forms because their bond deals were scheduled to close after the Attorney General communicated with schools about the court decision and we were made aware of several schools which did not intend to comply with the order,” Treasurer’s Office spokeswoman Mary Compton said in a Friday email. Fitzpatrick’s policy puts more pressure on districts to ditch mask and quarantine requirements. Without help from the Treasurer’s Office, districts face higher interest rates on debts.\n\nMontana\n\nHelena: Federal wildlife officials say two species of rare insects in the Rocky Mountains will need several thousand acres of glaciers and snowfields if they are to survive a warming world that’s threatening them with extinction. The western glacier stonefly and the meltwater lednian stonefly live in streams that flow from melting glaciers and snowfields. Scientists say the insects are not doing well and face continued declines as they lose a projected 80% of their habitat in Glacier National Park by 2030. The stoneflies’ peril underscores the threat climate change poses worldwide to mountaintops that are “biodiversity hot spots” – home to a rich variety of plants, animals and insects about which scientists are still learning. The two species live in and around Glacier National Park in Montana; Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada; and Native American tribal lands in western Montana. More recently, they’ve been found in streams in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in Montana and Wyoming. A new draft recovery plan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggests the possible transplant of some of the insects to new areas, exploring ways to artificially propagate populations and research into the stoneflies’ heat tolerance.\n\nNebraska\n\nLincoln: Even in normal times, the state has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, with fewer than 2 million residents and plenty of jobs to go around. But with some workers slow to return to work after COVID-19 shutdowns, the state has hit new depths, recording the country’s lowest-ever state unemployment rate of 1.8% in November. Now Gov. Pete Ricketts, who frequently expounds on the value of work, is confronting an intriguing question: Can a governor force citizens to work, even if they apparently aren’t eager or able to do so? Options he’s trying include requiring people to confer with job coaches before seeking unemployment benefits. “There’s going to be a lot of different things we’re going to have to do to reach each individual and, if they’re not working for whatever reason, get them back into the workforce,” Ricketts said recently. “Jobs help create great financial independence for Nebraskans and their families, giving them the dignity to achieve their dreams,” said the Republican governor, whose family’s estimated $4.5 billion in wealth originated with the creation of online brokerage Ameritrade. Nebraska has about 49,000 job openings listed on a state website and 19,000 working-age residents who are not working. About 4,300 people are receiving unemployment benefits.\n\nNevada\n\nLas Vegas: Fireworks that were called off last year because of the coronavirus pandemic are returning to the Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Eve, with a theme pointed toward 2022 – Deuces Wild – and the addition of an eighth hotel-top launching place, tourism and elected officials announced Thursday. “Aside from last year, ‘America’s Party’ has been the culminating event of the entire year for more than 20 years,” said Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events, a nonprofit agency created to produce and support big events. Thousands of revelers still congregated on casino-lined Las Vegas Boulevard last year despite the canceled fireworks. There was no mention during a news conference previewing this year’s event of the possible effect of the emergence and spread in recent weeks of the omicron variant of the virus. Fireworks were first held on the Strip on the last night of 2000. The display has helped make New Year’s Eve one of Las Vegas’ biggest events, drawing more than 300,000 revelers, according to tourism officials, and filling the tourism-dependent city’s more than 250,000 hotel rooms. “Being able to host this event again is so special because it allows us to close out the year in a memorable way,” Christenson said in a statement accompanying Thursday’s announcement.\n\nNew Hampshire\n\nGreenland: The town has resoundingly rejected a proposal to ban the use of voting machines and return to counting ballots by hand. Voters in the town of Greenland on Saturday defeated a citizen petition that would have stopped the use of voting machines in all local, state and federal elections. The vote was 1,077 against to 120 in favor of the proposal. Town Clerk Marge Morgan said turnout was higher than expected, and officials had to print more ballots. Greenland has a little over 4,000 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. census. Similar attempts to ban voting machines are under way in Hampton and Kensington, and a bill calling for a statewide ban was filed in the Legislature. Interest in banning the machines grew following an audit of a legislative race in Windham. The audit was requested after a losing Democratic candidate asked for a recount, which showed that Republican candidates got hundreds more votes than were originally counted. The discrepancy drew the attention of former President Donald Trump and his supporters in their effort to find evidence of his wider, unfounded claim of election fraud from 2020. But the audit showed the cause of the discrepancy yielded not from the AccuVote machine but from a separate letter-folding machine used to send out absentee ballots.\n\nNew Jersey\n\nTrenton: Marriage equality may soon be better protected as a bill moves on to votes in the state Senate and Assembly. A 2013 court ruling legalized same-sex marriage in New Jersey, but it has not been cemented in a statute. The New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted almost unanimously to move forward the bill that would codify marriage equality into law. Legislators will consider the bill Monday. If it passes both chambers, it heads to Gov. Phil Murphy for his likely approval. He has vocally supported LGBTQ rights during his tenure. The momentum in Trenton arrives at an important time, said Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Asbury Park-based Garden State Equality. “With a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, we cannot afford to sit by in hopes the justices will leave Obergefell v. Hodges intact,” Fuscarino said, referring to the 2015 ruling that legalized marriage equality at a national level. When marriage equality got the all-clear from New Jersey courts, Amy Quinn and her partner of 10 years, Heather Jensen, were among the first to be wed, exchanging vows on Asbury Park Boardwalk. Nearly a decade later, Quinn is now deputy mayor of Asbury Park, and the fight for marriage equality in New Jersey continues. “I can’t believe we’re still fighting for this, but here we are,” Quinn said.\n\nNew Mexico\n\nSanta Fe: Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation Friday to redraw the state’s three congressional districts and divide a conservative stronghold into multiple districts over the objections of Republicans. Lujan Grisham, a former three-term congresswoman, said the new congressional map establishes a “reasonable baseline for competitive federal elections, in which no one party or candidate may claim any undue advantage.” Republicans disagree, calling it a power grab by Democrats who have long dominated state politics. “These maps are far from fair representation, and they are a disservice to constituents,” said Steve Pearce, chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico. Consultants to the Legislature say the new congressional map gives Democrats an advantage in all three districts to varying degrees, based on past voting behavior. Republicans need a net gain of five seats in 2022 to take control of the U.S. House and effectively freeze President Joe Biden’s agenda on everything from climate change to the economy. Democrat-backed redistricting plans for the House and Senate also were on their way to the governor’s office Friday after a final House vote. Both plans embrace recommendations from Native American communities for shoring up Indigenous voting blocs in New Mexico’s northwest corner.\n\nNew York\n\nNew York: Despite soaring COVID-19 case numbers, long testing lines and event cancellations, so far New York City hospitals aren’t seeing a repeat of the surges that swamped emergency rooms early in the pandemic. The state reported Saturday that nearly 22,000 people had tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, eclipsing the previous day’s mark for the highest single-day total for new cases since testing became widely available. More than half the positive results were in the city. The Rockettes on Friday canceled remaining performances of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, citing “increasing challenges from the pandemic,” with lines at some testing sites in the city stretched around the block and at-home tests remaining hard to come by or pricier than usual. But new hospitalizations and deaths – so far – are averaging well below their spring 2020 peak and even where they were this time last year, during a winter wave that came as vaccinations were just beginning, city data shows. Mount Sinai Health System’s emergency rooms are seeing about 20% more patients – with all conditions – in recent days, according to Dr. Eric Legome, who oversees two of the network’s seven ERs. But at least so far, “we’re seeing a lot more treat-and-release” COVID-19 patients than in earlier waves, he said.\n\nNorth Carolina\n\nRaleigh: The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that nonprofit charter schools can’t avoid facing civil fraud claims alleging mismanagement of taxpayer money by arguing they are immune from such lawsuits like a state agency. The justices reversed a 2019 Court of Appeals decision that had dismissed claims against Kinston Charter Academy, which closed abruptly to 190 students and their teachers in 2013. A 2016 lawsuit by then-Attorney General Roy Cooper sought financial damages for the state and monetary penalties against the academy, its CEO and the chair of its board. Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that receive state funds on a per-pupil basis and have more flexibility – with instruction and enrollment among them – than traditional K-12 schools. They are overseen by the State Board of Education. Kinston Charter Academy and leaders were accused by Cooper’s office of violating the state’s False Claims Act and deceptive trade laws. State attorneys allege the school provided a bogus upgraded enrollment estimate to state education officials that meant receiving additional funds, even as leaders knew the school would not last the 2013-14 school year.\n\nNorth Dakota\n\nBismarck: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject an appeal by developers of the Dakota Access oil pipeline who are seeking to reinstate a federal permit for the line’s Missouri River crossing. Early this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed part of a lower court order that revoked the permit and required a new environmental review of the pipeline. “Though the dispute over the pipeline garnered national attention, the D.C. Circuit’s decision plowed no new ground,” lawyers for Standing Rock and other Sioux tribes fighting the pipeline wrote in a brief filed Thursday. The tribes argued that the high court should decline the developer’s petition to hear the case because appeals courts are not split on the issues surrounding the dispute, which can lead to the Supreme Court taking the case. The tribes say the D.C. Circuit judges applied a “conventional” review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ permitting decisions and “found no abuse of discretion” in the lower court’s order revoking the permit, the Bismarck Tribune reports. The Corps permitted the pipeline’s river crossing, which is just upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and where tribal members fear a leak could occur and harm their water supply.\n\nOhio\n\nColumbus: More than 1,000 members of the Ohio National Guard have been ordered into hospitals overwhelmed by patients being treated for COVID-19, the vast majority of them unvaccinated, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday. The state is also hiring a staffing agency to help recruit nurses from out of state to assist with patient care, DeWine said. “Twenty-two months of this pandemic has taken its toll on our health care workers,” the Republican governor said, recounting stories of short-staffed hospitals needing workers to return for second shifts after only short breaks. Of the Guard members, 150 are medical workers – mainly nurses and EMTs – who will be assigned beginning Monday to hospitals largely in the Akron, Canton and Cleveland areas, which are seeing the highest hospitalization numbers. Most of those hospitals have stopped elective surgeries, and facilities elsewhere are considering the same, the governor said. The remaining Guard members will serve in as-needed hospital roles in other parts of the state. As of Friday, 4,723 Ohioans were hospitalized with COVID-19 – a figure last seen almost a year ago, the governor said. Nine of every 10 of those patients are unvaccinated.\n\nOklahoma\n\nOklahoma City: An Oklahoma County grand jury has indicted a top Republican state House leader on multiple felony counts, alleging he misused his power to change state law so his wife could become a tag agent. House Speaker Pro Tempore Terry O’Donnell, the second-highest-ranking member in the chamber, was charged in the indictment Friday with five felonies and three misdemeanors. “He denies any wrongdoing,” said his attorney, Mack Martin. His wife, Teresa O’Donnell, who was also indicted, faces three felonies and one misdemeanor. Court records don’t indicate the name of her attorney. The most severe offense against the couple is conspiracy against the state, which has a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The Catoosa Republican introduced a bill in 2019 that allowed spouses of legislators to serve as tag agents. The Oklahoma Tax Commission appointed his wife to take over the Catoosa Tag Agency on Aug. 1, 2019, three months after Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the bill into law. Terry O’Donnell said last year that his wife had no intention of becoming a tag agent when he sponsored the bill. He said she sought the appointment after her mother died unexpectedly from pancreatic cancer. Her mother, Georgia McAfee, had been in charge of the Catoosa Tag Agency for more than 40 years. Teresa O’Donnell had worked there for more than four years before her appointment. Grand jurors alleged the two submitted a fraudulent application to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.\n\nOregon\n\nPortland: A weeklong strike is underway, affecting a number of grocery stores across the state less than a week before Christmas Day. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, representing many employees at Fred Meyer and QFC stores, confirmed early Friday morning that it is moving ahead with a walkout at stores in Portland, Bend, Newberg and Klamath Falls, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports. The details and specifics of a walkout are complicated. While the UFCW represents roughly 10,000 Fred Meyer employees, not all stores, departments or worker categories are participating in the strike. The union has been in labor negotiations for months with the Kroger-owned supermarket chains. Last weekend, UFCW announced its members had authorized a strike. Union representatives said Fred Meyer has been underpaying certain workers, in violation of contract terms. The grocery chain hasn’t been providing necessary information to the union to refute or verify its concern or to address it through the grievance process, according to the union. Workers are also seeking wage increases. A Fred Meyer statement provided to OPB confirmed that its stores affected by the strike, along with impacted QFC stores, remain open for customers.\n\nPennsylvania\n\nHarrisburg: The state will no longer impose income taxes on public-sector workers and nurses who receive student loan forgiveness from two major programs, the Wolf administration announced Friday. The change affects participants in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which provides debt relief to teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants, and the Pennsylvania Student Loan Relief for Nurses Program, a recent pandemic-era initiative to forgive up to $7,500 in student loan debt incurred by state-licensed nurses. Most other states and the federal government do not subject student loan forgiveness to taxation, but Pennsylvania lawmakers who pushed for the change said the state Department of Revenue had considered canceled student loans to be taxable income. That meant that a Pennsylvania resident who owed $50,000 in student loans would be subject to a $1,535 state tax bill once that debt was forgiven. “These people have chosen to serve the public, and often in lower-paying fields, because they want to make a difference. They don’t have thousands of dollars lying around to pay a one-time tax bill. So it’s wrong to take what should be a blessing and turn it into just another burden,” Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Friday.\n\nRhode Island\n\nProvidence: A major theater canceled its performances of “A Christmas Carol” over the weekend because a cast member was dealing with COVID-19 symptoms. The Trinity Repertory Company made the announcement on its Facebook page about half an hour before Saturday’s matinee show. The Providence theater said the unnamed cast member reported feeling sick at home Saturday morning, and the afternoon performance had to be scrubbed because there wasn’t an understudy who could take on the role. The theater said it was canceling the rest of the weekend’s performances out of an abundance of caution. Officials apologized for the abrupt change and said ticket holders would receive a full refund and complimentary access to an online streaming version of the production. “While we never make the decision to cancel a show lightly, our commitment to the health and safety of our artists, staff, and audiences are extremely important to us and made this decision clear,” the theater said in a statement. “A Christmas Carol” runs through Jan. 2 at Trinity Rep. The online streaming version is available until Jan. 16.\n\nSouth Carolina\n\nFolly Beach: Three young men on a beach vacation dug up a marked loggerhead turtle nest, causing 71 of the 90 eggs not to hatch, wildlife officials said. The men posted video to Snapchat in September of themselves digging up a nest marked with orange tape and signs on Folly Beach, and the Department of Natural Resources said agents were able to track them down. The three men, all under age 21, met with wildlife agents and admitted what they did. In exchange, the agency said it won’t charge them with a count of unlawful taking of loggerhead turtle eggs for each egg, instead agreeing to two counts for each man who was seen digging up the nest and one count for the person who filmed it. The men will face a fine of up to $2,000 on each charge and community service, the agency said in a statement. Wildlife agents will recommend all three men work with the state Marine Turtle Conservation program so they can find out how much work goes into protecting sea turtles in South Carolina. More than 1,300 volunteers along the coast help protect nests. Female sea turtles don’t lay eggs every year, and their nests are vulnerable if not protected on the beaches. Wildlife agents said 2021 overall was a successful year protecting the turtle eggs, with 5,649 nests recorded.\n\nSouth Dakota\n\nCuster: Authorities say numerous fire departments worked through the night to put out a fire at a popular 85-year-old lodge in the Black Hills. Two firefighters received minor injuries in the blaze at Sylvan Lake Lodge in Custer State Park. No guests of the multistory hotel were hurt, according to the Custer Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters discovered a “free-burning fire” when they arrived at the lodge Saturday night, authorities said. They encountered heavy smoke and flames extending to the roof. The stone-and-timber lodge was built in 1937, funded in part through Depression-era New Deal programs. A wing of additional rooms was added in 1991. The original Sylvan Lake Hotel was a stopping point for adventurers looking to climb Black Elk Peak, the highest point in America east of the Rockies, according to the lodge’s website. Alarms initially went off in the southeastern part of the building, authorities said. Freezing temperatures, narrow roads covered with ice and snow, and darkness added to the difficulty of dealing with the blaze. About two dozen agencies responded to the fire. Thirty-one cabins are nearby, all within close access to Sylvan Lake. Authorities asked people to steer clear of the area, where Custer firefighters said on social media that a massive cleanup effort is required.\n\nTennessee\n\nNashville: The future of Second Avenue, ravaged by a bomb blast nearly a year ago, will feature a life-size mural of the street’s historic buildings, expanded sidewalks and a restored tree canopy. Mayor John Cooper revealed details of the first phase of Second Avenue’s reconstruction Wednesday among a crowd of residents, property owners and first responders. The historic avenue was the site of a bombing on Christmas Day 2020 that crumbled 100-year-old facades and severely damaged dozens of businesses and homes. The bomber, Anthony Quinn Warner, was the only person killed in the explosion. The bombing left Nashville with the task of salvaging as much as possible of the core section of Nashville’s original downtown Market Street, literally brick by brick. In the months since, Cooper’s Second Avenue Task Force and numerous community organizations facilitated nine community workshops to collect input from more than 500 residents on how the street should be rebuilt. The first phase will be funded by a $20 million allocation approved Tuesday by the Metro Council as part of Cooper’s $564 million capital spending plan. The plans focus on creating a “more livable streetscape” with widened sidewalks, increased space for outdoor dining and food kiosks, plant life, and public art.\n\nTexas\n\nHouston: A group of attorneys and advocates have pledged to seek clemency for 110 Black soldiers who were convicted in a mutiny and riots at a military camp in the city in 1917. The South Texas College of Law Houston and the NAACP’s local branch have signed an agreement to continue fighting for clemency for the soldiers of the all-Black Third Battalion of the U.S. Army’s 24th Infantry Regiment, the Houston Chronicle reports. They plan to ask the secretary of the Army to posthumously grant honorable discharges and urge the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to recommend pardons to President Joe Biden. The soldiers were either executed or given long prison sentences. “We are on a quest to obtain justice for the 24th Infantry Regiment … that organized group of men who died with shameful reputations at the hands of those who had the power of the government, the courts and the power of the media,” said Bishop James Dixon, board president of the NAACP Houston Branch. On Aug. 23, 1917, four months after the U.S. had entered World War I, the regiment mutinied in Houston. It resulted in the largest murder trial in U.S. history, with 110 out of 118 soldiers found guilty. Nineteen were hanged. Law enforcement immediately recorded the events as a deadly, premeditated assault by Black Army soldiers on a white population. Historians and advocates now recognize the riot as part of the regiment’s response to what it believed was a white mob heading for them.\n\nUtah\n\nSalt Lake City: A local group is hoping to welcome Afghan refugees to America through playing soccer. Refugee Soccer organizes teams of those who’ve settled in Utah. It gathers equipment and helps place players on mainstream soccer clubs. “Really the mission is to bridge the gap between mainstream and refugee communities,” Executive Director Adam Miles told KSL NewsRadio. Miles is now leading a group of 10 volunteers to a military base in New Mexico after Christmas to play soccer with Afghans who fled the country this summer and are waiting for placement in homes around the country. Miles and his team will head there after Christmas and stay through the first of the year. “Three weeks of concentrated, intense (soccer) clinics, and getting to know these kids and building some relationships,” Miles said. He said soccer allows them to build those relationships. “It’s creating that bridge between people that don’t look like them, don’t speak their language and probably don’t practice their religion but are connecting over the world’s sport – the beautiful game of soccer,” he said. The group also has another big challenge. Miles said many kids fled Afghanistan with nothing. “They fled for their lives … a lot of these kids don’t have shoes.” So Refugee Soccer is trying to collect 500 to 800 pairs of shoes and cleats for the kids to wear.\n\nVermont\n\nBurlington: The mayor says he hopes to double housing production over the next five years as part of an effort to end chronic homelessness in the city. Mayor Miro Weinberger released a 10-point action plan Thursday to fulfill what he calls the “promise of housing as a human right.” “The path to making good on the promise that decent, stable housing is a human right is to build a lot more homes throughout the city and throughout the region,” Weinberger said. “This will require community change and understanding from us all. Our goal should not simply be to reduce homelessness; it must be to end it.” Mychamplainvalley.com reports Weinberger said the number of people in Chittenden County experiencing chronic homelessness has risen from 35 in 2018 to more than 160 now. The mayor’s action plan includes investing $5 million in COVID-19 relief funds to build new, permanently affordable housing. That would include at least $1 million for initiatives to better serve the chronically homeless population. The plan would also set a goal of creating 1,250 new homes by the end of 2026, with a quarter of those permanently affordable.\n\nVirginia\n\nFairfax: Police say four bodies discovered at two different locations in the state are the work of a serial killer who used a shopping cart to transport his victims’ bodies after meeting them on dating sites. At a press conference Friday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis dubbed the suspect, 35-year-old Anthony Robinson, of Washington, D.C., the “shopping cart killer” and said police are working to determine if there are other victims. Davis said Robinson, who was taken into custody in Rockingham County last month, has lived in multiple locations, including New York and Maryland, in recent years. Police in Harrisonburg arrested Robinson last month and charged him with two counts of murder after finding two bodies in a vacant lot in the city. “The good thing is he’s in custody. The challenge that remains is identifying other victims,” Davis said. One body found in Fairfax County has not yet been identified. The three victims who have been identified all went missing in the past few months. Police say they are trying to research Robinson’s life going back many years to see if there might be more victims. “That’s what worries us,” Davis said. “He didn’t suddenly turn into who he is three months ago.”\n\nWashington\n\nSeattle: Voters have retained socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, a controversial lawmaker and longtime foe of hometown tech giant Amazon. Sawant had faced a recall effort. King County Elections on Friday officially certified the Dec. 7 recall election, showing Sawant narrowly prevailing with 50.4% voting “no” on the recall question and 49.6% people casting “yes” ballots. Sawant, a 48-year-old economics professor, is the longest-tenured councilmember in Seattle. By surviving the recall, she gave a boost to the beleaguered left wing in liberal Seattle, which was bruised in last month’s general election when business-friendly candidates won the mayor’s office and a council seat. Sawant has had an outsized influence on the tone and direction of Seattle politics since she launched her political career under the banner of the Socialist Alternative party in 2012, when she ran unsuccessfully for state representative. Sawant was elected to the City Council the following year, and her threat to run a voter initiative drive for an immediate $15 minimum wage has been credited with pressuring business leaders and then-Mayor Ed Murray to reach a deal raising the wage to $15 over a few years. Seattle was the first major city in the U.S. to adopt such a measure.\n\nWest Virginia\n\nParkersburg: A former city councilor who is charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts. Eric Barber, 43, admitted to entering the Capitol and stealing a portable charger from a C-SPAN media station during a remote hearing Thursday, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports. “When I entered the Capitol building, I knew we weren’t supposed to be there,” he said after the judge asked if the charges were accurate. The criminal complaint alleged photos and security video showed Barber inside the Capitol wearing a green, combat-style helmet and a green, military-style field jacket. It said that video recorded Barber saying, “They’re giving us the building,” and that he took selfies in the Capitol Rotunda. It also claims he stole a portable power station from a C-SPAN media stand. Barber was elected to the Parkersburg City Council in 2016 as a Democrat. He changed his registration to independent a year later, then changed it again to Republican before losing his reelection bid last November. As part of the plea agreement, other misdemeanor counts will be dismissed. Barber’s sentencing was set for March 31.\n\nWisconsin\n\nMilwaukee: The city will soon have a change in leadership. The U.S. Senate on Thursday evening confirmed the nomination of Mayor Tom Barrett to become ambassador to the small European country of Luxembourg. Barrett, who was elected mayor in 2004, did not say when he plans to step down. Common Council President Cavalier Johnson will become acting mayor until a special election can be held to fill the remainder of Barrett’s term, which ends in 2024. Johnson is one of seven candidates who have filed papers to run for the permanent position. Others include Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas, Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic and former Ald. Bob Donovan. After his nomination was confirmed, Barrett thanked President Joe Biden, who nominated him, and U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson. “I’m not running from something; I’m running to something,” Barrett said in a virtual press conference after the vote. “And I think we all recognize that there are different chapters in life, and I’m very, very eager now to start this next chapter.”\n\nWyoming\n\nJackson: Residents south of the town are sounding the alarm over the possibility that dozens of high-end commercial campsites, roads and related infrastructure could be carved into the lower flanks of Munger Mountain. A Wyoming-owned 640-acre section of land that raises money for the state’s school trust account and is exempted from local zoning regulations could host the development. At the direction of legislators seeking to wring more money out of state lands in exorbitantly priced Jackson Hole, the Office of State Lands and Investments has identified the site as a potential moneymaker and plans to issue an open-ended request for proposals, Jason Crowder, the office’s deputy director, told the Jackson Hole News&Guide. That board, which has the final say, consists of five state officials: Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Auditor Kristi Racines, Treasurer Curt Meier and State Superintendent Jillian Balow. Although a request for proposals was once expected out by September, Crowder is now assigning no time frame for its release. But a luxury “glamour camping” company, Under Canvas, has already expressed an interest in building another of its safari-inspired glamping compounds on the Munger parcel. That the concept is being met with firm resistance.\n\nFrom USA TODAY Network and wire reports", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/12/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/2022/06/15/juneteenth-celebration-history-music-film-talk-vineyard-jubilee-holiday-1619-project-granger-vieira/7551295001/", "title": "Juneteenth celebrations: history, music, film, talk, Vineyard jubilee", "text": "A live lesson in American and Black history will Friday kick off both the Juneteenth weekend and the Arts Alive festival on the Falmouth Public Library lawn.\n\nAt 5 p.m. in a performance tent, Jeanne Morrison of AmplifyPOC Cape Cod and the League of Women Voters and State Rep. David Vieira will tell and re-enact the original events that the new federal holiday is celebrating.\n\nThat will be one of several events around Cape Cod & the Islands — including talks, music and films — to honor the abolition of slavery that is now marked nationwide after President Joe Biden last year proclaimed June 19 as the federal Juneteenth holiday. The day is known by some as African-American Independence Day, according to the Woods Hole Diversity Advisory Committee, which will hold a talk and Freedom Walk.\n\nOn Martha’s Vineyard, several businesses, arts and nonprofit organizations are collaborating to create an islandwide “edu-tourism” Juneteenth Jubilee weekend of events Friday through the actual holiday on Sunday. Among the numerous events at different venues will be a talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah Jones about creating the 1619 Project for The New York Times to mark the 400th anniversary of American slavery by reframing the country’s history through the consequences of slavery and contributions of Black Americans.\n\nIn Falmouth on Friday, Morrison will tell the story of Juneteenth, , according to ArtsFalmouth organizers, while Vieira will portray Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army. He was the man who read Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to the enslaved residents of Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after that document had set free all Confederate state slaves.\n\nFor the presentation, Falmouth High School students will play six Black Civil War heroes: Alexander Augusta, Robert Small, John Lawson, Harriet Tubman, Susan Baker King Taylor and Clara Barton.\n\nHere are more details on those two celebrations and other ways to mark the holiday:\n\nThe Juneteenth Jubilee on Martha’s Vineyard\n\nThe three-day Juneteenth Jubilee on Martha’s Vineyard will include music, film and other entertainment, as well as presentations by historians about the maritime equivalent of the Underground Railroad — documented cases of slaves obtaining freedom at sea. Panel discussions will be held at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and the Vineyard Preservation Trust’s Carnegie Heritage Center, island libraries and other venues.\n\nInkwell Haven LLC, which owns three historically Black Oak Bluffs guest houses, celebrated the first Juneteenth Jubilee event last year, and its Dunmere House will be dedicated as a destination on the island’s Martha’s Vineyard African American Heritage Trail over the weekend.\n\nLearn more:Do you know Esther's story? Underground Railroad's Martha's Vineyard ties celebrated\n\nWriter Jones will speak Saturday at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, followed by a Juneteenth Jubilee Creative Festival of theater (with actress Lynn Whitfield, best known for HBO’s “The Josephine Baker Story” and OWN’s “Greenleaf”), art, music and food.\n\nOther events will involve films, including the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s “Resilience and Recognition: Short Films Through a Black Lens”; book-signings and readings, including by Vikki Young, author of “A Girl of Color”; talks, including by historical archaeologist Cheryl Janifer LaRoche, whose work focuses on escape from slavery and the Underground Railroad, and UMass professor Barbara Krauthamer, co-author of “Envisioning Emancipation — Black Americans and the End of Slavery”; and a Sunday Gospel Brunch at the Edgartown Yacht Club, with music by singer Athene Wilson.\n\nGroups involved include the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, the Union Chapel Education and Cultural Institute, Circuit Arts, the Museum of African American History — Boston & Nantucket and the Vineyard Gazette.\n\nFor a full schedule: bit.ly/MVJuneteenthJubilee.\n\nMusic and more in Falmouth\n\nThe Arts Alive festival will again fill multiple tents on the lawn of the Falmouth library (300 Main St.) and adjacent Peg Noonan Park Friday through Sunday with music of all types, other performances, vendors and food. The idea to celebrate Juneteenth as part of Arts Alive came from pastor Nell Fields of the Waquoit Congregational Church and No Place for Hate, but Marilyn Rowland, ArtsFalmouth board president, says organizers were “delighted” to collaborate with them — as well as with Falmouth Public Schools, the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center, and the College Light Opera Company (CLOC).\n\nOther events beyond the opening reenactment include performances by Candida Rose Baptista and the Groovalottos on Sunday; the CLOC singers and musicians with Juneteenth celebration songs; the Teaticket Elementary School Chorus; and the International Ensemble from Falmouth Academy. At 3 p.m. Sunday, there will also be a Juneteenth Spoken Word performance of stories and poetry inspired by the events leading to the holiday.\n\nYouth art:Black girl magic: Gianna Preston's mural finds permanent home at Cape Cod Tech\n\n“ArtsFalmouth has strived to be inclusive and to honor diversity, particularly in the last couple of years,” Rowland says by email. “We want to work more closely with AmplifyPOC and other groups in the future to encourage more artists of color to participate in Arts Alive. … Participation by all members of the community is so important, and makes Arts Alive, the arts community, and the community as a whole much more vibrant, equitable, and welcoming for all.”\n\nThe dozens of performers and vendors were asked to keep both Juneteenth and Father's Day in mind this year, she says, so vendors will offer items that honor Juneteenth.\n\nVisitors will also be able to see the Falmouth library Storywalk of the children's book \"Juneteenth for Mazie.\" Then at 6 p.m. June 15, the library will hold a book group discussion on Annette Gordon-Reed's \"On Juneteenth.\" Copies are available for pickup at the reference desk. Registration to join the talk is required: www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org.\n\nA Juneteenth Walk for Freedom in Woods Hole\n\nThe Woods Hole Diversity Advisory Committee will host a lecture by B. Chad Starks on “Be the Messenger: Tell the Truth About Independence in America and Its Impact on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” at 8 p.m. Friday in the Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, 7 MBL St., Woods Hole.\n\nThen from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, the group will partner with Highfield Hall & Gardens (56 Highfield Drive, Falmouth) for a Juneteenth Walk for Freedom event. The community is invited to take contemplative strolls on the Highfield grounds or in adjacent Beebe Woods, and a Juneteenth children’s story will be featured for a Storywalk on the Beech Tree Trail. A tent will be set up offering information, refreshments, and coloring pages for children.\n\nRegistration for the walk and information: www.highfieldhallandgardens.org. More information: https://www.woodsholediversity.org/events/.\n\nArtist market and fundraiser in Provincetown\n\nProvincetown Brewing Co. (141 Bradford St.) will host a community fundraising event from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday for Mom Advocates (MAMA), which pairs advocates with caregivers during their postpartum year, and Amplify POC Cape Cod, an organization committed to eliminating the racial wealth gap (disparity in assets across race and ethnicity) by removing barriers created by systemic racism.\n\nThere will be live music, and artisans and businesses owned by people of color will be on hand; those involved will include Belonging Books, The Periwinkle Goddess, Action Is Everything, Zavia Walker and Cutco. There will be prizes to win from local businesses in a raffle. Attendance is free, though a $25 donation is suggested. Information: https://www.eventbrite.com.\n\nAnother movie to see:'Shift the lens': Black diplomats during the Cold War, PBS documentary by Cape Cod native\n\nMusic in Wellfleet and South Yarmouth\n\nThe David Eure Jazz Trio will play a Juneteenth holiday show at 5 p.m. Saturday to kick off the Summer Sounds Concert series at Wellfleet Preservation Hall (335 Main St.).\n\nThe band is based in Boston and includes Eure on violin, Lee Adler on piano and Chris Rathbun on bass. Hall organizers say Eure “virtually transforms the violin into a human voice, embodying a soulful sound with precision, clarity and finesse.” Tickets: $12-$25; https://www.wellfleetpreservationhall.org/.\n\nThe Cultural Center of Cape Cod (307 Old Main St, South Yarmouth) will host Kotoko Brass in “An Afternoon of Tradition, Diversity and Unity” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday. Kotoko Brass features musicians from Ghana, Antigua, Japan and the United States playing a style of West African dance music inspired by the traditional drum rhythms of Ghana.\n\nThe drums merge syncopated African percussion polyrhythms with dance grooves, according to information from the center, then the horns blend traditional sounds of New Orleans with the West African brass band sound heard from Ghana to Nigeria, while the guitar, keyboard and bass evoke \"classic African and Caribbean styles of highlife, afrobeat, and reggae.\" Tickets: $25; www.cultural-center.org or 508-394-7100.\n\nIn Cotuit, a discussion of Africa\n\n“Black Kingdoms Matter — Africa: The Motherland” is the title of the latest presentation by Robin Joyce Miller (also the writer) and James Walter Robinson in a Black Lives Matter series at Cotuit Center for the Arts (4404 Falmouth Road, or Route 28).\n\nThe event will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and focuses on “a very positive view of Africa, which is the Motherland to us all,” according to center information. The program will highlight some of the ancient African kingdoms that were in existence before the age of European Imperialism and colonization.\n\nTickets: $25, $20 for members, $23 for seniors/veterans; artsonthecapeorg. The talk will be streamed on the center's YouTube channel, and all programs in the Black Lives Matter series are there for viewing.\n\nIn Dennis, a film and talk\n\nThe MLK Action Team of the Nauset Interfaith Association will host the film “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America” at 4 p.m. Monday at Cape Cinema (35 Hope Lane, Dennis). The film will be followed by a panel of local activists sharing their reflections on the film and its relevance to Barnstable County.\n\nProgram partners are local racial justice organizations, including Amplify POC Cape Cod, BFree Wellness, Belonging Books, Cape Cod Voices and No Place For Hate Barnstable. Tickets, $15, which includes a small donation to the MLK Action Team: https://www.capecinema.com.\n\nContact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/06/15"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/uk/queen-elizabeth-ii-platinum-jubilee-intl-scli-gbr/index.html", "title": "Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee: Palace reveals how Queen's ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nThis year is set to be a landmark one for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.\n\nIt is her Platinum Jubilee – marking 70 years since the Queen first took the throne in 1952 and making her both the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-serving female head of state in history.\n\nTo celebrate the unprecedented anniversary, a number of events will take place throughout the UK over the year – culminating in a four-day national bank holiday weekend from Thursday June 2 until Sunday June 5, known as the Jubilee Weekend.\n\nThe holiday itself will include a variety of public events and community activities, as well as “national moments of reflection” on the Queen’s 70 years of service.\n\nThe upcoming celebrations will be the Queen’s first jubilee without her husband, Prince Philip, who died in 2021.\n\nThe monarch’s private estates – including Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle – will also join in with Jubilee themed events.\n\nOne of the initiatives due to take place as part of the celebrations is known as the “Platinum Pudding” celebration – a nationwide baking competition seeking out a new dessert dedicated to the Queen. UK residents aged 8 and over will be invited to create a recipe and the finalists will be judged by a panel including famed baker Mary Berry, Monica Galetti and the Buckingham Palace head chef Mark Flanagan.\n\nThe winning recipe will then be made available to the public ahead of the Jubilee Weekend.\n\nOther events planned to mark the occasion include the “BBC Platinum Party at the Palace” – a live concert which promises to bring together some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars to celebrate significant moments from the Queen’s reign.\n\nOn Thursday June 2, more than 1,500 towns, villages and cities throughout the UK and its overseas territories will light a beacon to mark the Jubilee. The capitals of Commonwealth countries will also light beacons – even as sentiment towards the British monarch in the Commonwealth now differs throughout different nations.\n\nThe Jubilee Weekend celebrations will also see “Big Jubilee Lunches” take place across Britain, including flagship events in London and at Cornwall’s Eden Project – where the idea for the lunches originated.\n\nA Platinum Jubilee Pageant will also be held, in which artistic performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers will unite to tell the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in a festival of creativity. It will take place in London and will include street arts, theater, music, circus, costumes, and visual technology.\n\nThis pageant will involve a “River of Hope” section that will comprise 200 silk flags that will process down The Mall – the road in London that leads to Buckingham Palace – like a river. School children are invited to create a picture of their hopes and aspirations for the planet over the next 70 years.\n\nThe artwork for the flags will be focused on climate change and incorporate the children’s messages for the future.\n\nThe pageant will take place on June 5, the last day of the Platinum Jubilee Weekend celebrations, as the events marking the monarch’s historic 70-year reign draw to a close.\n\nCNN has launched Royal News, a new weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what’s happening behind palace walls. Sign up here.", "authors": ["Hannah Ryan Max Foster", "Hannah Ryan", "Max Foster"], "publish_date": "2022/01/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/50-states/2021/03/15/yo-yo-ma-flowing-green-brooklyn-bridge-news-around-states/115559556/", "title": "Yo-Yo Ma, flowing green: News from around our 50 states", "text": "From USA TODAY Network and wire reports\n\nAlabama\n\nMontgomery: The state is expanding eligibility later this month for COVID-19 vaccinations to more front-line workers, residents with certain chronic health conditions, and people 55 and older, officials announced Friday. “We have been concerned that many people at high risk and others engaged in close-contact work have not been eligible to receive the vaccine yet, but with the additional vaccine supply we are better able to meet the needs of Alabama residents,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. The expansion, starting March 22, will add more than 2 million people to the groups who can receive a COVID-19 vaccination in Alabama, roughly doubling the number of people now eligible. But demand continues to exceed supply and will increase the competition to find shots. State Health Officer Scott Harris said eligibility was expanded because of the expectations of the public and health officials that the supply will jump over the coming weeks. “I would just encourage people to please remember to be patient. They have been patient for so long and we are really very very close to having enough vaccine to go around. I think in a month, probably six weeks at least, there is going to be more than an adequate supply of vaccine,” Harris said Friday.\n\nAlaska\n\nJuneau: State Sen. Lora Reinbold was allowed to participate in a floor session Friday after special accommodations were made for the Republican who legislative leaders say has refused to comply with protocols meant to guard against the spread of the coronavirus at the Capitol. Before the session started, the chamber doors were closed, which is unusual, and the sergeant at arms stood in front. When Reinbold approached, holding her phone to record the interaction, she was directed to a visitors’ gallery, where she sat alone. Roll, typically called with lawmakers pressing buttons at their desks, was called orally. Two days earlier, senators voted to allow leadership to restrict access by Reinbold to the Capitol until she complies with rules aimed at curbing the virus’s spread. Reinbold continued Friday to wear the type of clear face shield she has worn since the session started in January, which leaders say does not comply with the rules. She also said she was working from her Capitol office and showed up before the start of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which she chairs, before turning the gavel over to her vice chair and participating by video conference.\n\nArizona\n\nPhoenix: The state can meet President Joe Biden’s goal to offer vaccinations to everyone who wants one by May as long as the federal government supplies enough doses, Gov. Doug Ducey said Friday. “If we have the supply, we certainly have the infrastructure,” Ducey told Phoenix radio station KTAR-FM. Arizona is scheduling COVID-19 vaccines for people 55 and older through four state-run mass vaccination sites in Phoenix and Tucson, and the state plans to lower the threshold to age 45 on April 1. Counties have their vaccine allotments and criteria to get them; some are prioritizing essential workers. Ducey said he’s focused for now on the “coalition of the willing” but plans to turn his attention to people who are apprehensive and communities where people don’t have cars or otherwise struggle to get to drive-thru inoculation sites. Low-income areas and communities of color have lagged wealthier and whiter ZIP codes in vaccination rates. Ducey’s top health official, Dr. Cara Christ, said the state is beginning intensive outreach efforts in areas with low levels of vaccination. Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said she expects to open appointments for people 35 and older sometime in April and to meet Biden’s May 1 deadline for appointments to be open for everyone.\n\nArkansas\n\nLittle Rock: An additional 18 deaths from COVID-19 were reported Saturday by the Arkansas Department of Health, in addition to 314 more confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in the state. There have been 326,813 confirmed or suspected cases and 5,455 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the health department. The seven-day rolling average of deaths in the state has increased during the past two weeks from 10 per day Feb. 25 to 22 on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, while the seven-day average of new cases decreased during the same time frame, from 560.7 daily to 310. Arkansas ranked 17th in the nation in new cases per capita with 260.8 per 100,000 population, according to the Johns Hopkins data. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state is on schedule to meet President Joe Biden’s goal to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, assuming the available supply is sufficient. He expanded the state’s eligibility last week to the rest of those in its 1B category, which he said in a statement was expected to be completed this month.\n\nCalifornia\n\nLos Angeles: Coronavirus hospitalizations in Los Angeles County slipped below 1,000 for the first time in nearly four months, officials reported Saturday, as case rates also remained low and as much of the state prepared for some restrictions to be lifted. The number of patients with COVID-19 in LA County hospitals hit 979, the fewest since Nov. 23, the county health department said. The 3,250 people hospitalized statewide represented a drop of more than 85% since peaking around 22,000 in early January, the state Department of Public Health said Saturday. State officials announced Friday that 13 counties would be eligible to open restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and museums at limited capacity Sunday. The easing of restrictions is a result of the state hitting a 2 million equity metric aimed at getting more vaccines into low-income communities. The counties eligible to reopen included Contra Costa and Sonoma in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. San Bernardino and Orange said they’d reopen those businesses Sunday, although LA County officials said they’d wait until Monday. Another 13 counties – including San Diego, Sacramento, Riverside and Ventura – are expected to reopen Wednesday under a different metric. Hard-hit Kern and Fresno in the central valley remain in the most restrictive tier.\n\nColorado\n\nDenver: Gov. Jared Polis said he expects every resident to be eligible to get vaccinated by mid-April, a faster timeline than what President Joe Biden previously announced. On Thursday, Biden said he’s directing all states to open vaccine eligibility to all ages May 1. “In Colorado, we always aim to do better,” Polis said at a news conference Friday. “We’re very competitive, and … we’re able to announce today that we expect we will be there by mid-April. We will have that date in the next week or two as we further refine our supply projections.” When eligibility opens to all residents, providers will be able to use their own discretion to prioritize those in higher-risk categories, said Scott Bookman, COVID-19 incident commander. Polis made the prediction Friday as he also announced that residents over age 50 and essential workers would be eligible by March 19 – two days earlier than previously expected. By March 17, vaccine providers should have information on how to sign up for the latest eligible group, Polis said. The state estimates about 2.5 million people will be eligible in this group, Bookman said, including workers in the Postal Service, restaurants, higher education and those over the age of 16 with one high-risk condition.\n\nConnecticut\n\nHartford: Some lawmakers and the state’s restaurant association are raising concerns about the General Assembly’s latest effort to phase out single-use food containers, noting that many restaurants continue to rely heavily on takeout orders because of the pandemic. Rep. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, the top House Republican on the Environment Committee, said while the legislation would not bar restaurants from using expanded polystyrene containers until 2023, he still believes it makes sense to wait on passing the bill. “My biggest concern here is implementing legislation that would put further costs and mandates on these restaurants just as they’re trying to open their doors once again and trying to make some level of profit,” said Harding, noting the uncertainty of when the coronavirus threat will finally be over. “This could last longer than we all expect, unfortunately,” Harding said, pledging his support once “we’re on the other side of this pandemic.” Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, the committee’s top Senate Democrat and owner of a bagel restaurant, said lawmakers purposely delayed implementation because of the financial challenges restaurants have faced, but the material is “incredibly harmful” to the environment and must be addressed. The bill advanced to the House for further action.\n\nDelaware\n\nWilmington: The chief justice of Delaware’s Supreme Court says jury trials and additional in-person court proceedings could return to state courts in June if current COVID-19 trends continue. In a statement Friday to judicial officers, employees and members of the Delaware Bar Association, Chief Justice Collins Seitz Jr. said the latest trends are encouraging, with the rates of positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths all down significantly from the peak in January. The Delaware State News reports Seitz also said vaccination clinics are planned for the judiciary and its justice partners. Seitz said he anticipates the state moving to Phase 3 of the courts’ reopening plan, assuming that “the downward trend in COVID-19 cases continues, and the vaccine becomes more widely available as promised.” In Phase 3, the courts will maintain current health safety precautions, including COVID-19 screening and temperature checks at the entrances to court facilities, as well as mask requirements and social distancing. He said due to the backlog of criminal cases, they will be given top priority during Phase 3.\n\nDistrict of Columbia\n\nWashington: People gathered downtown Saturday to protest utility shut-offs that are still happening amid a pandemic that has delivered a financial wallop to many, WUSA-TV reports. Saturday’s demonstration outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services comes as a local D.C. moratorium on Pepco shut-offs, which has been in place since last year, is set to expire next month. Signs at the protest directed messages at President Joe Biden for not establishing a national moratorium on utility cutoffs for people who are having trouble paying the bills during the pandemic. A federal judge in Ohio recently ruled that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lacked the authority to issue a nationwide moratorium on rental evictions – the second such ruling issued by a federal judge in two weeks. U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in the Eastern District of Texas had earlier determined that the moratorium was unconstitutional. The Justice Department is appealing that order.\n\nFlorida\n\nTallahassee: A measure that would shield businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits could make it before the state Senate this week, providing another key test for a measure that supporters assert will protect against frivolous lawsuits but that critics worry could give blanket immunity to most business owners, including long-term care facilities, who negligently put the public and their workers in danger during the pandemic. Earlier this month, the House approved liability protections for most businesses, planning to later take up another bill specific to health care providers. The version coming before the Senate combines both into a single bill and would put pressure on the House to follow suit. And it could provide Democrats, who are generally opposed to the bills, with more opportunities to advocate for changes they hope will favor workers and consumers. Gov. Ron DeSantis has urged his allies in the Republican-controlled Legislature to make the COVID-19 liability issue a priority during their 60-day session, which is entering its third week. He has argued that a spate of lawsuits could translate to the loss of jobs. Immunity from such lawsuits is especially important for long-term care facilities. State health records show nearly 11,000 residents in those facilities died from the pandemic.\n\nGeorgia\n\nSavannah: The South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is canceled, as is the boozy riverside festival that accompanies it. Regardless, the city has been preparing for its largest crowds since the yearlong pandemic began – an influx officials worry could bring a surge in coronavirus infections. The Irish holiday typically means Savannah’s manicured squares and magnolia-shaded sidewalks are packed with thousands of gaudy green revelers March 17. But with Georgia still reporting at least 1,000 new COVID-19 infections daily while ranking last in U.S. vaccinations, city officials again pulled the plug on this year’s parade. Likewise, Savannah City Hall withheld a permit for the sprawling St. Patrick’s festival that’s typically a magnet for beer-fueled revelry along the city’s riverfront promenade. But the city’s top tourism official expected hotels in the downtown historic district to be 90% full over the weekend – the busiest in the past year. Meanwhile, the owner of a new $375 million hotel and nightlife development covering a quarter-mile along the riverfront promoted a festival beginning Friday that Mayor Van Johnson called “a slap in the face” to the city’s efforts to curb coronavirus infections by forgoing events that draw big crowds. But Plant Riverside was relatively quiet Saturday morning.\n\nHawaii\n\nHonolulu: The state won’t need to furlough or lay off workers because it will be receiving more financial help from federal coronavirus relief legislation, Gov. David Ige said Thursday. The Democratic governor had warned in December that the state would need to furlough more than 40,000 employees to balance the budget after plummeting tourism depleted tax revenue. Ige said his planned furloughs would cut worker pay by 9.2% and take effect Jan. 1. But Ige delayed the furloughs after Congress approved a second round of pandemic relief in December. The third and latest package signed by President Joe Biden, which provides Hawaii with about $1.6 billion to bolster its budget, allows Ige to take furloughs off the table completely. Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy has been hit hard by the pandemic as hundreds of hotels shut down and furloughed and laid off workers. As of December, Hawaii had the highest jobless rate in the nation, at 9.3%, but that’s an improvement over the peak of 23.6% last April. Hawaii’s counties also will receive funding to help their budgets, and money will go to public schools, the University of Hawaii, and rent and mortgage assistance. The state Department of Health will receive funding to cover COVID-19 vaccinations and mental health and substance abuse programs.\n\nIdaho\n\nBoise: The first significant piece of legislation aimed at trimming a governor’s powers during declared emergencies while increasing the Legislature’s power cleared the state Senate on Friday and is headed to the House. The Senate voted 27-7 to approve the measure that targets emergency powers during human-made events, such as a terrorist attack. A companion House bill targets a governor’s authority during natural disasters. Both bills have similar language. Lawmakers say the coronavirus pandemic showed that the state’s current system is a relic from the Cold War that concentrates too much power in the executive branch. Should a governor have the authority to declare an emergency “and then, without limitation, ad infinitum, forever and ever maintain that power and overturn the law, declare martial law, and exercise government by the military without ever calling upon the Legislature to consider the issue?” Republican Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon asked his fellow senators during debate on the Senate floor. Democratic Sen. Grant Burgoyne noted that the legislation supported by Republicans was caused by a pandemic that many in the GOP consider a hoax. “This fight against this horrible virus is not over – we still have work to do,” he said. “And in my estimation, this legislation is not equal to the task.”\n\nIllinois\n\nChicago: The Chicago River was dyed a bright shade of green Saturday after Mayor Lori Lightfoot reversed an earlier decision not to tint the waterway for a second year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Crews on boats began dumping green dye into the riverfront about 7 a.m. after Lightfoot authorized the dyeing ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, delighting pedestrians with the vivid scene. Chicago residents Lori Jones and Mike Smith surveyed the green waters, saying they were glad the tradition that dates to 1962 was resumed this year. “We truly missed it last year, as a lot of other things in 2020,” Jones, 59, told the Chicago Tribune. Last year, Lightfoot abruptly canceled the city’s 2020 parades and the river dyeing just days before they were to take place in the early days of the pandemic. She called off the parades again this year due to the lingering pandemic and said the river would once again not be dyed. But a Lightfoot spokesman said in a statement that the city opted “to honor the long-standing tradition” and authorized its partners, the Chicago Plumbers Union Local 130, to dye the river. The event was not publicized in advance “in order to minimize crowds and avoid congregating,” the spokesman said.\n\nIndiana\n\nIndianapolis: Downtown Indianapolis began to emerge from the pandemic Saturday with a widespread slate of live music, dance, murals, storefront art and more outdoor activities. The goal of “Swish,” an arts and culture festival, is to safely celebrate alongside the NCAA Tournament. Almost 600 artists and creative professionals, many of whom have endured decimated incomes after a year’s worth of cancellations, are contributing to “Swish,” which will run through April 5. “Think about it from the human standpoint: One, we’re coming off of winter. Two, it’s winter with COVID,” said Karen Haley, executive director of the Cultural Trail, one of the organizers of the event. “All of us, I think, are just itching to have anything to do outside in places where we can be physically distant and still be able to be with your friends and family.” Organizers of the festival and beautification efforts include Visit Indy, Downtown Indy, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, IndyHub, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc., Indianapolis Urban League, Indiana Humanities, the Indianapolis Airport Authority, the Arts Council of Indianapolis and Indiana Sports Corp. All of the activities are free and open to the public. And they’re outdoors, along with plenty of signs reminding people to social distance and wear masks.\n\nIowa\n\nIowa City: As coronavirus cases plummeted, the state quietly extended by three months a $3.9 million contact tracing contract with a company owned by a major Republican Party donor and supporter of Gov. Kim Reynolds, according to documents released Friday. After a one-day emergency bidding process in November, the Iowa Department of Public Health hired MCI, an Iowa City telemarketing firm, to trace the contacts of residents infected with the virus. The award of the original two-month, $2.3 million contract came during a surge in cases that filled up hospitals with patients and after months of complaints from counties about a shortage of contact tracing workers. MCI is owned by Anthony Marlowe, who was a delegate to the Republican National Convention last year and has emerged as a top donor for Republican Party groups and candidates in recent years. His company performed extensive telemarketing and data work for Donald Trump’s two presidential campaigns and also provided services for Reynolds’ political campaign. The public health department said in November that MCI was the highest-scoring out of 14 bidders and that its political connections played no role in it getting the contract. The company had been pitching its services to the state since the beginning of the pandemic.\n\nKansas\n\nMission: A hospital had to throw away 570 doses of vaccine because of a refrigeration mistake, officials say. Lawrence Memorial Hospital said in a news release that city and county health officials transferred the doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the hospital Wednesday. The hospital then put them in a freezer, not realizing they were thawed. Confusion arose because most doses are shipped frozen, but the health department had received this batch in a refrigerated state. The hospital reached out to J&J for guidance and was instructed that the doses would have to be discarded. LMH Health President & CEO Russ Johnson described what happened as a “heart-wrenching situation for our hospital,” which he said is reviewing processes aimed at preventing vaccine waste to prevent future errors. Health officials also have requested replacement doses and are working to reschedule appointments. Meanwhile, it isn’t clear whether the statewide state of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic will remain in effect past March 31, when it is due to expire. The Republican-controlled Legislature would have to extend it, and some GOP leaders want to let it and any remaining restrictions expire with new cases down.\n\nKentucky\n\nFrankfort: Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday signed legislation allowing the state to waive the overpayment of some pandemic-related unemployment claims. The bill, which won bipartisan support, applies to some people who left their jobs early in the pandemic due to concerns about exposure to COVID-19. At the time, as Beshear encouraged people to stay “Healthy at Home,” the state signaled they’d be eligible for jobless assistance. Recipients, however, were later informed the money had to be given back. Beshear’s administration pointed to the U.S. Labor Department for the mix-up. On Friday, the Democratic governor said in a social media post that signing the measure was “the right thing to do to help Kentuckians as we recover from the pandemic.” The bill’s main sponsor was Republican Sen. David Givens. The measure seeks to remedy the unintended problem that was hanging over some Kentuckians by allowing the state Labor Cabinet to waive overpayments when the unemployment office was at fault. Recipients would be expected to request the waiver. Lawmakers had pointed to the hardships the reimbursements would cause people who, through no fault of their own, were being asked for the money back.\n\nLouisiana\n\nBaton Rouge: Gov. John Bel Edwards declared Sunday a “day of prayer and remembrance” for the more than 9,000 Louisianans who have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began a year ago. Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 death in the state. “Sadly, there are thousands of empty seats at churches, Sunday dinners, family celebrations, homes, businesses and schools all across our state,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “As we mourn, I am calling on all Louisianans to join me and Donna on Sunday for a moment of prayer or remembrance for those we have lost and their families and friends who need our support now more than ever.” The health department has confirmed 9,122 people have died in the state from COVID-19, and hundreds of additional deaths are suspected from the disease caused by the coronavirus. More deaths continue to be announced daily. But public health officials hope wider availability to vaccines will stem the number of new deaths, and already the daily death toll from COVID-19 in Louisiana has fallen as more people have received immunizations. Nearly 18% of the state’s total population has received at least the first dose of the two-dose vaccine regimens available, according to state health department data.\n\nMaine\n\nAugusta: The Legislature has approved a bill designed to eliminate barriers to coronavirus screening, testing and immunization. Proponents of the bill called it the “COVID-19 Patient Bill of Rights,” and it passed the Legislature during a session that stretched from Thursday into early Friday. The proposal requires state-regulated insurers to cover coronavirus screening, testing and immunization at no cost to patients. Democratic House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a leading proponent of the bill, said the proposal is about “making sure nothing prevents Mainers from getting the health care they need to protect themselves, their families and loved ones from this serious virus.” The proposal also stops health care providers from charging patients any sort of fee related to coronavirus preventative services. The proposal now goes to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has said she supports the bill. She has 10 days to sign it, and it would become effective immediately.\n\nMaryland\n\nAnnapolis: The state is extending its income tax deadline by three months to July 15. Comptroller Peter Franchot made the announcement Thursday. No interest or penalties will be assessed if returns are filed and taxes owed are paid by the new deadline. The extension applies to individual, pass-through, fiduciary and corporate income tax returns. The comptroller said the extension is due to legislation at the state and federal levels that affects 2020 tax filings and provides economic relief for taxpayers harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Maryland, passage of the RELIEF Act in February required extensive revisions to previously released forms and software programs used by tax filers and tax software vendors. At the federal level, the passage of a third stimulus package this week necessitates more changes to federal and state forms even as the traditional April 15 tax filing deadline approaches.\n\nMassachusetts\n\nPittsfield: Newly vaccinated residents were treated to a mini-concert Saturday when famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma brought out his instrument after getting his second shot. Ma took a seat along the wall of the observation area Saturday at Berkshire Community College and played for about 15 minutes, saying he “wanted to give something back,” Richard Hall of the Berkshire COVID-19 Vaccine Collaborative told The Berkshire Eagle. “What a way to end the clinic,” Hall said. The quick concert came a year after Ma started posting recordings of himself using the hashtag #SongsOfComfort on social media. “In these days of anxiety,” he wrote on Twitter on March 13, 2020, “I wanted to find a way to continue to share some of the music that gives me comfort.” Since then, he also has played surprise pop-up concerts for essential workers.\n\nMichigan\n\nLansing: Visitors will be allowed at state prisons for the first time in a year starting March 26, the Corrections Department said Friday. Visitors will be given a rapid coronavirus test and have their temperature checked. Physical contact between prisoners and visitors will be prohibited. “Connections with family and the community lead to greater offender success,” department Director Heidi Washington said. “With the continuation of vaccines, and cases within the MDOC on a steady decline, the department is prepared to provide in-person visits without jeopardizing the safety and well-being of our inmates and staff.” Visits must be scheduled in advance. Information will be posted at michigan.gov/corrections. More than 25,000 prisoners have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic; 139 have died. There were 788 active cases Wednesday, the Corrections Department said, including 615 at Bellamy Creek in Ionia and Egeler in Jackson.\n\nMinnesota\n\nMinneapolis: Gov. Tim Walz on Friday announced he is easing several coronavirus restrictions, citing rising vaccinations and declining COVID-19 cases. “I’m here to tell you that we’re winning. We’re winning, and this thing is coming to an end,” Walz said in a livestreamed announcement. “Today is the day that a lot of things are going to start to change that you’re going to notice.” Starting at noon Monday, religious services will no longer have occupancy limits, though social distancing will still be required. Gathering limits will increase to 50 people outside and 15 people indoors with no household limits. Pod sizes for outdoor youth sports can increase to up to 50 people. Bar and restaurant capacity will also go up to 75% with a limit of 250 people and bar seating for parties of four. Capacity for gyms, fitness centers and pools increases to 50%. There will be no occupancy limits for hair salons and barbershops. Entertainment venues will be able to open at 50% capacity with a limit of 250 people. Starting April 1, larger venues with normal capacities over 500 can allow up to 3,000 people for seated indoor venues and 1,500 people for non-seated indoor venues. The limit for large seated and non-seated outdoor venues is 10,000 people, meaning the Twins will be able to welcome fans for the baseball team’s home opener.\n\nMississippi\n\nD’Iberville: A casino along the Gulf Coast is offering employees $150 for each COVID-19 vaccine shot they receive. The Sun Herald reports employees at Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville who take vaccines that require two shots will get $300. The casino has also partnered with a hospital to have vaccines administered at its clinic. CEO LuAnn Pappas told the newspaper the casino wants to mitigate the impact COVID-19 has had on the hospitality industry. She said casino directors all have received COVID-19 vaccinations, and they are required for all managers. The casino is also giving employees time off to get the vaccine at another site.\n\nMissouri\n\nSt. Louis: A task force appointed to examine concerns about a troubled jail is urging the city to create an independent oversight board to help oversee the lockup, according to a report released Friday. Task force leaders shared the report with Mayor Lyda Krewson. The Rev. Darryl Gray, a longtime racial justice advocate who chairs the task force, said the creation of an oversight board is an “urgent priority.” Krewson and Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards said they’ll review the recommendations. After three violent outbursts in as many months at the downtown City Justice Center, Edwards blamed the uprisings on “angry, defiant, very violent people,” but inmate advocates blamed poor treatment of the detainees. Inmates have complained about unhealthy and inhumane conditions and expressed worries that the jail’s COVID-19 precautions fall short. City leaders have cited coronavirus protocols that include 14-day quarantine periods for each new detainee, masks replaced upon request and testing anytime a detainee or a nurse detects symptoms. The task force also recommended more recreation time for inmates, limiting the length of stay in a holding cell to a maximum of 24 hours, faster response to medical needs, and a renewed effort to reduce legal logjams that have kept some pretrial detainees in jail for well over a year.\n\nMontana\n\nHelena: A legislative committee voted Friday to restore funding for two positions within the state health department that are dedicated to serving Native American communities. State Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, brought the amendment to restore the funding for the the American Indian health director and the tribal relations manager, saying the panel’s earlier elimination of two jobs held by Native Americans doesn’t “look good out there to Montana.” Republican Rep. Matt Regier of Kalispell had argued that the positions were redundant, that other health department workers could work with tribes and that there are other tribal liaisons in state government. Adam Meier, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, told the committee Thursday that the employees do important work. The House Appropriations Committee voted 15-9 Friday to restore the $481,000 in state and federal funding for the jobs for the next two years. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte supported restoring the funding, spokesperson Brooke Stroyke has said. The proposed eliminations of the positions were among several moves made by the GOP-controlled Legislature this year that have triggered concerns from some Native Americans and their allies who fear they are losing influence and representation.\n\nNebraska\n\nLincoln: Gov. Pete Ricketts endorsed a bill Wednesday that would make permanent his emergency order to let restaurants offer alcohol with takeout orders during the pandemic. The governor’s comments came one day after lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval. “Certainly, this pandemic has demonstrated that a lot of these regulations were not necessary, providing no public benefit,” Ricketts said when asked about the issue at a news conference. Sen. Suzanne Geist, the bill’s sponsor, said she introduced it to help local businesses recover some of the revenue they lost due to government-mandated social distancing restrictions. The bill could still be tweaked to address concerns raised by some senators. Under the measure, drinks could only be sold in a sealed, tamper-evident container and not partially consumed.\n\nNevada\n\nLas Vegas: Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Friday that he planned to accelerate the state’s reopening timeline. The Democratic governor reversed plans to limit the number of concerts, conventions and trade show attendees to 1,000 people and decided to allow them to host up to 50% of total venue capacity – the same as most businesses in the state – starting March 15. The decision will allow the Las Vegas Convention Center and venues like 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip to apply for permits to accept thousands more people. The move won quick praise from the hospitality industry. “The meetings and convention business is critical to our economy with tens of thousands of jobs depending on it,” Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine said in response to the decision. “All in all, Las Vegas’ reopening momentum continues to build.” Sisolak has said he’s leveraging all state resources to administer vaccines quickly. On Thursday, he expanded eligibility to front-line workers in the restaurant, hospitality and hotel sectors, following reports from Las Vegas-area health officials that slots were going unfilled. Health officials also promised that by this week people 55 and older with underlying health conditions will be able to book vaccination appointments at pharmacies.\n\nNew Hampshire\n\nConcord: The state will receive more than $9.4 million in federal grants to help fight substance use disorder and bolster access to mental health services under the coronavirus relief package signed into law in December, New Hampshire’s congressional delegation said Friday. “The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a tremendous toll on Granite Staters’ mental health, with many people experiencing acute stress, anxiety, depression and trauma as they grapple with the devastating impacts of this crisis,” said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who pushed for the provision. “The substance use disorder epidemic has been exacerbated by COVID-19, with both patients and treatment providers struggling to get the resources and support they need to stay afloat,” she said in a statement. The package includes a total of $4.25 billion in funding for substance use disorder treatment and mental health care.\n\nNew Jersey\n\nTrenton: While Gov. Phil Murphy has pledged to be transparent throughout the coronavirus pandemic, his administration has denied or slowly responded to requests for records related to spending, communications and decision-making. The pandemic has sparked an explosion of public data, yielding a sprawling COVID-19 website, updated daily with data and other information – including the numerous executive orders over the past year – created by Murphy’s office and the state’s health department. Broad requests for COVID-19-related spending have also been answered, but the administration has blocked information from the public. It’s unclear how much more is being withheld than usual, given the dozens of dozens of pandemic-related executive orders and purchase orders, among other official actions, that have created public records. It’s not unusual for governors to cite one of the handful of exceptions when denying records, but the state’s Government Records Council, which oversees the public records law, also says certain documents like payment vouchers should be released without delay. That hasn’t happened with some COVID-19-related records requests. Murphy last week said it might take time to release some records but recommitted his administration to transparency. “We are doing, I promise you, our level best to be transparent in every single way,” he said.\n\nNew Mexico\n\nAlbuquerque: With the slowing of the coronavirus outbreak, Albuquerque Public Schools will resume in-person learning for five days a week starting April 5, though students can continue remote learning for the rest of the school year. New Mexico’s largest school district announced its startup date Friday after the state Public Education Department earlier in the week said all schools were expected to reopen classrooms after spring break. The district’s Board of Education was briefed on the reopening plan but did not vote on it. Mask-wearing will be required, and social distancing will be expected, interim Superintendent Scott Elder said. “The reality is that full reentry will create situations in classes where we are unable to keep people 6 feet apart, but we’re assured that is OK,” Elder said. “But the goal is to maintain social distancing … to the greatest extent possible.” Albuquerque Public Schools officials said they were trying to arrange extensions for teachers in high-risk groups to allow them to wait to return to in-person instruction until two weeks after being fully vaccinated.\n\nNew York\n\nNew York: With somber words and music set against a backdrop of images of New Yorkers taken by the COVID-19 pandemic, the city on Sunday marked a year since word broke of the state’s first fatalities from the coronavirus, a fearful moment of reckoning that sent officials rushing to close businesses and schools. The elaborate evening ceremony on the Brooklyn waterfront paid tribute to the approximately 30,000 city residents killed by the virus since March 2020. The event began with a performance by the New York Philharmonic and included remarks by faith leaders and poetry from the city’s youth poet laureate. Throughout the ceremony, faces of the pandemic’s New York City victims were projected onto the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. A visibly emotional Mayor Bill de Blasio called the total number of lives lost in the city “a number we can barely imagine” and noted it represented more than lost in World War II, Vietnam, the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy combined. As devastating as the losses have been, he said, “everyone we’ve lost, what they did goes on. What they contributed, what they created, the love they gave goes on.” The death toll in the broader New York City metropolitan area now stands at more than 65,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.\n\nNorth Carolina\n\nDurham: Duke University issued a quarantine order for all its undergraduates effective Saturday night due to a coronavirus outbreak caused by students who attended recruitment parties, the school said. The university said in a statement that all undergraduate students will be forced to stay in place until at least March 21. Suspension and dismissal from the school are potential punishments for “flagrant or repeat violators.” Over the past week, the school has reported more than 180 coronavirus cases among students. There are an additional 200 students who may have been exposed and have been ordered to quarantine. The school said in the statement that the outbreak was “principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups.” Duke said it would provide a policy update Thursday.\n\nNorth Dakota\n\nBismarck: Improving oil prices and pending federal coronavirus aid have state lawmakers expecting a slightly better revenue forecast than what was used as a budgetary starting point in January. State budget analysts, the economic consultancy Moody’s Analytics, and the Legislature’s own economic consultancy, IHS Markit, on Tuesday will present their budget predictions that will be used as guidelines to craft the state’s upcoming two-year budget. Republican House Appropriations Chairman Jeff Delzer and his Senate counterpart, Ray Holmberg, said lawmakers are expecting increased tax revenues but will be cautious with priorities when they adopt a blueprint. The revenue assumptions are important because the Legislature will use the numbers in making final spending decisions. Until now, the Legislature has idled major spending bills until the new economic assumptions are released. A forecast adopted in January estimated projected tax revenues for the 2021-23 budget cycle at $3.95 billion, based on the pair of competing revenue forecasts. Tuesday’s estimates will provide a fresh set of numbers, although they only include three months’ worth of new data.\n\nOhio\n\nColumbus: A bill restricting governors’ abilities to issue public health orders during a pandemic is unconstitutional and a violation of the separation of powers, according to Gov. Mike DeWine, who planned to veto the latest legislation headed for his desk while holding out hope for a compromise. The GOP-controlled House approved the final version of the bill Wednesday, and it now heads to DeWine with what his fellow Republican legislative leaders believe is a veto-proof majority in both chambers. The measure is the latest effort by Republican lawmakers to rein in DeWine’s authority to issue statewide orders such as mandatory mask-wearing and limits on the size of crowds at sporting events. Among other provisions, the bill limits public health orders to 90 days and would allow the Legislature to terminate them after 30 days with a “concurrent resolution,” a fast-tracked vote different from normal legislation. “I’m very concerned about a future governor and health departments around the state not having the tools they need to keep the people of the state safe,” DeWine said. And allowing legislatures to overturn a governor’s order with by resolution and not actual legislation is “clearly unconstitutional,” he said.\n\nOklahoma\n\nOklahoma City: The Chickasaw Nation announced Saturday that it is now offering the COVID-19 vaccine to all Oklahoma residents. “We are pleased to do our part to help put an end to this pandemic,” said Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. “Working together, we can help protect our family, friends and neighbors as we help speed our return to a greater sense of normalcy.” Anoatubby called for continued mask-wearing, social distancing and frequent hand-washing. The tribe is offering vaccinations by appointment at its drive-thru site in Ada and at its health clinics in Purcell, Ardmore and Tishomingo. Those receiving a vaccination must be 18 or older for the Moderna vaccine and 16 or older for the Pfizer vaccine. The Oklahoma State Department of Health is offering shots to people in three phases of the state’s four-phase plan, recently adding child care workers, higher and Career Tech education and critical business workers to those eligible. More than 1.1 million vaccinations had been administered by the health department as of Friday. The department on Saturday reported 431,991 total virus cases and 7,486 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, since the pandemic began.\n\nOregon\n\nPortland: The state made national headlines when it placed teachers ahead of its oldest residents in the line for a scarce supply of COVID-19 vaccine and then again when a committee advising the governor on vaccine equity flirted with making race a determinant for when a person could get inoculated. Now, three months into the vaccine rollout, the state has begun a pilot program that allows some federally qualified health centers to offer shots to anyone they serve, even if that patient does not fall into any currently eligible categories. These centers must still prioritize patients who are currently eligible under Oregon rules, but the pilot program gives health care providers for the most at-risk populations more latitude and resolves a conflict between federal and state priorities on vaccine equity. The Biden administration last month began distributing vaccine to federally qualified health centers under a program designed to get shots into the arms of the most economically and socially disadvantaged Americans – seasonal and migrant farmworkers and those Americans living in poverty, for example. But those centers in Oregon found their hands tied because state rules on vaccine eligibility hadn’t yet expanded to migrant farmworkers, those with preexisting conditions or other vulnerable groups, so they couldn’t give them shots.\n\nPennsylvania\n\nHarrisburg: Police officers, firefighters and grocery workers will start getting the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in about two weeks as the effort to immunize school workers wraps up, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday. Wolf also said he was confident Pennsylvania will meet President Joe Biden’s directive to make everyone eligible for a vaccine by May 1. “We can meet that timeline,” Wolf said, appearing by video with lawmakers on a vaccine task force. “We want to get everybody vaccinated as quickly and fairly as possible. That’s what we’re trying to do here.” Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, a vaccine task force member, said the plans mean “a spring of hope is upon us.” The group getting special priority after teachers includes police, prison staff, grocery workers, volunteer and professional firefighters, meat processors, and farm workers. Wolf said planners have to figure out how those doses will be administered, suggesting the initiative could take many forms. Wolf said all who currently qualify for the vaccine, the so-called 1A group that includes older people and those whose medical conditions put them at risk, should be able to get an appointment for their first shot by month’s end.\n\nRhode Island\n\nProvidence: The state is easing some coronavirus restrictions on businesses as vaccination efforts across the state ramp up and as hospitalizations continue to decline, Gov. Daniel McKee said Friday. Starting immediately, restaurants will be able to space indoor tables 6 feet apart, rather than 8 feet, and bar areas where food is being served will be allowed to remain open until midnight, instead of 11 p.m., McKee announced at a news conference. With the spring planting season approaching, capacity limits for outdoor areas at garden shops are being lifted entirely, although indoor restrictions remain, he said. Also, state Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor announced a series of restriction-easing measures that take effect next Friday. They include allowing restaurants to seat up to 75% of indoor capacity, up from 66%, and increased attendance at catered events, including weddings, to 100 people indoors and 200 people outdoors, up from 30 and 100. Houses of worship will also be allowed to host services at up to 75% capacity. Retail stores would be allowed to have one person per 50 square feet indoors, up from one per 100 square feet. Big-box stores will be allowed to have one person per 100 square feet, up from one per 150 square feet. Offices will be able to welcome up to 50% of workers, up from 33%.\n\nSouth Carolina\n\nColumbia: The state House has approved a bill that would make sure churches and other religious organizations are treated as essential services during a state of emergency. The bill given key approval on a 73-39 vote Thursday also says religious groups still have to follow safety protocols and occupancy rules during emergencies. The proposal said churches and other houses of worship can’t be closed if other essential businesses are open. Last spring while temporarily closing restaurants, beauty salons, gyms and other businesses because of COVID-19, Gov. Henry McMaster repeatedly said closing churches would violate the freedom-of-religion provision in the U.S. Constitution. After a routine affirmation this week, the bill will be sent to the Senate. “This just allows a church to be on an even footing – a religious organization to be on an even footing with all other businesses deemed to be essential services,” said Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood. Democrats who opposed the bill said it was unnecessary because of the constitutional protection churches have and could lead to churchgoers to not take precautions and put themselves in danger.\n\nSouth Dakota\n\nRapid City: The National Park Service has denied state officials’ request to shoot off fireworks over Mount Rushmore again this year. Fireworks returned to Mount Rushmore last year for a Fourth of July celebration that included a campaign stop by then-President Donald Trump. It was the first time Mount Rushmore has hosted a fireworks show since 2009. But NPS Regional Director Herbert Frost wrote a letter to state tourism officials Thursday saying the NPS would not grant their request for fireworks again this year, KOTA-TV reports. The denial was first reported by political website The Hill. Frost said the parks service is still evaluating the risks from the 2020 show, and he’s concerned about both the park and employees’ safety. He said that the service’s tribal partners expressly oppose fireworks at the monument and that the large crowds such an event would draw would make social distancing difficult if not impossible. Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted in response that the best place to celebrate America’s birthday is Mount Rushmore.\n\nTennessee\n\nKnoxville: The University of Tennessee on Thursday announced it will return to a “fully in-person campus experience” starting in the fall. According to a news release, that will include in-person teaching in classrooms at capacity, normal campus housing, reopening dining halls and allowing more fans at athletic events. “As case counts continue to drop and vaccines become more readily available, we are nearing a turning point in this pandemic,” Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a statement. “We’ve heard time and again from students and members of our faculty how much more effective and meaningful learning can be when we are together in person.” The Knoxville campus moved its classes online last March after spring break around the same time the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The university has since partially reopened with reduced capacity in residence halls and classrooms.\n\nTexas\n\nAustin: The number of newly confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in the state rose by 4,638 on Saturday, down from a one-day increase of 6,078 reported Friday, according to the state health department. The department also reported 156 more deaths, for a total of more than 2.7 million cases since the pandemic began and 45,474 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. That state’s death toll is the third highest in the country, trailing California’s and New York’s, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The seven-day rolling averages of both new cases and deaths in Texas have declined during the past two weeks, according to the Johns Hopkins data. The average number of new cases dropped from 7,964 daily on Feb. 25 to 4,648 on March 11, while the average number of deaths fell from 220.6 to 168.9 per day during the same time period. The health department reported that more than 7.9 million Texans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.\n\nUtah\n\nSt. George: Residents can apply for pandemic rental assistance through a new online application starting Monday, state officials announced. “Emergency Rental Assistance is an important program that can help Utah renters impacted by the pandemic to stay in their homes,” Department of Workforce Services Deputy Director Nate McDonald said in a statement. “While we recognize that a pause in accepting applications may cause concern, it will help to ensure the updated program runs smoothly and will allow local community action program agencies to work through their existing backlog of applications.” Utah renters have typically applied for assistance through local community action program agencies, but starting Monday they can simply go online to rentrelief.utah.gov. Renters are eligible if they have combined household income at or below 80% of area median income, have qualified for unemployment, experienced a reduction in income or incurred significant costs due to the pandemic, and are experiencing housing instability. Applicants may be prioritized and expedited if they have been unemployed for at least 90 days or are at or below 50% area median income. Those worried about making rent for March should ask their landlords to develop a plan for payment, according to instructions from the state office.\n\nVermont\n\nMontpelier: Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced some small changes to restrictions on social gatherings and restaurant rules amid the pandemic. Two households may now gather together, and that pairing doesn’t have to be the same each time, as earlier restrictions required, he said at his twice-weekly virus briefing. That means children can again have playdates, “which we know have been sorely missed and will be good for the mental health and emotional well-being of the kids as well as parents,” he said. Also, restaurants are now allowed to seat six people at a table from different families, rather than from just one household as was previously required, he said. “Of course, masking, distancing and every other guideline remains in place,” he said. Vermont has taken one of the most cautious approaches in the country to slow the spread of the coronavirus and reduce deaths and hospitalizations, Scott said, adding that he knows it has caused a lot of frustration. “I hear from people everyday who think we should be moving faster to reopen like some other states have,” he said. “But I want to remind Vermonters there’s a reason we have the lowest number of deaths in the country and the lowest death rate in the continental U.S.”\n\nVirginia\n\nRichmond: Officials said Friday that the state expects to meet or possibly exceed President Joe Biden’s commitment to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1. “As we look at the supply and the pace and the demand here in Virginia, we really think we will easily meet that May 1 marker and potentially even outpace it by a couple of weeks,” state vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula told reporters. Avula also said the goal won’t require the state to rethink its distribution strategy. Virginia has administered more than 2.5 million doses of vaccine, with 19.5% of the population having received at least one dose, according to health department data. All parts of the state have opened up vaccine eligibility to a second phase of people that includes front-line essential workers and people ages 16-64 with an underlying medical condition. Avula said he thinks that second phase, referred to as 1b, can be completed by mid-April or sooner in some parts of the state. Health districts would then move into a third phase of eligibility that will cover other essential workers at their own pace, he said.\n\nWashington\n\nOlympia: All public schools in the state will be required to offer students an in-person learning option starting next month – with school districts having to meet an average of at least 30% weekly in-class instruction by April 19 – under an emergency proclamation Gov. Jay Inslee said he will sign this week. The proclamation, announced Friday, allows for a staggered start, with all kindergarten to sixth grade students being provided an opportunity for hybrid remote and in-person learning by April 5, followed by all other K-12 students by April 19. Inslee and state schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal cited mental health and academic concerns for students over the past year of school closures. “Many, many of our children have not been able to thrive as we wish them to do so without on-site education,” Inslee said. “For them, we’re taking action today.” Students must be offered no fewer than two days of on-campus, in-person instruction per week, but students can remain fully remote if their families choose. Some public school teachers have resisted returning to the classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the governor’s urging, citing concerns about safety.\n\nWest Virginia\n\nCharleston: Gov. Jim Justice’s near-daily ritual of reading the ages and hometowns of people who died from the coronavirus stretched to nearly 19 minutes Friday. Justice takes the first minute or two of his thrice-a-week coronavirus briefings to honor the dead. This time, the Republican governor had to make up for 165 deaths that went unreported, news he first revealed Wednesday. State officials said a list of more than 60 health centers and nursing homes did not report the deaths to state health authorities, which Justice apologized for and again called “totally unacceptable.” Dr. Ayne Amjad, the state health officer, said a further vetting of the data found three fewer coronavirus deaths than reported earlier in the week. “Being transparent is what we strive to be,” Amjad said. Justice said 84% of the previously unreported deaths occurred in December 2020 and January. Officials blamed the issue on facilities not filling out death reports online to the state’s health department in a timely matter. Despite the unreported deaths, Justice said other coronavirus metrics still looked positive. The daily positivity rate for coronavirus tests continued to decline to 2.79%, down from a peak of 17.45% in late December. State data shows 20.8% of residents are partially vaccinated against COVID-19, while 13% are fully vaccinated.\n\nWisconsin\n\nGreen Bay: Thousands of Wisconsin Teamsters are celebrating after President Joe Biden signed a coronavirus relief bill into law and ensured that the workers no longer have to worry about their pensions being cut in half. The American Rescue Plan includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021, which directs the Pension Guaranty Benefit Corp. to allocate billions of dollars to avoid the drastic cuts. It should in turn shore up the Central States Pension Fund, a multiemployer fund for 1.3 million retired Teamsters, 23,500 of whom live in Wisconsin. Many of those retirees have come to depend on payments to survive, said Brad Vaughn, a member of the Wisconsin/Green Bay Committee to Protect Pensions. “To say we are ecstatic would be an understatement,” Vaughn said. “It was so emotional for everybody. It’s hard to even get a grasp on how many people’s lives it will affect in a positive way.” The retirees formed regional committees across the state to lobby Congress first to reject the proposed pension cuts, which happened in May 2016, and then to support the Butch Lewis Act. They raised funds to send members to rallies, as well as to lobby Wisconsin’s congressional delegation.\n\nWyoming\n\nCheyenne: The closures implemented after the state confirmed its first coronavirus case a year ago and the uncontrollable nature of the virus led to an unprecedented economic downturn, which placed more pressure on Laramie County’s nonprofits to meet the demand for food assistance and help with rent and utilities. For the NEEDS Inc. food pantry, the higher demand translated to a 369% increase in the amount of food they were getting out the door and into the community. Pantry Manager Damon Hart said although it was difficult to see so many people struggling, the experience reinforced the mission of NEEDS and why the volunteers do what they do. At the start of the pandemic, it was still unclear exactly how transmissible the virus was and what precautions would keep people safe. Hart said volunteers sanitized frequently and did everything they could to keep their doors open and help more people. “Knowing how much we mean to the community, it really changed our outlooks a lot,” Hart said. “Hearing their stories made us really grateful that we were able to help.” Their ability to assist so many residents was made possible by businesses and the larger Cheyenne community stepping up to support the cause. “I would hate to know what would’ve happened if we had not received that help,” Hart said.\n\nFrom USA TODAY Network and wire reports", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/03/15"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_17", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/08/hunter-biden-twitter-hearing/11210728002/", "title": "Hunter Biden laptop and Twitter hearing enflames House lawmakers", "text": "Former Twitter executives suppressed laptop story because of concerns about Russian meddling.\n\nRepublicans argued Twitter could have tipped 2020 election by suppressing story about Hunter Biden.\n\nDemocrats called inquiry 'silly' and 'bizzare political stunt'\n\nWASHINGTON – The House hearing Wednesday into Twitter’s brief suppression of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop outlined the queasiness of former executives to block it and provided a bare-knuckle arena for partisan lawmakers to debate allegations against President Joe Biden.\n\nFormer Twitter executives told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the company blocked links to the New York Post story in October 2020 because of similarities to the posting of leaks from hacked Democratic computers before the 2016 election. The executives called the 24-hour suppression a mistake and said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign.\n\nAgainst that backdrop, Republican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump. Some lawmakers called for legislation to prevent Twitter from blocking posts or government agencies from recommending against publication.\n\nHunter Biden's art:Hunter Biden's art dealer says his work is 'important.' Why the paintings factor into GOP probes.\n\nBut Democrats called the hearing “silly” and a \"bizarre political stunt\" because Twitter is a private company free to make its own decisions about what to publish. Democrats also questioned the basic allegations against Biden stemming from the laptop as “categorically false.”\n\nThe laptop has become a focal point of Republican investigations because it contains a trove of documents and pictures about Hunter Biden. News organizations have confirmed the legitimacy of the laptop abandoned at a Delaware repair shop in 2019, but investigations continue about what the contents mean.\n\nHere are seven takeaways from the hearing:\n\nFormer Twitter executives call 2020 laptop decision mistake based on 2016 concerns\n\nFormer Twitter executives said elements of the New York Post story in October 2020 appeared under an “initial assessment” similar to the results from the 2016 theft of Democratic documents distributed by Wikileaks.\n\nThe company blocked links to the story before reversing course 24 hours later. But the former executives said people could still post comments about the story and discuss it.\n\n“Our judgment was colored by the experience of 2016 and by the very real Russian activities we saw play out that year,” said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former global head of trust and security, who didn’t agree with the decision to suppress the story. “But this isn’t a case where I was right, and others were wrong: The decisions here aren’t straightforward, and hindsight is 20/20.”\n\nPolitics to your inbox:Sign up for our On Politics newsletter\n\nFormer Twitter executives denied violating First Amendment as a private company\n\nThe former Twitter executives said they hadn’t been contacted by the FBI to block links to the story, as some House Republicans allege.\n\n“Moreover, I am aware of no unlawful collusion with, or direction from, any government agency or political campaign on how Twitter should have handled the Hunter Biden laptop situation,” said James Baker, Twitter’s former deputy general counsel.\n\nBut Republicans alleged Twitter partisanship, based on internal emails and on campaign contributions to Democrats, to thwart the story.\n\n“I think you guys got played by the FBI,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. “I think you wanted this taken down.\n\nWhat is fentanyl poisoning?:These State of the Union guests lost their son to it\n\nComer: Twitter able to ‘suppress and delegitimize’ news about Hunter Biden’s laptop\n\nThe committee chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the result was to \"suppress and delegitimize\" information about alleged Biden family business schemes.\n\n“Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the federal government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech,” said Comer.\n\nBiden's GOP antagonists in the House:Biden’s most vocal GOP antagonists emerge, World Economic Forum preview: 5 Things podcast\n\nGreene blasts Twitter for banning her\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., blasted Twitter executives for banning her from the site in 2022 until after she won her election in November and said she was glad the former executives lost their jobs.\n\nGreene argued the company violated her First Amendment rights by censoring her for posts about COVID-19 vaccines despite Twitter being a private company rather than a government censor.\n\n“You abused the power of a large corporation – Big Tech – to censor Americans,” Greene said. “Guess what? I’m so glad that you’re censored now and I’m so glad that you’ve lost your jobs.”\n\nYoel Roth, Twitter’s former global head of trust and security, said Greene was banned after multiple warnings and timeouts for posting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.\n\nBiden and GOP spar at SOTU:Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare\n\nDemocrats call inquiry ‘silly’ and ‘bizarre political stunt’\n\nThe top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, called the inquiry an “authentically trivial pursuit” because Twitter is a private company, blocked links to the story briefly and later apologized.\n\n“Silly does not begin to capture this obsession,” said Raskin.\n\nIan Sams, a White House spokesperson, said the inquiry pursued “long-debunked conspiracy theories” and was a “bizarre political stunt.”\n\nRomney criticizes Santos:Mitt Romney calls George Santos 'a sick puppy' after Biden State of the Union\n\nGoldman calls Ukraine allegations about president ‘categorically false’\n\nRep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who previously served as a Democratic lawyer in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, challenged the main accusation Wednesday against Joe Biden stemming from his son’s laptop.\n\nGoldman said the first accusation in the New York Post story is that vice president Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general for investigating Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden. Goldman said the accusation is “categorically false and there is no evidence of it\" because the coordinated policy of the U.S. and Europe was to oust the prosecutor for not investigating corruption.\n\n“We’ve seen no actual evidence for any lies or any support for Joe Biden being involved in anything having to do with Ukraine other than promoting U.S. foreign policy,” Goldman said.\n\nPolitics latest:Follow the most up-to-date politics headlines live\n\nFormer Twitter exec calls tweet removal ‘slippery slope’\n\nFormer Twitter executives told the House panel that Trump’s White House asked Twitter to remove tweets, but Biden’s administration had not.\n\nRep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., cited an episode from September 2019 when Trump heckled two celebrities on Twitter – John Legend and Chrissy Teigen – and she replied in a tweet insulting Trump.\n\nA Democratic witness, Anika Collier Navaroli, a former senior expert on Twitter’s safety policy team, said the White House called her supervisors asking to remove Teigen’s tweet. But she and the other three former executives at the hearing said they hadn’t heard of the Biden White House making a similar request.\n\nConnolly asked whether it was appropriate for a president to direct or try to influence a social media company to remove its content. “I think it’s a very slippery slope,” Navaroli said.\n\nState of the Union takeaways:Blue-collar Joe, GOP boos and a 2024 preview", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/08/gop-probe-biden-hunter-trump/11205133002/", "title": "House Republicans grill Twitter execs on Hunter Biden laptop story ...", "text": "President Biden's combative State of the Union address Tuesday night signaled more than a new year: It welcomed a different presidency.\n\nAnd the GOP is ready to take it on.\n\nThe House Oversight Committee held its first hearing Wednesday investigating Biden and his family, where former Twitter executives faced questions about media coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. It's the start of a string of probes into the president that the GOP promised to conduct after retaking the House in November.\n\nHere's what else is happening in politics:\n\nMitt Romney zings George Santos: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney at the State of the Union address joined the growing number of Republicans in shunning freshman Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., calling him a \"sick puppy.\"\n\nUtah Sen. Mitt Romney at the State of the Union address joined the growing number of Republicans in shunning freshman Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., calling him a \"sick puppy.\" Biden hones in on working-class messaging as he prepares for a 2024 bid.\n\nmessaging as he prepares for a 2024 bid. Former GOP South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is already lining up her presidential campaign tour scheduling visits to New Hampshire following her expected presidential announcement next week in her home state.\n\nSmart analysis delivered to your inbox:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nBiden: Items found in classified documents probe were 'stray papers'\n\nPresident Joe Biden said items seized by the Department of Justice in its classified documents probe were “to the best of my knowledge…from 1974, stray papers.”\n\n\"There may be something else. I don't know,” Biden told PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff Wednesday.\n\nAfter the president’s lawyers found a small number of classified documents in his former office in November, the FBI retrieved other documents from his Wilmington, Delaware home.\n\nBiden has previously said he was surprised to learn the files from his past service in the White House and Congress contained classified material. “As they packed up my offices to move them, they didn’t do the kind of job that should have been done to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature there,” Biden told Woodruff.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nStray papers:Biden: Items found in DOJ classified documents probe were 'stray papers' from decades ago\n\nFrom office to beach house:Timeline of investigation into Joe Biden classified documents\n\nBiden's first stop after State of the Union is Wisconsin where he touts economy\n\nFresh off his State of the Union speech, President Joe Biden arrived in Wisconsin Wednesday to press an economic message he hopes appeals to blue-collar workers in the Badger State who have in recent years diverted their support to Republican candidates.\n\n\"A typical middle-class family for decades was the backbone of America. The middle class has been hollowed out — it's been hollowed out,\" Biden said at the Laborers' International Union of North America training center in DeForest, 14 miles north of Madison.\n\nBiden made his first stop in Dane County to promote his economic plan that he argues will address the challenges of an aging population and a stagnant workforce. But he arrives at a time when most Wisconsin voters don't approve of the way he is handling the presidency and as voters nationally are sour on the idea of a 2020 rerun between Biden and Trump. A recent poll by the Marquette University Law School that showed 34% wanting Biden to run in 2024 and 29% backing a Trump campaign for president.\n\n- Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel\n\nBiden in the Badger State:With an eye on a 2024 reelection bid, President Joe Biden takes his economic message to union workers in Wisconsin\n\nEying White House run, Nikki Haley plans to visit key primary state of New Hampshire\n\nNikki Haley is serving notice that she will not be a South Carolina-centric presidential candidate.\n\nHer campaign announced Wednesday that, after next week's announcement speech in Charleston, S.C., Haley will hold town hall-style events in New Hampshire, which is also expected to host an early 2024 primary.\n\nThe Charleston speech is next Wednesday. The next day, Feb. 16, Haley hosts a town hall in Exeter, N.H. The day after that, Feb. 17, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador under Donald Trump campaigns in Manchester, N.H.\n\nHaley will be the first big-name Republican to formally challenge ex-President Donald Trump, whose 2016 victory in New Hampshire propelled him to the GOP nomination.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nMore:Nikki Haley to launch 2024 presidential bid in Charleston on Feb. 15, taking on Trump: sources\n\n‘I called them out’: Biden relishes GOP outburst over Social Security, Medicare\n\nPresident Joe Biden happily revisited a contentious moment of his State of the Union address, claiming Wednesday that he “called out” Republicans who heckled him when he accused them of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.\n\n\"My Republican friends, they seemed shocked when I raised the plans of some of their members and their caucus to cut Social Security,\" Biden, speaking at a union hall near Madison, Wis., said. “And Marjorie Taylor Greene and others stood up said, ‘Liar, liar.’ Reminds me of, ‘Liar Liar, house on fire.”\n\nHe then cited a plan put forward last year by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to sunset all federal programs after five years; and read off past statements from Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, about entitlements.\n\n“They sure didn’t like me calling them on it,” Biden said. “I found it interesting, when I called them out on it last night, it sounded like they agreed to take these cuts off the table … Well, I sure hope that's true. I’ll believe when I see it.”\n\n- Joey Garrison\n\nBiden’s trip to Wisconsin to highlight workforce for new clean-energy manufacturing\n\nPresident Joe Biden’s post-State of the Union trip Wednesday to Wisconsin will seek to bring attention to his administration’s efforts to train a manufacturing workforce with new skills in clean energy.\n\nBiden will speak at the Laborer's International Union of North America's training center in DeForest, Wis., outside of Madison. He is expected to highlight the role of unions in training a workforce that will help deliver the president's promises of clean energy, rebuilt roads, bridges and water supplies, and strengthened American manufacturing.\n\nHis remarks are part of a direct appeal to disaffected blue-collar voters, who Biden and Democrats desperately need to win back to improve their prospects in the 2024 election.\n\nBiden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which passed Congress last year, included $370 billion in climate incentives for companies that build electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and produce other forms of clean energy.\n\n-- Joey Garrison and Karl Ebert\n\nWhat is the 1870 button lawmakers wore during the State of the Union?\n\nEagle-eyed viewers of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday might have noticed a number of congressmembers sporting buttons printed with the year 1870.\n\nMany members of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with some other Democrats, wore 1870 pins as a way to spotlight the need for policing reform. The year 1870 is the first on record when a free, unarmed Black man was killed by police – Henry Truman, who in March of 1870 chased down and shot by Philadelphia police.\n\nThe pins were distributed by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., who said in a statement on Twitter: \"153 years later the Black community is still waiting for justice.\"\n\n-Anna Kaufman, Ella Lee\n\nGoldman calls Ukraine allegations after President Biden ‘categorically false’\n\nRep. Dan Goldman, who previously served as a Democratic lawyer in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, challenged the main accusation Wednesday against President Joe Biden stemming from his son’s laptop.\n\nGoldman, D-N.Y., said the accusation in a New York Post story about the laptop is that as vice president Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general for investigating Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden. But Goldman said the coordinated policy of the U.S. and Europe was to oust the prosecutor for not investigating corruption.\n\n“We’ve seen no actual evidence for any lies or any support for Joe Biden being involved in anything having to do with Ukraine other than promoting U.S. foreign policy,” Goldman said.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nGoldman questions reasons for Twitter hearing about suppression of laptop story\n\nRep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., questioned why the House Oversight and Accountability Committee was holding a hearing about Hunter Biden’s laptop because stories about President Joe Biden were wrong or showed no links to corruption.\n\nThe chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., interrupted Goldman to ask if he was sure he was right. Goldman said none of the allegations of Biden corruption stemming from the laptop have been proven.\n\n“I hope you are not abusing power as chairman of this committee and that you are not wasting taxpayer dollars on a fishing expedition into a civilian child of a president for political purposes,” Goldman told Comer.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nWhite House: Republicans’ heckling provided ‘split screen’ for Americans\n\nThe White House seized on heckling that came from Republicans during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, arguing Wednesday that it provided a striking “split screen” about the two parties.\n\n“You saw what the Republicans are all about, which was jeering and behaving in a way that Americans don’t want,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. She contrasted their outbursts with Biden, who she characterized as focused on results. “We're going with the approach of continuing to deliver on key important issues.”\n\nThe chorus of Republican boos, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., came as Biden accused them of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare and later when he discussed ending the Fentanyl crisis. It made for a gift to the White House, which has worked to highlight the polarizing Greene’s influence in the Republican Party.\n\n-- Joey Garrison\n\nRaskin: House GOP inquiry into Twitter ‘silly’\n\nThe top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee called the Republican inquiry into Twitter “silly” because the company is private and can make any decisions it wants to whether to publish stories such as one about Hunter Biden’s laptop.\n\nRep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called the inquiry an “authentically trivial pursuit” because the Twitter only blocked links to a New York Post story about the laptop for two days and later apologized for the action. But he said people still tweeted about the laptop, just without links to the story.\n\n“Silly does not begin to capture this obsession,” Raskin said.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nFormer Twitter execs on suppressing laptop story: ‘decisions here aren’t straightforward’\n\nFormer Twitter executives told a House panel that decisions about what to block from the social media site are difficult, but they had qualms about suppressing news of Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020.\n\nJames Baker, Twitter’s former deputy general counsel, told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee there was no collusion with any government agency or political campaign about how to handle posts about the laptop.\n\nYoel Roth, Twitter’s former global head of trust and security, said the company aims to remove dangerous posts and removed 33,000 accounts in the second half of 2021 for promoting terrorism or violent extremism and more than 100,000 for promoting the sale of illegal goods and services.\n\n“The decisions here aren’t straightforward and hindsight is 20/20,” said Roth, who disagreed with suppressing the laptop story.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nWhite House: House hearing on Twitter and Hunter Biden ‘bizarre political stunt’\n\nThe White House blasted the House hearing about Twitter suppressing news of Hunter Biden’s laptop as “a bizarre political stunt” pursuing “long-debunked conspiracy theories” .\n\nIan Sams, a Biden spokesperson, said work remains on top bipartisan priorities such as tackling inflation, raising wages and investing in manufacturing. Instead, “House Republicans are making it their top priority to stage a bizarre political stunt,” he said in a statement.\n\n“As the president has said and made his focus, the American people expect their leaders to work together in a bipartisan way on the issues that most impact their lives and their families, not attack his family with long-debunked conspiracy theories,” Sams said.\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nMore:Chinese spy balloon went over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says\n\nFact checks from Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address\n\nPresident Joe Biden at Tuesday's State of the Union touted his administration’s achievements and offered an agenda for Congress this year.\n\nBut the president left out important context from his nearly 72 minute long speech.\n\nUSA TODAY fact-checked 15 themes from Biden’s address. Here’s what was missing.\n\n-USA TODAY staff\n\nGOP spars with Biden over Social Security, Medicare amid debt ceiling debate\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood up from her seat in the back of the House chamber to heckle President Joe Biden after he said that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset” while discussing the need to raise the debt ceiling in order to avoid a US default.\n\nSocial Security and Medicare are two of the federal government's most expensive and most popular programs and have long been a source of heated debate during discussions about the national debt and federal spending.\n\nHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republicans won't cut the programs, but Democrats say the math will force those cuts if the GOP demands lower government spending.\n\n-- Erin Mansfield, Candy Woodall\n\nMitt Romney: Rep. George Santos a ‘sick puppy’\n\nUtah Sen. Mitt Romney at the State of the Union address joined the growing number of Republicans who have said embattled freshman Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., shouldn't be in Congress.\n\nSantos has admitted to embellishing parts of his personal and professional resume, but Romney said they are lies, not embellishments. To embellish, he said, is to say you got an A instead of an A-. \"Lying is saying you graduated from a college you didn't even attend.\"\n\n\"If he had any shame at all, he wouldn't be there,\" Romney told reporters after the address.\n\n- Candy Woodall\n\nMore:Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare\n\nBiden focuses on working-class message as he prepares for 2024 bid\n\nThe country is at an inflection point, as President Joe Biden likes to say. So, too, is Biden's presidency, as he prepares to compete for a second term in office.\n\nBiden's descriptions of how infrastructure investments will benefit middle class families are not resonating with blue-collar workers – particularly white voters who didn't attend college. Many defected from the Democratic Party over the last decade and offered Biden lukewarm support in the last presidential election.\n\nAhead of an expected re-election announcement in the coming weeks, Biden is making a concerted effort to bring working-class Americans back into the fold. His first stop on his post-State of the Union tour will be at a union-run apprenticeship and training facility in Wisconsin, a state that epitomizes the challenges that Democrats face in the 2024 election with independents and workers who have been hard hit by the decline in American manufacturing.\n\n– Francesca Chambers and Joey Garrison\n\n'Four more years':Biden hints at 2024 as he rallies Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia\n\nComer: Twitter able to ‘suppress and delegitimize’ news about Hunter Biden’s laptop\n\nRep. James Comer plans to open his hearing on Twitter’s suppression of news about Hunter Biden’s laptop by accusing the social media platform of making censorship decisions on the fly in the past and working hand-in-hand with the FBI to monitor communications.\n\nComer, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is expected to say the FBI advised senior Twitter officials to question the validity of any Hunter Biden story as potential Russian disinformation. But Comer, R-Ky., said the result was to \"suppress and delegitimize\" information about alleged Biden family business schemes.\n\n“Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the federal government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech,” Comer is expected to say in opening remarks. \"It worked hand-in-hand with the FBI to monitor the protected speech of Americans—receiving millions of dollars to do so.\"\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nBiden traveling to Wisconsin and Florida after speech\n\nBiden administration officials will hit the road this week, holding events in at least 20 states to highlight parts of the president’s message.\n\nBiden himself will talk about his economic agenda in Wisconsin Wednesday and will discuss Social Security and Medicare in Florida Thursday.\n\nVice President Kamala Harris is heading to Georgia and Minnesota. Multiple other Cabinet members are also fanning out across the country.\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\n'We're turning it around': Biden says Democrats must pay attention to working class voters\n\nHouse panel to quiz former Twitter executives about coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop\n\nThe House Oversight and Accountability Committee is scheduled to hear Wednesday from three former Twitter executives about the suppression of news about Hunter Biden’s laptop, the first salvo in an inquiry into his potential influence on his father, President Joe Biden.\n\nTwitter initially blocked distribution of New York Post stories about the laptop in October 2020, weeks before the election, in a decision the former CEO called “unacceptable.” The committee chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., wants to talk to Yoel Roth, former head of trust and safety; Vijaya Gadde, former chief legal officer; and James Baker, former general counsel, about the incident.\n\nBut Joe Biden has denied getting involved with his son’s business deals in Ukraine or China, or profiting from them. Hunter Biden’s lawyers called for a criminal investigation of the distribution of the laptop’s contents. And Democrats blasted the inquiry as “hyper-partisan” conspiracy theories that have been debunked.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nSanders: Biden has 'failed' American people; calls for 'new generation'\n\nSarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, at age 40 the youngest governor in the country, didn't hesitate to point out that 80-year-old Joe Biden is the oldest president in history – and added that it is time for a \"new generation\" of Republican leadership.\n\n\"Biden and the Democrats have failed you,\" Sanders said in the formal GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address. \"It's time for a change.\"\n\nSpeaking from the governor's mansion in Little Rock, Ark., Sanders cited domestic issues like inflation, immigration, and crime. Also criticizing the president's foreign policy, Sanders said Biden is \"unfit\" to be Commander-in-Chief.\n\nCiting the Republican majority in the House, Sanders said: \"We will hold the Biden administration accountable.\"\n\n– David Jackson\n\nMore:In Republican response to Biden's State of the Union, a vow to block the president's agenda\n\nHouse Intel chairman: China’s spy balloon went to other sensitive missile and nuclear weapons sites\n\nHouse Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said China’s surveillance balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. military sites in addition to the ones in Montana that it passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday.\n\n“If you take the path that this balloon did, and you put up an X every place where you have a missile defense site, actual nuclear weapons infrastructure, you're going to follow this path,” Turner said in a briefing with reporters. “So I think the natural conclusion is it is intelligence gathering with respect to try to affect in some way the command and control of our missile defense and nuclear weapons.”\n\nTurner did not elaborate on that or share other details about the ongoing investigation into China’s balloon, in some cases citing the classified nature of the information. But he said the U.S. intelligence community is scheduled to brief him and other members of congressional leadership who comprise the Gang of Eight later this week on the balloon and efforts to gain any intelligence from the recovery of it.\n\n– Josh Meyer\n\nMore:DOD did not think the spy balloon was a military threat when it was first detected", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/06/hunter-biden-investigation-house-hearing/11162407002/", "title": "Hunter Biden investigation hearing: GOP takes on laptop, China deals", "text": "Lawmakers want to ask former Twitter executives about suppressing news of Hunter Biden's laptop.\n\nThe panel also seeks banking alerts about business deals and records of art sales.\n\nJoe Biden denied benefitting from his son's deals and Democrats call the inquiry 'hyper-partisan.'\n\nWASHINGTON – The curtain goes up on House Republican investigations into President Joe Biden and his family with a hearing Wednesday about how Twitter blocked messages about Hunter Biden’s laptop.\n\nThe House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing opens the panel’s door on investigations into Hunter Biden and potential attempts to influence his father’s politics through business deals in Ukraine or China, or through high-price sales of his own paintings.\n\n“We’re going to start with the hard drive because there’s a lot of evidence on the hard drive that suggests Joe Biden knew very well what his family was involved in,\" Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Oversight chairman, told reporters last month. \"We want to make sure that our national security isn’t compromised because China is an adversary right now.\"\n\nHunter Biden's art and the GOP:Hunter Biden's art dealer says his work is 'important.' Why the paintings factor into GOP probes.\n\nJoe Biden has denied discussing business or benefiting from his son’s deals. Hunter Biden's lawyers have asked the Justice Department and Delaware attorney general to investigate the distribution of information from the laptop for possible criminal prosecution.\n\nThe Oversight hearing, coming the day after Biden’s State of the Union speech, offers a showcase of Republican investigations into the Democratic president. But Democratic lawmakers blasted the inquiry as “hyper-partisan” conspiracy theories that have been debunked.\n\nHunter Biden lawyers on offensive:Attorneys urge probes of Trump allies, demand Tucker Carlson retract reporting\n\nHere’s what we know about the committee investigation so far:\n\nHunter Biden's laptop: What does it have to do with Trump, Giuliani and the 2020 election?\n\nThe laptop has become a focal point of Republican investigations because it contains a trove of documents and pictures of Hunter Biden.\n\nA computer repairman, John Paul Mac Isaac, gave the laptop information to the FBI after Hunter Biden failed to pick up the MacBook Pro following repairs in April 2019. Mac Isaac later gave the laptop to former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani gave the laptop to local police and shared the contents with reporters.\n\nThe New York Post reported in October 2020 – weeks before the presidential election – on emails about Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and possible links to his father.\n\nJim Jordan subpoenas FBI, Ed. Department:Rep. Jim Jordan subpoenas FBI, Education Department over school board memo\n\nThe story described 2015 emails indicating then-Vice President Joe Biden met with a high-ranking official at Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company whose board employed Hunter Biden. The meeting would have come at a time when Biden was pressuring Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general, who was investigating the company.\n\nBut Biden’s campaign said, “No meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.”\n\nWhen Trump raised questions about the laptop at a presidential debate, Biden replied that it was Russian disinformation. The laptop’s legitimacy has since been confirmed by CBS News, but the contents remain under investigation.\n\nWednesday's Biden hearing:Biden family hearings to begin Feb. 8 as House GOP probes Twitter, Hunter Biden laptop\n\nHunter Biden asks DOJ, Delaware attorney general to investigate distribution of laptop information\n\nHunter Biden’s lawyers sent letters Wednesday asking the Justice Department and Delaware’s attorney general to investigate who accessed, copied and disseminated information from the laptop.\n\nAbbe Lowell, one of Hunter Biden’s lawyers, said the actions taken with the laptop “more than merit a full investigation and, depending on the resulting facts, may merit prosecution under various statutes.”\n\nTimeline of Biden documents probe:From office to beach house\n\nThe committee seeks Treasury documents about 'suspicious' Hunter Biden banking transactions\n\nThe committee asked the Treasury Department for documents about 150 alerts from U.S. banks about suspicious transactions involving Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president's brother. The committee also asked the Prewitt Mahler Tucker Private Wealth Management Group about its management of Hunter Biden’s finances including “questionable business dealings.”\n\nThe suspicious transaction reports don’t necessarily flag wrongdoing because they generally cover transactions greater than $5,000 and the department received 3.6 million reports last year.\n\nComer said documents suggest Hunter Biden was paid $80,000 per month by Burisma and benefitted from a $5 million deal in China, which was wire-transferred through corporate intermediaries. Comer said he would like to find out what Hunter Biden provided in exchange.\n\nComer argued the payments were \"influence peddling,\" and acknowledged there might be nothing to the suspicious reports, but he wants to review them.\n\nIan Sams, a White House spokesperson for oversight, called the request for banking records a political stunt driven by the most extreme members of the Republican conference.\n\nHouse GOP take on Biden in lead-up to 2024:Biden’s most vocal Republican antagonists emerge from the sidelines – with subpoena power\n\nJoe Biden denies profiting from son\n\nJoe Biden denied repeatedly he received any benefit from his son’s business deals. But Republicans questioned his truthfulness.\n\n“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden said in 2019.\n\nBut Comer labeled the claim “false” because of documentation of meetings from Hunter Biden’s personal calendar and White House visitor records.\n\nJoe Biden earlier denied receiving foreign payments during a 2020 presidential debate.\n\n“I have not taken a penny from any foreign source at any point in my life,” Biden said.\n\nWhat do the Secret Service and FBI know?\n\nThe committee is also investigating how federal agencies such as the Secret Service and the FBI have dealt with Hunter Biden.\n\nThe panel asked who had access to Joe Biden’s former office and his home, where classified documents from his time as vice president were discovered in November and December.\n\nRon Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, told the panel the White House doesn’t maintain visitor logs for the house. But the Secret Service generates law enforcement records for people who visit, so Comer asked the agency for those records from when Biden left the Obama administration in January 2017.\n\nFBI searches Biden's beach house:FBI searches Biden's Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, house as part of classified documents probe\n\nThe committee asked the FBI for information about Hunter Biden's relationship with JiaQi \"Jackie\" Bao, whom lawmakers identified as having ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Bao helped Hunter Biden broker a 2017 deal for a U.S. purchase of liquefied natural gas through CEFC China Energy, according to the committee.\n\nBut the deal collapsed in 2019 when CEFC's leaders were arrested in the U.S. and charged with corruption for projects in Africa, according to the committee.\n\nPrevious Senate investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing\n\nRepublicans on a pair of Senate committees investigated Hunter Biden’s alleged corruption in Ukraine and found in September 2020, before the existence of the laptop was known publicly, that there was no evidence of wrongdoing or corrupt actions by Joe Biden in connection with his son.\n\nThe 87-page report found Hunter Biden’s role at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma “problematic” but said it was “unclear” whether he influenced U.S. foreign policy while Joe Biden was vice president.\n\nBut Republicans serving in the minority didn’t have the authority to subpoena witnesses, which Comer now has.\n\nBiden, Trump, Pence aren't alone:Millions access sensitive documents, mishandling is common\n\nWho is testifying from Twitter?\n\nRepublicans have accused social media companies such as Twitter of suppressing information about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the weeks before the 2020 election.\n\nJack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO at the time, said later that blocking the article with “zero context” was “unacceptable.”\n\nThe committee called former Twitter executives as witnesses for the hearing: Yoel Roth, former global head of trust and safety; Vijaya Gadde, former chief legal officer and James Baker, former general counsel.\n\nBaker is a former general counsel for the FBI, an agency lawmakers accused of encouraging social media companies to suppress stories before the election because of concerns about hacking. Gadde explained at the time how Twitter revised its policy allowing tweets about the laptop after suppressing them for days.\n\nBiden and Trump documents expose wider problem:Missing classified records not uncommon", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/09/joe-biden-hunter-biden-weaponization-live-updates/11211785002/", "title": "Democrat introduces resolution to expel Santos from House: Updates", "text": "WASHINGTON — A Democratic congressman Thursday launched an effort to expel GOP Rep. George Santos from Congress. California Rep. Robert Garcia referred a resolution to the House Ethics Committee to kick out tghe freshman New York lawmaker who lied about his background and finances during last year's campaign.\n\nMeanwhile, the Republican head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee ramped up his probe of President Joe Biden’s son and brother. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is requesting Hunter and James Biden for documents since 2009 covering communications with intelligence agencies, travel and financial records since Biden was vice president\n\nHere's what else is happening in politics:\n\nSmart analysis delivered to your inbox: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter\n\nFetterman's doctors rule out stroke as cause of recent dizziness\n\nSen. John Fetterman's doctors have concluded that the Pennsylvania Democrat who was hospitalized late Wednesday for lightheadedness did not suffer a stroke.\n\nFetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, was taken to George Washington University Hospital after feeling dizzy toward the end of a Senate Democratic retreat Wednesday, according to his spokesperson, Joe Calvello.\n\nOn Thursday, Calvello said the results of an MRI \"along with the results of all of the other tests the doctors ran, rule out a new stroke. He is being monitored with an EEG for signs of seizure - so far there are no signs of seizure, but he is still being monitored.\"\n\n- Candy Woodall\n\nMinnesota congresswoman attacked in apartment building elevator\n\nMinnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted at her apartment building in Washington Thursday morning, according to the congresswoman’s office.\n\nThe incident occurred in an elevator around 7:15 a.m.\n\n“Rep. Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” Craig’s chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement.\n\nCoe added that “there is no evidence that the incident was politically motivated.”\n\n- Phillip M. Bailey\n\n‘Time for him to go‘: Democrats introduce resolution to expel George Santos\n\nRep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., referred a resolution Thursday to the House Ethics Committee to expel GOP Rep. George Santos from Congress. The freshman Democrat called Santos a fraud and a liar for misrepresenting his background and finances during his campaign last year for New York's third district.\n\n“It’s time for him to go,” Garcia said. “We have given him plenty of time to resign and he has chosen not to do so.”\n\nThe odds of expulsion are long. It would take two-thirds of the chamber to vote for such a move. Santos told USA TODAY “it’s their prerogative\" to introduce a resolution, and maintained his position that he will not resign from office.\n\n“They can do whatever they want. For people who like to talk about silencing voters, they want to silence 142,000 people who voted to send me here,\" he said.\n\n- Rachel Looker and Candy Woodall\n\nSantos probes:George Santos controversy: Here's a look at investigations of the House Republican\n\nDonald Trump's Facebook account is officially restored\n\nBrace yourselves for Donald Trump's first new Facebook post.\n\nMeta Platforms Inc. mechanically restored Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts Thursday, more than two years after suspending him for improper content in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.\n\nThe social media giant announced Jan. 25 that it would lift Trump's suspension, and threatened more penalties if the ex-president again violates their content policies.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nWhy Biden keeps revisiting the Social Security, Medicare heckling episode\n\nPresident Joe Biden won’t let Republicans forget about their heckling – and apparent commitment not to touch Medicare or Social Security – from his State of the Union address this week.\n\n“It sounded like they agreed to take these cuts off the table. I sure hope so. I mean it,\" Biden said, speaking Thursday at the University of Tampa in Florida.\n\nRepublicans booed and jeered Biden during the State of the Union when he accused them of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare, pointing to a proposal by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to sunset all federal programs every five years. The White House believes the moment boxed Republicans – who have pushed unspecified spending cuts during debt ceiling talks – into a corner.\n\n“I know that a lot of Republicans' dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me say this. If that's your dream, I'm your nightmare,” Biden said.\n\n- Joey Garrison and Maureen Groppe\n\nNikki Haley schedule update: Iowa is also on her announcement itinerary\n\nHaving already announced events in South Carolina and New Hampshire, soon-to-be presidential candidate Nikki Haley has added another early contest state to her announcement tour: Iowa.\n\nHaley, who formally announces her candidacy Wednesday in Charleston, S.C., will conduct a town hall in Urbandale, Iowa, on Feb. 20, and Marion, Iowa, on Feb. 21, according to her campaign. The 2024 GOP presidential campaign kicks off in the Hawkeye State which holds the first caucus in the nation.\n\nThe former United Nations ambassador who is challenging Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024 has two halls in New Hampshire late next week.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nGOP Congressman calls Santos 'a joke' but wouldn't vote to expel him\n\nRep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican and key ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is joining the growing number of members in his party who believe Rep. George Santos doesn’t belong in Congress.\n\n“George Santos is a joke, and he shouldn’t be in Congress,” Johnson told USA TODAY Thursday. But Johnson was hesitant about a Democratic resolution to expel Santos.\n\n“It’s the voters who get to decide who to hire and fire,” he said. “Before we start exercising a veto over the decision of the voters, I think we really want to proceed cautiously.”\n\n- Candy Woodall\n\n'Sick puppy':Mitt Romney calls George Santos 'a sick puppy' after Biden State of the Union\n\nHouse unanimously condemns China’s spy balloon\n\nA usually divided House came together Thursday to slam the Chinese government for sending a spy balloon to fly over much of the continental U.S. this month.\n\nFive days after the military shot down the surveillance device, lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution condemning the foreign nation that called the incident “a brazen violation of (American) sovereignty.”\n\nState Department officials said Thursday the balloon, which was shot down off the South Carolina coast, was fashioned with equipment that was \"clearly for intelligence surveillance.”\n\n“An event like this… must not happen again. And it cannot go unanswered,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, of Texas, who is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during Thursday’s floor debate.\n\n- Phillip M. Bailey\n\nWhite House calls House inquiry ‘political stunt’\n\nA White House spokesperson slammed a House hearing scheduled Thursday as a “political stunt” aimed at getting participants more attention on Fox News.\n\nThe Judiciary subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government will hear from witnesses including Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who have investigated Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals. Other witnesses include former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Fox News contributor, and former FBI agent Nicole Parker.\n\n“These extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress are choosing to make it their top priority to go down the rabbit hole of debunked conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ instead of taking a deep breath and deciding to work with the President and Democrats in Congress to improve Americans’ everyday lives,” Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nHunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers:7 takeaways from Twitter hearing\n\nReport: Election deniers lost, but election threats remain\n\nMany Donald Trump-backed election deniers lost bids for office last year, but the threat of election subversion remains, says a new report – particularly physical threats to election workers.\n\n“While the most feared threats to election administration and vote counting did not materialize in 2022, that doesn’t mean that the elevated risks to our elections have disappeared and we can lower our guard,” said Wendy Weiser, Vice President for Democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.\n\nWeiser is a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises, which issued a report Thursday warning that there are still some current government officials – mostly Trump-style Republicans – who want to manipulate voting and election laws to favor their candidates.\n\nThe report urged the government to remain vigilant about election threats, especially from partisans willing to physically threaten election officials to try and get their way.\n\n\"The threat of political violence was one the most concerning aspects of the 2022 cycle and one that shows no signs of abating,\" the report said.\n\n– David Jackson\n\nSen. Fetterman hospitalized:Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on campaign trail, hospitalized for lightheadedness\n\nComer demands documents from president’s son, brother\n\nThe head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee ratcheted up his investigation of President Joe Biden’s son and brother with a request to them for documents since 2009 covering communications with intelligence agencies, travel and financial records since Biden was vice president.\n\nRep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the letters to Hunter and James Biden, and their business associate Eric Schwerin, would help the panel draft stronger ethics legislation for federal officials and their families. The request followed a six-hour hearing Wednesday about Twitter stifling news coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which contained information about foreign business deals.\n\nJoe Biden dismissed the inquiry. “The public’s not going to pay attention to that,” Biden told the PBS NewsHour on Wednesday. “If the only thing they can do is make up things about my family, it’s not going to go very far.”\n\n--Bart Jansen\n\nBiden's GOP antagonists:Biden’s most vocal GOP antagonists emerge, World Economic Forum preview: 5 Things podcast\n\nHunter Biden lawyer calls Comer inquiry ‘inaccurate’ and ‘baseless’\n\nAbbe Lowell, a lawyer representing Hunter Biden, replied to Rep. James Comer’s request for documents from the president’s son as “peddling inaccurate and baseless conclusions.”\n\nAs head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Comer, R-Ky., had demanded Hunter Biden documents about intelligence agencies, travel and finances since 2009 to draft stronger ethics legislation. But Lowell said Hunter Biden is a private citizen and the panel lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.\n\n“Peddling your own inaccurate and baseless conclusions under the guise of a real investigation, turns the Committee into ‘Wonderland’ and you into the Queen of Hearts shouting, ‘sentence first, verdict afterwards,’” Lowell wrote in a four-page letter to Comer.\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nHunter Biden's art dealer says his work is 'important':Why the paintings factor into GOP probes.\n\nPentagon: China conducted spy balloon program for years\n\nThe Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for “several years,” the Pentagon said Wednesday.\n\nWhen similar balloons passed over U.S. territory on four occasions during the Trump and Biden administrations, the U.S. did not immediately identify them as Chinese surveillance balloons, said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. But he said “subsequent intelligence analysis” allowed the U.S. to confirm they were part of a Chinese spying effort and learn “a lot more” about the program.\n\n– Associated Press\n\nSpy balloon flew over sensitive US sites:Chinese spy balloon flew over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says\n\nWhite House hits back at GOP after State of the Union heckling over Social Security, Medicare\n\nDuring President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, GOP lawmakers responded with vocal outrage when the president suggested Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare. But on Thursday, the White House pulled out the receipts.\n\nIn a fact sheet titled “Congressional Republicans’ Many Proposals to Cut Social Security and Medicare, and Increase Prescription Drug Prices and Health Care Premiums,” the White House called out the party and several GOP lawmakers by name for having a “different record” on the popular programs than they loudly claimed Tuesday.\n\nThe fact sheet shows the White House’s growing boldness in calling out the opposite party as the 2024 election rapidly approaches.\n\n-Ella Lee\n\nState of the Union takeaways:Blue-collar Joe, GOP boos and a 2024 preview\n\n'Moms for Liberty' asks Iowa lawmakers to get 'inappropriate' books out of schools\n\nFive Iowa moms, all members of the conservative \"Moms for Liberty\" group, made their case to lawmakers this week about their efforts to remove or limit inappropriate books in schools.\n\n\"This legislature needs to come together and find common ground on protecting children from obscenity,\" said Mandy Gilbert, a Johnston parent and secretary for the Polk County Moms for Liberty chapter.\n\nOutside the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee room, a small group held signs that condemned book banning. Former Iowa teacher Alena Treat said she's concerned the push against inappropriate books is part of a larger effort to remove LGBTQ representation from schools.\n\n– Katie Akin, Des Moines Register\n\nRead the full story:'Moms for Liberty' calls on Iowa legislature to rid schools of 'inappropriate' books'\n\nHunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers\n\nThe House hearing Wednesday into Twitter’s brief suppression of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop outlined the queasiness of former executives to block it and provided a bare-knuckle arena for partisan lawmakers to debate allegations against President Joe Biden.\n\nFormer Twitter executives told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the company blocked links to the New York Post story in October 2020 because of similarities to the posting of leaks from hacked Democratic computers before the 2016 election. The executives called the 24-hour suppression a mistake and said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign.\n\nRepublican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump, while Democrats called the hearing “silly” and a \"bizarre political stunt.”\n\n– Bart Jansen\n\nRead the full story:Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers: 7 takeaways from Twitter hearing\n\nSen. John Fetterman hospitalized for lightheadedness\n\nSen. John Fetterman, who had a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, is in the hospital, his office said late Wednesday night.\n\nFetterman was taken to George Washington University Hospital after feeling lightheaded toward the end of the Senate Democratic retreat Wednesday, according to a statement from his spokesperson, Joe Calvello.\n\n\"Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation,\" Calvello said.\n\n-- Candy Woodall\n\nRead the whole story here:Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on campaign trail, hospitalized for lightheadedness\n\nBiden schedule today\n\nPresident Joe Biden will travel to Floriday as part of his post-State of the Union travel to bring his key issues to an outside-the-Beltway audience. He will focus today is on Social Security and Medicare.\n\nBiden's event at 1:30 pm will be held in Tampa.\n\nBiden to bring Social Security fight to Florida\n\nPresident Joe Biden will continue his attacks on Republicans over Social Security and Medicare when he travels to Florida.\n\nBiden has accused Republicans – including Florida Sen. Rick Scott – of endangering the popular retirement programs by proposing all federal legislation by renewed every five years. Scott says Biden is twisting his words.\n\nBiden appeared to relish the dispute over the issue during his State of the Union address when Republican lawmakers interrupted his speech to challenge him.\n\nBiden said Wednesday he hopes that means Republicans have agreed not to cut Social Security and Medicare but, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”\n\n– Maureen Groppe\n\nMore:Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare\n\nSubcommittee on weaponization of the government set to hold first hearing Thursday\n\nSen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., will testify Thursday during a GOP-led hearing of the congressional subcommittee investigating the alleged weaponization of the government against Republicans.\n\nJohnson plans to speak about the “roadblocks” he faced from government agencies during his investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, that concluded in 2020 while Johnson was the chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Johnson's office told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.\n\nSen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently quit the Democratic Party, and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker will also testify during the hearing, according to CNN, which was first to report the developments.\n\n– Lawrence Andrea\n\nBiden under scrutiny:House Republicans gear up investigations of the president\n\nBiden: Republican investigations of my family 'won’t go very far'\n\nPresident Joe Biden said House Republicans’ investigations into the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, and other members of his family \"won’t go very far.\"\n\n\"The public’s not going to pay attention to that,\" Biden said in an interview Wednesday on PBS NewsHour. \"They want these guys to do something. If the only thing they can do is make up things about my family, it’s not going to go very far.\"\n\nThe Republican-led House Oversight Committee held its first hearing Wednesday investigating the Biden family as former Twitter executives faced questions about media coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. It's the start of a string of probes into the president that Republicans have long promised.\n\n– Joey Garrison\n\n7 takeaways from Twitter hearing:Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/17/biden-congress-antagonists-jordan-comer/11040121002/", "title": "Biden's most vocal Republican antagonists emerge from the ...", "text": "New Judiciary panel will review discovery of classified documents in Biden's former office, home.\n\nOversight will probe Biden family business activities.\n\nDemocrats derided the inquiries as \"deranged\" and \"far-right conspiracy nonsense.\"\n\nWASHINGTON – House Republicans spent years ignored or drowned out in a Democratic Congress, but revelations about President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents handed two of his fiercest critics ammunition to investigate just as they became committee chairmen.\n\nRep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has already drawn the spotlight with rapid-fire questions pelting Democratic witnesses during hearings investigating former President Donald Trump. Now he leads the Judiciary Committee and a special subcommittee created to investigate the Biden administration, and he can set the agenda.\n\nRep. James Comer of Kentucky argued for greater scrutiny of the Biden family’s business dealings even before winning the gavel of the Oversight and Accountability Committee. He and Jordan pledged aggressive oversight on a variety of subjects even before they were sworn in now that the 2022 midterm elections handed control of the chamber to Republicans.\n\nBiden and Trump documents expose wider problem:Missing classified records not uncommon\n\nWith their gavels, Jordan and Comer are armed with subpoena power and the megaphone of committee hearings to antagonize Biden through the 2024 election.\n\nAndy Wright, a former Oversight Committee staffer and director of legal policy for the Biden-Harris presidential transition who is a partner at K&L Gates, said investigations are no surprise because they often heat up under divided government. Lawmakers want to bolster their legislative and policy goals amid more hearings, depositions and subpoenas, he said.\n\n“There are a lot of significant consequences and significant policy issues that are going to be lurking in the background in addition to the partisan theater,\" Wright said.\n\n5 key questions about Biden documents:5 key questions we still don't know about Biden documents\n\nFact check:Biden did have the authority to declassify documents as vice president\n\nBiden's handling of classified documents spurs immediate inquiries\n\nThe revelations about the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s former office at a think tank in Washington and at his Wilmington home added fuel to the fire of House Republicans eager to investigate the administration.\n\nJordan sent a letter Friday with Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding documents and communications about the records between Biden’s office and the Justice Department, FBI and special counsel, Robert Hur.\n\n“At this point, where did Joe Biden NOT have classified documents?” Jordan asked in a tweet Friday.\n\nGarland appoints special counsel Robert Hur:Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints special counsel to investigate Biden's classified documents\n\nAbout Garland's big decision:Garland faced pressure to appoint special counsel in Biden case – and maybe had no choice\n\nComer sent letters Jan. 10 to the White House and National Archives and Records Administration asking for all documents and communications – and transcribed interviews – about Biden's failure to return classified documents he received as vice president.\n\nComer sent another letter Friday to the White House asking whether the president's son Hunter Biden had access to the documents at his Wilmington house because he had listed the address as his home until at least 2018.\n\n\"The Committee is concerned President Biden stored classified documents at the same location as his son resided while engaging in international business deals with adversaries of the United States,\" Comer wrote.\n\nWho is Jim Jordan, head of a new panel on the 'weaponization' of government?\n\nJordan has nettled leaders of both parties. He received the presidential medal of freedom from Trump after defending him through several investigations. And Jordan was a founder of the conservative Freedom Caucus who occasionally led his own party leaders over spending and health care.\n\nFormer House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, once called Jordan a “legislative terrorist.”\n\nIn addition to his leading the Judiciary Committee, Republicans agreed in a party-line vote to create for him a special “subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government” to investigate the Justice Department and FBI, including \"ongoing criminal investigations.\" Targets for inquiries include:\n\nDemocrats derided the inquiries as irrelevant grandstanding.\n\n“We call that the tinfoil-hat committee in our caucus,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, Democratic Caucus chairman.\n\nWho is special counsel Robert Hur?:Robert Hur tapped by Merrick Garland to lead Biden documents probe. Who is he?\n\nDemocrats said the committee would have broad power to investigate criminal cases. Critics seized on the potential participation of Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., another Trump ally, who said last year that the FBI seized his cellphone and who has denied wrongdoing.\n\n“Yet he has indicated he wants to be on this subcommittee so that he can undermine a criminal investigation into himself,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., lead counsel in Trump’s first impeachment. “My Republican counterparts can dress up the subcommittee with a menacing name, but let’s call it what it really is: the Republican committee to obstruct justice.”\n\nJordan defied subpoena from Jan. 6 committee\n\nJordan is no stranger to congressional inquiries. He was one of five House Republicans subpoenaed in the investigation of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.\n\nEach refused to testify and called the panel illegitimate for how it was organized, even though federal courts upheld its subpoenas. The Jan. 6 panel urged Ethics Committee inquiries into Jordan, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and three others.\n\nMcCarthy said he would have testified if Republicans had been able to name their own representatives to the committee. McCarthy submitted nominees, but then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected Jordan and another lawmaker, and McCarthy withdrew all his nominees. Instead, Pelosi appointed then-GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.\n\nMcCarthy said Jordan's new subcommittee was necessary to investigate questions such as why the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate but not Biden's home or office for confidential documents.\n\nHouse GOP launch probe of Biden documents:House Republicans launch investigations into Biden's handling of classified documents\n\n\"I think Congress has to investigate this,\" McCarthy said. \"Why did they handle that differently?\"\n\nDemocrats criticized the special subcommittee as a political ploy to protect Republican allies.\n\n“Speaker McCarthy is essentially handing Mr. Jordan the power to target anything he doesn’t like, anything and anyone he deems unconstitutional, illegal or unethical,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. He called the panel “a deranged ploy by the MAGA extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party and now want to use taxpayer money to push their far-right conspiracy nonsense.”\n\nJordan, Comer can issue subpoenas on their own\n\nA key tool the House voted to grant the subcommittee is the power for the chairman to issue subpoenas by himself. The Oversight Committee chairman traditionally had this power and the Democratic-led House granted it to the Jan. 6 panel, but it is unusual for congressional committees.\n\nWithout that authority, chairpersons seeking a subpoena must schedule a business meeting, ensure enough lawmakers are present to vote and go through sometimes rancorous debate. The advantage for Jordan and Comer is their negotiations to compel testimony will be a much easier threat.\n\n“That means Congress is going to have more leverage to get what it wants when it’s trying to get information,\" said Wright, the former Oversight Committee staffer. “The big question is going to be: What does the new majority decide to spend its time on? In all these investigations, you start with zero information and have to pry it loose.\"\n\nJan. 6 committee takes action on House Republicans:House Jan. 6 panel recommends inquiries for 4 GOP members at House Ethics Committee\n\nWho is James Comer?\n\nComer, a former state lawmaker and agriculture commissioner who owned his own farm, rose to the top Republican slot on the Oversight Committee in his second full term in Congress. He won the high-profile gavel after only six years in office.\n\nComer had served six terms in the Kentucky state Legislature before becoming the state agriculture commissioner in 2011.\n\nAt the state agency and on the oversight panel, Comer focused on cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse.\n\nComer narrowly lost a campaign for governor in 2015 but counted himself out of another run this year because of the Oversight Committee chairmanship.\n\n'Fairness and double standards':How Biden's classified documents debacle could become a political, legal liability\n\nWhat is the Oversight Committee investigating?\n\nComer plans to investigate Biden’s family because of concerns he profited from business deals of his relatives in Ukraine and China, which the president has denied. Comer's panel is also casting a wide net, and targets include:\n\nRevealing wasteful spending on COVID-19 relief. A hearing is scheduled Feb. 1.\n\nFighting alleged government bullying of social media companies to suppress information.\n\nScrutinizing work-from-home rules for the federal workforce.\n\nComer has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for documents by Jan. 25 about a reported 150 alerts from U.S. banks about suspicious transactions involving Hunter Biden and the president's brother James Biden.\n\nThe suspicious-transaction reports aren’t necessarily nefarious, covering transactions greater than $5,000. The department received an estimated 3.6 million suspicious-transaction reports last year.\n\nBiden selects attorney in document investigation:Reports: Biden selects top Democratic attorney as personal lawyer in classified documents probe\n\nComer also plans a hearing in February to question Twitter executives about accusations that the company censored news stories. He specifically cited stories in the New York Post about the Biden family's business activities.\n\n“For years, the Biden family peddled influence and access around the world for profit, often at the expense of the nation’s interests,” Comer said. “The American people must know the extent of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s shady business deals and if these deals threaten national security and his decision-making as president.”\n\nMaryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the panel, accused Republicans of pursuing debunked conspiracy theories and the \"deep state.”\n\n“Conspiracy theories and disinformation are already at a fever pitch in the new Congress,” Raskin said.\n\nGraphics:How Biden's case differs from Trump's classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago\n\nBiden documents: Dig deeper", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/01/17"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/politics/house-republicans-white-house-hunter-biden/index.html", "title": "House Republicans vow to investigate Biden and his family's ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAfter clinching the majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, top Republicans on Thursday outlined a broad range of investigative targets focused on President Joe Biden and his family’s business dealings.\n\n“In the 118th Congress, this committee will evaluate the status of Joe Biden’s relationship with his family’s foreign partners and whether he is a President who is compromised or swayed by foreign dollars and influence,” said Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. “I want to be clear: This is an investigation of Joe Biden, and that’s where the committee will focus in this next Congress.”\n\nIn a wide-ranging news conference flanked by GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who is expected to become chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Republicans on the oversight committee, Comer said Republicans have made connections between the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and the president that they believe requires further investigation. Comer said his team has spoken with multiple whistleblowers who say they were involved in schemes involving the Biden family, reviewed Hunter Biden’s laptop, and received “previously unknown transactions.”\n\nComer is specifically zeroing in on more than 100 bank activity reports – known as Suspicious Activity Reports – that are allegedly related to the Biden family and says that the Treasury Department has ignored his repeated requests when Republicans were in the minority to hand over them over.\n\nSo far, Comer says he has only seen two of those reports, and he renewed his request for the remainder of them today. Such reports are not always indicative of criminal activity or wrongdoing.\n\nAs part of his investigation, Comer said, “We would love to talk to people in the Biden family, specifically Hunter and Joe Biden.”\n\nThe White House said the investigations are politically motivated and a waste of time.\n\n“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories” spokesmen for the White House Counsel’s office, Ian Sams, said in a statement to CNN.\n\n“President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge,” Sams added.\n\nA spokeswoman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, Nelly Decker, said the Republicans “rehashed the same, partisan talking points” that have been circulating for years.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback President Biden on his son Hunter: 'I have great confidence in my son. I love him' 01:17 - Source: CNN\n\n“Now that former President Trump is running for office again, House Republicans’ top priority is attacking President Biden and his family in a desperate attempt to return Mr. Trump to power,” Decker said in a statement.\n\nRepublicans had little ability to enforce their document requests while they were in the minority. But once the new Congress is sworn in in January, Republicans will gain subpoena power, a more powerful enforcement mechanism to try to compel individuals and government entities to hand over information.\n\nPrivate attorneys representing Biden family members did not respond to requests for comment.\n\nZeroing in on suspicious activity reports\n\nAt the heart of Comer’s investigation is digging into a series of suspicious activity reports that Republicans claim banks have filed related to Hunter Biden’s financial activities. In a letter to the Treasury Department on Thursday, Comer sought any such reports related to various members of the Biden family, their business associates and companies linked to Hunter Biden.\n\nComer also is seeking communications within the Treasury Department, its financial crimes enforcement division and the White House regarding those family members and related businesses and associates.\n\nWhile Republicans have seized on the suspicious activity reports as evidence that Joe Biden’s son was involved in problematic activities, such reports are not conclusive and do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. Financial institutions file millions of suspicious activity reports each year and few lead to law enforcement inquiries.\n\nComer sent a letter to a financial adviser, who Comer has said was managing Hunter Biden’s finances, seeking any suspicious activity reports, as well as financial information about Hunter Biden. He is also seeking information from one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, including communications related to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s finances, taxes and debts.\n\nThe letters were part of a new round Comer fired off to various government agencies and individuals Thursday seeking more information to further his probe.\n\nHe also asked the National Archives for flight manifests and other documents related to Air Force Two and Marine Two during Biden’s tenure as vice president, as well as communications related to Russia, Ukraine and Hunter Biden during his vice presidency.\n\nFrom the FBI, he’s seeking any documents related to “foreign intelligence services’ efforts to compromise the Biden family” and information about Timothy Thibault, a former FBI agent that Republicans have accused of politicizing investigations. Thibault has denied wrongdoing.\n\nAnother letter went to Georges Bergés, the gallery owner who showcased and sold Hunter Biden’s artwork. Among the documents requested were communications with the White House and Hunter Biden, discussions about the pricing of Hunter Biden’s work, and rosters of those who attended Hunter Biden’s art shows and purchased his work.\n\nAlleged ‘politicization’ at the FBI\n\nFederal prosecutors have been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 and have not brought any charges yet. When asked by CNN if they know whether the claims presented Thursday have already been investigated by federal prosecutors, Jordan said: “We don’t know.”\n\nJordan also said that under his leadership, the House Judiciary Committee will look into alleged “politicization” at the FBI. Jordan and other Republican lawmakers previously claimed that they’ve heard from FBI insiders about anti-conservative bias fueling FBI decision-making, especially at the FBI’s Washington Field Office.\n\n“I’ve been in Congress a few years now, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jordan said. “Fourteen (FBI) agents come talk to us while we’re in the minority about how political that place has become.”\n\nAccording to Jordan, the alleged politicization might include attempts by the FBI to suppress media coverage of the Hunter Biden story in 2020.\n\nMany of these claims have been circulating in GOP circles during Biden’s administration – with Republicans taking over the House next year, they’ll have an official platform to investigate these matters and put them on full display.\n\nAt least one of the FBI agents that the GOP lawmakers are scrutinizing has previously denied any wrongdoing. The “whistleblowers” are anonymous and haven’t testified at any public Congressional hearings.\n\n“The FBI has testified to Congress and responded to letters from legislators on numerous occasions to provide an accurate accounting of how we do our work” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.\n\n“The men and women of the FBI devote themselves to protecting the American people from terrorism, violent crime, cyber threats and other dangers,” the spokesperson said. “Put quite simply: we follow the facts without regard for politics.”", "authors": ["Annie Grayer Sara Murray Marshall Cohen", "Annie Grayer", "Sara Murray", "Marshall Cohen"], "publish_date": "2022/11/17"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/02/09/turkey-syria-hunter-biden-pandemic-ohio-air-murdaugh-nfl-kevin-durant/11218280002/", "title": "Daily Briefing: The story behind the story about Hunter Biden's laptop", "text": "Former Twitter executives said a story about Hunter Biden's laptop was suppressed because of concerns about Russian meddling. Also in the news: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to travel Thursday to quake-hit provinces amid ongoing criticism that the government’s response has been too slow. We look at how K-12 schools are struggling to recover pandemic learning losses.\n\n🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Check out these Black-owned businesses you can support this Black History Month.\n\nNow, here we go with Thursday's news.\n\nTakeaways from the Hunter Biden laptop hearing\n\nThe House hearing Wednesday into Twitter’s brief suppression of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop outlined the queasiness of former executives to block links to the article and provided a bare-knuckle arena for partisan lawmakers to debate allegations against President Joe Biden.\n\nThe background: Former Twitter executives told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the company blocked links to the New York Post story in October 2020 because of similarities to the posting of leaks from hacked Democratic computers before the 2016 election.\n\nThe executives called the 24-hour suppression a mistake and said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign. But Republican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump.\n\nand said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign. But Republican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump. The laptop has become a focal point of Republican investigations because it contains a trove of documents and pictures about Hunter Biden. The first accusation in the New York Post story is that vice president Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general for investigating Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden.\n\nof Republican investigations because it contains a trove of documents and pictures about Hunter Biden. The first accusation in the New York Post story is that vice president Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general for investigating Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden. Democrats called the hearing “silly” and a \"bizarre political stunt\" because Twitter is a private company free to make its own decisions about what to publish. Democrats also questioned the basic allegations against Biden stemming from the laptop as “categorically false.”\n\n👉 Keep reading our takeaways from the hearing.\n\nDeaths in Turkey, Syria earthquake surpass 16,000\n\nThe search for survivors grew more desperate, the homeless problem more acute and the death toll rose Thursday as rescuers labored to find signs of life amid the rubble of Monday's earthquakes and aftershocks that laid waste to a wide swath of Turkey and Syria. The total of 16,000-plus fatalities, the largest worldwide for an earthquake event in more than a decade, is expected to rise. Experts says the survival rate in an incident of this magnitude is below 25% after 72 hours, and the frigid temperatures make the chances even slimmer. Rescue experts say it will take months to stabilize the region and years to recover from the disaster. Read more\n\nMore news to know now\n\n🌤 What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.\n\nCourthouse evacuated after reported bomb threat during Murdaugh trial\n\nThe South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed that a bomb threat was received by personnel at the Colleton County Courthouse Wednesday. The threat interrupted the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, 54, who has been accused of killing his family in an attempt to distract from his alleged financial crimes and buy time and sympathy. Just a few hours after jurors began hearing testimony, Judge Clifton Newman ordered that the courtroom be evacuated. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office confirmed that the threat was \"phoned in.\" Read more\n\nA Texas man pleaded guilty in a racist, deadly 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting.\n\nOfficials lift evacuation order for residents near Ohio train derailment\n\nEvacuated residents can return to the Ohio village where crews burned toxic chemicals after a train derailed five days ago now that monitors show no dangerous levels of toxins in the air, authorities said Wednesday. Around-the-clock testing inside and outside the evacuation zone around the village of East Palestine and a sliver of Pennsylvania showed the air had returned to normal levels that would have been seen before the derailment, said James Justice of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. \"Hundreds and hundreds of data points we've collected over the time show the air quality is safe,\" he said. Read more\n\nJust for subscribers:\n\nThese articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here.\n\nHow do we recover pandemic learning losses?\n\nHalf of the nation's students began this school year a full year behind grade level in at least one subject because of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, new national data from the federal Education Department shows. It's as if students are doing the 2021-22 school year all over again. K-12 schools are experimenting with myriad strategies – from social-emotional learning to high-dosage tutoring to individualized learning – to catch kids up. But even with all of those interventions, however, students may have a long way to go. Read more\n\n📷 Photo of the day: Award-winning 'dream' image of a leopard at sunset 📷\n\nA German photographer has won The Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award. Out of 25 images selected as finalists, Sascha Fonseca's image of a snow leopard posed against the Indian Himalayas was chosen by thousands of voters. Click here to read more about the story behind the image.\n\nOne more thing\n\nNicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/politics/twitter-files-elon-musk-fbi-hunter-biden-laptop/index.html", "title": "No directive: FBI agents, tech executives deny government ordered ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nInternal Twitter communications released by the company’s new owner and CEO, Elon Musk, are fueling intense scrutiny of the FBI’s efforts alongside social media companies to thwart foreign disinformation in the run-up to the 2020 election.\n\nAt the heart of the controversy is Twitter’s decision in October 2020 to block users from sharing a New York Post story containing material from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. Conservative critics have accused Twitter of suppressing the story at the behest of the FBI, something they claim the released communications, dubbed the “Twitter Files,” demonstrate.\n\nMusk himself has alleged the communications show government censorship, suggesting Twitter acted “under orders from the government” when it suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story.\n\nBut so far, none of the released messages explicitly show the FBI telling Twitter to suppress the story. In fact, the opposite view emerges from sworn testimony by an FBI agent at the center of the controversy. And in interviews with CNN, half a dozen tech executives and senior staff, along with multiple federal officials familiar with the matter, all deny any such directive was given.\n\n“We would never go to a company to say you need to squelch this story,” said one former FBI official who helped oversee the government’s cooperation with companies including Twitter, Google and Facebook.\n\nElon Musk has suggested internal Twitter communications reveal improper behavior by the FBI in its effort to thwart foreign influence campaigns Andrew Kelly/Reuters\n\nMusk and his conservative allies have insinuated the released messages provide evidence of illicit behavior by the FBI, suggesting the exchange of secret files pertaining to Hunter Biden, and improper payments made to Twitter. But CNN’s interviews with people directly involved with the interactions and with those who have reviewed the documents disprove those claims.\n\nMatt Taibbi, one of the journalists Musk tapped this month to comb through Twitter internal messages for evidence of free speech violations, said himself on December 2 that “there is no evidence - that I’ve seen - of any government involvement in the laptop story.”\n\nWhat is clear, however, is that following Russia’s meddling campaign in 2016, plus after years of interactions with federal agents about how to spot foreign disinformation efforts, Twitter executives were hyper suspicious of anything that looked like foreign influence and were primed to act, even without direction from the government.\n\nBy the time the New York Post published its laptop story on October 14, 2020, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s then head of site integrity, had spent two years meeting with the FBI and other government officials. He was prepared for some kind of hack and leak operation.\n\n“There were lots of reasons why the entire industry was on alert,” Roth said at a conference in November, not long after he resigned from Twitter. Roth insists he was not in favor of blocking the story and thought the company’s decision was a mistake.\n\nAs the released communications show, Twitter initially acted to suppress the story for a few days in part out of concerns that Hunter Biden, the son of the then-Democratic presidential candidate, was being targeted as part of a foreign election interference operation similar to the one Russia carried out in 2016.\n\nWhat Twitter did not know at the time was that Hunter Biden was the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Since as early as 2018, the Justice Department has been investigating Hunter Biden for his business activities in foreign countries. In late 2019, nearly a year before the story first emerged in the New York Post, the FBI had used a subpoena to obtain a laptop that Biden allegedly left behind at a Delaware computer repair store.\n\nAccording to sources at the FBI and at Twitter who spoke to CNN, none of that information was disclosed to Twitter executives trying to decide how to treat the laptop story, nor to anyone else for that matter.\n\n“It was an ongoing investigation, so I would never approve of talking about it,” said the former FBI official.\n\nGOP scrutiny\n\nWhile the released Twitter messages have yet to reveal a smoking gun showing the government ordered a social media company to suppress a story, Republicans on Capitol Hill say there are enough questions raised by the internal communications to merit calling tech executives to testify.\n\nScrutiny is building around the role of Twitter’s recently-fired deputy general counsel James Baker, a former top FBI official who joined Twitter in the summer of 2020. The released documents show Baker was in regular contact with his former colleagues at the FBI, giving rise to rampant accusations from conservatives that he was the conduit for the government to pressure Twitter.\n\nIn some of the material released by Twitter, an email shows Baker setting up a meeting – in the midst of Twitter’s internal deliberations about how to handle the New York Post story – with Matthew Perry, an attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel. It is not clear what the two discussed.\n\nThe FBI declined to discuss any communications Baker had with FBI officials once he arrived at Twitter.\n\nBaker is among a number of former Twitter executives called to testify this month by Republican Rep. James Comer, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee. Baker declined to comment for this story.\n\nRep. James Comer (R-KY) attends a House Oversight Committee hearing on July 27, 2022 Drew Angerer/Getty Images/File\n\nComer also wants to hear from several former US intelligence officials who, days after the laptop story broke, wrote an open letter saying it had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The group of former officials who signed the letter included former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who, as a CNN contributor, appeared on the network to express his view.\n\nThough the former officials admitted, “we do not have evidence of Russian involvement,” their letter set the tone for much of the early discussion and coverage of the laptop.\n\nIn a statement to CNN, the FBI said, “The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries. As evidenced in the correspondence, the FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to allow them to protect themselves and their customers.\n\n“The men and women of the FBI work every day to protect the American public. It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”\n\nAllegations of illicit behavior\n\nAmong the messages given the most attention from Musk and other critics are a series of emails between Roth and Elvis Chan, an FBI special agent based in San Francisco, where he focuses on cybersecurity and foreign influence on social media. On October 13, the day before New York Post story published, Chan instructed Roth to download ten documents on a secure portal.\n\nRoth responded, “received and downloaded – thanks!”\n\nMichael Shellenberger, who is among those Musk has entrusted with access to the internal messages, wrote about the Chan communication with Roth. Shellenberger does not describe the contents of the files, but he does insinuate that the timing of the message suggests Chan was secretly providing Roth information about the Hunter laptop.\n\nAt the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, a team reviewing the internal communications released by Musk says it has identified the 10 documents Chan sent to Roth. “I reviewed all 10 of these documents personally and I can say explicitly there is nothing in these 10 documents about Hunter Biden’s laptop or about any related story to that,” an FBI official involved in the review told CNN.\n\nThe official said eight of the documents pertained to “malign foreign influence actors and activities,” the FBI’s terminology for foreign government election meddling. The official said the other two documents were posts on Twitter the FBI flagged as potential evidence of election-related crimes, such as voter suppression activities.\n\nAnother interaction that has drawn suspicion is an internal message from early 2021 that Shellenberger cites showing that the FBI paid Twitter $3.4 million beginning October 2019. In the message, an unnamed associate emails Baker saying, “I am happy to report we have collected $3,415,323 since October 2019!”\n\nThe FBI says the bureau is obligated under federal law to reimburse companies for the cost they incur to satisfy subpoenas and other legal requests as part of the FBI’s investigative work.\n\nThe FBI describes its discussions with Twitter as the type of information-sharing that Congress and both the Trump and Biden administrations encouraged to help tech companies and social media platforms protect themselves and their users. The released messages appear to show that FBI officials repeatedly noted that it was up to the content moderators at the company to take action if a post violated their rules.\n\n“All the information exchanged is about the actors and their activity,” a second FBI official who reviewed the communications told CNN. “What we are not providing is specifics about the content and the narrative. We are also not directing the platforms to do anything. We are just providing it for them to do as they see fit under their own terms of service to protect their platforms and customers.”\n\nGhosts of 2016\n\nAfter the 2016 election, social media executives knew they had a problem. Russian operatives had used their platforms to run a massive covert influence campaign to help elect Donald Trump, using bots to spread disinformation and sow division among Americans.\n\nTo prepare for the next election, the executives set about bolstering their internal controls, including hiring former law enforcement and intelligence officials. But they also knew they had to forge a closer relationship with the US government to help root out foreign trolls and sources of disinformation.\n\nPresident Donald Trump chats with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at a summit in 2017. Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty\n\nWhat followed were a series of regular meetings with federal agents that began in May 2018.\n\nThe released communications as well as interviews with people involved in the meetings portray routine, friendly and sometimes tense contacts between company executives and the government officials with whom they regularly interacted. Among the released communications are lively exchanges between Twitter and the FBI, revealing some of the sensitivities — and tensions — at play as the government and Silicon Valley slowly figured out how to work together.\n\nOne former FBI official who spoke to CNN recalls that tech executives would insist on meetings away from their campuses, in part because government agents weren’t welcome. Feelings in Silicon Valley toward the intelligence community were still raw since the Edward Snowden leaks detailed a vast data collection apparatus that targeted the tech companies.\n\n“Early on, who hosted the meeting was also a political football,” said a person familiar with the meetings between the government and Silicon Valley. “Each company wanted someone else to. There were worries about employees seeing a bunch of feds and leaking it in an inaccurate way.”\n\nOne tech source, however, dismissed this and said companies offered their offices for the meetings out of a shared sense of responsibility.\n\nNevertheless, the meetings went ahead. The first one took place at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park. Later meetings were held at Twitter and LinkedIn’s offices, a person familiar with the meetings told CNN.\n\nSome of the early interactions were terse. Reports published by CNN and other news organizations described complaints from some tech executives that the FBI was sharing only limited information, useless to help the companies protect their platforms.\n\nA telling moment came early on when a government lawyer lectured tech executives about the limits on what the government can do to help, multiple people who attended the meeting told CNN. One Silicon Valley executive described how the lawyer gave a 20-minute speech about the First Amendment and insisted that “government representatives can’t tell the companies to take any content down.”\n\nFormer Twitter employees and FBI officials involved say that by 2020, their discussions had become better coordinated and useful to both sides. One indicator of how advantageous the relationship had become: By 2020, Facebook was issuing press releases about some of the discussions.\n\nRumors of a hack-and-leak operation\n\nMusk and other critics of the interactions point to released messages that they claim show a cozy relationship between the government and Twitter. But the messages also show Roth, Twitter’s then head of site integrity, repeatedly pushing back against asks from the FBI.\n\nAt various points, the Twitter communications show Roth resisting pressure to reveal certain information about users absent a formal legal request, such as which third-party VPN services were used by some account-holders to access Twitter.\n\nYoel Roth Patrick Farrell/Knight Foundation\n\nRoth also shut down a request that the company share more of its data with intelligence officials.\n\nOthers within Twitter noted the US government’s interest in Twitter’s data and urged colleagues to “stay connected and keep a solid front against these efforts.”\n\nConservative critics continue to blame Roth for Twitter’s suppression of the laptop story, but he insists he didn’t make the final call and says he thought it was a mistake. “It is widely reported that I personally directed the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story,” Roth said last month. “It is absolutely, unequivocally untrue.”\n\nExactly who in Twitter’s leadership ultimately made the call to block the story remains unclear.\n\nIn December 2020, Roth gave a sworn declaration to the Federal Election Commission saying the government had warned of expected hack-and-leak incidents targeting people associated with political campaigns. Roth said that he learned in the meetings with government agencies there were “rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden.”\n\nRoth did not point to the government as the source of the rumor, but his claim that law enforcement agencies gave general warnings about disinformation campaigns dovetails with recent testimony from Chan, the FBI agent who played a key role in the meetings.\n\nChan was deposed this year as part of a lawsuit brought by the Missouri attorney general alleging government censorship of social media. Chan disputed that the government told social media companies to “expect” hack-and-leak campaigns, saying that it would have only warned companies it was a possibility.\n\nThat Hunter Biden might be the target of a hack-and-leak operation was being publicly discussed at the time, after it emerged that Burisma Holdings, a company he worked with in Ukraine had reportedly been hacked by Russian military intelligence early in 2020.\n\nChan also testified that government agents never raised Hunter Biden specifically, and that his name came up only when a Facebook analyst asked specifically for relevant information. An FBI agent in the meeting declined to answer, Chan recalled, adding that she was likely not authorized to address the question because at the time the FBI had not publicly confirmed its Hunter Biden investigation.", "authors": ["Evan Perez Donie O'Sullivan Brian Fung", "Evan Perez", "Donie O'Sullivan", "Brian Fung"], "publish_date": "2022/12/23"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/05/biden-house-republicans-investigations/11149924002/", "title": "Joe Biden under scrutiny as House Republicans gear up probes", "text": "House Republicans are investigating President Biden on a number of issues\n\nTopics include Hunter Biden's business dealings, border security, and classified documents\n\nThe White House has organized a team to defend Biden and attack the GOP for political motives\n\nHistorically, Republican Congresses have investigated Democratic presidents - and vice-versa\n\nWASHINGTON – One political party controls the U.S. House and the other party holds the presidency – so you know what that means.\n\nIt's time to investigate the president again.\n\nAs with previous Congresses, the newly empowered House Republicans are engaged in a plethora of probes of President Joe Biden and his allies, from border security and the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal to Joe Biden's classified documents and son Hunter Biden's laptop.\n\nTo the Republicans, it's about oversight of the executive branch. \"This administration needs checks and balances – any administration needs checks and balances,\" said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who will be supervising many of the investigations as chair of the House Oversight Committee.\n\nAides to Biden, as with previous presidents, see it as something else: politics designed to hurt the incumbent ahead of an election year. While White House officials have pledged to cooperate with Republican investigators, they are also organized and prepared to respond to what they regard as unfair inquiries.\n\nBattle of the government branches: After a turbulent January, House GOP focuses back on Biden with slate of investigations\n\nHere are some of the things to look for in the months ahead:\n\nAggressive Republicans\n\nRepublican investigators take a big public step Wednesday when the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing on how Twitter handled news reports of Hunter Biden's laptop, which included some of his business records – the morning after Biden delivers his State of the Union message.\n\nThe Biden family: Hunter Biden lawyers urge probes of Trump allies, demand Tucker Carlson retract reporting\n\nRep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, now chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, cited the GOP's investigation into the so-called \"weaponization of the federal government\" by telling reporters: \"We'll issue the subpoenas and try to get the information, documents that we need.\"\n\nGOP risk from the right\n\nRepublicans are planning any number of public hearings, and most will be traditional in nature, with a series of opening statements by committee members and questioning of witnesses.\n\nThere's no indication, yet, that the GOP will follow the approach of last year's special committee investigating the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. That committee hired a former television executive who orchestrated made-for-TV hearings featuring dramatic video of the riot and witness depositions.\n\nIt's classified: House Republicans launch investigations into Biden's handling of classified documents\n\nThe MTG factor\n\nThe upcoming hearings will also test how much attention the Republicans are paying to conspiracy theories regarding Biden and his family and allies. Some GOP members may also use the hearings to promote the 2024 campaign of former President Donald Trump.\n\nSome ultra-conservative members, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have been calling for Biden's impeachment since he began his term two years ago.\n\nGreene and other Republicans have also called for impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, another target of GOP investigations over border security.\n\nRepublicans with subpoenas: Biden’s most vocal Republican antagonists emerge from the sidelines – with subpoena power\n\nMcCarthy's dilemma\n\nNumerous congressional Republicans campaigned on pledges to thoroughly investigate Biden, but their efforts could complicate other parts of the GOP agenda.\n\nThat means new GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy must walk a tightrope between working with Democrats to get things done and giving conservative hardliners enough Biden-related red meat so he can get bills through his narrow Republican majority.\n\nMcCarthy and Biden: How Medicare and Social Security benefits factor into the Kevin McCarthy debt ceiling fight\n\nIt could be especially challenging for Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Ind., the congressman tasked with corralling the votes in a Republican caucus that can only lose four and still get legislation passed.\n\n\"With a narrow majority, it’s about every voice,\" he told USA TODAY. \"Every issue can be challenging.\"\n\nBiden and the Democrats: defense and offense\n\nLike previous administrations, the Biden White House has set up a team of aides to monitor the Republican investigations, a group that includes members of the White House counsel's office and communications staff, according to administration officials. They have been working with Democratic members of Congress for months, preparing defenses and potential counter-attacks.\n\nA team of White House communications, legislative and legal staff members has also been working with federal agencies throughout the administration since the summer of 2022 to prepare for Republican-led investigations, officials said. And a White House team has been mapping out possible GOP lines of investigation, as well.\n\nOutside Democratic groups are also helping Biden's cause.\n\nOne organization, called Facts First USA, said it plans to monitor the investigations and speak out publicly to \"keep the focus on facts in the face of abuse of government oversight being used to settle partisan scores.\"\n\nDavid Brock, president of Facts First USA, said that, as with previous investigations of presidents, Republican overkill will be used against them when election time rolls around.\n\n\"The public understands this is a political exercise,\" Brock told USA TODAY.\n\nHouse Democrats speak out\n\nHouse Democrats see a silver lining to GOP attacks on the president: They could help his party win again in 2024.\n\nRep. Brendan Boyle, a Democratic ally from Biden’s native Pennsylvania and the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said investigations of previous Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama wound up in many ways backfiring against the Republicans.\n\nClinton and Obama both won re-election.\n\n“What failed in the 90s and the last decade will fail again this year,” Boyle said to USA TODAY.\n\nA long history\n\nThe Biden investigations are only the latest act in a long-running political play.\n\nEven President George Washington, the very first president, saw one of his generals investigated by Congress for poor performance.\n\nOver the decades, investigations have covered any number of historic events: Abraham Lincoln and the conduct of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant and government corruption, Richard Nixon and Watergate, and Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra affair.\n\nDouglas Kriner, a political science professor at Cornell University who has written on this topic, said investigations have often addressed significant policy disputes, but have also had \"political overtones.\"\n\n\"Politics has always been a key part of the game,\" he said.\n\nA polarizing era\n\nPolitically divided government has been frequent over the past half-century, fueling polarization as party members side with their team over all else.\n\nThese tensions have inevitably seeped into investigations, including the impeachments of Clinton and Trump.\n\nClaire Leavitt, an assistant professor of government at Smith College who studies congressional oversight, said that \"the number of investigations increases significantly under divided government.\" She added that \"this trend applies exclusively to the past 30 years.\"\n\nWatching the polls\n\nAs Republicans proceed with investigations of Biden, members of both parties will be keeping sharp eyes on voter opinion.\n\nA Pew Research Center survey this week said that 65% of respondents are \"more concerned that Republicans in Congress will focus too much on investigating the Biden administration, while 32% are more concerned that congressional Republicans will focus too little on this.\"\n\nAt the same time, the Republicans are being pressured by base voters. The same Pew poll said that \"56% of Republicans and Republican leaners say they are more concerned that their party’s representatives in Congress will not focus enough on investigating the administration.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/05"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/politics/house-republicans-twitter-employees-testimony/index.html", "title": "House Republicans seek testimony from Twitter employees | CNN ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nHouse Republicans say they will seek congressional testimony from top Twitter employees who oversaw the company’s handling of a New York Post report on Hunter Biden’s laptop in public hearings when Republicans officially reclaim control of the House in the next Congress, indicating that probes into digital content moderation will figure prominently.\n\nOn Tuesday, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican and likely next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to three people who reportedly played key roles in the decision to temporarily suppress the Post’s story in the weeks before the 2020 election, calling on them to speak about what Comer described as “Big Tech’s control of free discourse and information sharing.”\n\nThe letters addressed to Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former head of legal, policy and trust; Yoel Roth, its former site integrity lead; and James Baker, deputy general counsel, request the three individuals testify at a public, full committee hearing in the next Congress. CNN has reached out to all three individuals seeking comment.\n\nThe letters warn each recipient that they “have been identified as a figure central to suppressing information regarding President Biden and his family prior to an American election.”\n\nAsked about the possibility of subpoenas for the individuals, Jessica Collins, a committee spokesperson, told CNN the former and current employees were expected to cooperate.\n\n“The Committee is prepared to use any tools at its disposal to ensure their cooperation in order to provide transparency to the American people,” Collins said.\n\nComer’s letters come days after the journalist Matt Taibbi reported on internal Twitter communications that showed the three officials debating how to handle the Post story. The release of the records had been teased and amplified by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, who promised that it would reveal “what really happened” inside Twitter that day.\n\nTaibbi presented evidence that suggested the effort to suppress the Post story was coordinated. But the reported records largely affirm existing accounts of the incident. They showed how Twitter’s policy and legal employees grappled with the decision, and faced questions from the company’s communications officials about how to explain the move to the public. They also backed up public statements by Roth that Twitter feared the Post report could have been the result of a Russian “hack-and-leak” operation, consistent with general warnings by about foreign election meddling that US law enforcement had been providing to the company. Roth has also said in December 2020 sworn testimony submitted to the Federal Election Commission that in the meetings with law enforcement there was mention of “rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden.”\n\nThe communications reported by Taibbi showed Twitter employees acting cautiously by suppressing the Post article for fear of spreading what they believed could have been hacked materials, and internal debate over the best course of action. Taibbi also said he has found no evidence in the Twitter records of government involvement in the Hunter Biden story. To date, there has not been any indication the material behind the Post story was part of a Russian information operation.\n\nTaibbi has said he received the internal communications from “sources at Twitter,” and that he agreed to a number of unspecified conditions with Twitter in exchange for being able to report on the records.\n\nThen-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in separate congressional testimony, later acknowledged that the decision had been a mistake. Roth has since echoed those remarks, agreeing it was a mistake and saying the Post story “didn’t reach a place where I was comfortable removing” it from Twitter. (Taibbi reported that Dorsey was not initially aware of the decision.)", "authors": ["Brian Fung"], "publish_date": "2022/12/06"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_18", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2023/02/09/chick-fil-a-cauliflower-sandwich-new/11205023002/", "title": "We tried Chick-fil-A's new Cauliflower Sandwich. Here's how it tastes ...", "text": "Chick-fil-A's newest sandwich looks just like its original, but it sure doesn't taste like it.\n\nThe Atlanta-based restaurant chain is debuting a new Cauliflower Sandwich in three different markets on Monday.\n\nIt's the company's first plant-forward entree.\n\n\"We are committed to chicken, and chicken is the hero,\" said Leslie Neslage, director of Menu and Packaging for Chick-fil-A. \"But... it was becoming more and more prevalent that customers really want to find ways to increase vegetables in their diet.\"\n\nCustomers can already order salads and other items without chicken, but Chef Stuart Tracy, senior lead culinary developer for Chick-fil-A, told USA TODAY, \"We wanted it to be a purpose-built entree that was plant-forward.\"\n\nUSA TODAY was invited to Chick-fil-A's Test Kitchen to try out the new sandwich before it hit restaurants. Here's what customers should know:\n\nPlants v. animals:How various 'meats' stack up\n\nWhat is Chick-fil-A's new sandwich made of?\n\nThe Chick-fil-A Cauliflower Sandwich may look like a chicken sandwich – down to the same seasoned breading, two pickle slices and toasted bun – but one bite and it's clear the star of this sandwich is the cauliflower, which is fileted and marinated in a mild buffalo-style sauce, before being hand-breaded and pressure cooked to a crispy finish.\n\nWhat makes this sandwich different?\n\nUnlike KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken and Burger King's Impossible Whopper, which feature plant-based meat substitutes, this sandwich embraces the whole plant, which both Tracy and Neslage said customers in focus groups requested.\n\n\"Resoundingly over and over again, they were like 'Hey, we need it to be identifiable as a vegetable. Like I don't want to look at it and wonder what's it made of,' \" Tracy said.\n\nHe handcrafted the recipe, leaning on his background of fine and farm-to-table dining. \"We didn't know we necessarily wanted it to be similar to the chicken experience or the experience of eating a chicken sandwich, but we knew it had to taste like Chick-fil-A,\" he said.\n\nWhy cauliflower?\n\nChick-fil-A explored dozens of plant-centered concepts, including whole mushroom caps and fried green tomatoes, before honing in on cauliflower.\n\n\"This was the sandwich that customers absolutely fell in love with, and it scored head and shoulders above anything else,\" Neslage said.\n\nWhat does the Cauliflower Sandwich taste like?\n\nI don't generally like Chick-fil-A sandwiches because I personally detest chicken breast, but I ate every bite of that Cauliflower Sandwich. The flavors of the breading and marinade really came through. It didn't need extra sauce.\n\nI had been a little worried because the cauliflower is previously frozen, which can make it a little soggy, but it was perfectly pressure cooked with a nice crunch and hearty mouthfeel that didn't weigh me down.\n\n\"A lot of the development timeline was like OK, how do we get it to not be like sweaty, mushy, stinky cauliflower, but also not like raw, dry, 'I can't even swallow this' cauliflower?\" Tracy acknowledged. \"It was a fair amount of work.\"\n\nIs it vegetarian?\n\nChick-fil-A calls the Cauliflower Sandwich plant-forward, not vegetarian, even though there's no meat.\n\n\"This is made with cauliflower, pickles, bread, milk and eggs. If that works for your definition of vegetarian, awesome,\" Neslage said. \"But it is not isolated in our kitchens. We have chicken all day, every day, and that's not going away, so we want to be very candid and open and honest with our customers.\"\n\nThe company is meticulous about food safety, but there are no areas specifically reserved for vegetarian or vegan meal prep in its kitchens.\n\nGoing meatless:Restaurants saved 700K animals with plant-based offerings in one year\n\nIs it gluten-free?\n\nChick-fil-A does offer gluten-free buns, but this sandwich is not gluten-free because the cauliflower breading contains gluten.\n\nWhere can you buy it?\n\nStarting Monday, the Chick-fil-A Cauliflower Sandwich will be available in Denver, Charleston, South Carolina, and the Greensboro-Triad area of North Carolina for a limited time, while supplies last.\n\nWill it be available nationwide?\n\nThe Cauliflower Sandwich is in a testing phase. Feedback will determine whether it's rolled out nationwide.\n\n\"We really want to make sure it's the right thing for our customers, it's the right thing for operators, it works well for our team members, it makes sense for the business,\" Neslage told USA TODAY. If everything goes well and no changes are needed, she said it could be available nationally within six months to a year. \"If we have to make some tweaks and changes, it takes a little bit longer.\"\n\nHow much does it cost?\n\nPricing varies by market location, but the starting price is $6.59.\n\nA 'gift of time':A Chick-fil-A owner's change to a 3-day work week helps with employee burnout and retention\n\nHow long has this been in the works?\n\nChick-fil-A began developing the Cauliflower Sandwich in October 2018. Tracy knew he had something special right away, but it can take years before a concept is introduced to customers if it makes it that far at all.\n\nIn this particular case, the chef said, \"This is not something that was part of a product catalog that we pointed to and said, 'Yep, do that. Sprinkle some Chick-fil-A magic dust on top of it and it's ours now.' \" He explained how they had to work with suppliers to grow and slice cauliflower to specific dimensions and also perfect the preparation process so it could be easily executed by team members in every restaurant layout. \"We invented it from the ground up, pun fully intended,\" he laughed.\n\nNeslage noted it's easier to test and roll out items like seasonal beverages more quickly because the infrastructure and similar processes are already in place, but this sandwich marks a whole new category for the company.\n\nWhat was the last thing Chick-fil-A introduced?\n\nChick-fil-A is constantly exploring new menu items, but only a few make it to market.\n\nLast year, the Autumn Spice Milkshake and Cloudberry Sunjoy debuted nationally while Chorizo Cheddar Egg Bites were tested in select markets. There hasn't been a new entree introduced since the Grilled Spicy Deluxe sandwich in 2021.\n\nCustomers should note that not everything Chick-fil-A test goes national. RIP, sweet potato fries.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/09/business/chick-fil-a-my-pleasure/index.html", "title": "Why Chick-fil-A workers always say 'my pleasure' | CNN Business", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nNo one has ever confused the service at fast food joints for luxury hotels.\n\nBut two decades ago, Chick-fil-A borrowed a tactic from The Ritz-Carlton that would become a central element of its brand culture: Employees replying to customers who thank them by saying “my pleasure,” instead of “you’re welcome” or “no problem.”\n\nAlthough it’s a small gesture, the polite response fits into Chick-fil-A’s positioning as a chicken sandwich chain with hospitable service, along with putting flowers on tables and employees going outside to take customers’ drive-thru orders while they wait in their cars.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback Chick-fil-A employee a local celebrity after viral video 02:09 - Source: WWAY\n\nIt “all fits into the broader perception of Chick-fil-A as a family-run, fast-food place with better quality service than most,” said Adam Chandler, a journalist and the author of “Drive-Thru Dreams.”\n\nFounder Truett Cathy grew Chick-fil-A from a southern chicken joint into a national chain. Joe Benton/Atlanta Journal Constitution/AP\n\nThe origins of the pleasantry began in 2001, at the company’s annual seminar for franchise owners, according to Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A’s former longtime marketing chief, in his book “Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A.”\n\nChick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy told the group a story about visiting a Ritz-Carlton. Whenever Cathy thanked a hotel employee, the worker would smile and respond, “my pleasure.”\n\nAt the time, Chick-fil-A, which Cathy started in 1946 in Hapeville, Georgia, was trying to expand beyond the South and distinguish the brand nationally from fast food chains with a reputation for subpar customer service.\n\nCathy, a devout Southern Baptist who has attributed his chicken empire success in part to his Christian faith, believed using the phrase would surprise customers and stand out in the fast food industry. He once called it a “head-turner,” according to the company.\n\nSo he asked Chick-fil-A managers and staff to start saying “my pleasure” when customers thanked them, but many were initially hesitant, according to Robinson.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback Customer in cardiac arrest, Chick-fil-A manager jumps in 01:20 - Source: KGTV\n\nIt wasn’t until 2003 — when Cathy’s son Dan, who later became CEO, started saying “my pleasure” himself and pushing others to follow suit — that it became an unwritten rule at the company, as it remains today.\n\n“It dawned on me that this could be a service signature for us, almost like two pickles on a sandwich,” Dan Cathy said. Chick-fil-A leaders tapped a marketing executive to overhaul its entire service strategy, which grew to include training workers to greet customers with a smile, make eye contact and speak in an enthusiastic voice.\n\n‘My pleasure and Chick-fil-A go hand in hand’\n\nToday, “my pleasure” is a brand catchphrase and part of the popular lore around Chick-fil-A, which had 2,730 outlets and hit nearly $16 billion in sales in 2021, according to Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm. (Chick-fil-A is privately-held by the Cathy family and is now led by a grandson of Truett Cathy, who died in 2014.)\n\n“My pleasure” is printed on Chick-fil-A souvenir t-shirts and is the name of a fan podcast. Rumors often swirl on social media that you’ll get free food if you say “my pleasure” to an employee. (You won’t.)\n\nLike closing on Sundays — Truett Cathy once said “it’s a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls [on Sunday], and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed” — saying “my pleasure” is a symbol of the company’s ethos.\n\nThere's no official policy on saying \"my pleasure\" at Chick-fil-A. But it's part of the company's strategy to stand out against fast food competitors. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images\n\nThe chain’s “calling cards of being closed on Sunday and saying ‘my pleasure’ are nearly as important to the brand identity as the food,” said Adam Chandler.\n\nAlthough Chick-fil-A has been a polarizing company in the past for its opposition to same-sex marriage and support for anti-LGBTQ organizations, it has ranked atop the American Customer Satisfaction Index for limited service and fast food chains for seven years in a row.\n\nOf course, workers simply saying “my pleasure” isn’t why the company tops customer service rankings. But “my pleasure and Chick-fil-A go hand in hand,” said Emily Gilmore, a manager at a Chick-fil-A in Concord, North Carolina.\n\nIt sometimes takes new employees a while to get used to the phrase, she said, but it eventually becomes second nature — even when they’re not on the job.\n\n“I say it at home too. It drives my husband absolutely crazy,” Gilmore said. “He says ‘Can’t you just say, you’re welcome?’ And I’m like ‘No. I can’t.’ It just comes naturally to me now.”\n\nCorrection: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey.", "authors": ["Nathaniel Meyersohn"], "publish_date": "2022/04/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2019/08/26/kfc-beyond-fried-chicken-chicken-chain-testing-plant-based-chicken/2096539001/", "title": "KFC Beyond Fried Chicken: Chain already out of plant-based chicken", "text": "UPDATE: KFC's Beyond Fried Chicken sold out in less than five hours Tuesday at the one Atlanta area location it was being tested at, KFC said in a statement. The company says it will \"evaluate these results and customer feedback to determine the best way forward beyond the Atlanta test – potentially a larger test and/or national rollout.\"\n\nAmid the Chicken Sandwich Wars of 2019, the granddaddy of fried chicken is looking beyond.\n\nKFC announced Monday it becomes the first national fast-food chain to introduce a plant-based chicken in partnership with El Segundo, California-based Beyond Meat.\n\nBut don't run to your closest KFC yet.\n\nThe chicken chain is testing the new Beyond Fried Chicken at one of its Atlanta restaurants, located at 2637 Cobb Parkway SE in Smyrna, Georgia starting Tuesday. The meat alternative is available in nuggets or boneless wings tossed in one of three sauce options: Nashville Hot, Buffalo or Honey BBQ.\n\nBased on feedback from the Atlanta test, KFC said in a statement \"a broader test or potential national rollout\" will be considered.\n\nAlmost all gone!:Popeyes says it'll be out of popular chicken sandwich by end of week\n\nChicken Sandwich War:Popeyes, Chick-fil-A and Wendy's are clucking over who has the best sandwich\n\n“KFC Beyond Fried Chicken is so delicious, our customers will find it difficult to tell that it’s plant-based,” said Kevin Hochman, KFC U.S. president and chief concept officer, in a statement. \"I think we’ve all heard ‘it tastes like chicken’ – well our customers are going to be amazed and say, ‘it tastes like Kentucky Fried Chicken!’”\n\nBeyond Meat CEO and founder Ethan Brown said his only regret is not being able to see Col. Sanders himself “enjoy this important moment.”\n\n“KFC is an iconic part of American culture and a brand that I, like so many consumers, grew up with,” Brown said in a statement. “To be able to bring Beyond Fried Chicken, in all of its KFC-inspired deliciousness to market, speaks to our collective ability to meet the consumer where they are and accompany them on their journey.”\n\nThe demand for plant-based products has been growing as more people want to reduce meat consumption due to health concerns.\n\nBurger King's Impossible Whopper, which is a plant-based patty developed by food startup Impossible Foods, is available nationwide for a limited time. In April, it was piloted in St. Louis area, and in less than a month, the test was expanded to more markets ahead of the national release in August.\n\nStarting in September and for a limited time, select Subway locations will have the Beyond Meatball Marinara sub as part of a new partnership with Beyond Meat.\n\nFree samples in Atlanta area\n\nTo kick off the one-restaurant test in Smyrna, Georgia, KFC will be giving out free Beyond Fried Chicken samples with purchase of any KFC menu item from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27, while supplies last.\n\nFollow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/08/26"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/25/health/pfas-chemicals-fast-food-groceries-wellness/index.html", "title": "Food packaging contains dangerous chemicals, report says | CNN", "text": "CNN —\n\nAlarming levels of dangerous chemicals known as PFAS were discovered in food packaging at a number of well-known fast-food and fast-casual restaurants and grocery store chains, a new report found.\n\nThe highest levels of indicators for PFAS were found in food packaging from Nathan’s Famous, Cava, Arby’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Stop & Shop and Sweetgreen, according to an investigation released Thursday by Consumer Reports.\n\nOften called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment, PFAS are used in food packaging to prevent grease and water from soaking through food wrappers and beverage cups. PFAS can also be found in the ink used to print logos and instructions on food containers.\n\nThe new report comes more than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public has relied heavily on takeout and grocery deliveries.\n\nThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) a “public health concern,” citing studies that found the human-made chemicals can harm the immune system and reduce a person’s resistance to infectious diseases.\n\n“There is evidence from human and animal studies that PFAS exposure may reduce antibody responses to vaccines,” stated the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “More research is needed to understand how PFAS exposure may affect illness from COVID-19.”\n\nMore than 100 food products tested\n\nThe Consumer Reports investigation collected 118 food packaging products sold by 24 companies in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It tested those products for organic fluorine – a marker for PFAS. Researchers then sent samples of products with the highest levels to an independent laboratory that could perform more specific tests, said Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist for advocacy at Consumer Reports.\n\nRegulatory limits for how much PFAS food packaging should contain can vary greatly. In the US, there are no federal limits, leaving action up to the states. Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington have passed bills banning intentional use of PFAS in food packaging, but haven’t yet specified a limit, according to Consumer Reports. In January 2023, a new law in California will set the limit at less than 100 ppm (parts per million).\n\nHowever, Denmark set a much lower regulatory limit of 20 ppm with great success, said Xenia Trier, a chemicals, environment and human health expert at the European Environment Agency.\n\n“In Denmark we’ve seen both a decrease in noncompliance by industry from 60% to about 30% and a decrease in levels of PFAS in packaging products over the past 10 years,” Trier told CNN. “It does work to set limits and enforce them. It is possible to find alternative solutions and if one manufacturer can make packaging without PFAS, then it should be possible for everybody to do it.”\n\nThe Consumer Reports investigation found the highest indicators for PFAS – 876 ppm and 618 ppm – in two types of bags for sides at Nathan’s Famous restaurants.\n\nHigh indicators of PFAS (in the 500s) were also found in a Chick-fil-A sandwich wrapper and in fiber bowls at Cava, a Mediterranean restaurant chain.\n\nIndicator levels in the 300s and 400s were found in a bag of cookies at Arby’s, bamboo paper plates at Stop & Shop, and in a bag for both cookies and French toast sticks at Burger King.\n\nLevels of PFAS indicators in the 200s were found in a Sweetgreen paper bag for focaccia, additional items at Cava, and in bags for french fries, cookies and Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s.\n\nHowever, all of the companies listed had additional food packaging that tested at levels below 200 ppm. Four companies – Arby’s, Nathan’s Famous, McDonald’s and Stop & Shop – also sold food in packaging that had no detectable levels of PFAS, the report said.\n\nThe Consumer Reports investigation did not test packaging from every food product sold at each company.\n\n“I would not urge consumers to take these brand names and only go to this one or that one, as this investigation only looked at just over 100 products,” said Graham Peaslee, a professor of physics, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.\n\n“However, this will hold industry’s toes to the fire, so in that sense, I think it’s a valuable report,” he added. “Measuring and saying PFAS is there and it’s dangerous gets people’s attention, and companies tend to avoid attention like that.”\n\nHealth impact of PFAS\n\nPFAS chemicals are in many products: nonstick cookware, infection-resistant surgical gowns and drapes, cell phones, semiconductors, commercial aircraft and low-emission vehicles. The chemicals also are used to make carpeting, clothing, and furniture resistant to stains, water and grease damage.\n\nIn use since the 1950s, PFAS are chemicals most Americans have “in their blood,” especially perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),” according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is charged with protecting the public from hazardous substances.\n\nIn the Consumer Reports investigation, the most common chemical found in the food packaging that was tested was PFOA, with PFOS coming in fifth, according to the report.\n\nIn addition to impacts on the immune system, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said studies in humans and lab animals have found links between certain PFAS chemicals and an increase in cholesterol levels, alterations in liver enzymes, a higher risk of developing kidney or testicular cancer, small reductions in infant birth weights and an additional risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women.\n\n“PFAS have also caused birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths in lab animals,” the agency stated, while adding “not all effects observed in animals may occur in humans.”\n\nAs environmental groups and the public began to take notice of the health impacts of the chemicals, manufacturers started to voluntarily phase out the use of PFOS and PFOA in the US. Between 1999 and 2014, blood levels of PFOS in Americans had declined by more than 80% and blood levels of PFOA had declined by more than 60%, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry stated.\n\nHowever, “as PFOS and PFOA are phased out and replaced, people may be exposed to other PFAS,” the agency continued. Newer versions of PFAS in food packaging appear to be absorbed by food more readily than the older versions, according to a 2016 study.\n\nStudies in Denmark have shown that PFAS do “migrate from the paper into the food,” Trier said. “Even though it was not 100%, we still saw substantial transmission. In general, transmission from packaging to food is increased as the temperature of the food rises and the time spent in wrapping materials increases.”\n\nIndustry response\n\nThe Consumer Reports investigation mirrored results of reports in 2018 and 2020 by Toxic-Free Future and Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. Those reports found “harmful” levels of PFAS in fast-food packaging and in nearly two-thirds of takeout containers made of paper, like those used at self-serve salad buffets and hot bars.\n\nIn response to the 2018 report, Whole Foods became the first grocery chain in North America to publicly commit to remove PFAS from takeout containers and deli and bakery paper. Other companies have followed suit, including Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Amazon.com, Cava, Chipotle, Freshii, McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Sweetgreen, Trader Joe’s and Wendy’s, according to Toxic-Free Future.\n\nIn the new investigation, Consumer Reports tested 13 food packaging products from retailers that had previously committed to phasing out PFAS. Seven of the 13 had levels of PFAS above 20 ppm, the report said.\n\nBurger King, which had high levels of PFAS in three of six products tested, had not made a public commitment to phase out PFAS, according to Consumer Reports. Early Thursday, parent company Restaurant Brands International announced it will globally phase out any “added” PFAS from “guest-facing packaging materials” at the Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes brands “by the end of 2025 or sooner.”\n\nNathan’s Famous, which Consumer Reports said also has not made a public commitment to reducing PFAS, told CNN the company had begun phasing out the bags. “One of our goals in this complete package redesign is to reduce PFAS,” said Phil McCann, vice president of marketing at Nathan’s Famous. “Full transition will be complete by December 2022.”\n\nChick-fil-A told CNN it had been on a four-year journey to phase out PFAS: “Chick-fil-A has eliminated intentionally added PFAS from all newly produced packaging going forward in our supply chain. While some legacy packaging may still be in restaurants, it is expected to be phased out by the end of this summer,” the company tweeted Wednesday.\n\nCava, which had previously pledged to reduce PFAS but had five out of six products with indicators between 200 ppm and 548 ppm, told CNN that “due to a multitude of factors related to the pandemic, and especially global supply chain shortages, the transition to eliminating added PFAS, which began in August of 2021, is taking longer than planned. Our teams are working with our suppliers to complete the transition within the year.”\n\nA McDonald’s spokesperson said less than 7.5% of the company’s global food packaging contained added PFAS at the end of 2020 and said the company was continuing its search for alternative materials that offered proper grease-resistant barriers, with a goal of reducing deliberately added PFAS by the end of 2025.\n\nSweetgreen told CNN the company was “proud to share that we are currently in the process of rolling out new PFAS-free focaccia bags that will be available in all Sweetgreen locations by the end of Q2.”\n\nJennifer Brogan, director of external communications and community relations for Stop & Shop, told CNN the company could “confirm that these Nature’s Promise brand plates have been removed from all store locations.”\n\nA spokesperson from Arby’s told CNN in an email that the company has “minimal packaging materials containing PFAs and is on track to have PFAs removed from all packaging products by the end of 2022.”\n\nActions the public can take\n\nExperts say people who want to avoid PFAS in their takeout and food delivery packaging should favor companies that have pledged to remove the chemicals.\n\nTake food out of the container as soon as you receive it, and never reheat food in its original container. Instead, remove your food and heat it in ceramic or glass containers, Trier said.\n\nThe Consumer Reports investigation found some of the highest levels of PFAS were in paper bags (192.2 ppm) and molded fiber bowls and trays (156.8 ppm). Paper plates tested at 149 ppm, and food wrappers and liners came in at 59.2 ppm.\n\nDon’t be fooled by “environmentally friendly” claims – they don’t guarantee a product is PFAS-free. When Consumer Reports tested those products, some had levels of PFAS above 100 ppm, and most had some detectable levels, the report said.\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nExperts also suggest reducing the frequency of takeout meals to once a week or less, and recommend that people instead make food at home.\n\nYou can also reach out to your congressional representative and senators and support the bipartisan bill Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act, experts said. Designed to ban the use of any PFAS as a food contact substance, the bill was introduced into both chambers in November.", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/03/25"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2019/08/27/popeyes-chicken-sandwich-sold-out-but-company-says-its-coming-back/2134344001/", "title": "Popeyes chicken sandwich sold out, but company says it's coming ...", "text": "If you haven't had a chance to try Popeyes' new chicken sandwich, you'll likely have to wait.\n\nWhile there have been some reports of locations across the country selling out of the popular sandwich, now Popeyes says it expects to sell out nationwide by the end of the week.\n\n\"The demand for the new Chicken Sandwich in the first few weeks following launch far exceeded our very optimistic expectations,\" the chicken chain said in a statement sent to USA TODAY on Tuesday. \"In fact, Popeyes aggressively forecasted demand through the end of September and has already sold through that inventory.\"\n\nIn a tweet Tuesday, Popeyes wrote \"Y’all. We love that you love The Sandwich. Unfortunately we’re sold out (for now).\"\n\nAmerica's best chicken sandwich:Is the winner of our poll, Popeyes or Chick-fil-A?\n\nChicken Sandwich War of 2019:Popeyes, Chick-fil-A and Wendy's are clucking on social media\n\nPopeyes said it is working with its suppliers to bring the sandwich back as soon as possible.\n\n\"How does a chicken restaurant run out of chicken? I’m taking my money & talent back to Chick-Fil-A,\" Twitter user @yoyotrav wrote in response to Popeyes' tweet. \"They would never.\"\n\nSoon after Popeyes started selling the sandwich on Aug. 12, the battle lines were drawn over which chicken chain has the better chicken sandwich.\n\nAccording to USA TODAY's unscientific Chicken Sandwich Bracket Twitter poll, 54% of the 5,062 votes cast were for Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A and 46% for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.\n\nPopeyes offered a way to find out when the sandwich will be available again.\n\n\"To be among the first to know when the Chicken Sandwich is available, download the Popeyes app in the App Store or Google Play and sign up for push notifications,\" Popeyes said in its statement.\n\nNot all consumers were convinced downloading the app was a good idea.\n\n\"Don't download this app \"y'all\" they may run out of downloads too,\" Twitter user @BloopJustSayin wrote.\n\nKFC Beyond Fried Chicken sells out\n\nIt isn't just fried chicken that's selling out. Plant-based chicken is too.\n\nOn Tuesday, KFC introduced Beyond Fried Chicken as a limited test in partnership with El Segundo, California-based Beyond Meat at one Atlanta area location.\n\nIt sold out in less than five hours, KFC said in a statement.\n\n\"Lines were consistently wrapped around the restaurant starting at 8 a.m., with double-looped drive-thru lines,\" KFC said in the statement. \"The test was so successful, guests purchased in five hours the amount of Beyond Fried Chicken KFC would normally on average sell of popcorn chicken in a week.\"\n\nKFC says it will \"evaluate these results and customer feedback to determine the best way forward beyond the Atlanta test – potentially a larger test and/or national rollout.\"\n\nFollow Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/08/27"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/04/14/chickfila-michigan-expansion-locations/83041734/", "title": "Chick-fil-A wants to add 20 Michigan restaurants", "text": "Frank Witsil\n\nDetroit Free Press\n\nMichiganders have long waited for Chick-fil-A — the Southern restaurant chain known for its boneless chicken breast sandwiches served with a pickle slice and waffle fries, and its cute ads featuring cows holding misspelled signs that say \"Eat Mor Chikin\" — to open more restaurants in the state.\n\nThe next two restaurants, the company said today, will be at the Somerset Collection in Troy, which is in keeping with the long-held strategy of putting stores in suburban malls, and in Lansing, where it the chain is building a stand-alone operation.\n\nThe Atlanta-based company— which has two eateries in Michigan now — said both stores are expected to open in the fall, and the company expects to add as many as 20 more restaurants throughout the state within the next five years.\n\nChick-fil-A moving forward in Meridian, Delta\n\nOn Tuesday, the company plans to hold a ceremonious ground-breaking ceremony at 5617 W. Saginaw Highway in Lansing. There, a 4,971-square-foot restaurant will offer dining room seating, a patio and drive-through lanes.\n\nIn addition to more restaurants in Lansing and metro Detroit, the company said it is seeking to open in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, and aims to open three or four restaurants in Michigan a year.\n\nFounded by S. Truett Cathy in 1946, the first restaurant was known as the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Ga., an Atlanta suburb. Fifteen years later, Cathy started frying chicken breasts and began serving the chicken on buns.\n\nThe chicken sandwiches — which the company takes credit for inventing -- were popular, and Cathy opened more restaurants under the name Chick-fil-A, which highlighted the new signature menu item.\n\nThroughout the '70s and '80s, the company opened franchises, mostly in the food courts of suburban malls. The privately-held chain, with more than $6 billion in revenues, now has more than 2,000 restaurants nationwide, including small eateries on the Oakland University campus in Rochester, and at the Detroit Metro Airport.\n\nThe chain's operations are influenced by Cathy's Baptist beliefs, which have, over the years, evoked passionate responses among people who tend to love — or hate — the chain. The company says it applies \"biblically-based principles\" to managing the business, such as closing on Sundays and Christmas, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of profits back to the communities where it has restaurants.\n\nBut one of the convictions brought the company under fire. In 2012, gay rights activists and others called for protests and boycotts over comments made by Cathy's son, company executive Dan Cathy, on same-sex marriage and foundation donations to groups opposed to it.\n\nThe company responded by releasing a statement that said it had a tradition of treating \"every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,\" and \"going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2016/04/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/06/25/wendys-spicy-chicken-nuggets-back-thanks-chance-rapper/1561083001/", "title": "Get free Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets, thanks to Chance the Rapper", "text": "Wendy’s spicy chicken nugget fans, the stars have aligned – and you can thank Chance the Rapper.\n\nSpicy chicken nuggets return to the Wendy’s menu Monday Aug. 12 after fans offered up 2 million likes and over 410,000 retweets to bring back the iconic menu item after a two-year absence.\n\nThe fast-food chain announced in a news release that it is giving away 2 million free Spicy Nuggets through DoorDash to “commemorate the 2 million fans who helped bring them back.”\n\nThrough Aug. 19 while supplies last, place a Wendy’s order through DoorDash and get a free six-count Spicy Chicken Nugget when you add an order to their cart and use code SPICYNUGGS at checkout. No purchase is necessary, but fees, taxes and gratuity still apply, according to the fine print.\n\nPrefer your chicken in a bun?:Popeyes is launching a new fried chicken sandwich nationwide Aug. 12\n\nChick-fil-a Mac & Cheese:Chicken chain adds macaroni and cheese to restaurants nationwide\n\nOriginally, the nationwide nugget return was scheduled for Aug. 19, but the fast food chain rescheduled via Twitter on Thursday, tweeting \"Hey Wendy's, any chance we can get them sooner?\" before replying \"Ok! Spicy Chicken Nuggets will now be back in all restaurants THIS MONDAY! Get ready.\"\n\nIt all started over three months ago when Chance the Rapper tweeted on May 4 “Positive Affirmations for today: I Will have a good day, I Will succeed today, Wendy’s WILL bring back spicy nuggets at some point please please Lord let it be today.”\n\nWendy’s retweeted Chance just three hours later, promising that “the people in charge” would return the nuggets if the tweet could reach 2 million likes.\n\nIn less than 48 hours, the spicy chicken dish’s fate was sealed.\n\nWendy’s Twitter account teased the return June 24 with a discreet “Let’s hang” and an attached link to a Google calendar invite for the original Aug. 19 date that read:\n\n“Hey, just wanted to send a lunch invite out to everyone. Was looking at the calendar and this seemed like it was probably the best date. Figured it would be a good chance for a couple million of us to get together. Just thought we’d throw a little nugget out there and see who wanted to hang. You’re gonna want to keep this on the schedule. :)”\n\nLater that day, Wendy’s tweeted a photo of spicy chicken nuggets aligning in a shape similar to the Big Dipper constellation.\n\nMaybe a meatless burger, instead:Burger King's plant-based Impossible Whopper available nationwide for a limited time\n\nFollow Rebekah Tuchscherer on Twitter: @r2sure", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/06/25"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2021/02/23/restaurants-recently-opened-south-jersey/4394662001/", "title": "South Jersey restaurants: 15 new places to dine from vegan to soul ...", "text": "Who doesn’t love dessert?\n\nBakeries seem to be among the most popular businesses to open these days, at least in South Jersey.\n\nMaybe it’s because we’re still in a pandemic and people like to have dessert to look forward to. Cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, never seem to get old, do they?", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/02/23"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/10/us/us-border-entry-food-rules-cec/index.html", "title": "If you're planning to travel to the US with food items, read this | CNN", "text": "CNN —\n\nUnited States border officials have a message for travelers who bring food items from overseas: Violations will cost you.\n\nLast month, a passenger traveling from Indonesia to Darwin Airport in Australia’s Northern Territory was fined $1,874 after two egg and beef sausage McMuffins – along with a ham croissant – were found in their luggage. (Australian authorities had imposed tough new biosecurity measures on all arrivals after a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Indonesian livestock.)\n\nIn a separate incident a few days earlier, an Australian woman was fined $1,844 after she forgot to declare a leftover Subway sandwich she bought in Singapore.\n\nIn the past year alone, US border officials have fined passengers for bringing a wide range of undeclared food items in their luggage, including balut eggs, pork bologna and turkey ham. Border officials conducted “630,150 positive passenger inspections” in 2021, according to statistics for the fiscal year released by US Customs and Border Protection, and issued thousands of penalties and violations to travelers who failed to declare prohibited agriculture items.\n\nCBP officials at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston discovered balut eggs in a passenger's luggage on March 6. Balut eggs contain a duck embryo, and are boiled and eaten from the shell. US Customs and Border Protection\n\nFailure to declare food products at US air, sea and land border entry points can lead to fines and penalties of up to $10,000, according to the CBP.\n\nHere’s what you need to know before bringing food products into the US.\n\nWhy are some foods not allowed?\n\nTravelers bringing food products into the US can inadvertently introduce foreign pests and food-borne diseases into the country, which can have a devastating effect on agriculture and the environment. And a pest or disease outbreak could impact more than just farmers. It also means higher grocery bills and shortage of some food items for consumers.\n\nLast year, border officials discovered 264 pests at US ports of entry, a slightly higher number than the 250 found the prior year. Pests intercepted last year include a Saunders 1850 butterfly larvae found in pineapples from Costa Rica. The larvae feeds on plants and legumes, and is considered an invasive pest mainly found in Amazonian tropical rainforest. Introducing it in the US ecosystem could be detrimental to the agriculture industry, the CBP said.\n\n“We work closely with the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Health Inspection Services to prevent the introduction of plant pests and foreign animal diseases,” a CBP spokesperson told CNN.\n\nWhat food products are not allowed into the country?\n\nMost meat, poultry, milk and egg products are either banned or restricted in the US – with rules depending on the country of origin and what livestock diseases are prevalent in the region.\n\nThe United States Department of Agriculture prohibits animal and bird products from countries with reported cases of livestock diseases such as mad cow, foot-and-mouth, avian flu and swine fever. The USDA provides a link where travelers can check common animal diseases in specific countries.\n\nSometimes, there are gray areas. Pork products from Mexico are banned, for example, but a small amount for personal use – like a ham sandwich – may be allowed at land borders if the meat is thoroughly cooked.\n\nWhat food products can you bring?\n\nA long list of food items are allowed into the US, including condiments, cooking oils, bread, cookies, crackers, cakes, cereal, packed tea and other baked and processed products. The CBP provides a list of allowed items on its website.\n\nJarvis, a beagle, works in the baggage claim area at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. He's part of the Beagle Brigade, which works with border officials to sniff out banned food items in luggage. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images\n\nBut there’s a catch: If a traveler brings over 50 pounds of an item, it’s considered a commercial shipment and must undergo additional measures, including extra safety inspections. And every agricultural food item has to be declared on US Customs forms, so inspectors can examine them and ensure they do not carry harmful foreign pests or diseases.\n\n“The declaration must cover all items carried in checked baggage, carry-on luggage or in a vehicle,” the CBP’s website notes.\n\nCan you bring in fruits or vegetables?\n\nThe short answer is no.\n\nNearly all fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables are prohibited from entering the US due to risks of pests and diseases – some of which can survive in frigid temperatures, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Even the fruits and vegetable snacks provided on an airplane or cruise ship should be left behind, says Lucero Hernandez of the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.\n\nTravelers crossing a land border into the United States from Canada can bring some fresh fruits and vegetables – as long as they were grown in Canada. But they need proof that the produce is free of soil, pests, and diseases, and that it was grown in Canada, not just sold there, the USDA says.\n\nAnd in all cases, travelers coming to the US should save receipts and original packaging to prove food products’ country of origin, according to the CBP.\n\nWhat happens if you bring forbidden items?\n\nTravelers who declare agricultural products in their luggage don’t face penalties – even if an inspector concludes the items are not eligible to enter the country, the USDA says. In such cases, the food is destroyed.\n\n“An apple or snack that can mistakenly be brought won’t always make a significant incident,” the CBP spokesperson explained of an unintentional failure to declare a food item. “However, attempting to bring in prohibited items would lead to traveler delays and may result in a fine.”\n\n“Failure to declare a prohibited food item may result in the issuance of a civil penalty,” the spokesperson added.", "authors": ["Faith Karimi"], "publish_date": "2022/08/10"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/business-food/taco-bell-wings-fast-food-limited-time-items/index.html", "title": "Why Taco Bell will stop selling its wings | CNN Business", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nFans of Taco Bell’s chicken wings have just a few hours left to get them before they disappear from menus.\n\nLast Thursday, the chain rolled out the surprising new item for a seven-day stint that sparked excitement and got its hungry customers salivating. The $5.99 price gets you five bone-in wings that are coated in a queso seasoning and served with a spicy ranch dipping sauce.\n\nTaco Bell wings are only being sold for a week. Taco Bell\n\nLike many fast food promotions, the wings were always intended to be a limited time offer. The industry’s chains constantly tweak their menus with niche and oddball products that drum up excitement and social media attention. These specialty offerings are a way to cut through the noise.\n\nMcDonald’s (MCD) is the biggest proponent of the practice, with the McRib being sold in the fall, Filet-O-Fish and Shamrock Shakes appearing on menus in February and its McFlurry lineup constantly getting refreshed. And Starbucks (SBUX) has created a nationwide phenomenon with the annual release of its red-colored cups and complimentary seasonal menu during the holidays.\n\nLimited-time items are an important marketing tool for the food industry to draw in foot traffic and interest, according to Alexander Chernev, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.\n\n“When you have these exclusive products, which exist for a short period of time, it gives people a reason to come to the store,” Chernev previously told CNN Business.\n\nThese items offer consumers some variety — key for fast food, as it’s a notoriously thin-margin business with little customer loyalty. Offering something new gives people a reason to come back.\n\n“You need consistency because that’s the brand mantra,” said Chernev. “But no matter how much you like something, consuming something different increases the enjoyment of what you consumed before.”\n\nThere is a basic tenet of supply-and-demand economics behind limited-time releases, too: Scarcity can build hype. “It’s a way to create excitement for the menu,” R.J. Hottovy, a former consumer strategist for Morningstar, previously told CNN Business.\n\nAlso, the limited-time items can help chains experiment with a new food before launching it nationwide. Chipotle (CMG) commonly does that with a practice it calls a “stage-gate process.”\n\nThat’s what Chipotle did with its smoked brisket meat before taking it nationwide last September, a process it has also used for plant-based chorizo, riced cauliflower, carne asada and its popular quesadilla.\n\n-— CNN Business’ Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.\n\n-— An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed an item in a list of food the company was offering nationwide last year.", "authors": ["Jordan Valinsky"], "publish_date": "2022/01/12"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_19", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/02/08/suns-acquiring-kevin-durant-blockbuster-trade-nets/11218042002/", "title": "Brooklyn Nets trading superstar Kevin Durant to Phoenix Suns for ...", "text": "New Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia wasted no time shaking up the franchise.\n\nThe Suns are acquiring NBA superstar Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets, a person with knowledge of the deal told USA TODAY Sports.\n\nThe person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly until the deal is official.\n\nThe deal will send Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks to the Nets, in addition to a pick swap in 2028. The Suns will be getting Durant – a 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP – and forward T.J. Warren.\n\nThe Durant trade comes in the wake of the Nets trading Kyrie Irving, who signed along with Durant, 34, in Brooklyn in 2019. Moving Durant marks a hard reset for Brooklyn, which is now set to receive Phoenix's first-round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nNBA TRADE DEADLINE TRACKER:Former MVP Kevin Durant moved to Suns in blockbuster\n\nSTAY UP-TO-DATE: Subscribe to our Sports newsletter now!\n\nDurant requested a trade before the season, but Nets general manager Sean Marks was unable to find a deal that yielded the draft picks Brooklyn sought – especially after Utah received four future first-round picks and 2022 first-round pick Walker Kessler from Minnesota in the Rudy Gobert trade in July.\n\nOnce the Nets dealt Irving to Dallas after his trade request late last week, the Nets re-evaluated the direction they wanted to take and decided to reset and trade Durant.\n\nDurant sustained an isolated MCL sprain of the right knee against Miami on Jan. 8 and has not played since. He was hoping to return for the All-Star Game but that will not happen. The Nets had not released a timetable for his return prior to trading him.\n\nNBA trade deadline tracker:All the big move ahead of Thursday's deadline\n\nIs Kyrie Irving worth it?:Mavericks will soon find out | Opinion\n\nSign up for our newsletter!:All the sports news you need to know delivered right to you!\n\nDurant was in the middle of a stellar season before the injury, averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists and was shooting 55.9% from the field, 37.6% on 3-pointers and a league-best 93.4% on free throws.\n\nThe Nets acquired Durant, Irving and James Harden and hired Steve Nash in 2020 as coach. The three players are gone, and Brooklyn fired Nash earlier this season. The Nets never reached the conference finals and are stuck with Ben Simmons’ contract that has two years and $77 million remaining on it.\n\nFor the Suns, who just officially introduced Ishbia earlier Wednesday, trading for Durant is an all-in move for a team seeking its first NBA title.\n\nPhoenix reached the NBA Finals in 2021 and posted the best record in the NBA last season but has scuffled along this year (30-26) with star guard Devin Booker missing extensive time due to injuries.\n\nWhile the Suns are 8½ games behind first-place Denver, this deal elevates them to title contenders if Booker, Durant and Chris Paul are healthy.\n\nDurant, the 2013-14 NBA MVP, has three more years left on his contract after this season – $46.4 million in 2023-24, $49.8 million in 2024-25 and $53.2 million in 2025-26.\n\nESPN first reported news of the deal.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2023/02/06/nba-trade-deadline-tracker-2023-kyrie-irving/11192581002/", "title": "NBA trade deadline tracker: Former MVP Kevin Durant moved to ...", "text": "Star guard Kyrie Irving threw the NBA trade deadline into chaos on Friday with his request to be moved from the Brooklyn Nets to another team before Thursday’s deadline.\n\nThe Nets didn't wait long to trade the sought-after All-Star. The Mavs reached a deal to acquire Irving, who has three Finals appearances, a championship, eight All-Star appearances and is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds this season.\n\nThat won't be the only major deal. There is plenty of attention on Phoenix, Toronto, Memphis, New Orleans, Miami, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah.\n\nWill the Jazz continue selling to accelerate their rebuild? Do the Raptors get a haul of first-round picks in return for OG Anunoby? Can the Lakers salvage their season amid LeBron James' pursuit of the NBA's all-time scoring record?\n\nSome teams are buyers, some are sellers and some are trying to figure out what they want to be.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nWith so many teams bunched close enough in the Eastern and Western conference standings and a belief that no one contender is considerably better than another, deals will be made.\n\nLet’s take a look at the trades that have happened this season. USA TODAY Sports will keep you updated as deals happen this week:\n\nNets trade Kevin Durant to Suns\n\nThe Phoenix Suns are acquiring NBA superstar Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets, a person with knowledge of the deal told USA TODAY Sports.\n\nThe person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly until the deal is official.\n\nThe deal will send Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks to the Nets, in addition to a pick swap in 2028. The Suns will getting Durant – a 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP – and forward T.J. Warren.\n\nSpurs trade Jakob Poeltl back to Raptors\n\nFeb. 8: The Toronto Raptors have reached a deal to acquire San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl for Khem Birch, a protected 2024 first-round draft pick and two second-round picks, according to ESPN. The Raptors drafted Poeltl, 27, with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and he played two seasons with the Raptors before he was traded to the Spurs as part of the deal that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.\n\nKnicks trade Cam Reddish for Josh Hart\n\nFeb. 8: The New York Knicks are trading for shooting guard Josh Hart. In exchange the Knicks are sending small forward Cam Reddish and a protected future first-round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN.\n\nLakers trade Russell Westbrook, acquire D'Angelo Russell\n\nFeb. 8: In a three-team trade, the Los Angeles Lakers reached a deal to trade guard Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz and acquire guard D’Angelo Russell from Minnesota in a deal that also includes Utah sending guard Mike Conley to the Timberwolves. The Lakers will also get Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt from Utah. Minnesota also will receive Nickeil Alexander-Walker and picks, and the Jazz will get Juan Toscano-Anderson and a first-round draft pick from the Lakers.\n\nKings trade for Kessler Edwards\n\nFeb. 7: The Brooklyn Nets acquired the draft rights to David Michineau (39th pick in the 2016 draft) from the Sacramento Kings for forward Kessler Edwards and cash considerations.\n\nSpurs acquire Dewayne Dedmon from Heat\n\nFeb. 7: The Miami Heat traded center Dewayne Dedmon and a 2028 second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for cash considerations. This deal gives the Heat additional room under the luxury and two open roster spots if they want to make another deal before the deadline.\n\nKyrie Irving to the Mavericks\n\nFeb. 5: Kyrie Irving got his wish. Two days after asking for a trade from Brooklyn, the Nets sent him and Markieff Morris to Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and 2027 and 2029 second-round picks.\n\nRui Hachimura to the Lakers\n\nJan. 23: The Washington Wizards traded Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and two second-round draft picks.\n\nNoah Vonleh to the Spurs\n\nJan. 5: The Boston Celtics traded Noah Vonleh and cash considerations to the San Antonio Spurs for a second-round pick.\n\nFollow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/06"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2023/02/09/kevin-durant-trade-mat-ishbia-phoenix-suns-brooklyn-nets/69888141007/", "title": "Phoenix Suns get Kevin Durant in mega trade with Brooklyn Nets", "text": "ATLANTA — Mat Ishbia has made an emphatic statement in his first official 48 hours as Phoenix Suns new majority owner.\n\nPhoenix has pulled off a colossal blockbuster deal before Thursday's 1 p.m. trade deadline by acquiring two-time finals MVP Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, in a deal that involves Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, sources confirm to The Arizona Republic.\n\nIshbia had his introductory news conference Wednesday morning in Phoenix after receiving final transaction approval Tuesday from the NBA for his record $4-billion purchase of the Phoenix Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.\n\nIshbia, the 43-year-old billionaire United Wholesale Mortgage CEO and former Michigan State basketball player, said Wednesday the Suns already had a championship roster without any changes, but Ishbia has just made a ginormous one to make them one of the clear favorites to win it all this season.\n\nMore:'The elite NBA franchise': New team owner Mat Ishbia's vision for Phoenix Suns\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nMore:Kevin Durant trade grades: Phoenix Suns receive rave reviews for deal with Brooklyn Nets\n\n“My belief system is about how do we focus on winning?” Ishbia said. “Can we improve our chances of winning a championship? Can we do things to make sure of that, but I’m not just a short-term thinker. I’m also a long-term thinker.”\n\nThe Suns are trading four first-round picks, a pick swap, Jae Crowder, Bridges and Johnson for Durant and T.J. Warren. The Nets are getting unprotected picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029.\n\nESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski later tweeted the Nets will look to trade Crowder before the deadline. Crowder has yet to play a game this season with the Suns (30-26) as the two sides “mutually agreed” he wouldn’t attend training camp.\n\nBy trading Johnson and Bridges to Brooklyn, Phoenix won’t have to face them again unless the two teams meet in the finals. The Suns and Nets finished their home-away series Tuesday as Phoenix won, 116-112, in Brooklyn to complete the regular-season sweep.\n\nDurant currently is out with a sprained right MCL and isn’t expected to return to action until after the All-Star break. While Bridges has elevated his game to another level in recent weeks and Johnson spaces the floor with his shooting, getting the 6-10 Durant makes the Suns a serious championship contender.\n\nThe Suns’ potential starting lineup could be Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Torrey Craig, Deandre Ayton and Durant. Phoenix has won nine of its last 11 games and plays at Atlanta (27-28) Thursday.\n\nWarren started his career in Phoenix as a first-round draft pick in 2014 and played five seasons with the Suns. He scored 17 points against the Suns in Tuesday’s loss in Brooklyn. Averaging a career-low 9.5 points in just 26 games this season with Brooklyn, the 6-8 forward is on a one-year deal as he missed all of last season with a foot injury.\n\nMore:Mat Ishbia learns quickly that owning an NBA team is much different than selling mortgages\n\nDurant, 34, wanted out of Brooklyn last summer and he put Phoenix atop his wish list, but the Nets and Suns were unable to get a deal done. Suns general manager James Jones told The Arizona Republic last summer the two teams didn’t really have “much in-depth discussion” about making something happen.\n\n“'Cause Brooklyn wanted to keep Kevin Durant in Brooklyn,\" Jones said last summer. \"And that’s why he’s in Brooklyn and not on some other team, but as far as with us, I get it. It’s always a great topic of discussion, but the one thing people forget is that when you’re talking about trades, or any player acquisition, the team that has the player has to be willing to move the player.”\n\nHowever, when Kyrie Irving demanded a trade right before the deadline and eventually got dealt to Dallas, Durant reportedly started having hard conversations with the Nets about the organization’s future.\n\n“Kevin wants to win,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said before Tuesday’s game against Phoenix. “The last thing I told this group on the floor is the expectations don’t change. I want to win. I want the group in the locker room to want to win. If your best player has a knack for winning and wanted to win the ultimate thing, then I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.”\n\nMore:Phoenix Suns' NBA title odds surge after Kevin Durant trade\n\nA franchise-changing deal\n\nSources informed The Republic the Suns were looking to deal Paul, Crowder and a first-round pick to Brooklyn for Irving.\n\n\"It's a business,” Paul said before Tuesday’s game at Brooklyn. “I've seen crazier. The way I found out I was traded from Houston. You just show up to work and be a pro day in and day out. Nobody's exempt from being traded. Find out just like everybody else.\"\n\nNow the Suns have made a franchise-changing deal with Durant, the 2013-14 NBA MVP who won back-to-back NBA Finals MVPs (2017-18) with the Warriors.\n\nThe 13-time All-Star is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists this season.\n\nNamed to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, Durant is on a four-year, $194-million extension as he’s due $42.9 million this season, $46.4 million in 2023-24, $49.8 million in 2024-25 and $53.2 million in 2025-26. The Suns already exceeded the luxury tax threshold of $150.267 million for this season.\n\nThe Suns are two years removed from reaching the 2021 finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. They posted the NBA’s best record last season with a franchise-best 64-18 mark, but Dallas eliminated them in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals.\n\nWhile Paul, Booker and Ayton were the main cogs of those teams, Bridges and Johnson were valuable pieces too. The Suns went into this season looking to expand their roles to handling the ball more.\n\nJohnson has only played 17 games for Phoenix this season as he missed 37 with a torn right meniscus. Returning from the injury ironically against Brooklyn Jan. 19 in Phoenix, Johnson is averaging a career-best 13.9 points this season, shooting a career-high 45.5% from 3.\n\nThe Suns didn’t sign Johnson to a rookie extension in the summer, so he will enter the offseason as a restricted free agent. Before playing Tuesday in Brooklyn, Johnson talked about his love for Phoenix, but also addressed the idea of Ishbia making a major move to begin his tenure as team owner.\n\n“I don’t think much about it,” Johnson said. “It’s not something that I’m like, what could this splash be, what could he do. I guess that’s what the future could tell. I don’t necessarily get wrapped up in those decisions up top. As a group of the court, our job is to go out there and compete and win and play and improve on a nightly basis. You learn the business side takes care of itself.”\n\nWhile Johnson became a starter in his fourth NBA season this year, Bridges has shown more elements to his game this season.\n\nAlready one of the game’s best defensive players as he finished runner-up in last season’s NBA Defensive Player of the year voting, Bridges is averaging a career-best 17.2 points this season.\n\n“He’s a great role model for our guys to see where he came from to where he is now,” said Pistons coach Dwane Casey before Phoenix won Saturday at Detroit. “You wouldn’t have said he’d be able to run pick-and-rolls and start the offense or be a quasi point guard for their team when he first came into the league, but he’s grown into that. He’s worked his behind off to develop that.”\n\nThe 6-6 wing has posted 12 20-point games in his last 15 games. Getting buckets off the bounce, pick-and-roll as well as from 3, Bridges has scored at least 21 in his last six games to match a career high for most consecutive games with 20-plus points.\n\n“He’s a great example for a lot of young guys, our guys and a lot of young guys in the league to one, have the temperament and the patience to play the way he does and develop and let the game come to him,” Casey continued. “He wasn’t trying to force it a couple of years ago or three years ago. He developed that, they were patient with him as an organization and now look at him. To me, he’s an All-Star.”\n\nIn the first year of a four-year, $90-million rookie extension, Bridges has never missed a game in his NBA career that’s in its fifth season.\n\nWhile the Suns are losing players who were a huge part of Phoenix’s turnaround under Monty Williams, Durant has ties to their roster.\n\nHe played with Booker on the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in 2021 in Toyko as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the Olympics in 2020.\n\nA three-time Olympic gold medalist (2012, 2016, 2020), Durant was on the 2012 gold medal team with Paul. Williams was an assistant on the 2016 gold medal team.\n\nWilliams has decided not to work as an assistant under Warriors coach Steve Kerr for Team USA for this year’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Clippers coach Ty Lue will replace him.\n\n“This has been a difficult choice, but given the timing and the demands of the commitment, it is the best choice for myself and my family,” Williams said in a news release. “I am incredibly grateful to Grant Hill and Coach Kerr, both for giving me the opportunity to be an assistant coach and for their understanding of my decision.”\n\nDurant and Suns guard Damion Lee were teammates in Golden State in the 2018-19 season. He was also a teammate with Suns backup point guard Cameron Payne in Oklahoma City in the 2015-16 season and backup shooting guard Landry Shamet in the 2020-21 season in Brooklyn.\n\nPayne and Shamet are both out with foot injuries. Payne hasn’t played since Jan. 4 at Cleveland while Shamet last saw action Jan. 16 at Memphis.\n\nHave opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.\n\nSupport local journalism. Start your online subscription.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2023/02/09/phoenix-suns-trade-for-kevin-durant-what-to-know/69888551007/", "title": "What Phoenix Suns fans should know about the Kevin Durant NBA ...", "text": "The Phoenix Suns, just two days into the Mat Ishbia ownership era, pulled off one of the most significant trades in team history in acquiring Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets.\n\nHere's what you need to know about the deal:\n\nWho are the Phoenix Suns getting in Kevin Durant trade?\n\nThe biggest name is Kevin Durant, of course. He's been one of the NBA's top players for more than a decade, was a two-time finals MVP with Golden State. He's currently the eighth-leading scorer in the NBA, averaging nearly 30 points a game. The 6-10 forward seems even taller on the court. He is the kind of player that can transform a team overnight, score from anywhere on the floor and make life difficult for opponents on the defnesive end of the floor. Also coming from Brooklyn is T.J. Warren, a 6-8 small forward who was with the Suns from 2014-19.\n\nMore:Phoenix Suns landing superstar Kevin Durant in blockbuster trade with Brooklyn Nets\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nWho did the Suns trade for Kevin Durant?\n\nFor a lot of fans, this stings: Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, two popular players that have been a big part of the team's success over the past two seasons, head to Brooklyn. Also going is Jae Crowder, another important cog the past two years who has not played all season after he and the team agreed to pursue a trade before the start of the season. The Suns also gave up four future draft picks, but if the team is successful over the next few years, that might not hurt too much, as they wouldn't be top 10 picks.\n\nMoore:Before we welcome KD, let's say goodbye to Jae and the Twins\n\nWhy did this Phoenix Suns-Brooklyn Nets NBA trade happen now?\n\nTwo things: Mat Ishbia officially became the new majority owner of the Suns on Tuesday. It was largely believed that would need to happen before any deal involving Crowder or anyone else could take place since there will be financial implications. Also, the NBA trade deadline is 1 p.m. Thursday. If the Suns hadn't moved Crowder, they'd end up getting nothing for him because he is a free agent after this season. Durant suggested last summer Phoenix is a place he'd like to play as word leaked he wanted to be traded. He seemed to resolve differences with the Nets, but things changed after Brooklyn dealt Kyrie Irving, one of the league's top point guards, to Dallas last week. It became apparent that both the Nets and Durant were ready for fresh starts.\n\nKevin Durant trade reaction:Phoenix Suns' trade with Brooklyn Nets stuns NBA world\n\nSpeaking of financial implications, how much is Kevin Durant getting paid?\n\nSuperstars don't come cheap in the NBA — and make no mistake, Kevin Durant is a superstar. As The Republic's Duane Rankin reported, Durant is on a four-year, $194-million extension that pays him $42.9 million this season, $46.4 million in 2023-24, $49.8 million in 2024-25 and $53.2 million in 2025-26. Shedding the salaries of Bridges, Johnson and Crowder helps somewhat.\n\nSo, will the Phoenix Suns finally win an NBA championship?\n\nWe're not big on making predictions here, but it's safe to say the chances have just shot up. Assuming Durant comes back after the All-Star game, as expected, from a knee sprain he suffered last month and can stay healthy (always a big 'if') along with other Suns' players, expect Phoenix to be playing well into June. At this point, there is no other team in the Western Conference that looks dominant. Pairing Durant with Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, whose last two games were outstanding and showed what he can do when he wants to, along with a still-strong bench will prove a challenge for anyone going forward.\n\nKevin Durant trade grades:Phoenix Suns receive rave reviews for deal with Brooklyn Nets", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2022/06/30/kevin-durant-requests-trade-nets-lists-suns-preferred-teams/7780791001/", "title": "Durant requests trade from Nets, lists Suns as one of preferred teams", "text": "Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported where Kevin Durant ranked among NBA scorers. He was the fourth-leading scorer.\n\nThe NBA has been sent into a frenzy wondering where Kevin Durant will land next.\n\nAnd it might be Phoenix because that's one of two places he wants to be.\n\nDurant reportedly requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.\n\nThe Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are two of his preferred trade destinations.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nThe news broke several hours before the free agency market opens Thursday at 3 p.m. Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks is working with Durant and his business manager Rich Kleiman to find a trade for the former MVP and 12-time All-Star.\n\nThe 33-year-old Durant was the league's fourth-leading scorer last season, averaging 29.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-10 wing is still in the prime without any signs of slowing down.\n\nDurant was drafted by Seattle Supersonics before they moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008, where he played nine seasons. Then he played three seasons for the Golden State Warriors, which he helped lead to two consecutive NBA titles in 2017 and 2018, and he earned Finals MVP honors in both those years. Durant signed with Brooklyn as a free agent in 2019, but sat out his first season with the team recuperating from a torn Achilles sustained earlier in 2019 in the finals against Toronto.\n\nMore:Why Kevin Durant wants to be traded to Phoenix Suns\n\nDurant's four-year, $198 million contract extension that he signed with the Nets in August 2021 kicks in next season. He will receive nearly $43 million, $46.4 million, $49.85 million, then $53.28 million over that span, all guaranteed without a no-trade clause in his contract. The Nets plan to move Durant to a team in which they can get the best possible deal for him.\n\nThis move happens two days after fellow Nets All-Star Kyrie Irving opted into his $36.5 million player option for the final year of his four-year deal.\n\nESPN reported that Durant neither spoke to the Nets front office for several weeks or spoke to Irving after his decision to opt in.\n\nAfter Irving and Durant joined forces, former MVP James Harden strong-armed his way out of Houston for a trade to Brooklyn in January 2021 to create their Big Three. They were widely projected by the media to become one of the league's best offensive trios ever, and had the second-best odds to the Los Angeles Lakers to win Brooklyn's first league title.\n\nBut they only ended up playing 16 games together. That was largely because of injuries among them. In addition Irving played just 29 regular season games last season because of his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, which prevented him from playing home games per New York City's former vaccination requirement in workplaces. That mandate was lifted by New York's mayor Eric Adams on March 23.\n\nThe Nets went 13-3 in their games played together (8-2 in the regular season, 5-1 in the playoffs). The Nets lost in the 2021 playoffs to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern conference semifinals. Then the Nets took a hard nosedive in February after Durant was sidelined for more than 1½ months after he hurt the MCL in his left knee on Jan. 15 at home against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets were one of the East's top teams with a 27-15 record, but they went 5-17 in his absence, including an abysmal 11-game losing streak through through mid-February.\n\nKevin Durant trade odds:Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies favorites to get star\n\nBefore that losing skid ended, Harden requested a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, and went there in exchange for All-Star Ben Simmons as part of the deal.\n\nThat was the beginning of the end for this iteration of the Nets, led by nascent head coach and Suns legend Steve Nash.\n\nIn this past postseason, the Nets were the seventh seed swept in four games by the eventual Eastern conference champion Boston Celtics during the first round.\n\nAs Durant pursues greener pastures elsewhere, he and Suns All-Star Devin Booker have a brief history of playing together on Team USA during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.\n\nDurant has publicly and repeatedly praised Booker's skills.\n\n“It’s a pretty game for one,” Durant said to former NBA player and ESPN NBA analyst J.J. Redick on his Old Man and Three podcast in April. “I just think he’s really mastering who he is right now. He’s figuring it out, like how to play at an elite level and still win. He’s always scoring the ball but he knows how to win.\"\n\nAfter Team USA beat Spain in the Olympics quarterfinals, Durant said this about Booker:\n\n“Lot of people look at him because he’s such a pretty scorer, he can do things so effortless. But he is a savant. He wants to be an all-around basketball player.”\n\nThis trade request will start the seismic domino effect among teams including the Suns, who likely would have to give up many assets to acquire Durant.\n\nSince the Suns' crushing Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western conference semifinals on May 15, Deandre Ayton has been at the forefront of speculation for the Suns imminent roster moves this offseason.\n\nAfter not offering a rookie max extension at the start of last season, the possible return or departure of Phoenix's starting center and former No. 1 overall pick will either happen in free agency or a possible sign-and-trade.\n\nThe Suns made their first of two pre-free agency moves earlier this week. That includes tendering Ayton's $16.4 million qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent on Tuesday to retain the right to match any max contracts offers he receives from other teams. Their second was the following day to not tender backup point guard Aaron Holiday's $5.8 million qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.\n\nThat gives some the Suns some financial relief as they have nine players marked for nearly $129.2 million guaranteed money for the 2022-23 season. The salary cap is $123.65 million next year, which puts then about $21 million away from the $150.26 million luxury tax threshold set Thursday, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. That's without factoring in Phoenix's potential starting point at a $30.5 million max deal offer for Ayton for next year.\n\nAt the start of June, the trade odds for Phoenix to land Durant have steadily increased. Now, they're a top-two odds-on favorite from Durant's demand.\n\nAs the Suns are in the driving seat as a leading candidate to land him, it will interesting to see who will continue to ride with them and dropped off along the way to make room for him.\n\nSuns free agency updates:Kevin Durant speculation surges\n\nHave tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.\n\nSupport local journalism. Start your online subscription today.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/06/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2022/04/26/kevin-durant-charles-barkley-trade-insults-celtics-sweep-nets/9542150002/", "title": "Kevin Durant, Charles Barkley trade insults after Celtics sweep Nets", "text": "The morning after his Nets were swept out of the Nets by the Celtics, Kevin Durant took to Instagram to throw shade at Charles Barkley.\n\nPerhaps it was surprising for some to see Durant take a shot at the TNT analyst right after his team was eliminated from postseason contention, but the Brooklyn superstar is one of the most logged-on athletes we have ever seen.\n\nDurant is often criticized for playing on a superteam trio of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Then, this season, the Nets were preseason title favorites because KD was on a superteam trio alongside Kyrie Irving and James Harden.\n\nHowever, the 2014 NBA MVP wanted to set the record straight: He didn’t start the trend of great players joining great players. Barkley even played alongside Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon.\n\nHe also added photos from Barkley’s Sixers days.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nDurant was presumably replying to something Barkley said while on-air earlier this week. Barkley was asked about Durant’s greatness, and he was quick to diminish the accomplishments of the two-time NBA champion.\n\nBarkley called Durant a “bus rider” and that unless you’re “driving” the bus, winning a championship means nothing.\n\nThose are much easier words said by someone who has never won a title, though, as four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal quickly added that Durant won two titles in a row.\n\nBarkley also recently said Durant wasn’t the best player on the Warriors, even comparing his NBA Finals MVP honors to when Andre Iguodala received the same nods.\n\nSo it makes sense that Durant took issue with Barkley’s comments.\n\nDurant’s response was particularly interesting because Barkley’s 1998-99 Rockets were also eliminated in the first round of the playoffs (ironically, by Shaq’s Lakers).\n\nBarkley’s Rockets were not exactly in their prime. That season marked Barkley’s second-to-last in the league, and he was 35 years old. According to the advanced metric win shares, it was also the second-worst season of his career.\n\nOlajuwon was 36 years old, and Pippen was 33. So, unfortunately for KD, this wasn’t exactly a one-to-one analogy.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/04/26"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2022/11/01/brooklyn-nets-fire-steve-nash-their-head-coach-after-2-5-start/8239511001/", "title": "Brooklyn Nets fire Steve Nash as their head coach after 2-5 start", "text": "The Brooklyn Nets fired Steve Nash as their head coach Tuesday.\n\nNash, 48, arrived in Brooklyn with championship expectations, but without head coaching experience. The two-time NBA MVP with the Phoenix Suns only won one playoff series as a head coach despite having Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.\n\n\"It was an amazing experience with many challenges I'm incredibly grateful for,'' Nash tweeted in a statement Tuesday morning. \"It was a pleasure to work with the players, performance team and front office everyday. I'm especially grateful to my coaching staff and video room who are a talented group with so much character and professionalism.\"\n\nESPN is reporting the Nets are looking to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka with the next to 48 hours as Boston will let him leave for another job.\n\nNash compiled a 94-67 record in two full seasons and seven games this season. The Nets won just one playoff series under him as they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of last season’s playoffs.\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nMilwaukee beat Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference semifinals in seven games on its 2021 championship run that ended with taking down the Suns in the finals.\n\nThe Nets started this season 2-5. They experienced a four-game losing skid before beating Indiana on Monday. The Pacers topped the Nets two nights earlier, 125-116, leading Nash to describe the loss as a “disaster” and questioning the fire of the team.\n\nNash’s firing is a continuation of drama for the franchise.\n\nDurant asked for a trade in the offseason with Phoenix and Miami being atop his trade list.\n\nBen Simmons hasn't played well so far this season after the Nets traded James Harden to Philadelphia for him last season.\n\nTeam owner Joe Tsai tweeted last week he was ''disappointed'' that Irvin had tweeted a link to a documentary based on a book “full of anti-semitic disinformation.''\n\nNash had a storied career with the Suns that began as a first round pick in the famed 1996 draft. He was traded to Dallas in 1998, but returned as a free agent signing going into the 2004-05 season and led a resurgence of the franchise.\n\nThe eight-time All-Star won consecutive league MVPs (2005, 2006) as the orchestrator of Mike D'Antoni's 'Seven Seconds or Less\" offense. The Suns made it to the Western Conference Finals those years and again in 2010, but never reached the finals.\n\nNash stayed with Phoenix through the 2011-12 season, before finishing his career with the Lakers. A dynamic point guard and leader, Nash was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.\n\nSo while Nash didn't have any head coaching experience, his success as a player and basketball knowledge helped justify Nets general manager Sean Marks hiring him.\n\nMarks and Nash were teammates in Phoenix.\n\nHowever, the Nets fell short of lofty expectations under Nash. Then when Durant reportedly gave Tsai an ultimatum to keep either him or Marks and Nash after making his trade demands, that was a clear sign of Nash's status with the franchise.\n\nTsai publicly supported Nash and Marks. Durant and the franchise later agreed to more forward together, but the slow start to this season spelled doom for Nash.\n\nNash thanked Tsai, Tsai's wife, Clara, and Marks in Tuesday's statement tweet.\n\n\"Lastly, thanks to Brooklyn and the passionate fans who support this team,\" Nash tweeted. \"Family first and my family has found a home here and loves being a part of this beautiful community. I wish the Nets all the success in the world and the Nash's will be rooting for our team as they turn this season around.\"\n\nHave opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.\n\nSupport local journalism. Start your online subscription.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/sports-betting/2022/07/03/kevin-durant-phoenix-suns-nba-title-odds/7800044001/", "title": "NBA future odds: Kevin Durant's trade request shakes things up", "text": "Wherever Kevin Durant goes, oddsmakers and bettors follow.\n\nWith Durant’s back-to-back NBA titles in 2017-2018 fresh in mind, Durant has altered NBA future odds by requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets following a season of volatility and disappointment.\n\nHe reportedly prefers a move to the Phoenix Suns or Miami Heat, according to ESPN, which revised the entire NBA futures board. The Suns jumped to +550 co-favorites along with the Boston Celtics to win the 2022-23 NBA title at Tipico Sportsbook.\n\nThe defending champion Golden State Warriors have become the 6/1 third choice, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers (+650) and the 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks (7/1).\n\nThe Heat are 10/1 at Tipico, down from 13/1 one day after the Warriors defeated the Celtics in the final.\n\nSTAY UP TO DATE:Sign up for our Sports newsletter now!\n\nBookmakers favor Durant to land in Phoenix because he has the ability to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal that would likely include the Suns' former No. 1 overall draft pick — restricted free-agent center Deandre Ayton — and some others from one of the league's most talented rosters.\n\nNets general manager Sean Marks, of course, is free to deal the former MVP and four-time scoring champion — who averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists last season — wherever he’d like.\n\n“Kevin Durant has been a top-five player in the league for the last 10 years. Whatever team he plays for will certainly have a chance at the championship, which is why operators have to adjust odds accordingly,” Tipico Sportsbook spokesman Sunny Gupta said.\n\nDurant famously split from the Oklahoma City Thunder to join Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. While with the Warriors, he won two NBA Finals MVP awards before opting to join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn three years ago.\n\nSpotty play of former MVP teammate James Harden, Irving's limited play due his unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Durant’s MCL injury and then Harden's trade to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons sabotaged Durant's efforts to be part of another championship team in Brooklyn.\n\nConfronting the forthcoming loss of Durant, the Nets are also saddled with another unappetizing deal after Irving planned to invoke his $36.5 million player option.\n\nBrooklyn plummeted from +650 at last season’s end to the 11th choice at Tipico at 20/1.\n\nDURANT TRADE ODDS: Phoenix Suns favorite to be Brooklyn Nets star's next team\n\nOPINION:Nets' grand plans for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving blow up, expose issues NBA owners want to fix\n\nThe fact that Irving may reunite with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook, who reportedly activated his $47 million option, moved the Lakers’ title odds from 20/1 to 12/1.\n\nIrving and James teamed up to win the 2016 NBA title in Cleveland.\n\nNow, thanks to Durant’s wishes, the favorite appears to be Phoenix, led by veteran point guard Chris Paul and All-Star guard Devin Booker, who just signed a four-year, $224 million supermax contract extension with the Suns.\n\nCoach Monty Williams was formerly an assistant with Oklahoma City while Durant was there.\n\nAt the Las Vegas Superbook, basketball analyst Jeff Sherman has the Suns slotted as the +650 second choice behind the known commodity of the Celtics, at 6/1.\n\nSherman said while there has been mention of Durant going to the Toronto Raptors or some other team, like New Orleans or Orlando, he doesn't believe that will happen.\n\n\"All Durant has to say is, 'I'm not going to report to camp if I go there,'\" Sherman said. \"I took into account he wants to go to Phoenix or Miami, and, ultimately, these guys have the power to dictate where they want to go.\n\n\"At 34, with four years left on his contract, I doubt he'll be amenable to Toronto. It might take another team to be involved in this deal, but a player like Durant can force his way to the team he wants.\"\n\nIf it becomes official Phoenix has its own \"big three\" of Durant, Booker and Paul, Sherman predicts the Suns' odds will improve again toward \"the 3/1 range.\"\n\nTipico Mobile Sportsbook: Register Today!\n\nGannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/07/03"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/sports-betting/2022/08/24/kevin-durant-brooklyn-nets-nba-championship-odds/7886530001/", "title": "Kevin Durant boosts Brooklyn Nets' NBA championship odds", "text": "What Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets wanted didn't match up, but the two-time NBA champion remains in the city. All may not be forgiven, but Durant's stay improved the Nets' chances to win the NBA title.\n\nBrooklyn became the 7/1 fifth choice at Tipico Sportsbook to win their first NBA title, slotted behind Eastern Conference rivals Boston Celtics (+450 favorite) and Milwaukee Bucks (+600).\n\n\"We are focusing on basketball with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn,\" Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a prepared statement following a meeting in Los Angeles with Durant and his agent.\n\nFollowing a first-round series sweep at the hands of eventual finalist Boston, it appeared Nets point guard Kyrie Irving was going to leave Brooklyn.\n\nAmid the uncertainty, Durant — a 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, former league MVP and two-time NBA Finals MVP — requested a trade.\n\nSeveral teams, including the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors, were reportedly engaged with the Nets, but the Suns re-signed center Deandre Ayton and the Nets’ request for a wealthy return was never met.\n\n'HE WILL BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN':NBA exec on Kevin Durant, Nets situation\n\nMORE:Phoenix Suns in Brooklyn Nets trade rumors, speculation\n\nWhen the Nets-Durant reunion was made official, Las Vegas SuperBook’s basketball analyst Jeff Sherman shifted Toronto from a 30/1 NBA title offering to 60/1.\n\nWhile Sherman dropped the Nets’ title odds from 18/1 to 10/1, he stopped short of placing them in the elite level occupied by other teams.\n\nUnlike their favored status of last season, when the Nets remained Eastern Conference favorites even while languishing in eighth place during Irving’s absences and a Durant injury, too much has been revealed about the Nets’ tenuous relationships.\n\n“You don’t just roll the ball out there for these guys,” Sherman said in reference to how Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers were perceived. “There’s a lot of factors going on over there — coaching and chemistry issues.”\n\nWhile he retains deep respect for the Nets’ supporting players, Sherman said Brooklyn were swept by Boston with Durant and Irving “when all that were missing was (Ben) Simmons and (Joe) Harris.”\n\nQuestions about Ben Simmons\n\nWhile Simmons’ defensive skill playing for the Philadelphia 76ers was sublime, his shooting ability and interest in taking big shots was suspect in Brooklyn.\n\n“How much will change for (Simmons)?” Sherman asked. “Teams are going to foul him and try to get in his head ... And Steve Nash is going to get out-coached along the way.”\n\nSherman said he knows he’s in the minority among his bookmaking peers about where the Nets’ title odds should be. He personally favors the Los Angeles Clippers as the favorite. For him, there are still too many question surrounding the Nets.\n\n“The East is going to be so tough to get through — Boston, Milwaukee, Miami, Philadelphia,” he said. “Durant, at this age, is now missing games to injury. With Irving, will he want to take games off? We know he’s in the last year of his contract, and that’s usually a time when players want to prove their value. But does he care about doing that?”\n\nIn other words, 10/1 is the right number.\n\n“A lot of things have happened with the Nets,” Sherman said. “They first have to prove they can overcome it.”\n\nTipico Mobile Sportsbook: Register Today!\n\nGannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/08/24"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2023/02/10/nba-power-rankings-phoenix-suns-surge-after-kevin-durant-trade/69893130007/", "title": "NBA power rankings: Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant at NBA All-Star ...", "text": "Are the Phoenix Suns the best team in the NBA's Western Conference after trading for Kevin Durant?\n\nHow serious of an NBA title contender are they?\n\nSeveral sites weighed in on the Suns and their contender status in NBA power rankings ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.\n\nCould the Phoenix Suns be holding the NBA Championship trophy at the end of the season?\n\nMore:Did Phoenix Suns hold Mikal Bridges back? ESPN analyst slammed for Brooklyn Nets take\n\nFollow every game: Latest NBA Scores and Schedules\n\nESPN: Suns up six spots to No. 6 in NBA power rankings\n\nDave McMenamin wrote: How's this for a welcome wagon for Durant? The No. 4-seeded Suns pulled away from the West's No. 3 seed, Sacramento, on Tuesday with Devin Booker scoring 32 on 13-for-20 shooting, Deandre Ayton putting up 29 on 13-for-17 and Chris Paul managing the action with 17 points and 19 assists. Step right up, Mr. Durant.\n\n'We got pretty damn good real quick':Larry Fitzgerald on Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant trade\n\nNBC Sports: Suns hold steady at No. 11 in NBA power rankings\n\nKuyrt Helin wrote: \"Devin Booker returned and looked sharp in the win over the Kings, scoring 32 points and running the offense for stretches. Kevin Durant will make his Suns debut sometime after the All-Star break, but Phoenix is wisely not putting a timeline on that. Watching the Suns’ offense click against the Kings, then envisioning Kevin Durant in it, one question came to mind: How comfortable are players such as Booker and Deandre Ayton going to be with sacrificing parts of their game for the betterment of the team? (I do not doubt that Chris Paul is good with that.) Winning a ring requires stars to sacrifice (think Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade with LeBron James in Miami), guys not willing to do that can undermine a team. Ayton may see the big picture, but it’s something worth watching.\"\n\nMore:Kevin Durant trade makes Phoenix Suns 'obvious' winner at NBA trade deadline\n\nSportsnaut: Suns move to No. 8 in NBA power rankings\n\nJason Burgos wrote: \"MVP candidate Devin Booker was sidelined with a groin injury for nearly a month and they plummeted in the standings. However, they seemed to have circled the wagons just in time with Devin Booker back on the court. However, they have made a massive jump in the latest NBA power rankings not just for their recent play, but by swinging the biggest deal of the 2023 NBA trade deadline for MVP candidate Kevin Durant.\"\n\nMore:Why Kevin Durant wanted trade to Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Monty Williams, Chris Paul\n\nBleacher Report: Suns ranked No. 5 in NBA power rankings entering NBA All-Star Game\n\nAndy Bailey wrote: \"The Phoenix Suns closed out the week with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but they hang onto their top-five spot in the power rankings on the back of a 5-2 record over their last seven and the eventual return of Kevin Durant. Of course, it's difficult to confidently analyze this team until KD returns, but it feels safe to assume he'll assimilate as easily as he did with the Golden State Warriors in 2016. And if that's the case, this team is a ready-made title contender that should be able to win a shootout against just about anyone.\"\n\nKevin Durant trade grades:Phoenix Suns receive rave reviews for deal with Brooklyn Nets\n\nCBS Sports: Suns take No. 8 spot in NBA power rankings\n\nColin Ward-Henninger wrote: \"What happened? I must have blacked out for a second. The Suns beat the Nets on Tuesday, and then acquired their best player on Wednesday, officially kicking off the Kevin Durant era in Phoenix. They went from middle-of-the-pack to Western Conference favorites literally overnight, and it comes as Devin Booker is just starting to get back into shape, putting up 20 points and 5.5 assists in 26 minutes per game this week.\"\n\nThe Rookie Wire: Suns enter All-Star break ranked No. 9 in NBA power rankings\n\nCody Taylor wrote: \"The Suns stole the show at the trade deadline by acquiring Kevin Durant and TJ Warren from the Nets for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks. The team gave up an awful lot of players and assets for Durant, but the opportunity to add a former MVP doesn’t happen often, and the front office did what it needed to in order to get him. It is definitely championship or bust time now in Phoenix.\"\n\nMore:Phoenix Suns' NBA title odds surge after Kevin Durant trade\n\nDraft Kings: Suns rise six spots to No. 8 in NBA power rankings\n\nChinmay Vaidya wrote: \"The Suns did have to give up Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, but they managed to keep Deandre Ayton out of the trade. Phoenix has four great starters in Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Durant and Ayton. Landry Shamet, Damion Lee, Torrey Craig and a handful of buyout players will round out what should be a championship-caliber roster. Now, Durant is still hurt and will need some time to get back to 100%. However, this team just became the favorite in the West for a good reason.\"\n\nMore:Phoenix Suns fans lament losing Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson in Kevin Durant trade\n\nClutch Points: Suns ranked No. 6 in NBA power rankings at NBA All-Star break\n\nEnzo Flojo wrote: \"Boy, we cannot wait to see Kevin Durant play his first game as a Sun. Till that happens, though, this is just a pretty good team (instead of being a great one). The Suns, in fact, have split their last four games. They had good wins over the Pacers and Kings offset by losses to the Hawks and Clippers. We do expect them to be on a bit of a winning run after All-Star Weekend.\"\n\nMore:Kevin Durant trade reaction: Phoenix Suns' trade with Brooklyn Nets stuns NBA world\n\nReach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.\n\nSupport local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/10"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_20", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/media/959569/thanks-for-listening-have-we-reached-peak-podcast", "title": "Thanks for listening: have we reached peak podcast? | The Week UK", "text": "The number of podcasts launched in the last year fell by 80%, according to new industry statistics.\n\nThe figures suggest “the podcast balloon has burst”, said The Observer, with analysts asking whether podcasting was just a passing trend or a maturing industry that is settling into a more stable rhythm.\n\nAnalysts at Chartr uncovered the dramatic drop using international data supplied by the podcast engine Listen Notes. The number of new shows launched last year was 219,000. That is down from 729,000 in 2021, and 1,109,000 in 2020 at the height of global lockdowns.\n\nFor some context, however, the number of podcasts started in 2019 was 337,099 – substantially lower than during the pandemic, but still higher than current figures.\n\nSimilarly, survey data from Edison Research shows that the number of people in the US who said they had listened to a podcast in the last month was 38% last year, down from 41% in 2021.\n\n‘Difficult second album moment’\n\n“It feels like we’re in that ‘difficult second album’ moment now, and of course there’s a lot to worry about,” Kate Taylor, an award-winning producer, told The Observer. She said the industry is experiencing “the jitters”, and attributes some of the drop to sponsorship deals being harder to come by, and investors not appreciating how much is needed to make content well.\n\n“Roughly everyone launched a podcast in the Covid-19 pandemic’s nadir, and a big part of the decline is an after-effect of that,” said NiemanLab. So maybe the surplus in 2020-21 was “always destined to recede” – but the size of the drop does indicate there might be other factors here.\n\nThe “defining” problem of the industry is “podcast discovery” – how we find out about podcasts, especially in a crowded market with few barriers to entry. The industry seems to be facing a paradoxical problem which is that it “has become so crowded that fewer people want to enter it”.\n\nThis view seems to be backed up by statistics examining how listeners are rating podcasts. Both the average star ratings for podcasts in general and new podcasts launching are have been gradually decreasing for several years, said Rephonic. In fact, “podcast satisfaction, as measured in listener ratings, peaked in 2016”.\n\n‘Flexible and relatively cheap’\n\nWe shouldn’t “write the podcast industry off” just yet, though, said Prolific North. Ad revenue for the podcast industry in the UK was estimated to be worth £40m in 2022 by consultancy PWC, which also predicted growth to £64m by 2025. In 2016, the industry was valued at £4m.\n\nAccording to the Reuters Institute, 72% of publishers will also be putting more resources into podcasts and digital audio in the future.\n\nLast month, reported Deadline, a panel of podcast executives told the UK’s Royal Television Society that “while it remains difficult to break into the important top ten on those charts, the flexibility of podcast-making in terms of subject matter and episode length, the relative cheapness of the exercise and the fact that anyone with a microphone can do it still makes it an attractive proposition”.\n\nThe panel also pointed out that while the money that can be made from hosting a podcast is comparatively little, “the [Intellectual Property] they generate can become valuable for adaptation by film and TV makers”.", "authors": ["Asya Likhtman"], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/05/09/fact-check-testosterone-levels-lower-25-1999-2016/7381735001/", "title": "Fact check: Testosterone levels have dropped in recent decades ...", "text": "The claim: Testosterone levels have dropped almost 50% in the past two decades\n\nA viral Twitter post from April 9 claims testosterone levels have dropped by almost 50% over the past 20 years.\n\n\"Here's a cheery Friday fact,\" reads the post. \"An average 22 year-old (sic) male today has roughly the same testosterone levels as a 67 year old (sic) had in the year 2000. Average testosterone has fallen close to 50% in the last 2 decades, and nobody is talking about it.\"\n\nThe post was screenshotted and shared by various Facebook accounts, amassing over a thousand shares and 3,000 interactions altogether.\n\nWhile testosterone levels have fallen in recent years, the rate is more modest than 50%, experts say.\n\nFollow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks\n\nThe original poster could not be reached for comment. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook pages spreading the screenshotted Twitter post.\n\nTestosterone has dropped, but not by 50%\n\nThe first part of the tweet quotes a 2021 article from American Greatness, a popular right-wing site:\n\nAs we crossed into the new millennium, the average American male (controlled for age and other relevant factors) had a total testosterone reading of 605 nanograms per deciliter. A scant 20 years later, and the average level has plummeted by 27 percent to just 450 nanograms per deciliter. That means the average 22-year-old man today has an average testosterone level roughly equal to that of a 67-year-old man in 2000.\n\nThe article refers to data from studies in 2007 and 2021, both of which looked at the testosterone levels of men in the United States.\n\nFact check: Experts say diet, exercise – not hormones – are primary drivers of weight gain\n\nBoth studies observed significant reductions in testosterone levels over time. In the 2007 study, testosterone decreased by about 22% when comparing 1985-1987 levels to those from 2002-2004. In the 2021 study, researchers found a roughly 25% decrease between 1999 and 2016.\n\nThese numbers mean that the claim in the Twitter post isn't true, according to Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, a urologist at the Miami University Miller School of Medicine and author of the 2021 study.\n\n\"Neither of these studies assessed men over the last two decades, and the percent change was not close to 50%, so it is inaccurate to say that average testosterone has fallen almost 50% over the last 2 decades,\" Ramasamy wrote in an email.\n\nIt's possible that the 50% number came from adding the 25% and 22% from the two studies. However, Ramasamy said that since there's a possibility of overlap between participants in both studies, the percentages can't be added.\n\nAdding the studies also creates a time span of three decades, not two as referenced in the post.\n\nIncreased prevalence in obesity and changes in measurement methods are two possible explanations for the changes, he added.\n\n\"I think we should be worried about increasing prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes combined with a sedentary lifestyle – all of which can contribute to testosterone deficiency,\" Ramasamy wrote.\n\nIf men are experiencing symptoms of testosterone deficiency, he said, they should speak with their doctors for next steps. And if a man has low testosterone, he and his doctor should talk about natural methods to raise those levels before utilizing medications.\n\nOur rating: Partly false\n\nBased on our research, we rate PARTLY FALSE the claim that testosterone levels have dropped almost 50% over the past two decades. The most recent data is from 1999 to 2016, not the past two decades. That data showed a drop of about 25%. A separate study of an earlier time period shows a drop of 22%, but the studies together cover a total of three decades and in any case can't simply be added together, according to the author of one study.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/05/09"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2023/02/07/tech-layoffs-2023-google-amazon/11135692002/", "title": "Mass tech layoffs are growing in 2023 with Affirm, Google, Microsoft", "text": "Tech jobs feel like they're vanishing quicker than steam from a pot of boiling water lately.\n\nBuy now, pay later company, Affirm, announced it's cutting 19% of its workforce after it reported wider-than-expected losses last quarter. Google's parent company Alphabet recently laid off 12,000 workers, equivalent to 12% of its workforce. Meta cut an even bigger share of its staff. Even IBM, which has been in business for 111 years, is cutting thousands of jobs.\n\nSince the start of the year, 297 tech companies laid off nearly 95,000 workers, according to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi, a website that's been tracking tech layoffs since March 2020. If that rate continues, the industry could cut more than 900,000 jobs in 2023. That's nearly six times the total for the industry in 2022, according to the site.\n\nBut the sky isn't exactly falling in the tech industry, or at least not yet.\n\nHere's why:\n\nTech jobs were growing before the pandemic\n\nBefore the pandemic, the tech industry was steadily growing. As investments in cybersecurity, cloud computing and artificial intelligence poured into companies, their need for employees grew.\n\nIn the five years leading up to the pandemic, the tech industry added 1.3 million workers, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by CompTIA, an information-technology trade group.\n\nTracking tech layoffs:Why companies like Amazon and Meta cut jobs in 2022\n\nWho decides who gets cut?:Layoffs in a likely recession this year could be determined by software programs\n\nThe earlier hiring wasn't as widely publicized as the hiring that occurred in 2021. That resulted in a \"perception issue that there was so much more demand during the past two years compared to previously,\" said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA.\n\nThe perception that tech hired an unprecedented level of workers also may have misled people to believe that recent layoffs were heftier.\n\nThe pandemic forced companies to layoff workers\n\nWhen COVID-19 swept across the country, consumers quickly tightened their purse strings, resulting in massive job losses.\n\nAnd even though demand for tech workers was strong leading up to the pandemic, like almost every industry, tech was not immune to layoffs during the crisis. In August 2020 tech unemployment peaked at 4.6% while the nation's overall unemployment rate was 8.4%.\n\n'I was too ambitious':Spotify CEO announces layoffs among 6% of employees as tech job cuts continue\n\n‘A huge windfall’:Automakers look to hire tech talent from job cuts in Silicon Valley\n\nTech goes on a hiring spree as economic conditions improve\n\nEconomic conditions improved in the fall of 2020, much faster than tech companies anticipated. Demand for electronics like computers, gaming systems and smartphones exploded as the government issued stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits.\n\nBut to get products to consumers, tech companies had to navigate broken supply chains and transform themselves into more e-commerce-driven businesses.\n\nTo succeed and seize the opportunity to profit from unprecedented demand, tech companies needed more manpower and they needed it immediately, said Herbert.\n\nTo meet the unprecedented demand tech went on a hiring spree.\n\nWhy are there tech layoffs? Interest rates went up, eating into tech profits\n\nWhen the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates in March 2022 to get inflation under control, tech companies felt the pain because they're more reliant on outside funding than other industries. When interest rates increase, it’s more expensive for them to borrow money.\n\nMeanwhile, many consumers stopped buying electronics after they depleted their stimulus money. Tech stocks got crushed in the months after the Fed's March rate hike.\n\nThe companies that went on hiring sprees did a 180 degree turn and began cutting. Apple, though, which hired the least number of new workers among the other four big-tech companies, has avoided layoffs so far.\n\nWhile the layoffs are alarming, they represent a relatively small share of tech companies' workforces in 2022. And even with the layoffs, all five big-tech companies have bigger workforces now than before the pandemic.\n\nLaid-off tech workers are finding new jobs\n\nEven though tech layoffs are growing, the tech unemployment rate is dropping. In January the tech unemployment rate fell to 1.5% from 1.8% in December, according to CompTIA's analysis.\n\nThat indicates that \"many of the laid-off workers were quickly reabsorbed back into the tech workforce,\" said Herbert.\n\nThe hiring is most likely coming from small and mid-size companies that are still facing worker shortages because they couldn't previously compete with the salaries and perks traditional Silicon Valley tech companies used to lure in new talent, he added.\n\nRelative to the entire industry, big tech accounts for a relatively small share of the entire tech workforce. Small and mid-size companies make up the bulk of the industry. They, for the most part, are doing OK for now.\n\nBut the future is a big question mark.\n\n\"At some point, we probably should prepare to see some of these (tech) layoffs show up in the numbers,\" Herbert said.\n\nElisabeth Buchwald is a personal finance and markets correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on Twitter @BuchElisabeth and sign up for our Daily Money newsletter here", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/11/us/adnan-syed-charges-dropped/index.html", "title": "Adnan Syed: Baltimore prosecutors drop all charges against 'Serial ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nBaltimore prosecutors on Tuesday dropped all charges against Adnan Syed, the man who spent over two decades behind bars for the 1999 killing of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and whose murder case was featured in the landmark podcast “Serial.”\n\nBaltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Tuesday she instructed her office to dismiss the charges after results of advanced DNA testing of Lee’s shoes, skirt, pantyhose and jacket ruled out Syed.\n\n“The items that we tested had never before been tested,” Mosby said. “We used advanced DNA to determine that it was not Adnan Syed.”\n\nProsecutors will continue to investigate Lee’s death and prosecute whoever is responsible. As for Syed, “this case is over,” she said.\n\nMosby said the responsibility for the conviction belonged to past administrations, though she still apologized to Lee’s family as well as to Syed and his family.\n\n“Equally heartbreaking is the pain and sacrifice and trauma that has been imposed not just on (Lee’s) family, but Adnan and his family, who together spent 23 years imprisoned for a crime as a result of a wrongful conviction,” she said.\n\nSyed was freed from prison last month after prosecutors without warning moved to vacate his murder conviction, saying the state “lacks confidence in the integrity of the conviction” but stopped short of declaring his innocence. Prosecutors had 30 days to decide whether to pursue a new trial and were waiting on DNA analysis to determine their next steps.\n\nThe decision to drop charges comes about 23 years after the disappearance of Lee, Syed’s ex-girlfriend and high school classmate. Her strangled body was discovered in a city forest three weeks later.\n\nSyed, who was 17 at the time of her death, was charged with her killing, convicted in 2000 of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment and sentenced to life in prison.\n\nYet he has long maintained his innocence, and his story was featured in the “Serial” podcast that raised questions about the conviction and his legal representation. The podcast reached a huge audience and set off a true-crime podcasting boom as well as further examinations of the case, including the HBO docuseries, “The Case Against Adnan Syed.”\n\nLast month, prosecutors announced that a nearly yearlong investigation revealed evidence about the possible involvement of two suspects other than Syed that was not properly turned over to defense attorneys, prosecutors said. The reinvestigation also raised questions about the reliability of cell phone data records, which were used to corroborate testimony of a witness who said he helped Syed dig a hole for the victim’s body.\n\nBased on the prosecution’s motion, a judge last month vacated the conviction and freed Syed, who walked out of the courthouse to cheers and applause from supporters.\n\nLee’s family appealed that decision and a Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled the appeal can move forward. The appeal will be scheduled for consideration in February, the four-judge panel said in their ruling.\n\nSyed’s attorney praises dismissal as long overdue\n\nErica Suter, Syed’s attorney and director of the Innocence Project Clinic, praised the decision to drop charges as long overdue.\n\n“Finally, Adnan Syed is able to live as a free man. The DNA results confirmed what we have already known and what underlies all of the current proceedings: that Adnan is innocent and lost 23 years of his life serving time for a crime he did not commit,” she said in a statement.\n\n“While the proceedings are not completely over, this is an important step for Adnan, who has been on house arrest since the motion to vacate was first granted last month,” she added. “He still needs some time to process everything that has happened and we ask that you provide him and his family with that space.”\n\nSyed had been wearing an ankle monitor with location tracking, but he was taken off home monitoring on Tuesday, Suter said.\n\nIn the long-term, Syed plans to continue his college education and has dreams of going to law school, she said. Today, though, he plans to spend time with his loved ones without being on home detention.\n\n“I think he’s just really elated to have the small, quiet, everyday joys of freedom that many of us take for granted,” she said.\n\nSteve Kelly, attorney for Lee’s family, said the family learned about the dismissal of charges through the media and criticized the attorney’s office for not notifying them beforehand.\n\n“The family received no notice and their attorney was offered no opportunity to be present at the proceeding,” Kelly said. “By rushing to dismiss the criminal charges, the State’s Attorney’s Office sought to silence Hae Min Lee’s family and to prevent the family and the public from understanding why the State so abruptly changed its position of more than 20 years. All this family ever wanted was answers and a voice. Today’s actions robbed them of both.”\n\nMosby said she reached out to Kelly on Tuesday morning to inform them of her decision, but she had not heard back.\n\nLee’s family has previously said they were not notified in a timely manner of the prosecution’s intent to vacate the charges last month. Young Lee, the victim’s brother, said he felt “betrayed” by the state.\n\n“This isn’t a podcast for me, it’s real life,” Lee said during last month’s hearing.\n\nWhy prosecutors dropped charges\n\nVideo Ad Feedback Who is Adnan Syed? 00:59 - Source: CNN\n\nThe path to Syed’s release began in earnest last April, when attorneys for Syed brought the case to the attention of the Sentencing Review Unit. A recent piece of legislation had allowed people convicted of crimes as juveniles to ask for a modified sentence after they have served 20 years in prison, Mosby’s office said.\n\nThat review revealed deeper problems with the case against Syed, though.\n\nIn particular, the prosecution discovered alternate suspects who were known at the time of the original investigation “and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense,” according to Mosby’s statement. The state has not disclosed the names of the suspects but said that, according to the trial file, one of them said, “He would make her [Ms. Lee] disappear. He would kill her.”\n\nThe investigation also revealed that one suspect was convicted of attacking a woman in her vehicle, according to the statement. The second suspect was convicted of engaging in serial rape and sexual assault, the statement said.\n\nLee’s car was located “directly behind the house of one of the suspect’s family members,” the statement said.\n\nProsecutors said they will continue to fight for justice for Lee’s family.\n\n“We truly empathize with Hae Min Lee’s family, who believed they had resolution and are now being re-traumatized by the misdeeds of the prior prosecutors,” Zy Richardson, director of communications for the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, said in a statement.\n\n“As administrators of the criminal justice system, our responsibility is to ensure that justice is done, and the right person is held accountable. We refuse to be distracted from this fundamental obligation and will never give up in our fight for the Lee family,” Richardson said.", "authors": ["Eric Levenson Brian Vitagliano", "Eric Levenson", "Brian Vitagliano"], "publish_date": "2022/10/11"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/09/19/adnan-syed-conviction-vacated-serial-podcast/10392071002/", "title": "Adnan Syed released from Maryland prison after 22 years. Would ...", "text": "More than two decades after Adnan Syed was sentenced to life in prison and eight years after the shaky case against him became the center of the hit podcast \"Serial,\" a Baltimore judge on Monday ordered that Syed’s conviction be vacated and he walked out of court a free man.\n\nThere were cheers inside the court as officers unleashed Syed's shackles.\n\nSyed, 41 and imprisoned for over two decades, was led into the crowded courtroom in handcuffs Monday. But after Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered that Syed’s conviction be vacated, his shackles were removed and he left wearing a white shirt with a tie. His mother and other family representatives left with him.\n\nPhinn ruled that the state violated its legal obligation to share exculpatory evidence with Syed’s defense. She ordered him released from custody and placed in home detention with GPS location monitoring. She also ordered the state to decide whether to seek a new trial date or dismiss the case within 30 days.\n\nThe move came after prosecutors said they no longer have faith in their original case – something that many followers of “Serial” have been saying for years.\n\nThe first season of the podcast, spanning 12 episodes, spawned investigations into Syed's conviction, books, documentaries and national media attention. The podcast concluded with host, Sarah Koenig, saying she was unsure who killed Hae Min Lee, Syed's ex-girlfriend.\n\nThat ambiguity captured national attention as Koenig examined glaring problems with both Syed's defense and the prosecution's case, exploring shoddy cellphone data, inconsistent timelines, ignored witnesses and other possible suspects.\n\nSyed was sentenced to a lifetime in prison, plus 30 years after he was convicted of the 1999 murder. He has maintained his innocence since age 17.\n\nDespite public attention, legal representation, and mass advocacy pushing to overturn Syed's conviction, multiple appeals were denied and it took prosecutors admitting errors years later to reach this point.\n\nExperts say the vast majority of prisoners don't have such opportunities, making their struggle even more difficult.\n\nLAST WEEK:Prosecutors move to vacate Adnan Syed's 'Serial' conviction\n\nEARLIER THIS YEAR:Effort to exonerate Adnan Syed may get boost with DNA testing\n\nSyed's case, and the doubts around it, captured national attention\n\nThe true-crime frenzy around Syed is one of the most high-profile examples of podcasts, TV shows and media reports casting serious doubts about previously obscure convictions. But until recently, Syed remained in jail with few legal options left.\n\nThat changed when Baltimore’s state’s attorney filed a motion to vacate the conviction judgment against him Wednesday, saying a lengthy investigation uncovered new evidence that could undermine his 2000 murder conviction.\n\nSyed had already been fighting his conviction for years when a family friend and lawyer connected him with Koenig, the future host of what would become \"Serial.\"\n\nKoenig essentially revived the case in 2014, tracking down old friends of Syed and Lee, sorting through thousands of documents and court hearings, and ultimately developing an investigation that appeared to uncover multiple problems with Syed's trial.\n\nDeirdre Enright, a law professor and founder of the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law, said Syed would have had few options to try and overturn his conviction without the public attention.\n\n\"Adnan Syed would be nowhere if Sarah Koenig hadn't stepped in and turned him into a national spectacle,\" Enright said. \"Like most, he would have been on his own.\"\n\nA 2021 Maryland law allowing for people convicted of crimes as juveniles to seek new sentences after 20 years in prison also helped move his case forward, said Enright, who was featured on several episodes of \"Serial.\"\n\nProsecutors said a yearlong investigation into Syed's case revealed two alternate suspects and \"significant reliability issues\" with evidence used to convict him.\n\nProsecutors asked for a new trial, at the minimum. The state is awaiting DNA analysis to decide whether they want to pursue a new trial or drop the case, Marilyn Mosby, state’s attorney for Baltimore City, said at a press conference following the hearing.\n\n“We’re not yet declaring that Adnan Syed is innocent,” she said. “But we are declaring that in the interest of fairness and justice, he is entitled to a new trial.”\n\n'Unfortunate ... not uncommon': Syed's lengthy process to overturn conviction\n\nThe long battle Syed faced isn’t unique, said Amanda Vicary, chair and professor of psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University.\n\n“It's unfortunate, but it's not uncommon at all that even people who are actually innocent may be in prison for 20 years before they find someone to represent them and before all of the appeals and everything make their way through the court system,” Vicary said.\n\nIn the U.S., 375 people have been exonerated by DNA testing since 1989 in various types of cases, according to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit focused on freeing innocent people and preventing wrongful convictions. On average, those people served an average of 14 years per person before they were released.\n\nSyed was granted new DNA testing in 2022 with procedures that weren't available when he was put on trial over 20 years ago. Most of the testing yielded inconclusive or non-useful results, the motion filed Wednesday says. Prosecutors are awaiting additional DNA analysis.\n\n'I FEEL FREE':Teen framed for 1985 murder becomes 3,000th person exonerated\n\nErica Suter, director of the University of Baltimore’s Innocence Project Clinic, thanked Syed's supporters and the court after the hearing for \"doing the right thing.\"\n\n“When prosecutors do not do their duty, when they do not disclose evidence as they are supposed to, the result can be that innocent people like Adnan waste decades of their lives for crimes they did not commit,\" she said.\n\nDespite his long wait to overturn his conviction, Syed has been given chances most people in the criminal justice system have not, experts say, along with a heavy dose of publicity.\n\nOne avenue to seek an overturned conviction is through a post-conviction lawyer, something Syed has employed. But once someone's been convicted, it's difficult to hire one, especially for those without money or family.\n\n“Once you go to prison, you don't get a lawyer – you're on your own,” Vicary said.\n\nWithout a post-conviction lawyer, the other viable option to overturn a conviction is to seek help from organizations like the Innocence Project – but even UVA's, which has more staff than others, has a waiting list of hundreds, according to Enright.\n\nAllowing outside influence into a courtroom directly conflicts with American judges' code of conflict. But in a case broken wide open to the public, like Syed’s, public influence may be all but unavoidable.\n\n“They might not want to admit it, or they may not even be consciously aware of it, but I think it would be hard to say that (public attention is) not affecting things in some way,” Vicary said.\n\nEXONERATIONS:They're out of prison, but still fighting to prove their innocence: 'I feel like I'm not free'\n\n'Serial' ushered in a new era of true crime but left victims behind\n\nWhen Koenig came to Enright with the idea of turning \"Serial\" into a full-length podcast, the law professor's first thought was that no one would care.\n\n\"I've been doing these cases for years ... I was like, 'nobody cares about that,'\" Enright said. \"That's why I have to keep doing this.\"\n\nBut to Enright's surprise, she was proven wrong – and happily so. \"Serial\" is one of the most celebrated podcasts of all time: it's widely cited as the most listened-to podcast in the world with over 300 million downloads, according to \"This American Life,\" which produced the podcast.\n\nAmericans have had a fascination with true crime for hundreds of years, beginning in the 1800s when newspapers started hiring crime reporters and printing sensational trials on their front pages, said Adam Golub, a professor of American Studies at California State University, Fullerton.\n\nAnd there's \"no question\" that \"Serial\" inaugurated a new cycle of that fascination, Golub said.\n\n\"What something like 'Serial' did is it turned all of us into de facto jurors or investigators – we get to be these armchair experts on these crimes who then feel like we can make up our own mind about it,\" he said.\n\nBut Serial – and many other true-crime productions – overwhelmingly focuses on the perpetrator and not the victim.\n\n\"This is really about the murder of someone,\" he said. \"Hae Min Lee has kind of been overshadowed by all of this.\"\n\nDuring the hearing, Lee's brother Young Lee spoke to the court, saying he feels betrayed by prosecutors since he thought the case was settled.\n\n“This is not a podcast for me. This is real life,” he said.\n\nIn a statement Monday, Lee's family said they continue to \"have questions in its pursuit of justice.\"\n\n\"For 22 years the family and the world have been told that Adnan Syed murdered Hae Min Lee. Now the Court and prosecutors have a different view,\" the statement reads. \"They are disappointed that today’s hearing happened so quickly and with virtually no notice, and they do not understand why the court acted the way it did and why the prosecutor’s office has made the recommendation they did.\"\n\nOPINION:Who's to blame for wrongful convictions? Accountability demands more than finger-pointing.\n\nContributing: The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/09/19"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2022/11/28/covid-cases-on-cruises/10699491002/", "title": "CDC data shows COVID-19 numbers on cruises after vaccine rules ...", "text": "Many cruise lines dropped COVID-19 vaccine requirements and further eased testing rules in early September.\n\nCDC data show the number of new positive cases following the rule changes.\n\nThe numbers did not show a consistent pattern among major lines.\n\nDavid Hancock spent his September vacation doing things he'd never done. He went on a cruise for the first time, hugged a sloth at an animal park in Honduras, and at some point during the trip, likely contracted COVID-19.\n\nThe 36-year-old firefighter had avoided infection for two years, but tested positive the morning after he and his wife, Melissa, who had been celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary, returned home to Savannah, Tennessee.\n\nBut not even COVID-19 could put a damper on their Royal Caribbean International sailing. \"I went all that time since COVID began without getting it ... so I went and got it on a cruise ship,\" he told USA TODAY.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/11/28"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/health/covid-endemic-pandemic-anniversary-america-patient-gupta/index.html", "title": "Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Is America ready to take the next step in its Covid ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAs we reach the second anniversary of the World Health Organization acknowledging Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, we appear to be standing on the edge of the endemic phase of this global health crisis. For many, that’s the moment when we hope we can get back to our regular lives.\n\nSeveral times during this pandemic, I have written essays about America as if the country was my patient. The current situation has me thinking along those lines again.\n\nDoctors, like anyone else, love to give good news. We see the value of hope but also recognize that honesty must be our North Star. I would love to be the good guy here and tell my patient that it’s time to be discharged from this chapter of our lives. But a doctor’s job is to fully assess the situation and lean into the nuance, as opposed to simple axioms.\n\nTime for a physical\n\nSo let’s examine America, the patient. On the one hand, the numbers are going down. Cases of Covid-19 are more than a third lower this week than they were last week and the lowest they’ve been since July, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. And the number of people hospitalized is about a fifth of what it was during the country’s mid-January peak. Even deaths, the so-called lagging indicator, have been falling; they’re at their lowest point in two months.\n\nAll 50 states are in the process of lifting restrictions. On March 26, Hawaii will become the last state to end its indoor mask mandate.\n\nAt the federal level, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made big changes in late February. Instead of primarily using levels of coronavirus transmission within a community as the key metric for determining mask guidance, the agency recommends that three data points be considered instead: new Covid-19 hospitalizations, hospital capacity and Covid-19 cases.\n\nSo now, instead of a transmission map that paints most of the country an “inflamed” red, the community levels map shows a lot of cooler green and yellow, with a bit of orange – the new low, medium and high categories. Since that change, there has been a big drop in the percentage of Americans living under masking recommendations, from 99% under the old metrics to just about 2% now.\n\nAnd at the start of the month, the White House unveiled its National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan. The new plan focuses on “vaccines, treatments, tests, masks,” White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said. “These tools are how we continue to protect people and enable us to move forward safely and get back to our more normal routines.”\n\nAs part of that, government testing and treatment initiatives are being streamlined and made more widely available.\n\nA closer look\n\nBut in medicine, we cannot rely on lab results and a medical history. We need to perform a thorough and detailed exam. And when we do that, a more complete picture of the patient emerges.\n\nTruth is, America, my patient still has an active infection. Although the numbers are falling, they are still painfully high: The country is averaging just under 37,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day. It’s as if saying the patient used to have a very high fever but now only has a moderately high fever. The point is, it’s still too high. We wouldn’t stop treating the patient’s infection at this point but rather complete the course of treatment and care.\n\nThere’s also the issue of understanding the effects the illness may have on my patient in the future. In this case, it means acknowledging an entirely new disease: long Covid.\n\nMany Americans are enduring the lingering effects of a past infection, battling health conditions like fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, cardiac issues. The list of long Covid symptoms is lengthy and varied; there are no answers as to who and why, nor are there easy, one-size-fits-all treatments.\n\nWe are in the early days of this disease, but I was particularly struck by the recent paper indicating a previous Covid infection being a significant risk factor for future heart problems.\n\nAnd, even more important, there are still about 30,000 Americans hospitalized for Covid and, on average, more than 1,250 deaths a day. That’s the equivalent of about two jumbo jets dropping out of the sky every day.\n\nMy patient still needs lots of care.\n\nOther factors at play\n\nDespite the less red and inflamed transmission map, it still shows there’s a lot of virus out there. If the virus came in the form of a raindrop, parts of our country would still be getting drenched.\n\nI have often imagined how different things would be if we could have actually seen the virus – little green particles circulating around people’s noses and mouths and becoming airborne. What if we had been able to witness its destruction and journey into blood vessels and lungs? This invisible enemy circumvented our basic human ability to detect a threat and, as a result, made us more likely to ignore and even deny it.\n\nI would remind my patient we have been here before. We experienced moments of genuine hope earlier and then witnessed how quickly things can change. In the summer of 2021, the Delta variant surprised us, and in December, Omicron blindsided us. Both times, the spikes caused by these variants followed declarations of victory heralding the end of the pandemic.\n\nCurrently, there is a subvariant of Omicron called BA.2 that may spread even faster than Omicron itself. According to the latest figures from the CDC, it now makes up about 11.6% of Covid cases in the US; the week before, 6.6%. BA.2 is the dominant variant in Denmark, the United Kingdom, India, South Africa and more than a dozen other countries. According to the World Health Organization, studies estimate it is 30% more contagious than the original Omicron (BA.1).\n\nAnd while studies suggest that BA.2 is not more likely to lead to hospitalization than BA.1, another patient that I’ve been keeping an eye on, the United Kingdom, is seeing cases and hospitalizations starting to trend up again after declining steadily since mid-January. Sometimes, doctors gain a lot of information from watching how other patients are faring.\n\nAgain, I get it. I would love to look at these past two years in the rearview mirror as well, but we need to learn the lessons of this pandemic and apply that knowledge in real time. Today. Now.\n\nDelta and Omicron represent two cautionary tales in the span of a few months. It would be shortsighted to ignore that reality, believing it will never happen again.\n\nA blend of science and judgment\n\nThe International Epidemiology Association’s Dictionary of Epidemiology defines a pandemic as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people.”\n\nTwo years ago, when we made the decision to use the word pandemic on CNN, before the CDC or WHO, it was fairly straightforward – fundamentally, it was an exercise in math and data analysis. My producers and I spent a lot of time looking at whiteboards where we kept tabs on the growing numbers and locations of Covid-19 cases. One day, I remember thinking, “If this isn’t the very definition of a pandemic, I don’t know what is. So why is no one else calling it that?”\n\nAnd so we did.\n\nVideo Ad Feedback Dr. Gupta: Here's why CNN is calling this a pandemic (2020) 04:40 - Source: CNN\n\nAlthough the line was clear entering the pandemic, it will be much fuzzier as we approach endemicity. A disease is considered endemic when it is a “constant presence … within a given geographic area or population group.” It would also be predictable in its rate of spread without causing the level of disruption it does in a pandemic.\n\nBut what is considered disruptive may be very different in one country compared with another, even from one person to the next. Progressing into this next phase will be based on a blend of science and judgment.\n\nWhat the exam reveals\n\nSo if America were my patient, the question I would be asking: Is it really time to downgrade the country’s present-day condition from pandemic to endemic?\n\nIt’s analogous in some ways to deciding when to discharge my surgical patients to the general care floor from the intensive care unit.\n\nI make rounds in the intensive care unit, carefully reviewing each patient’s chart – full of lab results, metrics and data. And then I sit at the bedside, watching, examining and understanding how they really feel. Can they stand on their own, put a fork to their mouth and a comb through their hair? Are their basic bodily functions returning to normal, and can they get by independently? It is a judgment call. Two people can have the same vital signs but be in very different places.\n\nIf America were my patient, what would I see when I sit at its bedside? Beyond 1,300 people dying a day, I would make note that almost 60,000 people died of Covid-19 during the month of February alone. In other words, more people died of Covid-19 in one month than die of the flu during a bad year.\n\nSo the question ultimately is: What is too disruptive? What are we willing to tolerate? At what point do we as a society throw up our hands and say, “We can’t do any better than this,” so let’s call this level of sickness and death “endemic,” accept the numbers and move on with our lives?\n\nAnd of course, my patient, America, lives on a planet with lots of other patients, all part of an intricate ecosystem. We must realize that America’s health is dependent on the health of all the other patients on the planet: When any one of us is at risk, we are all at risk.\n\nFinding a measure of peace and quiescence\n\nNone of this is easy. It’s why epidemiologist and author Dr. Larry Brilliant said that “endemic” is a terrible word.\n\n“Smallpox was ‘endemic’ when it killed somewhere between a third and half a billion people in the 20th century. Malaria is endemic, and it’s killing millions. Tuberculosis is endemic. And HIV/AIDS was sort of thrown out of people’s consciousness by just labeling it ‘endemic,’ ” he said.\n\nBrilliant, who is CEO of Pandefense Advisory and a senior adviser at the Skoll Foundation, was a key player on the WHO team that eradicated smallpox.\n\nHe pointed out that the technical definition of “endemic” is a disease that is generating an expected number of cases, to the expected community and the expected time. “And because [Covid-19] is a baby of a disease … it’s way too early to try to figure out what is endemicity. We have to wait for it to become a teenager and see how it behaves,” he said.\n\nBrilliant prefers the term “quiescent.” “We want this thing to be quiet,” he said.\n\nHe recalled that in the early days of 2020, he and other epidemiologists and public health experts speculated that the illness would come in waves.\n\n“A wave is a really good metaphor to think about this. Sometimes, the waves come in a bunch at a time, and sometimes there’s not a wave for hours, even days. Some waves are too small to really be called waves. But every once in a while, there’s a rogue wave, this tsunami.”\n\nHe explained, “what we want is the interval [between waves] to be long and the water in the waves to be quiescent. And that’s what we’re trying to say when people use the word ‘endemic.’ … To say that the pandemic has gone endemic is failure – it’s not success. We haven’t put it where we want it. So it’s the wrong way of thinking about it.”\n\nPlus, said Brilliant, saying that the pandemic is over means “we give up our duty of care.”\n\nHe believes we still have a duty of care to the immunocompromised, the elderly, the vulnerable and, yes, even the unvaccinated, because they are the ones disproportionately dying.\n\nLife with an endemic disease\n\nHumans are increasingly living side by side with pathogens that were once in the wild but then took hold among us. We might not like it, and sometimes the pathogen comes too close for comfort, but we learn to live with it.\n\nTake the parasite malaria. For millennia, it killed off wide swaths of the global population. In fact, the mosquito, which transmits the parasite that causes disease, is one of the most prolific killers of humans worldwide.\n\nInarguably, the course of humanity has been shaped by malaria: It’s believed to have contributed to the fall of Rome, and for hundreds of years, it helped protect Africa from European colonization even as it infected the local population. (And it’s why the gene for sickle cell anemia, which is protective against malaria, never died off evolutionarily.) In this country, Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln grappled with it. The disease stunted the physical and economic growth of the rural South through the 1930s, and it is why the precursor to the CDC was founded.\n\nIt’s an understatement to say man has been living with malaria for a very long time. And although we may not have eradicated it from the face of the Earth or completely tamed it, we have learned to coexist with it and reduced it to an endemic disease in a shrinking number of countries. The United States eradicated it in 1951.\n\nHow did we do that? By arming ourselves with knowledge. Through scientific research, we learned about where malaria comes from and how it is spread. We developed mitigation strategies and medications to blunt its impact.\n\nAnd our work is still not done: In 2020, malaria killed an estimated 627,000 people, the vast majority of them children in sub-Saharan Africa.\n\nEarly detection, rapid response\n\nMany experts, including Brilliant, are pretty sure that Covid-19 is here to stay. Like the common cold (also often caused by a coronavirus) or the flu, it’s expected to be part of our lives for the next 10, 50 or 100 years, and life will never be quite the same again.\n\nBut we can improve the situation and learn to live with it.\n\n“We want the disease to occur in places that we expect it, in the numbers that we expect, so we know how to deal with it,” Brilliant said. “You can go to Hawaii on vacation and not worry. Your kids can go to school. And you don’t need to worry about going to dinner with your parents or your grandparents. Maybe it’s quiet and you have to still wear masks. Maybe it’s quiet and you still have to be tested before you go someplace. But it’s not on the front page every day.”\n\nThe key, said Brilliant, is two-part: early detection and rapid response.\n\nFor that to happen, we have to have good monitoring tools and be nimble going into and out of protective mode. Maybe that means we carry a mask in our coat pocket during wintertime, just like we take an umbrella when the forecast predicts rain; maybe we keep a box of rapid tests and a packet of antivirals in the bathroom cabinet for when we are under the weather; maybe we close a school but like we do with the flu – with surgical precision, using a scalpel instead of a chainsaw.\n\nThe good news, Brilliant said, is that moving forward, our tools – vaccines, surveillance, tests, treatments, prophylactics – will only get better.\n\nThe inescapable fact is that we live in the era of pandemics. There are simply more and more opportunities for a pathogen, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to come in contact with the human population, make the jump and take hold. It’s a dance we are increasingly doing because we are infringing more and more on the microbes’ territory. Population growth, deforestation, climate change all contribute to this.\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nThese pathogens are going to keep emerging in humans, but pandemics are not inevitable. Humans have evolved to create remarkable public health tools to prevent that, just as long we are smart and humane enough to use them.\n\nMy patient – America – is still in precarious health and will have to be careful moving forward to maintain all of the gains and continue making progress. Both the patient and doctors will have to remain vigilant and act quickly if there’s any new infection.\n\nIt’s just not time for my patient to completely drop their guard, however much we would all like that to happen. We can and should be hopeful, but honesty must lead the way, full and transparent.", "authors": ["Dr. Sanjay Gupta"], "publish_date": "2022/03/11"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/30/health/suicide-deaths-2021/index.html", "title": "US suicide rates rose in 2021, reversing two years of decline | CNN", "text": "Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-8255 to connect with a trained counselor, or visit 988lifeline.org.\n\nCNN —\n\nLast year, a landlord stopped by Patrick John’s home in the Salt Lake City area to replace a broken dishwasher. John was always a little shy with people he didn’t know well, but he welcomed his guest with the warmth that he was known and loved for.\n\nIn the process of replacing the dishwasher, they discovered that mice had found their way inside the house, likely because of nearby construction. But for John – a husband and father of four – the mess became a physical representation of his sense that he was failing his family.\n\nA few years earlier, physical health challenges had made John unable to work. The change took a toll on him in many ways. That day, his worries spiraled into fears of eviction or homelessness, and he called his wife, Sabina, in a panic.\n\nJohn had also struggled with depression and anxiety for years and was working hard to overcome his mental health challenges with regular therapy and medication. But his access to therapy was cut off in 2020 as the office closed to in-person visits amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and in early February 2021 – within hours of the landlord leaving – he died by suicide at age 32.\n\n“It was everything leading up to that point that made such a small thing so big to him,” Sabina John said. “The day was just hard, in general, and I think that may have just tipped him over the edge to say ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ “\n\nPatrick John was one of 47,646 people in the US who died of suicide last year, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – one death every 11 minutes.\n\nSuicide has long been a growing concern – rates have increased 31% over the past 20 years, CDC data shows – but experts were divided in their expectations of what the pandemic would bring. Isolation and other new stressors could take a heavy toll, for example, but the forced changes could also help people remove themselves from previous stressors and find solace in a shared crisis.\n\nPatrick John, a husband and father of four, died by suicide in February 2021. Courtesy Stephanie Howell Photography\n\nA dip in suicide rates in 2019 continued into 2020, but the CDC report, released Friday, shows that 2021 reversed most of that improvement and brought rates back to near-record levels – about 14 suicide deaths for every 100,000 people.\n\nThe pandemic may have introduced new difficulties into our lives, but experts say the many reasons a person may attempt suicide have a common core.\n\n“There is individual difference that exists with what might make me lose hope versus you,” said Sarah Brummett, director of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s executive committee. “But taking a step back, when we’re talking about the drivers for suicidal despair, we’re talking about pain and the loss of hope that things can get better.”\n\nFor some, like John, the path is long and winding before it reaches a breaking point. For others, it’s more direct.\n\n“Traditionally, we thought of suicide as linear. First, you start having thoughts, and you maybe practice with attempts, and then you actually attempt. But people can jump these phases,” said Justin Baker, a psychologist and assistant professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. “This may be someone that has previously never struggled with suicide. So universal screening measures would have missed that kind of individual.”\n\nIn either case, it is often just a matter of minutes between the time a person decides to take their life and when a suicide attempt is made, experts say. But there’s usually a trigger – like a breakup, a financial crisis, violence or other trauma.\n\n“That individual can’t think their way through that situation or find an alternative strategy to get out. They’re just flooded and overwhelmed, and so they see suicide as the solution to that immense distress or pain,” Baker said.\n\nBut, he said, most people who survive suicide attempts say they didn’t really want to die – they just want help getting through that immediate pain.\n\nBetter lifelines\n\nAlthough CDC data shows that suicides increased from 2020 to 2021, experts say it’s challenging to draw conclusions from one year of change. And rates are relatively stable compared with three years earlier.\n\nIn recent years, progress has been made on both critical fronts: better options for addressing the immediate crisis and building up support for broader mental health resources.\n\n“Suicides did not skyrocket the way a lot of people thought they would” during the pandemic, partly because there were efforts by so many who were “trying to head off what we were afraid would happen,” said Doreen Marshall, a psychologist and vice president of mission engagement with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.\n\nThere was also a “growing awareness and learning on the part of the public about what mental health is and how to help someone who’s struggling,” she said.\n\nAlthough John would often isolate himself during tough times, he did recognize the positive effects of talking things through with his therapist and family – and he was generous in offering that support to others.\n\nHe was an avid gamer and found respite in the online gaming community. After his death, one fellow gamer reached out to his wife to share the story of how talking with John – and the compassion and empathy he gave him in times of pain – helped save his own life.\n\nThe National Suicide Prevention Lifeline also recently transitioned to a three-digit hotline, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, to make it easier for people to get help.\n\n“The impulse to act is a very short, intense one. And so the goal is really to get people through those difficult moments,” Marshall said. “The shorter number is more accessible for people to remember in that time of crisis.”\n\nAnd calls into the hotline jumped 45% after its launch over the summer, compared to the same time a year earlier, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.\n\nBut critical challenges remain.\n\nManaging risk factors\n\nIn 2021, the CDC report shows, the suicide rate among men in the US was four times higher than it was for women – a disparity that continues to grow. There were about 23 suicide deaths for every 100,000 men in 2021, compared with about 6 for every 100,000 women.\n\nSome point to guns as the driving risk factor.\n\nThe new CDC report does not include data on suicide methods or attempts for 2021. But data from 2020 shows that for every person who died of suicide, there were eight suicide-related hospital visits and 27 suicide attempts. And firearms were used in more than half of suicide deaths.\n\nYoung women are most likely to present at an emergency room after a suicide attempt, but older men are most likely to die as a result of a suicide attempt – and that’s directly correlated to gun ownership, said Ari Freilich, state policy director for Giffords Law Center, a gun-control advocacy group.\n\n“The population most at risk and most likely to attempt suicide in the United States is not the population most likely to die by suicide,” he said. “Firearms explain so much of that difference.”\n\nOwning a gun does not make a person more likely to feel suicidal, but having access to one during a crisis can be a “really bad combination,” Brummett said. “We’re really talking about collaborative approaches that create time and distance between me, in the presence of a suicidal crisis, and my firearm.”\n\nAnd with a record year of gun sales in 2020, the risk increases with more guns in more homes.\n\n“Guns are so uniquely lethal compared to the most common other methods in the United States,” Freilich said. The vast majority – 9 out of 10 people – who attempt suicide using a gun die as a result, but about the exact opposite is true for those who attempt with other methods.\n\n“Even if you were 0% effective at preventing people from attempting suicide, replacing the means – the access to firearms – would save the majority of people.”\n\nBut mental health struggles, including suicidal ideation, can affect anyone, experts say.\n\nSuicide is a major contributor to premature death in the US overall, and it’s the second leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 34, according to the CDC.\n\nBetween 2020 and 2021, suicide deaths among girls ages 10 to 14 increased more than any other group, followed by teenage boys and young men ages 15 to 24, according to the new CDC report. And in 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a state of emergency concerning children’s and adolescents’ mental health.\n\n“Now that we’ve made it easy to talk about mental health, we have to ensure that our infrastructure is able to withstand the additional referrals,” Baker said. “We need to now adjust to being able to absorb all the people who are wanting to actually address their mental health.\n\n“In some ways, we’ve created a new problem,” he said.\n\nNot a burden but a gift\n\nOnce John stopped therapy, Sabina said, it was tough for him to get back into it once services were available again and he often lamented the burden he felt that he put on his family.\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nBut for Sabina, he was anything but.\n\n“He really thought I would be better off without him, but that’s just not the case,” she said.\n\n“Whatever struggles we would have gone through, I would have rather gone through those together than have to struggle without him.”\n\nShe is proud of the qualities he instilled in their kids: curiosity, ambition, humor and compassion. Their oldest daughter talks with her hands like he did and has a laugh that sounds just like his, and it makes her smile.\n\nAnd when his memory or the topic of suicide comes up, Sabina is sure to never shy away from it.\n\n“It was really important for me that [the kids] knew the circumstances and the why,” she said. “I didn’t want to hide the fact that he committed suicide. I just explained that Daddy had been sick for a very long time, and his mind had also been sick for a very long time.”\n\nThat way, she said, they can remember him together with a focus on all of the good times, without letting him be defined by his death.", "authors": ["Deidre Mcphillips"], "publish_date": "2022/09/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/12/22/us-life-expectancy-continues-fall-erasing-25-years-health-gains/10937418002/", "title": "US life expectancy continues to fall, erasing 25 years of health gains", "text": "Average American life expectancy fell from 77 to 76.4 years last year, bringing U.S. figures back to where they were in 1996, according to federal data released Thursday.\n\nThat means all the medical advances over the past quarter century have been erased, said Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who was not involved in the new study.\n\nFor American men, life expectancy fell by more than eight months, and for women the loss was about seven months, the study found. Life expectancy, which is actually a measure of death rates, dropped in every age category over age 1.\n\nThough the rate of decline in life expectancy wasn't as dramatic as in 2020, Woolf said, the fall-off in 2021 was actually worse because it came on top of that year's 17% decline.\n\nThe latest decline came as other wealthy countries saw a rebound after the first year of the pandemic, Woolf said. He blames a variety of factors, including low COVID-19 vaccination rates and the general poor health of Americans.\n\n\"The fact that the United States in 2020 and 2021 did so much worse than other countries is a warning sign that this health disadvantage that America has had for many years is really getting pretty bad,\" he said.\n\nHow many people died last year from ODs?:Nearly 107,000 drug overdoses, COVID deaths, push US life expectancy to lowest in 25 years\n\nWhat's killing Americans?\n\nCauses of death remained largely the same between 2020 and 2021, led by heart disease, cancer and COVID-19, all three of which occurred more often last year.\n\nEight of the top 10 causes of death saw statistically significant increases in 2021 over 2020, including unintentional injury and stroke. Only Alzheimer's disease and chronic lower respiratory diseases declined among the leading causes of death.\n\nDeath rates from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, which are often alcohol-related, also rose during the pandemic, the data showed. Woolf said people might have turned to alcohol to reduce economic, social and other stresses of the previous two years.\n\nDrug overdoses increased during the pandemic, but Woolf doesn't like the common term \"deaths of despair\" because many people start taking addictive painkillers on a doctor's orders after a surgery.\n\nDeath rate increasing at younger ages\n\nWoolf said he's particularly concerned about the drop in life expectancy for people in middle age, who should be at the prime of their working years.\n\nThis trend began a decade before the pandemic, but COVID-19 contributed, he said, particularly for people of color. A 40-year-old with multiple health problems was more likely to die of COVID-19 than someone of the same age in better health; in essence, poor health is making the American population look older than it is, he said.\n\nIt's not clear, he said, why deaths are increasing among younger adults and children, which had been declining before the pandemic.\n\nThe race gap reversed\n\nThe race gap reversed somewhat in 2021 as white people lost more ground than people of color, though they still live longer on average.\n\nDuring the first year of the pandemic, Hispanic and Black populations experienced much higher death rates than their white counterparts. They were more likely to be exposed to COVID-19 and to die when they got infected, Woolf said.\n\nBut in 2021, \"it's the white population that's done worse,\" he said. Death rates increased among people of color, but not as much as the 7% among white people.\n\nAmerican Indians and Native Alaskans continued the \"tragic losses\" seen in the first year of the pandemic, he said.\n\n\"The white population, which from a medical standpoint should not be experiencing higher death rates, did,\" Woolf said. Other data suggests that's because white people were more likely to avoid COVID-19 vaccination.\n\nWhat can be done?\n\nWoolf said he sees a clear path toward improving America's health, by providing what other wealthy nations provide: quality education, affordable housing, access to healthy food, reduced income inequality and greater regulation of industries that pollute or provide potentially dangerous products such as cars or guns.\n\n\"We need to make a decision as to whether we're just going to accept those losses and accept that Americans are going to be less healthy than people (in other wealthy countries) and live much shorter lives or we need to do something about it,\" Woolf said. \"We don't lack solutions. We lack political will.\"\n\nWoolf said he doesn't think it will take 25 years for Americans to regain the ground lost over the past two. Once COVID-19 deaths fall, life expectancy numbers should bounce back, he said.\n\n\"But the fact that we took a hit like that and were pushed that far back in time while other countries did not is very concerning.\"\n\nContact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday.com.\n\nHealth and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/12/22"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2015/07/15/us-airports-increasingly-dominated-by-1-or-2-carriers/30152927/", "title": "U.S. airports increasingly dominated by 1 or 2 carriers", "text": "David Koenig and Scott Mayerowitz\n\nAP Airline Writers\n\nDALLAS (AP) — The wave of consolidation that swept the U.S. airline industry has markedly reduced competition at many of the nation's major airports, and passengers appear to be paying the price in higher fares and fees, an Associated Press analysis has found.\n\nOver the past decade, mega-mergers reduced nine large U.S. airlines to four — American, United, Delta and Southwest — with the result that travelers are increasingly finding their home airport dominated by just one or two players.\n\nOver the same period, domestic airfares rose faster than inflation, and analysts believe one leading factor is the decline in competitive pressure.\n\n\"Airlines aren't going at each other like they used to,\" said Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant frequently hired by airports. \"They have their turf, and they very rarely go to the mattresses with one another.\"\n\nAt 40 of the 100 largest U.S. airports, a single airline controls a majority of the market, as measured by the number of seats for sale, up from 34 airports a decade earlier. At 93 of the top 100, one or two airlines control a majority of the seats, an increase from 78 airports, according to AP's analysis of data from Diio, an airline-schedule tracking service.\n\nOverall, domestic fares climbed 5% over the past 10 years, after adjusting for inflation. And that doesn't include the $25 checked bag fee and other add-on charges that many fliers now pay.\n\nTo be sure, other factors have contributed to higher fares, among them a stronger economy, longer average flight distances and, for most of the past few years, some of the highest fuel prices in history. However, analysts believe consolidation freed airlines to charge more.\n\nThe strategy is paying off: In the past two years, U.S. airlines made a record $19.7 billion in profits, even though air travel is growing only modestly.\n\nThe airlines' main trade group, Airlines for America, said the fare increases reflect stronger demand for travel and are not solely a result of the mergers. The group noted that airlines have used their profits to buy new jets and update airport facilities.\n\nAmerican Airlines CEO Doug Parker rejected the notion that consolidation has hurt travelers.\n\n\"We have increased flying out of each of our hubs,\" Parker said. \"We want to expand. That's good for consumers, not bad.\"\n\nThe Justice Department notified the four largest airlines on June 30 that it is investigating whether they are colluding to drive up fares by limiting the availability of flights and seats. Those four control more than 80% of the U.S. market.\n\nThere was a time — before deregulation in 1978 — when fliers had even fewer choices and paid higher fares than they do now. Back then, the U.S. government controlled which airlines flew to which cities and how much they could charge. Competition intensified in the 1980s. As new airlines entered the market, fares dropped precipitously.\n\nAfter 9/11 and the recession that hit immediately afterward, major airlines were in financial shambles. Several restructured through bankruptcy, and a wave of deals starting in 2008 led to the combinations of Delta and Northwest, United and Continental, Southwest and AirTran, and American and US Airways.\n\nJustice Department antitrust regulators let the deals go through but forced airlines in a few cases to give up some of their spots at key airports to try to encourage competition.\n\nStill, \"the airline industry is less competitive now than it used to be,\" said Seth Kaplan, managing partner of industry newsletter Airline Weekly. \"Some of us used to have eight or nine airlines to choose from. Now we have maybe four or five, just as we have four or five cellphone companies to choose from.\"\n\nThe mergers have altered the competitive landscape at airports big and small.\n\n— In Indianapolis, the two leading airlines controlled just 37% of the seats a decade ago, and domestic fares were 9% below the national average. Then the city's main airline, ATA, went bankrupt and was bought by Southwest, and its No. 2 carrier, Northwest, was absorbed by Delta. Now two airlines control 56% of the seats, and airfares are 6% above the national average.\n\n— The Dayton, Ohio, airport was served by 10 airlines in 2005, and fares were 5% below average. Today, just four airlines fly there and prices are almost 10% above average.\n\n— Big hub airports aren't immune. In 2005, US Airways controlled nearly 66% of the seats in Philadelphia. Now that US Airways has merged with American, the combined airline has 77% of the seats. Airfare has gone from 4% below average to 10% above it.\n\n— Delta's hold on Atlanta, the world's busiest airport, increased during that same period from 78% of seats to just over 80%. At the same time, low-cost AirTran merged into Southwest and reduced flights there. Domestic airfares at the airport went from nearly 6% below average to 11% above.\n\n— Some cities are actually seeing lower fares than they did a decade ago. Prices in Denver were once 5.6% higher than the national average. Now that United's market share there has dropped to 41% from 56%, fares are almost 15% lower than the rest of the country.\n\nRecent deals indicate the big airlines intend to stick to a strategy of dominating one airport and forgoing marginal service elsewhere.\n\nFor instance, United announced in June that it will abandon Kennedy Airport and move its dwindling number of JFK flights to New Jersey's Newark airport, where it already controls 68% of the seats. At the same time, if regulators go along, Delta will further shrink its small presence at Newark and take over United's share at JFK, where Delta is already top dog.\n\nOne of the few competitive battles is taking place in Seattle, where Delta is mounting a fierce challenge to longtime No. 1 Alaska Airlines. Delta is building Seattle into a gateway to Asia and adding flights on domestic routes long dominated by Alaska. Seattle-based Alaska has responded by adding service.\n\nThe average fare at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was $377 in the third quarter of 2014, $18 below the national average.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2015/07/15"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_21", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/02/08/simpsons-episode-china-labor-camps-removed-hong-kong-disney/11211135002/", "title": "Simpsons episode referencing China camps removed on Hong ...", "text": "Associated Press\n\nHONG KONG – Walt Disney Co. has removed an episode from cartoon series \"The Simpsons\" that included a reference to \"forced labor camps\" in China from its streaming service in Hong Kong.\n\nThe company declined to comment on why the episode, \"One Angry Lisa\" from the 34th season of \"The Simpsons,\" was not available to stream on the Disney Plus streaming service in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, according to checks by The Associated Press.\n\nThe episode first aired on television in October, and it was not clear when the episode was removed from the Hong Kong streaming service.\n\nIn the episode, \"Simpsons\" character Marge Simpson takes a virtual spin class whose instructor is in front of a virtual background of the Great Wall of China and says: \"Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.\"\n\nPreviously:The US says China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs. Here's some of the most chilling evidence.\n\nNetflix: Netflix buys former Army base to create $850 million production studio in New Jersey\n\nThe issue of forced labor is sensitive in China. Communist-ruled Beijing has increasingly imposed its controls over Hong Kong, a former British colony, after taking control of the territory in 1997.\n\nChina promised that Hong Kong would retain its Western-style freedoms for 50 years after the handover from British rule. But Beijing has been tightening controls after imposing a National Security Law following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, raising concerns over a weakening of civil liberties such as freedom of speech and the press.\n\nUnder the national security law, those found guilty of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.\n\nIn 2021, Hong Kong implemented a film censorship law would allow authorities to ban films deemed contrary to national security interests. At the time, officials said that regulating films shown online would be outside the scope of the bill.\n\nWestern governments and activists have for years accused China of imprisoning hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities – mainly Uyghurs – in the western region of Xinjiang in detention camps. China has rejected accusations it uses forced labor in those camps.\n\nChina says the camps are education centers designed to teach Mandarin Chinese and vocational skills.\n\nCensorship of Western television series or films is common in mainland China, with censors deleting scenes or banning content seen as going against values deemed appropriate by the Chinese Communist Party.\n\n\"The Simpsons\" has been screened at times in China. According to checks by The AP, clips of the Simpsons can still be found on Chinese video sites, but not the scene from \"One Angry Lisa.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/08"}, {"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/china/959563/disneys-hong-kong-service-deletes-simpsons-forced-labour-episode", "title": "Disney's Hong Kong service deletes Simpsons 'forced labour' episode", "text": "We will use the details you have shared to manage your registration. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your registration as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWould you like to receive The WeekDay newsletter ?\n\nThe WeekDay newsletter provides you with a daily digest of news and analysis.\n\nWe will use the details you have shared to manage your newsletter subscription. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your subscription as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWe will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we believe we have a legitimate case to do so, for example to send you communications about similar products and services we offer. You can find out more about our legitimate interest activity in our Privacy Policy.\n\nIf you wish to object to the use of your data in this way, please tick here.\n\n'We' includes The Week and other Future Publishing Limited brands as detailed here.", "authors": ["Jamie Timson"], "publish_date": "2023/02/07"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/50-states/2021/02/12/feeding-front-line-whooping-cranes-stadium-crowds-news-around-states/115463634/", "title": "Feeding the front line, whooping cranes: News from around our 50 ...", "text": "From USA TODAY Network and wire reports\n\nAlabama\n\nMontgomery: Vaccines against COVID-19 will soon be available at more than 70 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across Alabama, the company and the state announced. The retailer said people who meet the state’s eligibility requirements can begin signing up for appointments, and the immunizations begin Friday. Part of the program’s aim is to get the vaccine into areas without adequate medical services, the company said. That includes the south Alabama town of Brewton, which the company said was chosen to get the vaccine because other immunization sites are so far away. More than 1,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies in Alabama and 21 other states are receiving federal vaccine allocations this week. Gov. Kay Ivey said the state was grateful for the doses but urged patience since each store will have a limited supply of vaccine. The state on Monday expanded vaccine eligibility to include everyone 65 and older, school workers, grocery store employees, some manufacturers, public transit workers, agriculture employees, state legislators and constitutional officers. As many as 1.5 million people now qualify for shots, up from about 700,000 previously.\n\nAlaska\n\nJuneau: The state is expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations to people 50 and older with high-risk medical conditions, prekindergarten through grade 12 teachers and child care workers, and those 50 and older in jobs considered essential who work in close proximity to others. The state health department announced the expansion Wednesday. It said people in those groups can start making appointments Thursday. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in a statement, said many Alaskans in the 65-and-older age group who wanted to receive vaccinations have, “and now it’s time to open up vaccinations to a new group of Alaskans.” Individuals previously eligible can still get vaccinated, officials say. Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said factors such as Alaska’s remaining allocation for February and estimates on how much vaccine the state might receive for March were weighed in making the decision to expand eligibility. The new tier includes people living or working in congregate settings who weren’t previously eligible, including homeless and domestic violence shelters and those in correctional settings.\n\nArizona\n\nPhoenix: Facing complaints from advocates for people with disabilities, the state Senate is eyeing legislation that would bar hospitals from considering a person’s potential lifespan, quality of life or disability when the facilities are forced to ration care during the current or any future pandemic. The proposal from Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, instead would require hospitals that are assessing patients under state-adopted crisis standards of care to assess only a patient’s ability to survive the current hospitalization. Barto said at a hearing Wednesday that the current standards, adopted last year to address the COVID-19 pandemic, could discriminate against disabled people. But not everyone who testified at the Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing backed the change. Dr. Patricia Mayer, director of clinical ethics at the Banner Health hospital chain, who was involved in drafting the current COVID-19 guidelines, said putting the new requirements into law could lock out future updates to the standards, which have been in place for nearly a decade. She said preventing doctors from judging who gets treatment without being able to consider their realistic lifespan could lead to absurd results.\n\nArkansas\n\nLittle Rock: The state Senate on Wednesday approved a measure allowing medical providers to refuse to treat someone because of their religious or moral beliefs, a move critics say will allow them to turn LGBTQ patients away. The majority-Republican Senate voted 27-6 in favor of the measure, which says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in nonemergency treatments that violate their conscience. The proposal now heads to the House. Supporters of the bill said it would protect health care workers from being forced to perform something that goes against their conscience. “This bill is about elective things, things you can take time to find a provider who’s willing to offer the service rather than a force a provider who doesn’t believe in doing it,” said Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, who sponsored the measure. Opponents said it would give wide berth to medical providers to use religious, moral or philosophical beliefs to deny care to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients. One opponent said it’s written so broadly that it could even allow someone to be denied service because of their political affiliation.\n\nCalifornia\n\nSan Francisco: The Golden State has edged past New York in the grim statistic of the number of deaths due to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data reported Thursday. California’s death toll reached 45,496, surpassing New York’s toll of 45,312, even as coronavirus trends are showing improvement in California. Meanwhile, a surge of coronavirus cases at the University of California, Berkeley has prompted school officials to extend a lockdown on about 2,000 students living in residence halls and ban them from outdoor exercise as part of strict new measures to curb the spread of infections. More than 400 people, mostly undergraduate students, at UC Berkeley have tested positive for the virus since an outbreak that started in mid-January, according to the university’s coronavirus dashboard. All students living in dorm-style residence halls were ordered to “self-sequester” in a lockdown initially put in place from Feb. 1-8. But this week, school officials extended the lockdown through at least Monday. “You may NOT leave your room for solo outdoor exercise,” an email said, noting this was a change from the previous week’s rules. The ban goes beyond strict guidelines issued by the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom has encouraged outdoor exercise, even during strict lockdown periods.\n\nColorado\n\nDenver: Businesses in the state have sold about $10 billion of marijuana since the plant was legalized for recreational use in 2014, according to new data released by the state Department of Revenue. The figures released Tuesday indicate that marijuana sales in 2020 hit an all-time high for one year with $2.19 billion in total revenue, up from $1.75 billion in 2019. Marijuana revenue from 2020 surpassed figures from 2019 by the end of October. “Ten billion is incredible and unsurprising at the same time,” said Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, Colorado’s trade association. “The industry has partnered with regulators to do things the right way in Colorado.” Tax and fee revenue from marijuana sales since 2014 has totaled about $1.63 billion, the state said. Marijuana dispensaries collect 2.9% in state sales tax, 15% as a marijuana retail sales tax, and a 15% excise tax on wholesale sales or transfers of retail marijuana, the Colorado Sun reports. Fees are generated from license and application charges, while cities often add local sales taxes of about 20%.\n\nConnecticut\n\nHartford: New and limited data released Wednesday from the state Department of Public Health suggests racial disparities in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, mirroring what’s been happening in other states where Black populations lag far behind white populations in getting the shots. As of Feb. 3, nearly 2% of residents 75 and older who had received the vaccine were Black, while 59.7% were white, according to the data. Meanwhile, slightly more than 1% were Asian; 2.3% were Hispanic; 6.2% were mixed race; and 19.4% were listed as other, which includes American Indians, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. According to 2019 U.S. census data, 74.6% of Connecticut’s population is white, while 11% is only Black or African-American. “As we open up the vaccine program to individuals 65 and over, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that vaccine is reaching the communities and populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” DPH Acting Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said. The department cautioned that there are some gaps in data reporting and that people can select “other,” “multiple races” or “not reported.”\n\nDelaware\n\nDover: Local hip-hop musician and activist Amillion the Poet has offered up a sobering music video on YouTube about the pandemic titled “The Quarantine.” The song is a melodic reminder to wear masks and take COVID-19 seriously, especially since the country has eclipsed 400,000 coronavirus deaths. The video features a cameo from Amillion’s daughter, Aaliyah Adams-Mayfield. Amillion, whose real name is Lucas Amillion Mayfield, teamed up with director Jet Phynx Films on the track, along with national recording songstress Stacy Barthe and J’ne Indigo. The song can be found on the music project “Covid-1NA and Deluxe,” which is out now. Around 2009, Amillion survived as a single parent by traveling to poetry open mics around the country, mostly performing for free, while making money from selling his book of poetry, “Poetry in Motion Proceeds,” after his performances. In the span of two years, the Dover rapper averaged close to 100 gigs annually. Eventually, Amillion said, he didn’t want to get pigeonholed as just the poetry guy. So he began performing at churches, prisons and schools. The emcee finally made his debut at Firefly Music Festival in 2018.\n\nDistrict of Columbia\n\nWashington: Residents 65 and older are eligible to register for 2,500 COVID-19 vaccine appointment slots that opened Thursday, WUSA-TV reports. The appointments are also available to health professionals who work in the district and residents of Wards 5, 7 and 8 priority ZIP codes. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the demand is high, and appointments were expected to fill up quickly. Those eligible can register online at vaccinate.dc.gov or call the city’s vaccine hotline at 855-363-0333. Howard University Hospital also announced Thursday that it will open a clinic offering D.C. residents ages 65 and up their first and second doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s no secret that COVID-19 exposure and mortality rates in the communities that we serve are three times higher than the national average. And those who have unfortunately passed away from this deadly disease have been disproportionately people of color,” said Dr. Hugh E. Mighty, dean of the Howard University College of Medicine and vice president of clinical affairs. “This vaccine serves as a powerful tool in our ongoing fight to combat the virus, and the importance of administering it first to high-risk patient populations is a critical endeavor that I am proud to take on.”\n\nFlorida\n\nOrlando: Local tourism officials are launching their first full-scale marketing campaign since the pandemic, aimed at tourists within driving distance in the Southeast. The $2.2 million advertising campaign launched this month is targeted for spring and summer travel to potential visitors living in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The campaign, called “The Wonder Remains,” includes TV ads, YouTube videos, digital ads, social media ads, e-newsletters and website content. Along with highlighting Orlando’s theme parks and restaurants, the campaign emphasizes the safety measures that have been taken at its tourist attractions to protect tourists from the coronavirus. “The Central Florida region has gone above and beyond to create a safe and sanitized guest experience,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. “I believe this campaign will reach individuals who are prepared to travel to a well-prepared destination for much-needed recreation.” Before the start of the pandemic almost a year ago, Orlando was the most visited tourist destination in the U.S., attracting 75 million visitors in 2018.\n\nGeorgia\n\nAtlanta: State lawmakers approved their changes to the current year’s budget Thursday, including more money for K-12 schools and public health, along with $1,000 bonuses for more than 50,000 state employees. The House and Senate agreed to the changes by overwhelming votes, sending the bill to Gov. Brian Kemp. A spokesperson said he would sign it. The measure spends $26.6 billion in state funds and $15.6 billion more in federal money in the current year ending June 30. Lawmakers agreed with Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to restore $567 million to the state’s K-12 school funding formula, which was cut by $950 million last year when lawmakers feared a steeper drop in revenue. Overall, lawmakers cut $2.2 billion last June, or about 10% across the board. Kemp and legislative leaders have also announced a plan to pay $1,000 bonuses to state employees making less than $80,000 yearly. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, told House members Thursday that “simple words” are not enough to thank employees for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. “The savings we were able to capture there are the dollars we have put back in to say thank you to our state employees,” England said.\n\nHawaii\n\nHonolulu: A statewide moratorium on residential evictions is expected to be extended for another two months in a coronavirus emergency proclamation from the governor. Democratic Gov. David Ige also said federal stimulus funds will extend rental assistance to include utility financial aid that could help renters for up to a year, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. There are no plans to provide rent relief for commercial properties, a situation Ige said was challenging. He noted difficulty in trying establish moratoriums on evictions by owners of commercial properties “without unfairly advantaging one side.” Instead, Ige said he supports ongoing efforts to provide direct financial help to small businesses. The state Council on Revenues forecast an additional $300 million increase in revenue this year and is projecting an additional $2 billion over the next seven years, leading to a significant impact on the state’s financial planning, Ige said. An improved economy means previously announced 10% budget reductions across the state will fall to 2.5% for the state Department of Education, restoring $123 million to classrooms, he said.\n\nIdaho\n\nBoise: Legislation taking aim at limits on how many people can gather during the coronavirus pandemic cleared the state House on Wednesday, but it doesn’t appear likely to have any force. The House voted 55-15 to approve the measure triggered by lawmaker anger over restrictions on crowd sizes that the Idaho High School Activities Association set for the girls’ state basketball tournament this month. The association has limited the event to 1,800 fans in the 11,000-capacity Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, saying it’s intended to keep kids safe. Officials also said some schools wouldn’t send teams to participate if they felt kids were at risk because of the pandemic. The legislation targets Republican Gov. Brad Little’s health order last week that raised the limits on gatherings from 10 to 50. The resolution says the 50-person limit is “declared null, void, and of no force and effect.” However, the governor’s health order recommends, but doesn’t require, a 50-person limit, and there is no penalty for exceeding 50 people. Also, the Ford Idaho Center is owned by the city of Nampa, which has no size limits on crowds. Neither does Canyon County, where Nampa is located.\n\nIllinois\n\nQuincy: Residents under 65 years old with preexisting medical conditions will be eligible to receive vaccination to protect them against COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. The Phase 1B distribution plan opening Feb. 25 will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for vaccinating pregnant women and people with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, sickle cell disease and other conditions. “Many of these people may already be eligible because they’re 65 and over or they’re in a covered profession, but those who are under 65 and live with comorbidities have an elevated risk of serious complications or even death if they contract COVID-19,” Pritzker said during a tour of a vaccination site in Quincy. The Pritzker administration said the expansion is possible due to increased federal vaccine shipments to the state. Pritzker said Illinois is making progress in adding more vaccination sites, with 517 vaccination locations established statewide. However, he conceded making an appointment requires patience because the state hasn’t received enough vaccines to provide for everyone who is eligible in Phase 1B.\n\nIndiana\n\nIndianapolis: Gov. Eric Holcomb defended the constitutionality of his COVID-19 restrictions in response to an Indiana House vote this week to limit his emergency powers. At his weekly COVID-19 update Wednesday, Holcomb said he makes sure “anything” he mandates “passes constitutional muster,” after being asked his thoughts on the House vote to ban him from placing restrictions on in-person worship and allowing the General Assembly to decide whether to convene during an emergency. Holcomb declared a public health emergency March 6, the same day the state reported its first coronavirus case. He cited a state law that allowed him to declare a disaster emergency in 30-day increments. Religious services were ordered to switch online or limit services to 10 people at the beginning of the pandemic, before he reopened places of worship in May. “I want to make sure whatever changes we make are constitutional, and I think we all share that, but we’re coming from a lot of different angles,” Holcomb said. He twice said he wouldn’t go into specific line items and whether he agreed or disagreed with them, and he said the lawmakers still have the second half of the session to go.\n\nIowa\n\nDes Moines: The Catholic Church apparently is the state’s largest recipient of money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program intended to help small businesses, a review of the program by the Des Moines Register shows. The finding comes as a new investigation by the Associated Press shows that the U.S. arm of the church received at least $3 billion through the forgivable loan program, even as many dioceses remained financially healthy. In Iowa, the church’s total was more than $50 million, including more than $40 million for the components for the four Catholic dioceses and $8.7 million more that went to four Catholic colleges controlled by other church entities. Those state and national totals appear to make a church with thousands of employees in Iowa alone the largest beneficiary both statewide and nationally of a program intended to help companies with fewer than 500 employees pay workers as the COVID-19 pandemic raged last summer. Church officials said the aid was necessary to prevent layoffs. Catholic officials lobbied the Trump administration to free religious organizations from the so-called affiliation rule that typically disqualifies applicants with more than 500 workers from being treated as a small business.\n\nKansas\n\nMission: School districts are rushing to vaccinate their teachers in preparation for an eventual return to a full reopening of classrooms and before a more contagious strain of the coronavirus can spread throughout the state. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday that about 60% of the state’s school districts have started vaccinating their teachers and staff. She met with top lawmakers a day after the state Department of Education recommended that school districts allow middle and high school students resume full-time in-person instruction if precautions are taken. Several of the state’s largest districts have been offering in-person classes only part time or teaching students only online. “The more we can get the vaccines in the arms of the folks who are teaching and taking care of our kids in our school buildings and day care centers, the more likely we will be able to bring them back safely and let them continue in person,” Kelly told legislative leaders. The state is inoculating teachers as part of its second round of vaccinations, which also extended eligibility to people ages 65 and older, prisoners, and essential workers such as law enforcement officers.\n\nKentucky\n\nLouisville: A bill that would limit the state’s authority to reduce class sizes at child care centers in an emergency won approval by a Senate committee Wednesday despite one member’s concerns that it could cause problems in a future disaster or disease outbreak. The legislation sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, drew praise from child advocates because it streamlines the process for certifying and regulating family child care homes, where up to six children may receive care in a private residence. Kentucky Youth Advocates called it “an important first step for families seeking child care.” But a separate provision, reducing to 30 days the time the state could limit child care class sizes, drew objections from Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, a physician who said she was concerned about restrictions in the next “epidemic or pandemic.” Kelli Rodman, director of legislative affairs for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said her agency also opposes that provision. The restrictions on class sizes, part of COVID-19 emergency rules, have been a sore point for many child care providers because they require additional staffing and space at at time when many are struggling with other pandemic rules.\n\nLouisiana\n\nNew Orleans: Hospitality industry workers who will lose income because of a bar shutdown and other coronavirus restrictions in the French Quarter can apply for five days of part-time work with the city, the mayor’s office said Wednesday. Bars are being shut down throughout the city Friday, the beginning of what is usually a raucous Mardi Gras weekend. And there will be limits on automobile and pedestrian traffic in the French Quarter, where bars usually cater to shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. In a $100,000 program, the city is offering up to 200 displaced workers jobs that officials say may include trash and litter pickup and mask distribution, according to a news release from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration. Workers selected can earn up to $100 a day for five hours of work a day Friday through Tuesday. Affected workers can apply online and will need documentation including a state identification card and a paycheck stub.\n\nMaine\n\nPortland: A county commissioner is continuing a campaign to stop the enforcement of the state’s mandatory mask order, despite rulings by the state’s highest court that the orders are legal. Androscoggin County Commissioner Isaiah Lary, a Republican, is involved in a spat with state officials over mask rules. He proposed a resolution Wednesday stating that no county official can enforce masking orders in the county, which is home to Lewiston, the state’s second-largest city. Lary also wants the county administrator to ask the Maine Supreme Judicial Court for a declaration that the orders are unconstitutional, the Sun Journal reports. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has already told the county that the state’s masking orders are constitutional. Frey sent a letter to commissioners last week saying that “counties, municipalities and other political subdivisions have no authority to exempt themselves from executive orders, and any effort to do so would be of no legal effect,” the Sun Journal reports. The Androscoggin County Commission could vote on Lary’s proposed resolution at a Feb. 17 meeting. Lary is one of three commissioners facing a potential recall vote over their opposition to masking orders.\n\nMaryland\n\nBel Air: Harford County wants the state to use Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen as a mass COVID-19 vaccination site, noting that doses are being held back in the jurisdiction after large-scale vaccination sites opened in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County. A letter from Harford County officials to the acting secretary of health said the stadium’s proximity to Interstate 95 and Route 40 would allow Marylanders easy access to the site, The Baltimore Sun reports. County Health Officer David Bishai said more than 40,000 county residents are preregistered to receive the vaccine. But Bishai told the county council Tuesday that because of the limited supply of first doses, Harford is giving about 200 first doses a day. Ripken Stadium, used for a mass testing clinic in August, has a large parking lot and refrigeration but no ultra-cold refrigerators needed to store Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford said in a video meeting Wednesday that additional mass vaccination sites are in the works for M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and in southern Maryland, western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore. Northern Maryland and Harford County specifically weren’t mentioned.\n\nMassachusetts\n\nBoston: The state is opening two additional mass vaccination sites this month, in Natick and Dartmouth, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday. The announcement came as 74,000 appointments were scheduled to be posted online for mass vaccination sites and pharmacies at locations statewide Thursday. An additional 30,000 appointments will be posted over the course of the week at pharmacies, for a total of more than 100,000 new appointments this week. The Natick location will open Feb. 22 at the Natick Mall and will begin administering 500 doses per day, accelerating over the course of several weeks to 3,000 doses daily. The Dartmouth location is scheduled to open Feb. 24 at Circuit City. It will begin administering 500 doses per day, increasing over several weeks to more than 2,000 daily. Also beginning Thursday at mass vaccination sites, caregivers who are accompanying a person 75 or older may schedule their own vaccination at the same time and location. Only one caregiver is permitted to schedule an appointment with the older resident. Caregivers may receive their first dose even if the older resident is receiving their second dose.\n\nMichigan\n\nLansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday proposed a $67 billion state budget that she said would aid Michigan’s pandemic recovery by solidifying new programs to expand eligibility for free community college tuition, bolstering child care assistance and boosting local bridge repairs. The Democratic governor’s spending blueprint also calls for $570 million to address learning loss and K-12 enrollment declines on top of a $162-per-student, or 2%, increase in base aid for most traditional districts in the next fiscal year. Better-funded districts would get $82 more per student, roughly 1%. More immediate coronavirus-related needs, such as vaccine distribution, would be funded with multibillion-dollar supplemental spending bills – primarily through the release of federal COVID-19 relief aid that Whitmer has been urging lawmakers to pass soon. She said she focused on three priorities: economic reengagement that “drives everything,” a return to in-person instruction at schools and vaccine dissemination. She wants to double spending on Futures for Frontliners, which covers community college tuition for essential workers who worked in the early months of the pandemic, to include those who lost their jobs when her administration reinstated business restrictions to curb surging infections in the late fall.\n\nMinnesota\n\nMinneapolis: State officials on Wednesday unveiled their plan to deal with toxic man-made “forever chemicals” that are polluting Minnesota’s waters and causing growing concerns about potential health risks. The pharmaceuticals, microplastics and synthetic chemicals are known collectively as PFAS and are used in a variety of consumer products because of their durability and resistance to heat and water. An increasing number of scientists have linked some PFAS to negative health effects in humans, such as low birth weight, thyroid and kidney problems, and some cancers. “These forever chemicals are everywhere,” Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop said in a Zoom meeting that included leaders from other state agencies, lawmakers and environmental activists. “And new PFAS are being invented, used in industry and incorporated into commercial products, and released into the environment every day.” The Minnesota PFAS Blueprint calls for the state to enact stronger regulations, including designating more than 5,000 different chemicals as hazardous substances under Minnesota’s Superfund law.\n\nMississippi\n\nJackson: The state is spending $5million of federal coronavirus aid to appoint eight senior judges to help reduce the backlog in the Hinds County court system. A temporary courtroom will be set up in the Woolfolk State Office Building across the street from the state Capitol. The announcement was made by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph during a Wednesday press conference. The backlog in the court system has been driven by a historic rise in violent crime in Jackson amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There were more than 125 homicides reported in Jackson alone in 2020. There are currently thousands of backlogged cases in Hinds County, Randolph said during the briefing. According to the Ledger, Hosemann said even among cases in which an individual has been indicted by a grand jury, there are hundreds that haven’t made it to trial. The backlog has kept those cases from making it to court.\n\nMissouri\n\nJefferson City: State lawmakers are considering several bills that would allow Missourians to keep unemployment benefits they were given if they did not intentionally commit fraud. The House Special Committee on Government Oversight on Wednesday heard seven proposals on the issue. The committee chairman said the bills will be combined into one proposal, and the committee will likely vote on it early next week. The discussion comes after Gov. Mike Parson has said people should “most certainly” be required to return payments they mistakenly received. Most of the proposals focused on unemployment funds from the federal government because national stimulus packages allow states to waive repayment. Lawmakers said 75%-80% of the overpayments are federal funds. No committee members or witnesses objected to the idea, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Several options were discussed on how to recoup the 20%-25% of the payments that are from state funds. One bill would prohibit the state from collecting the funds, while other committee members suggested the state could cover the cost of repayment or use federal coronavirus relief money to reduce the economic loss for the state.\n\nMontana\n\nHelena: Saying he will lift a statewide mask requirement this week, Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Wednesday intended to protect businesses and health care providers from coronavirus-related lawsuits. Gianforte said the new law will allow businesses to open safely during the pandemic. He also said enough vulnerable Montana residents have received COVID-19 vaccinations to allow the lifting Friday of the mask mandate put in place in July by his Democratic predecessor, Steve Bullock. Still, Gianforte said he would continue to wear a mask for the time being and encouraged others to do so. Local jurisdictions will still be permitted to implement mask mandates after the statewide rule is lifted. As of Wednesday, more than 41,000 Montana residents – representing just under 4% of the population – had received both doses of a vaccine. The state is still in the midst of the second phase of vaccinations, with doses available only to people 70 or older, those with severe underlying medical conditions, and people of color who are at greater risk if they contract the virus. Gianforte’s announcement came as U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned against lifting broad mask requirements.\n\nNebraska\n\nOmaha: The state should see at least 43 retail pharmacies participating in a new federal program to help provide COVID-19 vaccinations, although state officials don’t have a good way to communicate with all of them to avoid mistakes, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday. Ricketts said he’s grateful for the additional 5,700 doses Nebraska will get through the federal program but voiced concerns about how all the different businesses will coordinate with the state’s efforts. He said the federal program didn’t include a clear way for states and the retailers to ensure they’re on the same page. “This is an area we do have concerns about,” Ricketts, a Republican, said at a news conference to discuss the state’s pandemic response. The coordination is critical to ensure “good information is going back and forth between those pharmacies and the state so that we can keep track of who’s been vaccinated.” Retailers participating in the program include Walmart and independent pharmacies throughout the state. Walmart announced Tuesday that it will start vaccinations Friday at more than a dozen of its Nebraska stores, all in smaller cities outside Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island.\n\nNevada\n\nLas Vegas: Distance runners will cover a shorter course when the Rock ’n’ Roll race series returns to the Las Vegas Strip in a year, tourism and event officials said Tuesday. The marathon was cut to a half-marathon under a three-year, $450,000 agreement approved by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board. Elizabeth O’Brien, managing director of North America for Rock ’n’ Roll, called it a next chapter for the event. She said a three-day health and fitness expo will be held ahead of the half-marathon, now set for Feb. 27, 2022. The contract through hometown Las Vegas Events also includes Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas races in 2023 and 2024. The event traces its origin to a marathon run since 1967 in and around Las Vegas. It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2005 and became a Rock ’n’ Roll series race in 2009, featuring music and entertainment along the course. Held in November in recent years, it has attracted tens of thousands of runners annually for fun-run, 5-kilometer, 10-kilometer, 13.1-mile and 26.2-mile distances. The unusual nighttime race begins and ends on the neon-lit Las Vegas Strip and includes the downtown Fremont Street Experience casino mall. Races in 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the pandemic.\n\nNew Hampshire\n\nConcord: With coronavirus case counts on the decline and fewer hospitalizations in the state, the governor’s reopening task force on Thursday looked ahead to summer and recommended updated guidance for camp operators that includes keeping children in small groups and more preparation for arrivals and pickups. Gov. Chris Sununu would need to approve the task force’s recommendations, which also include lifting some restrictions for restaurants and bars on the use of pool and billiard tables, dartboards and karaoke. The group also plans to include new members from industries that have been hit particularly hard, such as performing arts and outdoor entertainment venues, and the wedding industry. Regarding camps, staff working at overnight camps would quarantine on site for 10 days. Campers attending from outside New England would self-quarantine at home or in New Hampshire before arriving at camp. Staff and children also would undergo virus tests seven days before they arrive, when they get to camp, and then about five to seven days later. Only four of the state’s 95 overnight summer camps opened last summer because of the pandemic.\n\nNew Jersey\n\nTrenton: The state’s COVID-19 vaccine call center will stop booking appointments temporarily because agents were making too many mistakes such as double-booking patients, state officials said Wednesday. Since the call center opened two weeks ago, only 600 appointments had been booked by early this week despite the center being inundated with hundreds of thousands of callers. The 250 agents who operate the phone line – 855-568-0545 – will have more training on using the state’s appointment system, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at Wednesday’s briefing. “We found that it is not as easy as we thought it would be,” she said. The center, which opened Jan. 25, has been inundated with hundreds of thousands of callers, only 50,000 of whom have gotten through to an operator. Many callers are seniors seeking appointments after not being able to obtain one on various state and private online portals. Demand skyrocketed in mid-January when Gov. Phil Murphy opened eligibility to more than 4 million New Jerseyans including those 65 and older, those with underlying conditions and smokers. The state has only been receiving about 200,000 doses a week.\n\nNew Mexico\n\nSanta Fe: State officials on Wednesday said they would be ending mandatory self-quarantine requirements for visitors and residents arriving in the state, as more counties have reported less spread of the coronavirus over the past two weeks. More than half of the state’s 33 counties have emerged from strict lockdown – earning favorable yellow and green ratings on a color-coded map – as test positivity rates decline. That opens permission for limited indoor dining at restaurants, though movie theaters, bars and contact recreational facilities remain closed statewide. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sounded an optimistic note about progress against COVID-19 during an online news conference, noting that average daily deaths, infections and hospitalizations were declining. “Today is a day to really feel good about the collective efforts of the state,” Lujan Grisham said. She acknowledged a one-day surge in virus-related deaths with 31 on Wednesday. Health officials also confirmed that the state’s allotment of vaccine doses from the federal government will increase next week to about 61,000, a more than 8% increase from last week.\n\nNew York\n\nAlbany: Large arenas and stadiums can soon reopen for sports and entertainment at 10% of their normal capacity under a plan announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, despite concern from public health experts about still-high rates of coronavirus infections and the threat of more contagious variants. Cuomo said major stadiums and arenas with a capacity of 10,000 people or more can reopen with limited spectators starting Feb. 23. The Barclays Center, which has about 17,700 seats for basketball games, has already received state approval to reopen Feb. 23 for the Brooklyn Nets’ home game against the Sacramento Kings. And the New York Knicks and New York Rangers said they plan to host about 2,000 fans at every game, starting with Feb. 23 and Feb. 26 games at Madison Square Garden. A New York Yankees spokesperson called Cuomo’s announcement an “encouraging first step.” But CUNY School of Public Health epidemiology professor Denis Nash said the state’s approach lacks a scientific basis when “community prevalence is very high.” He and other public health experts pointed to evidence that COVID-19 spreads more easily indoors and to the risk of people sitting near others who may be cheering or taking masks off while eating.\n\nNorth Carolina\n\nRaleigh: Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday afternoon that educators and support staff will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine starting Feb. 24 as part of a staggered rollout of the state’s next phase of distribution. The Democratic governor estimated about 240,000 people would become eligible in two weeks. The group includes child care workers, pre-K to 12th grade principals and teachers at public, private and charter schools, and support staff, such as janitors, bus drivers and cafeteria workers. “Moving to the next phase is good news. The challenge continues to be the very limited supply of the vaccine,” Cooper said. Other groups the state considers “front-line essential workers” will start becoming eligible March 10, though public health officials are still evaluating whether it will prioritize certain subgroups within that population. That group includes manufacturing workers, grocery store clerks, college and university instructors and support staff, farmers, restaurant workers, mail carriers, court workers, elected officials, homeless shelter staff, public health workers, social workers, firefighters, EMS personnel, police officers, public transit workers and several others.\n\nNorth Dakota\n\nBismarck: The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses being delivered to North Dakota is increasing. The state will receive a 5% increase in vaccine doses allocated, according to Gov. Doug Burgum. North Dakota will receive 7,500 doses next week, up from 6,900 this week. Also, Thrifty White pharmacies in the state will be getting the vaccine starting this week as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, the Bismarck Tribune reports. The state’s immunization program manager, Molly Howell, said 16 of the 30 Thrifty White locations in North Dakota have registered to receive the vaccine. According to the company’s vaccination registration website, its pharmacies are inoculating people 65 and older. North Dakotans who want to be vaccinated may need to go somewhere besides their traditional health care provider, Howell said. Pharmacies, local public health departments and private health care providers all are offering vaccines. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Dakota’s rate of vaccine doses administered remains among the highest in the country, No. 3, at 17,030 people per 100,000 population.\n\nOhio\n\nColumbus: The discovery of as many as 4,000 unreported COVID-19 deaths came as the Health Department reconciled an internal death certificate database with a federal database, the state auditor’s office said Thursday. Republican Auditor Keith Faber has been auditing Health Department coronavirus death data since September. But the agency didn’t have access to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s infectious diseases database because of federal health privacy laws, said Matt Eiselstein, Faber’s communications director. “We were never able to make that reconciliation ourselves to come up with those figures,” Eiselstein said. The final audit is expected next month. The Ohio Department of Health said those deaths will now be added to the state’s tally of deaths from the coronavirus during the coming week. Thursday’s coronavirus death toll showed more than 720 deaths, of which 650 come from previously unreported deaths, Gov. Mike DeWine said. “We hope, we believe, that is going to put us back from the track where we actually are,” DeWine said. The Health Department said that “process issues affecting the reconciliation and reporting of these deaths” began in October, with most occurring in November and December.\n\nOklahoma\n\nOklahoma City: The first bill signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt during the current legislative session allows public bodies to continue meeting virtually as a coronavirus safety precaution. The law signed Wednesday allows public bodies to meet virtually through February 2022 or until the expiration of the governor’s executive emergency order on COVID-19, whichever comes first. “We’ve all heard from constituents, state agencies, local school boards and other public bodies requesting this, and I’m pleased we were able to deliver so quickly,” Stitt said in a statement. The bill by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat was passed by the state Senate on Feb. 3 and by the House five days later. “With the signing of this bill, public entities can continue to meet and do so safely until the pandemic is behind us, and the people of Oklahoma maintain access to public meetings at all levels through virtual meetings,” Treat said. Lawmakers last year allowed for virtual meetings, but those provisions expired in November. Rather than convene in a special session, Republican legislative leaders agreed to address the issue at the start of the session.\n\nOregon\n\nPortland: The week after Christmas, with coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations soaring, morale was low at Oregon Health & Science University, the state’s largest hospital. Doctors and nurses caring for the most critically ill were burning out just when they were needed the most. Then, the food started coming: hot, delicious, individually wrapped meals from some of the city’s trendiest restaurants, a buffet of cuisines from Chinese to Italian to Lebanese to Southern comfort food. For staffers who only took off their N95 masks once to eat during a 12-hour shift, the meals were more than just food – they were emotional sustenance. “It’s almost like having a weight lifted. It’s like getting a surprise dozen roses or something,” nurse Alice Clark said. “We’re so grateful.” But the meals, paid for by a wellness grant from the Oregon-based insurance fund SAIF, also served another purpose: They kept struggling restaurants afloat. “It’s kept the doors open and a small workforce employed. It’s been the most heartfelt catering we’ve ever done,” said Kiauna Floyd, third-generation owner of Amalfi’s, a Portland institution that’s been serving up Italian cuisine for 62 years. For now, though, meal deliveries to OHSU have dried up with the grant funding, and the program ended Jan. 19. Leaders are hoping for a new funding source to get meals running again soon.\n\nPennsylvania\n\nBeaver: In the first six weeks of vaccine distribution in Pennsylvania, residents in a handful of counties had no chance of getting inoculated against COVID-19 without leaving their home county. An analysis of state data found that four rural counties didn’t receive any doses in the first six weeks of the bungled rollout, and the majority of doses were sent to health care systems that focused solely on inoculating employees. More than a third of vaccine doses sent out through late January went to three counties: Allegheny, Lehigh and Montgomery, which together are home to 2.4 million people. Removing Philadelphia County from the equation – it receives its vaccine doses directly from the federal government rather than the state – those three counties comprise 21.5% of Pennsylvania’s population. The state uses a formula to determine how to allocate vaccine among counties and providers based on the previous allocation of vaccine, the amount on hand for distribution, the amount administrated, the population, the amount of the population 65 and older, the percent positivity for coronavirus tests and the death rate.\n\nRhode Island\n\nPawtucket: The city’s school district, which had largely resisted pressure to bring students back to the classroom, has approved a plan to resume in-person learning for most children. The plan approved Tuesday night by the Pawtucket School Committee calls for bringing back elementary school students March 1, middle school students March 15 and high school students on a hybrid schedule March 29. Only preschoolers, kindergartners and students in special populations had been approved for school in person. The school committee was under pressure from many parents, who rallied last weekend in support of in-person learning. The teachers’ union, which had previously been opposed to in-person instruction, said it now supports in-person learning for elementary students but not high school students.\n\nSouth Carolina\n\nGreer: While many people grapple with whether to wear two face masks or one, the operator of a local company that’s producing 25,000 three-layer disposable masks every day says one will do. “You don’t have to do that, doubling of a mask,” said Rick Gehricke, chief operating officer of Carolina Facemask and PPE. “If you have a mask certified to international standards, you don’t have to.” Carolina Face Mask & PPE was born more than a year ago from a Greer company founded in 1999 called Advanced Testing Instruments Corp., headed by Tim Ziegenfus. The business provides advanced testing of products in the textile, chemical, plastic, automotive, aerospace, paper, military, medial, foam and packaging industries. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March, the company ramped up production of three-ply, Level 1 PPE face masks, and business took off. Spokesperson Katlyn Searcy said with the recent surge in coronavirus cases, many people still don’t realize a small business in Greer is doing its part to fight the pandemic. “People are starting to ask more questions about masks and their effectiveness,” Searcy said. “There are also concerns of more PPE shortages as the curve is trending up again.”\n\nSouth Dakota\n\nPierre: Lawmakers are working to memorialize one of their own whom they lost last year to COVID-19. The late Bob Glanzer died in April while still serving as a member of the state House of Representatives after a short battle with coronavirus. Representing District 22, Glanzer was known as “Mr. Huron” for his community involvement in his hometown over his 74 years and a well-respected legislator among not just his fellow Republicans but Democrats as well. And with Gov. Kristi Noem’s pushing legislators to sign off on her plan to set aside $12 million to help the South Dakota State Fair construct a new multipurpose livestock and equestrian facility at the fairgrounds in Huron, House Speaker Spencer Gosch wants to use the opportunity to honor his late friend and colleague’s legacy. “His life was basically servitude to his community, and it shouldn’t go unnoticed,” he said after pitching his plan to state appropriators Tuesday afternoon. Gosch called the situation “fast moving” and said it’s not known what a Glanzer memorial might look like. It could be anything from a sculpture or a plaque to naming the Dakota Events Complex, as the governor has been referring to the project, after him, he said.\n\nTennessee\n\nKnoxville: Public health officials announced Wednesday that 975 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that went missing were likely thrown out by accident. Knox County said the state’s Department of Health confirmed the doses were shipped to the region last week, but local officials said they have no record of receiving them. Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan said that based on GPS data, she believes the box containing the doses was probably discarded by someone who thought they were throwing out dry ice. Due to security reasons, vaccine doses are shipped without any readily identifiable information attached. “It was a kick in the gut for all of us,” Buchanan said through tears. “I apologize. Vaccinating our community is very important to us.” County officials have asked for a state investigation even though Buchanan said there was no indication of foul play. A key question remains why the GPS and temperature monitors attached to the Moderna vaccines did not work, Buchanan said. “Why were we the ones who found this out?” she asked.\n\nTexas\n\nAustwell: The coronavirus pandemic has canceled this year’s flights to count the only natural flock of whooping cranes – the first time in 71 years that crews in Texas couldn’t make an aerial survey of the world’s rarest cranes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has records of such surveys for every year starting in 1950, Wade Harrell, whooping crane recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in an email Wednesday. The flock breeds in Canada and winters on and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where the survey is made. Current protocols call for about six flights, each with a pilot and at least two observers – often coming from different parts of the country – in the close quarters of a small plane, Harrell said. “We decided to forgo the aerial survey this winter with COVID-19 cases currently spiking,” he said in a news release. At 5 feet high from their black feet to the little red caps on their heads, whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America, and their wingspan, at more than 7 feet, is wider than a full-size pickup truck. They mate for life. Only about 825 exist – most of them in the natural flock, which is also the only one that doesn’t need human help to keep its numbers up. Habitat loss and hunting had cut that flock to 15 in 1941.\n\nUtah\n\nPanguitch: Just off this small city’s main road is a small, unassuming building that houses the local office for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department. On a clear, chilly day in early January, dozens of Garfield County residents crowded around the entrance waiting to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The people in line ranged from young to old – teachers to first responders. In the back, Robin McMullin, a supervisor with the health department, was laser-focused as she filled up syringes with the Moderna vaccine. “I feel like it’s liquid gold. I seriously do,” McMullin told KUER-FM. “I don’t want to waste one drop of it.” Garfield County, with just over 5,000 people, has seen nearly 400 cases of COVID-19 – more than one in every dozen people have had the disease. Sheriff Danny Perkins said the spread of the coronavirus really picked up this fall at the county jail. About two thirds of the inmates got it, though there weren’t any serious cases among the prisoners. “But it got out in our staff, and it was devastating,” Perkins said. “There were days that I was ten people down, and when you take ten officers off of an office my size, that’s huge.” As of Feb. 2, nine people in Garfield County had died of COVID-19, making it second in the state for deaths per capita. The community has missed out on big life moments like funerals as well as more casual moments, like getting together at high school basketball games. “It’s a social gathering to get caught up on all the gossip to see how everybody’s doing,” Perkins said. “And it’s been taken away because of this disease.”\n\nVermont\n\nBurlington: The city has a helpline for seniors who don’t have access to technology or transportation to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The state is now in its third week of immunizing Vermonters 75 and older. The nonprofit Age Well VT is working with the city to help seniors register for an appointment to get their first dose or to get an at-home vaccination, if necessary, WCAX-TV reports. One of the biggest concerns is getting home-bound Vermonters vaccinated, city leaders said. “It may seem to some of us like this information is everywhere, but we know we have not reached all seniors. Even in this very high-risk population, there are still significant number of those who have not yet signed up,” Mayor Miro Weinberger said Wednesday. Black Vermonters also are a large part of the age group who have not been vaccinated. Burlington’s Trusted Community Voices Program is working with the Association of Africans Living in Vermont and other groups to help educate and encourage more people of color to get their first dose, the station reports.\n\nVirginia\n\nNewport News: Christopher Newport University is in the middle of its largest wave of coronavirus cases this school year, and one official put the blame on students not following rules instead of the return to in-person classes. As of Wednesday, 129 students and six employees at Christopher Newport had active cases, The Virginian-Pilot reports. On average, 171 students were in quarantine each day last week, or about 3.5% of the student body. In a letter to students and employees Monday, Kevin Hughes, vice president for student affairs, blamed the rising numbers on students. “What is happening on our campus right now is a stark reminder that individual behavior can have a profound and lasting impact,” Hughes wrote. “When you socialize with little concern, and in some cases reckless disregard, for who it hurts, everybody is impacted.” Some students said the message was condescending and want to see the university take more concrete actions to limit gatherings. Most colleges across the state have dozens or hundreds of active cases. More than 20% of cadets at the Virginia Military Institute are in isolation or quarantine. At William & Mary, cases are also rising sharply, with 79 reported this semester through Tuesday, surpassing last semester’s total in the span of a few weeks.\n\nWashington\n\nOlympia: The state Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a recall effort against the Thurston County sheriff, saying his announcement that he would not criminally enforce the Health Department’s COVID-19 mask mandate was not unreasonable. Resident Arthur West sought to recall Sheriff John Snaza, alleging that Snaza’s news release last June saying his office would not engage in criminal enforcement of the mandate interfered with a lawful order, and a trial court agreed. But the justices overturned that decision Thursday. The Health Department’s order requiring masks in any public setting said violators “may” be subject to criminal penalties. That language gave Snaza discretion in how to enforce the mandate, the court said. The decision noted that Snaza did not generally undermine the mandate: He said his office would continue to work with health officials to educate the public, and he encouraged people to take safety precautions such as wearing masks. Not directly citing or arresting people was reasonable because doing so could risk transmission of the virus, the justices said. They contrasted Snaza’s actions with those of Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney, against whom the court is allowing a recall petition to proceed. Fortney said he had “no intention of carrying out enforcement for a stay-at-home directive” and encouraged business owners to remain open, in violation of the state’s directions.\n\nWest Virginia\n\nCharleston: Three events for youth in the state have been canceled for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. The Make It Shine Earth Day Celebration, West Virginia Youth Environmental Day and state Junior Conservation Camp have all been canceled, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release. The events were also canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions. The Earth Day Celebration is usually held in late April in Charleston, drawing hundreds of grade school-age children for hands-on environmental education, the release said. Youth Environmental Day had been set for May 15 in Ritchie County. Young people are recognized during the event for projects that benefit the environment and their communities. The projects will still be judged and winners recognized. Junior Conservation Camp was scheduled for June 21-25 at Cedar Lakes in Ripley. Nearly 200 campers ages 11 to 14 usually participate.\n\nWisconsin\n\nMadison: The Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee approved a bill Wednesday that would cut taxes by $540 million by the middle of 2023, largely by eliminating taxes on federal loans to businesses to help them through the pandemic. The full Legislature could vote to pass it as soon as Tuesday. Democrats on the budget committee argued that the bill cost too much and was another handout to businesses that took the loans but still flourished during the pandemic. “We’re punching a big hole in the budget,” Rep. Evan Goyke said. “We can direct our relief in a more targeted, more efficient manner.” Republicans countered that the bill brings state tax code in line with federal code. “This isn’t everyone’s dream tax bill,” said Rep. Mark Born, a committee co-chair. “This bill matches federal law. Of course it’s not perfect.” Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, would have to sign the bill for the tax cut to take effect. Asked whether Evers would veto the measure, his spokeswoman, Britt Cudaback, responded with a statement from the governor saying he would keep doing everything he can to support small businesses during the pandemic.\n\nWyoming\n\nCasper: The Coal Creek coal mine says it will shut down, making it the second mine in the Powder River Basin to announce this year that it’s closing. St. Louis, Missouri-based Arch Resources Inc., owner of the Wyoming mine, made the announcement Tuesday as the company transitions away from thermal coal generation toward coking coal, a type of coal used to make steel and other products, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Arch Resources said it plans to wind down operations at the mine near Gillette and begin cleaning up the site over the next two years. The company said it lost $78.5 million in the final quarter of last year. The Coal Creek mine produced about 2 million tons of its lower heat value coal last year, 73% less than in 2018. The mines in the Powder River Basin produce about 40% of the nation’s coal, but production has declined in part because of a push for natural gas and renewable energy. Montana’s Decker coal mine, also in the Powder River Basin, closed last month. Production losses from coal companies have led to rising unemployment and worsening state revenue shortfalls. The coronavirus pandemic also lowered demand for coal.\n\nFrom USA TODAY Network and wire reports", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/02/12"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_22", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/12/health/menstrual-cramps-food-study-wellness/index.html", "title": "You can fight menstrual cramps with food, studies say", "text": "Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.\n\nCNN —\n\nAbout 85% of girls suffer painful bloating, cramps and abdominal pain during their monthly periods — and for some the problems can last for years.\n\n“Since menstrual pain is a leading cause of school absenteeism for adolescent girls, it’s important to explore options that can minimize the pain,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, in a statement. She was not involved in the study.\n\nBut there are behavioral adjustments girls and young women can make to reduce pain, according to a new analysis of studies. “Diet modification could be a relatively simple solution that could provide substantial relief for them,” said Faubion, who is also the medical director for The North American Menopausal Society, of the research findings.\n\nThe abstract, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of NAMS, explored the connection between diet and dysmenorrhea, the medical term for painful periods. The lead author, Serah Sannoh, told CNN she became interested in the topic due to her own menstrual pain, which has plagued her since adolescence.\n\n“I found diets high in inflammatory foods such as animal meats, oil, sugars, salts, and coffee contribute to an increased risk of pain during a woman’s period,” said Sannoh, who conducted the research as an intern at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. She is currently a medical student at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia.\n\n“A lot of the things that young people like to eat are are highly inflammatory … lunch meats, foods full of sugars and trans fats. But if you go on an anti-inflammatory diet — fruit, vegetables, olive oil, like the Mediterranean diet — you’ll get less cramping,” said NAMS board member Dr. Monica Christmas, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.\n\nThe scientific evidence has shown eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep and exercising are effective measures in curtailing the duration and severity of cramps, Christmas said. But she noted it’s important women see a health care provider: “Make sure that there’s not some other medical condition that might also be contributing to the symptoms.”\n\nWhat causes the pain?\n\nAs your body prepares to menstruate, endometrial cells that built a lining in the uterus to welcome a fertilized egg begin to break down. As they do, those cells release large amounts of fatty acids called prostaglandins to make the uterine layer contract and expel the unused tissue. The body also releases prostaglandins naturally during labor to open the cervix for birth.\n\nAnti-inflammatory foods, such as salmon, vegetables, fruit and olive oil, can help minimize menstrual camps, a new analysis of studies found. Adobe Stock\n\nProstaglandins act like hormones, causing blood vessels and smooth muscles to constrict, resulting in cramping and pain. Researchers have found prostaglandin levels are higher and uterine contractions are stronger and more frequent in women with menstrual pain than women who have little or no pain, according to American Association of Family Physicians.\n\nEating inflammatory foods only adds to the discomfort, studies have found. Highly processed and high-sugar foods and fatty, greasy foods are common culprits — a 2018 study found college students who ate more snacks had more pain during their periods.\n\nAnother 2018 study of Spanish college students found women who drank cola and ate meat were more likely to suffer pain during their cycle than women who ate more vegetables and fruits. In fact, a 2020 study found women who ate fewer than two servings of fruit a day were more likely to suffer pain during their menstrual cycle.\n\nPart of the problem is an imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, Sannoh found. Omega-3 fatty acids — found in foods such as salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters, walnuts, chia and flaxseeds — are anti-inflammatory. Studies have linked them to a reduction in risk for many chronic diseases triggered by inflammation.\n\nOmega-6 fatty acids keep skin, hair and bones healthy and help regulate metabolism, in addition to their role in the reproductive system. But too many of these fatty acids can cause inflammation when the body ultimately breaks them down into arachidonic acid, which lowers the body’s pain threshold.\n\n“From my research, I found out that people with diets high in omega-6 fatty acids, especifically those derived from animal-based products, have a higher presence of arachidonic acid in the body, which increases the amount of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins that help the uterus contract,” Sannoh said.\n\n“When you have a diet that balances omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and you decrease the amount of inflammatory foods that you ingest, that will decrease the painful menstrual experience,” she added.\n\nTwo separate studies from 2011 and 2012 revealed women who took omega-3 fatty acid supplements reduced the intensity of menstrual discomfort enough to lower their use of ibuprofen for pain relief. And a 1996 study found a highly significant relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and milder menstrual symptoms in teens.\n\nOther solutions\n\nChanging your diet is not the only way to fight menstrual pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, reduce the production of prostaglandins, which is why they are a mainstay of treatment for cramps, Christmas said.\n\nHowever, these pain medications also have side effects. According to a 2015 Cochrane Library review of evidence, NSAIDs are linked to bloating, diarrhea, dizziness, indigestion, headaches, heartburn, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting and on rare occasions, raised liver enzymes.\n\nCertain oral birth control pills also lower the production of prostaglandins in the uterine lining, which then reduces both blood flow and cramping. Doses of less than 35 micrograms were “effective and should be the preparation of choice,” according to a 2009 Cochrane Library review.\n\nBut if you are not interested in using these methods — or want extra relief — give an anti-inflammatory diet a try. Sannoh put her research into practice by decreasing her intake of red meat and other inflammatory foods such as sugar and coffee, and told CNN that it did decrease her menstrual pain.\n\nThere’s an added benefit to adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, Christmas said.\n\n“These diets are also associated with less high blood pressure, less cardiovascular disease, less diabetes, less arthritic issues, decreased morbidity and mortality, especially after menopause,” Christmas said.\n\n“So if you can get people who are young to eat better, exercise, and live a healthier lifestyle, they’re going fare better as they age.”", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/10/12"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/01/health/ultraprocessed-foods-cancer-early-death-wellness/index.html", "title": "Ultraprocessed foods linked to cancer and early death, studies find ...", "text": "Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.\n\nCNN —\n\nEating a lot of ultraprocessed foods significantly increases men’s risk of colorectal cancer and can lead to heart disease and early death in both men and women, according to two new, large-scale studies of people in the United States and Italy published Wednesday in British medical journal The BMJ.\n\nUltraprocessed foods include prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals and pleasure foods such as hot dogs, sausages, french fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, ice cream and many more.\n\n“Literally hundreds of studies link ultra-processed foods to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality,” said Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of numerous books on food politics and marketing, including 2015’s “Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning).”\n\n“These two studies continue the consistency: Ultraprocessed foods are unambiguously associated with an increased risk for chronic disease,” said Nestle, who was not involved in either study.\n\nA link to cancer\n\nThe US-based study examined the diets of over 200,000 men and women for up to 28 years and found a link between ultraprocessed foods and colorectal cancer – the third most diagnosed cancer in the US – in men, but not women.\n\nProcessed and ultraprocessed meats, such as ham, bacon, salami, hotdogs, beef jerkey and corned beef, have long been associated with a higher risk of bowel cancer in both men and women, according to the World Health Organization, American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research.\n\nThe new study, however, found that all types of ultraprocessed foods played a role to some degree.\n\n“We found that men in the highest quintile of ultraprocessed food consumption, compared those in the lowest quintile, had a 29% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer,” said co-senior author Fang Fang Zhang, a cancer epidemiologist and chair of the division of nutrition epidemiology and data science at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.\n\nThat association remained even after researchers took into account a person’s body mass index or dietary quality.\n\nWhy didn’t the new study find the same risk for colorectal cancer in women?\n\n“Reasons for such a sex difference are still unknown, but may involve the different roles that obesity, sex hormones, and metabolic hormones play in men versus women,” Zhang said.\n\n“Alternatively, women may have chosen ‘healthier’ ultraprocessed foods,” said Dr. Robin Mendelsohn, a gastroenterologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who was not involved in the study.\n\nThe study did find that eating a “higher consumption of ultraprocessed dairy foods – such as yogurt – was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in women,” Zhang said. “Some ultraprocessed foods are healthier, such as whole-grain foods that contain little or no added sugars, and yogurt and dairy foods.”\n\nWomen did have a higher risk for colorectal cancer if they consumed more ready-to-eat-or-heat dishes such as pizza, she said. However, men were more likely to have a higher risk of bowel cancer if they ate a lot of meat, poultry, or seafood-based ready-to-eat products and sugar-sweetened beverages, Zhang said.\n\n“Americans consume a large percentage of their daily calories from ultraprocessed foods – 58% in adults and 67% in children,” she added. “We should consider substituting the ultraprocessed foods with unprocessed or minimally processed foods in our diet for cancer prevention and prevention of obesity and cardiovascular diseases.”\n\nA link to early death\n\nThe second study followed more than 22,000 people for a dozen years in the Molise region of Italy. The study, which began in March 2005, was designed to assess risk factors for cancer as well as heart and brain disease.\n\nAnalysis published in The BMJ compared the role of nutrient-poor foods – such as foods high in sugar and saturated or trans-fats – versus ultraprocessed foods in the development of chronic disease and early death. Researchers found that both types of foods independently increased the risk of an early death, especially from cardiovascular diseases.\n\nHowever, when researchers compared the two types of food to see which contributed the most, they discovered that ultra-processed foods were “paramount to define the risk of mortality,” said first author Marialaura Bonaccio, an epidemiologist at the department of epidemiology and prevention at the IRCCS Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed of Pozzilli, Italy.\n\nIn fact, over 80% of the foods classified by the guidelines followed in the study as nutritionally unhealthy were also ultraprocessed, said Bonaccio in a statement.\n\n“This suggests that the increased risk of mortality is not due directly (or exclusively) to the poor nutritional quality of some products, but rather to the fact that these foods are mostly ultraprocessed,” Bonaccio added.\n\nNot real foods\n\nWhy are ultraprocessed foods so bad for us? For one, they are “ready-to-eat-or-heat industrial formulations that are made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesized in laboratories, with little or no whole foods,” Zhang told CNN.\n\nThese overly processed foods are often high in added sugars and salt, low in dietary fiber, and full of chemical additives, such as artificial colors, flavors or stabilizers.\n\n“While some ultraprocessed foods may be considered healthier than others, in general, we would recommend staying away from ultra-processed foods completely and focus on healthy unprocessed foods – fruits, vegetables, legumes,” Mendelsohn said.\n\nIn 2019, the National Institute of Health (NIH) published the results of a controlled clinical trial comparing a processed and unprocessed diet. Researchers found those on the ultraprocessed diet ate at a faster rate – and ate an additional 500 calories more per day than people who were eating unprocessed foods.\n\n“On average, participants gained 0.9 kilograms, or 2 pounds while they were on the ultraprocessed diet and lost an equivalent amount on the unprocessed diet,” the NIH noted.\n\n“There is clearly something about ultraprocessed foods that makes people eat more of them without necessarily wanting to or realizing.” said Nestle.\n\n“The effects of ultraprocessed foods are quite clear. The reasons for the effects are not yet known,” Nestle continued. “It would be nice to know why, but until we find out, it’s best to advise eating ultraprocessed foods in as small amounts as possible.”", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/09/01"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/health/increased-alcohol-higher-cancer-risk-korea-wellness/index.html", "title": "Increased alcohol use linked with higher risk of cancer in new study ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nPeople who increased the amount of alcohol they drank also had an increased risk of cancer, according to the results of a large study in Korea published on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open.\n\nThe study found that people who increased the amount they drank had a higher risk of all cancers, including alcohol-related cancers, than the group that made no changes to their drinking habits.\n\nThe risk also increased for non-drinkers who changed their habits and became mild, moderate or heavy drinkers.\n\n“This is another great example of how changing behavior could significantly decrease cancer deaths,” Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, told CNN in an email. “The most striking findings is the impact on cancer deaths with changes in alcohol consumption. Individuals should be strongly counseled that they can dramatically decrease their cancer risk if alcohol consumption is moderated.”\n\nThe study looked at data from more than 4.5 million participants. The study participants were from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, were 40 years old and up, had taken part in a national health screening in 2009 and 2011, and had available data on their drinking status.\n\n“In this large cohort study that used repeated measures of alcohol consumption, we found that individuals who increased their alcohol consumption, regardless of their baseline drinking level, had an increased incidence of alcohol-related and all cancers compared with those who sustained their current level of drinking,” wrote the study authors from the Seoul National University Hospital. “Quitting was not associated with a lower incidence of alcohol related cancer, but if abstinence was maintained over time, the incidence of alcohol-related and all cancers tended to decrease.”\n\nIn those who increased their drinking from being non-drinkers, the researchers found a high incidence of stomach, liver, gallbladder and lung cancer, multiple myeloma and leukemia.\n\nThey also found that there was an association between decreased risk of alcohol-related and all cancers and reducing heavy drinking to moderate or mild levels of drinking.\n\nAlthough the study has key strengths, such as the size of the cohort and the large number of cases, it also has some limitations, according to an accompanying editorial from experts at the National Cancer Institute.\n\nFirst, the two assessments of alcohol use took place two years apart with a maximum follow-up of seven years and the authors did not have details about participants’ alcohol intake earlier in life, meaning they couldn’t examine long-term changes.\n\nIt also lacked information on other healthy behaviors that could have happened alongside reductions in alcohol intake, so the changes in risk may not be attributed solely to alcohol use.\n\nThere was also no discussion about alcohol-induced flushing and an inherited deficiency in an enzyme involved in breaking down alcohol, which are common in East Asian populations. The editorial authors said that further research in other racial and ethnic groups is needed.\n\nDespite the limitations, the editorial authors said the research provides “important, new findings about the potential role of changes in alcohol consumption in cancer risk,” and suggest future studies follow its lead and examine the association in other populations and using longer intervals between assessments.\n\nThe American Cancer Society calls alcohol use “one of the most important preventable risk factors for cancer, along with tobacco use and excess body weight.”\n\nThe organization says that drinking accounts for around 6% of all cancers and 4% of all cancer deaths in the US.\n\nAccording to ACS and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drinking alcohol can increase the risk of six types of cancer: mouth and throat, larynx, esophagus, colon and rectum, liver and breast in women.\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nACS also says that alcohol use probably increases the risk of stomach cancer and some others.\n\n“For each of these cancers, the more alcohol you drink, the higher your cancer risk,” ACS say. “But for some types of cancer, most notably breast cancer, consuming even small amounts of alcohol can increase risk.”\n\n“I think it’s very important that folks realize that heavy alcohol use can significantly increase the risk of cancer,” said Dahut. “Unfortunately, although this is not a new finding, this information would be very surprising to many. It is imperative that physicians inform patients of this risk and provide whatever tools are necessary to help patients modify this behavior.”", "authors": ["Naomi Thomas"], "publish_date": "2022/08/24"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/health/vitamin-d-fish-oil-autoimmune-wellness/index.html", "title": "Vitamin D and fish oil supplements may help prevent autoimmune ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nTaking daily vitamin D and fish oil supplements may help protect older adults from developing autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, thyroid diseases and polymyalgia rheumatica, an inflammatory disease that causes muscle pain and stiffness in the shoulders and hips, a new study found.\n\nPeople age 50 and older taking 2,000 IU (International Units) of vitamin D3 for over five years had a 22% lower relative rate of confirmed autoimmune diagnoses, said study author Dr. Karen Costenbader, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in the division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity and the director of the lupus program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.\n\nThat dosage is two to three times the recommended daily dose of vitamin D for adults, which is 600 IU for people up to 69 years old and 800 IU for those age 70 and up, according to the National Institutes of Health.\n\nOnce people had been taking vitamin D for at least two years, the prevention rate from autoimmune disorders rose to 39%, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal BMJ.\n\nVitamin D and omega 3 fish oil capsules may protect against autoimmune disease, but more research is needed. Cozine/Adobe Stock\n\nThe study also found a possible link between taking 1,000 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil) and a reduction in autoimmune disorders, but the association was not statistically significant until possible cases of autoimmune disease – not just confirmed cases – were factored into the analysis.\n\nHowever, the study did find that taking both vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements, versus the placebo alone, decreased autoimmune disease by about 30%.\n\nVitamin D toxicity\n\nPeople should not just run out and start popping vitamin D pills to boost their chances of avoiding autoimmune disease, Costenbader warned, as there are significant consequences to taking too much of the supplement.\n\nUnlike water-soluble vitamins, which the body can easily eliminate, vitamin D is stored in the fat cells of the body and can build up to toxic levels, leading to bone pain and kidney damage.\n\nBecause the body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunshine, and milk and other foods like cereals are often fortified with vitamin D, many experts say healthy, younger people are not likely to require vitamin D supplements, especially in amounts over the recommended level of 600 IU/day.\n\nLevels do drop in older age, but “I would say everybody should talk to their doctor first before taking 2000 international units of vitamin D on top of whatever else you’re taking,” Costenbader said. “And there are certain health problems such as kidney stones and hyperparathyroidism (a rise in calcium levels), where you really shouldn’t be taking extra vitamin D.”\n\nThe body attacks itself\n\nCostenbader’s study analyzed 25,871 men and women age 50 and older who were participating in VITAL, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research study designed to see whether taking daily dietary supplements of vitamin D3 (2000 IU) or omega-3 fatty acids (1,000 mg of Omacor fish oil) would reduce the risk for developing cancer, heart disease and stroke in people with no prior history of these illnesses.\n\nThat trial showed no benefits from the extra supplementation in preventing either cardiovascular disease or cancer.\n\nBecause prior research has shown both vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids derived from seafood can have a positive effect on inflammation and immunity in autoimmune disorders, Costenbader decided to use the same trial to investigate whether the supplements might prevent such diseases.\n\nAutoimmune disease occurs when the body’s natural defense system suddenly sees normal cells as invaders and begins destroying those cells by mistake. In rheumatoid arthritis, for example, the immune system attacks the lining of joints, creating inflammation, swelling and pain. With psoriasis, overactive T-cells – which are among the body’s best defenders – cause inflammation that creates raised, scaly patches on the skin.\n\nIn Type 1 diabetes, the body’s defenders destroy the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. There’s even some evidence to show that inflammation throughout the body might be part of the progression of Type 2 diabetes.\n\nAutoimmune disorders can develop at any stage of life but do appear more among older adults, particularly women, Costenbader said.\n\nMore research needed\n\nTo date, no large randomized clinical trials (considered the gold standard of research) had investigated whether fish oil and vitamin D could actually prevent the development of autoimmune diseases.\n\n“This is the first direct evidence in older adults that taking vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids – or a combination – for five years reduces autoimmune disease incidence, with more pronounced effect after two years of supplementation,” Costenbader said.\n\nAt five years into the research, the study could not tease apart which of the 80 or more autoimmune diseases might benefit most from vitamin D and fish oil supplements, Costenbader said, but research is continuing. The study is now in its seventh year, she said. and more data should be released in the future.", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/01/27"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/03/08/tanning-nasal-sprays-viral-yet-controversial-actually-safe/9376415002/", "title": "Tanning nasal sprays are viral yet controversial. Is it actually safe?", "text": "Tanning nasal sprays are the latest self-tan method to achieve a bronzed look from home.\n\nThe fake tanning method involves the inhalation of melanotan, which causes skin darkening.\n\nHowever, experts warn against using these \"dangerous\" sprays, which are not FDA-approved.\n\nPeople have long used foams, drops and lotions to achieve a bronzy glow from home, especially during the winter months. But now, some are opting for tanning nasal sprays.\n\nThe viral beauty trend works how it sounds: You spray the product into your nose for an almost immediate, darker tan.\n\n\"Tanning nasal sprays contain a compound called melanotan, which mimics a natural hormone in our bodies known as melanocyte stimulation hormone. When inhaled, it tells our skin cells to increase pigment production to cause skin darkening,\" explains Dr. Joshua Zeichner, the Director of Cosmetic & Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.\n\nBut is it safe? Experts warn that despite its popularity, particularly on TikTok, this fake tanning method can pose serious risks.\n\nWatch:See Kate Hudson's hilarious, relatable spray-tan fail\n\nHow does it work?\n\nLily Talakoub, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Derm to Door, says most tanning nasal sprays contain tyrosine and melanotan, which increase the production of melanin to darken skin pigmentation. But unlike most self tanners, nasal sprays are meant to be inhaled for quicker results.\n\n\"The inside of the nose is very absorbent. There's no skin layer over it, so anything that gets exposed to it gets absorbed into the bloodstream very fast,\" Talakoub explains.\n\nExperts warn it's \"very risky and incredibly dangerous\" to use tanning nasal sprays because its their ingredient, melanotan, is not FDA approved, and there is limited research about its efficacy or risks.\n\n\"We just don't know the full effects on our bodies,\" Zeichner says. According to Australia's Department of Health, potential side effects include nausea, increased blood pressure, dizziness and vomiting.\n\n\"If someone wants to become tanner and they keep using it, that's a lot of chemicals being absorbed into the bloodstream. People could go and use this in an uncontrolled way and absorb too much, which can cause dangerous health consequences,\" Talakoub says.\n\nSafer alternatives to tanning nasal sprays\n\nTanning beds and exposure to direct sunlight can increase one's risk of developing skin cancer, but experts say there are some safe ways to self tan.\n\n\"I tell my patients that the only way to get a tan safely is when it comes out of a bottle. Self tanning creams are safe and effective and approved by a dermatologist,\" Zeichner says.\n\nAdditionally, Talakoub advises people to be careful when using spray tan booths, because inhalation of the chemicals in large quantities can cause respiratory issues.\n\n\"I recommend covering your nose or using a nose plug when getting a spray tan,\" she says.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/28/fact-check-mountain-dew-free-bvo-but-isnt-flame-retardant/5235571002/", "title": "Fact check: Mountain Dew free of BVO, but it isn't a flame retardant", "text": "The claim: Mountain Dew for years included a dangerous chemical that's also used as flame retardant. That ingredient has recently been removed.\n\nFor years, claims have circulated on the internet that the lemon-lime soda Mountain Dew contains a dangerous additive called brominated vegetable oil that's also used as flame retardant.\n\nOne particular Facebook post from April 2017 by user Betsy Ball Clark has racked up more than 1.1 million shares over the past three years. The post continued to be widely read and circulated in May of this year.\n\n\"BVO is a toxic chemical that is banned in many countries because it competes with iodine for receptor sites in the body, which can lead to hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease and cancer,\" Clark's post states.\n\nA main ingredient of BVO, bromine, is a \"poisonous, corrosive chemical\" that has been linked to major organ damage, birth defects and other medical issues, the post says.\n\nClark's post quotes an online article — whose link in the Facebook post no longer works — that says there is \"flame retardant\" in Mountain Dew.\n\nBVO is a patented flame retardant for plastic and has been banned as a food additive in Europe and Japan. Soda binges have led to medical issues for some patients, the quote claims.\n\nClark updated her post this month, saying she had emailed PepsiCo Inc., which makes Mountain Dew, and received confirmation that the company has removed BVO as an ingredient for Mountain Dew.\n\nClark did not return a request for comment.\n\nWhat is brominated vegetable oil?\n\nBrominated vegetable oil has been used as a food additive since the 1930s to keep ingredients from separating in sodas and other beverages.\n\nRobert McGorrin, professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University, said BVO works as an emulsifier, particularly in beverages that use citrus oils, to keep the citrus oils from floating to the top of the drink.\n\n\"Instead of them kind of coalescing and ringing at the top — forming a film at the top of the soda — they're uniformly dispersed throughout,\" he said.\n\nBut the additive is banned in some countries due to concerns about possible health risks when it's ingested in large amounts.\n\nThe product originally carried the \"generally recognized as safe\" designation from the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., but that designation was removed in the 1970s. The FDA's position since 1977 is that BVO can be used safely \"on an interim basis,\" provided it is used in amounts of under 15 parts per million.\n\nMcGorrin said most beverages that contain BVO use it in much smaller amounts, such as 8 parts per million.\n\nIn 2014, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo announced that they would remove brominated vegetable oil from their soft drinks. The announcement came as public pressure to remove the additive mounted, partially due to a Change.org campaign begun in 2012 by Mississippi teenager Sarah Kavanagh. Her campaign started when she began asking PepsiCo to remove BVO from its Gatorade products.\n\nDespite the 2014 announcement by both companies, reports from as recently as last year showed the ingredient remained in Mountain Dew.\n\nBut that ingredient has recently been removed. Nutrition facts posted on PepsiCo's product information website no longer include brominated vegetable oil as an ingredient. PepsiCo did not respond to a request for comment on when and why it removed the ingredient from the soft drink.\n\nIs brominated vegetable oil really a flame retardant?\n\nFor years, BVO has drawn a comparison to brominated flame retardants, leading to claims like the one mentioned in the post that there is \"flame retardant\" in Mountain Dew.\n\nBut the reality is more nuanced, said Christopher Reddy, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who has studied brominated flame retardants and other brominated compounds.\n\nBVO could be used — and has been patented as — a flame retardant, he said. But the fact that it's patented doesn't mean it's in common use, or related to the vast majority of other brominated flame retardants.\n\nThe common brominated flame retardants in use are different from the food additive, he said.\n\n\"To lump all brominated flame retardants as one single entity about how it may interact with humans and the environment is not accurate,\" he said.\n\nMcGorrin said the common brominated flame retardants in use have different chemical makeups than BVO. Equating the two would be like comparing Splenda, a sweetener, with bleach, since both contain the element chlorine.\n\n\"People (are) just hearing the word 'brominated' and thinking all the negative connotations the word bromine brings with it,\" he said.\n\nResponding to articles comparing BVO to flame retardants, the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum — an industry group that represents companies that produce brominated flame retardants — issued a statement that said its member companies \"have never marketed BVO as a flame retardant.\"\n\n\"Apart from the fact that both contain bromine, there is no direct connection between brominated vegetable oil and brominated flame retardants,\" the statement said.\n\nIs brominated vegetable oil safe?\n\nBrominated vegetable oil has been controversial for years, and questions have continued about the general safety of the additive.\n\nAmerican Beverage Association spokesperson Danielle Smotkin said in a statement that BVO is \"safe, permitted by the FDA, and when used is listed as an ingredient.\"\n\nBut some scientists have recommended more study of the ingredient over the past decade. An article from Environmental Health News that was published in Scientific American in 2011 said there have been some some cases of patients who needed medical attention for bromine-related symptoms such as memory loss and nerve disorders after drinking large amounts of soda — more than 2 liters a day — that contained BVO.\n\nWalter Vetter, a food chemist at Germany's University of Hohenheim who has studied brominated vegetable oil, told Environmental Health News that \"the scientific data is scarce\" surrounding BVO, and it merits further study.\n\nCharles Vorhees, a toxicologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who studied BVO's effects more than 30 years ago, also told Environmental Health News that evaluations of chemicals has improved over the years, and he believes BVO should be reexamined.\n\nThe New York Times also reported in 2012 that some limited studies of BVO in humans and animals found bromine building up in tissues.\n\nReddy told USA TODAY that he believes there's still gray area in scientists' understanding of BVO.\n\n\"We know we drink it,\" he said. \"But I don't think it's fully understood about where it goes once it passes your teeth, how long it stays in your body and whether it breaks down in your body — whether it creates significant harm to the body or even chronic harm.\"\n\nHe said the stories mentioned in articles like the Scientific American are often from acute use, significant amounts drunk at once. But drinking smaller amounts over time could be different.\n\n\"I haven't seen the data that really works on those types of differences,\" he said.\n\nKatherine Zeratsky, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Mayo Clinic who has written about the use of brominated vegetable oil in beverages, agreed that she doesn't believe there's as much research on the buildup over time.\n\nShe said she believes it's unlikely that drinking soda in moderation, such as a can a day, would pose harmful effects. The worries come when a person drinks larger amounts.\n\n\"There's a concern that — with this additive, in particular, and many others — your body has to process it somehow,\" she said.\n\nZeratsky said she advises that people avoid drinking large amounts of beverages that contain BVO.\n\nOur ruling: Partly false\n\nThe Facebook post's claim that brominated vegetable oil is no longer in Mountain Dew is true. The use of brominated vegetable oil has declined over the years as major companies have removed the additive from their drinks in favor of other emulsifiers.\n\nBut experts agree that a sweeping comparison of the additive to flame retardant lacks nuance. It has been patented as one but is not the same as the brominated flame retardants in popular use.\n\nExperts also say it has also not been conclusively proven that drinking the amount of brominated vegetable oil found in soft drinks will lead to all of the negative health effects mentioned in the post. However, scientists agree more information is likely needed to broaden understanding of the ingredient's ability to build up in the human body over time, and that some people drinking large amounts of soda at once have experienced adverse effects.\n\nThat caution is reflected by the FDA's categorization of BVO as allowed in certain amounts on an \"interim\" basis, as well as the banning of the ingredient in some countries overseas.\n\nFor those reasons, we rate this post as PARTLY FALSE.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nIan Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/05/28"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/30/health/avocado-heart-attack-wellness/index.html", "title": "Avocados reduce risk of heart attacks, study says | CNN", "text": "CNN —\n\nEating avocados reduced the risk of heart attacks in both men and women, including when eaten in place of butter, cheese or processed meats, a new study found.\n\nCardiovascular disease is a leading killer worldwide, taking nearly 18 million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States alone, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heart disease takes a life every 36 seconds.\n\nEating at least two servings of avocado a week reduced the risk of having a heart attack by 21% when compared to avoiding or rarely eating avocados. However, there was not an equivalent benefit in reducing the risk for stroke, according to the study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.\n\nA serving of avocado, which is a fruit, was defined as “½ avocado or ½ cup of avocado, which roughly weighs 80 grams,” said study author Lorena Pacheco, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.\n\n“Although no one food is the solution to routinely eating a healthy diet, this study is evidence that avocados have possible health benefits,” said Cheryl Anderson, chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, in a statement. Anderson was not involved in the study.\n\n“We desperately need strategies to improve intake of AHA-recommended healthy diets — such as the Mediterranean diet — that are rich in vegetables and fruits,” said Anderson, who is also professor and dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.\n\nLong-term study\n\nThe study followed more than 68,000 women and 41,000 men who were enrolled in two long-term government studies on risk factors for chronic disease: the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. All participants were free of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke at the start of the studies and completed dietary questionnaires every four years over a 30-year period.\n\nLower your risk of heart attacks by replacing butter, eggs, yogurt, cheese and processed meats with avocados, according to new research. Shutterstock\n\nIn addition to looking at the overall impact of eating avocados, researchers did statistical modeling and found consuming half a serving of avocado (¼ cup) a day instead of the same amount of eggs, yogurt, cheese, margarine, butter or processed meats (such as bacon) lowered the risk of heart attacks by 16% to 22%.\n\n“The full benefit of routine avocado consumption observed here derives from swapping avocado into the diet, and less healthful foods out,” said Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and nutrition, who was not involved in the study.\n\nHowever, the study did not find a difference in risk reduction when a half-serving of avocado was replaced with an equivalent serving of nuts, olive and other plant oils. That makes sense, Katz said, because the health benefits are dependent on what food is replaced.\n\n“If, for instance, the common swap were between avocado and walnuts or almonds, the health effects would likely be negligible since the foods have similar nutritional properties and expected health effects,” said Katz, the president and founder of the nonprofit True Health Initiative, a global coalition of experts dedicated to evidence-based lifestyle medicine.\n\nBut if the avocado replaced butter and margarine as a spread, or was eaten instead of processed meats or cheese on a sandwich, “the nutritional distinctions are sizable” and would be expected to change the health outcome, he added.\n\nAlthough avocados are “particularly rich sources of monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and fiber,” they can also be pricey and therefore not readily available to all, Katz said. Similar substitutes could include walnuts, almonds, olives, olive oil and a variety of seeds such as pumpkin and flax, he said.\n\nOther foods to include that have major health benefit at “much lower price points,” include beans, chickpeas and lentils, “and perhaps whole grains and related seeds like quinoa,” Katz said.\n\nPreventing heart disease\n\nPreventing heart disease means keeping your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol under control, getting plenty of good-quality sleep and regular exercise, managing stress, limiting alcohol and avoiding tobacco use, and eating a healthy diet lower in sugar, processed foods and saturated fats, according to the National Library of Medicine.\n\nThe American Heart Association says your body needs fat to boost energy, protect organs, produce hormones and help with nutrient absorption. However, fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the heart-healthy choices. Olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, safflower oil and sesame oil are sources of monounsaturated fats, along with avocados, peanut butter and many nuts and seeds.\n\nSaturated fat and trans fats raise levels of LDL, known as “bad cholesterol,” the AHA said. Saturated fats, such as butter, are typically solid at room temperature and are found in full-fat dairy products, eggs, coconut and palm oils, and fatty cuts of beef, pork and skin-on poultry.\n\nArtificially made trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils, raise bad LDL cholesterol and lower good HDL cholesterol, which can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. Those can often be found in “fried foods like doughnuts, and baked goods including cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, stick margarines and other spreads,” according to the AHA.", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/03/30"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/05/health/vitamin-d-toxicity-wellness/index.html", "title": "Vitamin D supplements sent a UK man to the hospital for a week | CNN", "text": "CNN —\n\nA British man’s overdose on vitamin D is a cautionary tale for people who are considering adding supplements to their lives, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Case Reports.\n\nAfter a visit with a private nutritionist, the man began taking more than 20 over-the-counter supplements every day, including 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D three times a day. That’s a dose hundreds of times higher than standard nutritional recommendations.\n\nWithin a month, the man began suffering from nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and repeated bouts of vomiting, along with cramping in the legs and ringing in the ears.\n\nThe man, whose name was not disclosed, heard about the supplements from a radio talk show and contacted the nutritionist on the show afterward, said Dr. Alamin Alkundi, a coauthor of the report and an endocrinologist at William Harvey hospital in East Kent in the UK, who treated the man.\n\n“Registration by regulator is not compulsory for nutritionists in the UK and their title is not protected, so anybody can practice as a nutritionist,” Alkundi said in an email.\n\nUnlike water-soluble vitamins, which the body can easily eliminate, vitamin D and its cousins A, E and K are stored in the liver and fat cells of the body until they are needed. Consuming well over the daily recommended dose can build up to toxic levels.\n\nThe man in the case study was taking a daily dose of 150,000 IU of vitamin D, which was “375 times the recommended amount,” Alkundi said. The UK National Health Service typically recommends 400 IU of vitamin D a day for children over age 1 and adults.\n\nThe man stopped taking the supplements when his symptoms began, but his condition didn’t improve. By the time he was referred to the hospital two months later, he had lost 28 pounds (12.7 kg) and his kidneys were in trouble. Tests showed he had overdosed on vitamin D, a condition called hypervitaminosis D.\n\nDaily recommended levels\n\nVitamin D is fat-soluble, which means it is stored in the body. High levels can be toxic. SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/ASSOCIATED PRESS\n\nThe body needs vitamin D. The vitamin’s main job is to help the body absorb calcium from the intestines – in fact, the body cannot absorb calcium unless vitamin D is present. The vitamin also plays a role in immune health, brain cell activity and how muscles function.\n\nIn the United States, 15 micrograms, or 600 IU of vitamin D a day, is recommended for adults up to 69 years old, according to the National Institutes of Health. For adults age 70 and up, the dose rises to 20 micrograms or 800 IU each day. The recommended amount for infants, children and adolescents was recently doubled by the American Academy of Pediatrics to 10 micrograms or 400 IU per day.\n\nA 2017 study found 3% of Americans took more than the tolerable upper limit of 4,000 IU daily for adults, thus putting themselves at risk for toxicity. About 18% took more than 1,000 IU daily.\n\nToo much vitamin D in the blood leads to hypercalcaemia, which occurs when the calcium level in your blood is above normal. The man in the BMJ case study was diagnosed with hypercalcaemia, which can weaken your bones, create kidney stones, and interfere with how your heart and brain work.\n\nThe man was hospitalized for eight days and treated with drugs to lower the levels of calcium in his blood. A followup two months later found his blood calcium levels had dropped to almost normal. While the man’s vitamin D level had also significantly improved, it was still high, Alkundi said.\n\n“A plan to periodically monitor both parameters in clinic was established to track the declining levels to normal levels. We have had contact with him and he reported (he feels) much better, but still not back to his normal self,” Alkundi said.\n\n“He is very eager for his story to be known to alert others,” Alkundi added.\n\nSigns of a vitamin D overdoes can include drowsiness, confusion, lethargy and depression, and in more severe cases it can lead to stupor and coma. The heart can be affected: Blood pressure can rise and the heart can begin to beat erratically. In severe cases, the kidneys can go into renal failure. Hearing and vision can be affected.\n\nWhere to get vitamin D\n\nThe body makes adequate vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunshine. In fact, going outside in a bathing suit for 10 to 15 minutes during the summer “will generate 10,000 to 20,000 IU of vitamin D3 in adults with light skin pigmentation,” according to the AAP.\n\nHowever, going into strong midday sunlight isn’t advised due to the risk of skin cancer, so dermatologists and the AAP say it’s best to use sunblock if you will be exposed for any prolonged length of time. Sunscreens can reduce the body’s ability to process vitamin D.\n\nVitamin D supplementation may not be needed for many children and teens, the AAP said, since many foods such as milk, eggs, cereals and orange juice are often fortified with vitamin D. Breastfed infants should be given 400 IU of supplemental vitamin D daily, starting in the first few days of life and continuing until the baby is weaned to milk or formula fortified with vitamin D, the AAP advised.\n\nIf vitamin D supplements are being considered, daily levels of vitamin D obtained from food should be factored into the decision, experts caution. In addition to fortified foods, eggs, cheese, shiitake mushrooms, salmon, swordfish, tuna, rainbow trout and beef liver contain vitamin D, as does cod liver oil.\n\nAnyone concerned about their vitamin D levels should have them evaluated by a doctor, experts say.\n\n“Patients are encouraged to seek the opinion of their general practitioners regarding any alternative therapy or over-the-counter medications they may be taking or desire to initiate,” Alkundi said.", "authors": ["Sandee Lamotte"], "publish_date": "2022/07/05"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/06/15/epa-no-safe-level-toxic-pfas-thousands-water-systems/7632524001/", "title": "EPA finds no safe level for toxic PFAS in thousands of water systems", "text": "The Environmental Protection Agency stunned scientists and local officials across the country on Wednesday by releasing new health advisories for toxic \"forever chemicals\" known to be in thousands of U.S. drinking water systems, impacting potentially millions of people.\n\nThe new advisories cut the safe level of chemical PFOA by more than 17,000 times what the agency had previously said was protective of public health, to now just four \"parts per quadrillion.\" The safe level of a sister chemical, PFOS, was reduced by a factor of 3,500. The chemicals are part of a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals due to their extreme resistance to disintegration. They have been linked to different types of cancer, low birthweights, thyroid disease and other health ailments.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/06/15"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/health/dry-shampoo-lab-testing/index.html", "title": "Dry shampoo recall: Independent lab finds 'troubling' levels of ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nHigh levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, have been detected in more brands and batches of dry shampoo products, according to a new report from Valisure, an independent laboratory.\n\nJust last month, certain aerosol dry shampoos – including some Dove, Nexxus, Suave, TIGI and TRESemmé products – were voluntarily recalled because of the potential presence of benzene.\n\nThen on Monday, Valisure sent a citizen petition to the US Food and Drug Administration in which the lab described that among 148 batches from 34 different brands of dry shampoo products, 70% of samples tested showed “quantifiable” levels of benzene.\n\nAccording to their report, 11 samples showed levels over 10 times more than 2 parts per million (ppm), the FDA limit for drugs.\n\n“However, the dry shampoos tested are not drugs and contain no active pharmaceutical ingredient for therapeutic purpose; therefore, any significant detection of benzene could be deemed unacceptable. Furthermore, Valisure shows data from the analysis of benzene by directly sampling contaminated air after spraying dry shampoo products, which suggests potential for short- and long-term inhalation exposure to high levels of benzene. The presence of this known human carcinogen in dry shampoo products that are regularly used indoors and in large volumes makes this finding especially troubling,” David Light, Valisure’s chief executive officer, and Qian Wu, Valisure’s head of global analytics, wrote in the FDA Citizen Petition.\n\nThe petition urges the FDA to “expeditiously request recalls” on the affected batches of products containing benzene and better define limits for benzene contamination in other products.\n\nThe FDA normally takes 180 days to respond to a citizen petition.\n\nIn summary, three lots of dry shampoo products from one brand contained spray with more than 100 ppm of benzene, according to the petition, and some samples tested by Valisure showed more than 10 times the FDA drug limit. The petition also mentions that Valisure has detected benzene in other commonly used products as well, including certain hand sanitizers and sunscreens.\n\nCNN contacted the brands listed in the petition and reached out to the FDA for comment but did not immediately hear back from all of them.\n\nIn a statement, Church & Dwight, the maker of Batiste hair products said: “Consumer safety is of the utmost importance. When propellants had been reported to be the source of benzene in competitors’ recalled products, we contacted our propellant suppliers and confirmed with those suppliers that the propellants used in our Batiste products do not contain benzene. We will evaluate the report at the center of the recent claims.”\n\nHaircare brand Not Your Mother’s, listed in the petition, told CNN in a statement, “The safety of our consumers is our highest priority. We are concerned about a recently published report linked to the dry shampoo category, raising questions about levels of benzene detected in propellent used in aerosol products manufactured on or before Fall 2021. This report is inconsistent with the data provided by our suppliers and the rigorous ongoing testing to ensure the safety and integrity of our products. These tests show no traceable amounts of benzene. We are committed to continuous evaluation to ensure the utmost safety and quality of all our products.”\n\nValisure’s Light said in a new release, “The detection of high levels of benzene in dry shampoos should be cause for significant concern since these products are likely used indoors, where benzene may linger and be inhaled for prolonged periods of time.\n\n“These and other issues identified by Valisure, including the detection of benzene in body spray, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen products, strongly underscore the importance of independent testing and its need to be better integrated into an increasingly complex and vulnerable global supply chain.”\n\nGet CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.\n\nLast year, several deodorants and sunscreen products were recalled due to detections of benzene.\n\nBenzene is formed from both natural and man-made processes. “Natural sources of benzene include volcanoes and forest fires. Benzene is also a natural part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\n\n“The main way people are exposed is by breathing in air containing benzene,” according the American Cancer Society.", "authors": ["Jacqueline Howard"], "publish_date": "2022/11/03"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_23", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": []}
{"question_id": "20230210_24", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/19/football/celtic-anti-royal-chants-scottish-football-spt-intl/index.html", "title": "Celtic fans disrupt minute's applause for Queen Elizabeth II with anti ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nSupporters of Glasgow-based football team Celtic FC chanted anti-royal sentiments during a planned minute’s applause for Queen Elizabeth II ahead of the team’s match against St. Mirren in Paisley, Scotland, on Sunday.\n\nThe minute’s applause had been organized after the home team, St. Mirren, chose to pay tribute to the late monarch, but Celtic fans unfurled a banner reading “If you hate the royal family clap your hands” and chanted the same words throughout the planned homage.\n\nThe Scottish FA said in a statement on Monday that “as a mark of respect and in keeping with the period of National Mourning, home clubs may wish to hold a period of silence and/or play the National Anthem just ahead of kick-off, and players may wish to wear black armbands.”\n\nSky, who was broadcasting the match, confirmed to CNN that it turned down the stadium microphones to limit the audibility of the chants during its broadcast of the minute’s applause.\n\nAfter the applause ended, commentator Ian Crocker said, “Apologies if you were offended by anything you might have heard. Most people showed respect, some did not.”\n\nIt is the second time this week that groups of Celtic fans have expressed anti-royal feelings, with the club currently subject to an investigation by European football’s governing body UEFA after displaying a banner reading “F**k the crown” during Wednesday’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk.\n\nCeltic were defeated 2-0 by St. Mirren on Sunday. Craig Williamson/SNS Group/Getty Images\n\nCNN has reached out to the Scottish Professional Football League and Celtic FC for comment but did not immediately get a response.\n\nThough Celtic is based in Scotland, its traditions are intertwined with those of anti-monarchist Irish republicans since it was founded with the aim of alleviating poverty in Glasgow’s Irish Catholic immigrant population in the 1880s.\n\nIts crosstown rival Rangers, meanwhile, is traditionally more aligned with Protestantism and royalist unionism, heightening the antagonism between the two sides.\n\nThe Scottish FA, the governing body for football in the country, said to CNN that it didn’t have “any jurisdiction over fan behaviour at league matches.”\n\nBooing during the minute’s silence was also audible in other matches held in the Scottish Premiership this weekend.\n\nDundee United released a statement, acknowledging that “a small section of the crowd chose to not respect the minute’s silence” ahead of its match against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.", "authors": ["Matt Foster"], "publish_date": "2022/09/19"}, {"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/959508/ten-things-you-need-to-know-today-2-february-2023", "title": "Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 2 February 2023 | The Week UK", "text": "F-35 helmets ‘too heavy for women’\n\nWomen cannot fly F-35 Lightning jets because the helmets provided are too heavy, said an RAF boss. Speaking to MPs, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said that the RAF had not approved a lighter helmet because of safety fears. He said a “lighter helmet that would allow lighter aircrew, so not just women but lighter aircrew, to fly the F-35” but “we would have challenges in clearing it in safety terms because it does not give the pilot the protection that the other helmet has”. The lack of women flying F-35s “comes amid a backlog in training all pilots, who in some cases have waited up to ten years to fly”, said The Times. Last year the RAF came under attack from some quarters over its efforts to meet diversity targets in recruitment.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2023/02/02"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/sport/kate-rugby-patron-gbr-scli-intl-spt/index.html", "title": "Kate takes over from Prince Harry as the patron of English rugby | CNN", "text": "London CNN —\n\nThe Duchess of Cambridge has become the official patron of English rugby, a role previously held by her brother-in-law, Prince Harry.\n\nFrom Wednesday, she becomes the figurehead for the Rugby Football League (RFL) and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) – patronages bestowed upon her by the Queen.\n\nThe honorary titles were returned by Harry after he stepped down as a working member of the royal family in early 2020. The move makes Kate the first royal to officially receive one of the Sussexes’ former patronages.\n\nThe duchess met with members of the men's and women's squads ahead of the Six Nations Championship, which begins on Saturday. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images\n\nTweeting about the news, the Duchess of Cambridge said: “I am so thrilled to become Patron of the @TheRFL and @EnglandRugby\n\n“Two fantastic organisations who are committed to harnessing the power that sport can have in bringing communities together and helping individuals flourish.\n\n“I look forward to working with them across all levels of the games, and to cheering England on in what promises to be an exciting year for both sports! C”\n\nKensington Palace said the patronages were a good fit with Kate's love of sport. Kate Green/Getty Images\n\nThe announcement was accompanied by a short video clip that started with Kate, dressed in black and blue sportswear, throwing a rugby ball in the air, then appearing to pass it to a host of other players in a slickly edited montage. She is later seen spinning the ball on her index finger.\n\nEstablished in 1895, the RFL is the national governing body for the game of rugby league in the UK, covering all forms of grassroots and the professional game, including women’s and wheelchair rugby.\n\nThe Rugby Football Union is the national governing body for grassroots and elite rugby union in England. With 1,900 member clubs – and founded in 1871 – it is one of the largest sports organizations in the country.\n\nThe roles were previously held by the duchess' brother-in-law, Prince Harry. Jeremy Selwyn/Getty Images\n\nThe main difference between the two branches of the sport is that rugby league – popular in the north of England – is played on a smaller pitch with 13 players, compared with rugby union’s 15.\n\nAs England prepares to play Wales at rugby union later this month, the new role puts Kate in direct opposition to her husband, Prince William, who is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.\n\nHours after the announcement, she met a host of England players, coaches and referees in the flesh on the pitch at Twickenham Stadium in London for a training session.\n\nThe duchess met with members of the men’s and women’s squads and their coaching teams as they prepare for rugby union’s Six Nations Championship – which begins Saturday – while also hearing about the impact the pandemic has had on the sport.\n\nShe also joined the players for a skills session on the pitch, run by head England coach Eddie Jones.\n\nA statement issued by Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed the patronages, which, it said, “closely align with Her Royal Highness’ longstanding passion for sport and the lifelong benefits it can provide, both within our communities and on an individual level.”\n\nThe future Queen is a keen sportswoman who, according to the Royal Family’s website, believes sport “has the power to engage, educate and inspire and change lives for the better.” She is royal patron of several other sport-related institutions, including the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the Lawn Tennis Association.", "authors": ["Lianne Kolirin"], "publish_date": "2022/02/02"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/15/sport/caitlin-moran-rugby-league-australia-spt-intl/index.html", "title": "Caitlin Moran: Australian rugby league player suspended for social ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nAn Indigenous Australian rugby league player has been suspended for a game following a social media post she reportedly made about the Queen’s death last week, in which she referred to the monarch as a “dumb dog.”\n\nCaitlin Moran, who plays for the Newcastle Knights in the NRLW, made the derogatory remarks about the Queen in a now-deleted Instagram post, according to multiple Australian media reports.\n\nOn Tuesday, the NRL announced that it intends to ban Moran for one game and hand her a suspended fine equivalent to 25% of her contract.\n\nThe 25-year-old will also be required to attend education and training programs concerning her responsibilities as a player and her use of social media. The NRL said the fine will be suspended if she attends those programs, but if there is another violation of the code, she will be required to pay the fine immediately.\n\n“Rugby league is an inclusive game and has a proud and strong relationship with many communities,” said a statement from the NRL.\n\n“Regardless of any personal views, all players and officials must adhere to the professional standards expected of them and on this occasion, the public comments made by the player have caused damage to the game.”\n\nMoran, who helped Australia’s Jillaroos win the Women’s Rugby League World Cup in 2017, has not posted any response to the NRL’s ban, nor responded to CNN’s request for comment.\n\nShe has until Tuesday to respond to the NRL’s notice.\n\nThe Knights said they support the one-game ban and suspended fine, confirming that Moran will not play in Sunday’s match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.\n\nHowever, the Rugby League Players’ Association called the punishment “far too severe” and “disproportionate,” while the Knights’ NRLW head coach Ronald Griffiths gave his support to Moran, who has Indigenous heritage.\n\n“The relationship between Indigenous people and the monarchy is certainly a complicated one,” Griffiths told reporters on Sunday.\n\n“At the end of the day, if Caitlin’s done something, it will be investigated by the Integrity Unit and we’ll work our way through the process.”\n\nVideo Ad Feedback The Aboriginal First XI: Australia's first international cricket team 02:56 - Source: CNN\n\nFor some Indigenous Australians, the British monarchy is a painful reminder of their suffering under colonial rule, dating back to when British settlers arrived in Australia in 1788. Thousands of Indigenous people were killed during Britain’s colonization of the country.\n\nEarlier this year, Indigenous lawmaker Lidia Thorpe referred to the Queen as a colonizer while being sworn into Australia’s Parliament.\n\nThorpe offered her support to Moran this week, writing on Twitter: “I’m calling on the NRL to do their own racism awareness training. If anyone needs to be educated, it’s you. You’re responsible for creating a safe workplace for First Nations players. Solidarity with Cailtin Moran [sic]. Stand strong sister.”", "authors": ["George Ramsay"], "publish_date": "2022/09/15"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/uk/scottish-indepedence-court-ruling-gbr-intl/index.html", "title": "Scottish independence referendum vote blocked by UK's Supreme ...", "text": "London CNN —\n\nBritain’s Supreme Court has ruled that Scotland’s government cannot unilaterally hold a second referendum on whether to secede from the United Kingdom, in a blow to independence campaigners that will be welcomed by Westminster’s pro-union establishment.\n\nThe court unanimously rejected an attempt by the Scottish National Party (SNP) to force a vote next October, as it did not have the approval of Britain’s parliament.\n\nBut the decision is unlikely to stem the heated debate over independence that has loomed over British politics for a decade.\n\nScotland last held a vote on the issue, with Westminster’s approval, in 2014, when voters rejected the prospect of independence by 55% to 45%.\n\nThe pro-independence SNP has nonetheless dominated politics north of the border in the intervening years, at the expense of the traditional, pro-union groups. Successive SNP leaders have pledged to give Scottish voters another chance to vote, particularly since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016.\n\nThe latest push by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon involved holding an advisory referendum late next year, similar to the 2016 poll that resulted in Brexit. But the country’s top court agreed that even a non-legally binding vote would require oversight from Westminster, given its practical implications.\n\n“A lawfully held referendum would have important political consequences relation to the Union and the United Kingdom Parliament,” Lord Reed said as he read the court’s judgment.\n\n“It would either strengthen or weaken the democratic legitimacy of the Union and of the United Kingdom Parliament’s sovereignty over Scotland, depending on which view prevailed, and would either support or undermine the democratic credentials of the independence movement,” he said.\n\nSturgeon said she accepted the ruling on Wednesday, but tried to frame the decision as another pillar in the argument for secession. “A law that doesn’t allow Scotland to choose our own future without Westminster consent exposes as myth any notion of the UK as a voluntary partnership & makes (a) case” for independence,” she wrote on Twitter.\n\nShe accused the British government of “outright democracy denial” in a speech to reporters later on Wednesday.\n\nSturgeon said her next step in her effort to achieve a vote will be to brand the next British general election – scheduled for January 2025 at the latest – as a proxy referendum in Scotland on which course to take.\n\nBut UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak heralded the court’s “clear and definitive ruling” as an opportunity to move on from the independence debate. “The people of Scotland want us to be working on fixing the major challenges that we collectively face, whether that’s the economy, supporting the NHS or indeed supporting Ukraine,” he said in Parliament.\n\nOpinion polls suggest that Scots remain narrowly divided on whether to break from the UK, and that a clear consensus in either direction has yet to emerge.\n\nEngland and Scotland have been joined in a political union since 1707, but many Scots have long bristled at what they consider a one-sided relationship dominated by England. Scottish voters have historically rejected the ruling Conservative Party at the ballot box and voted heavily – but in vain – against Brexit, intensifying arguments over the issue in the past decade.\n\nSince 1999, Scotland has had a devolved government, meaning many, but not all, decisions are made at the SNP-led Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.", "authors": ["Rob Picheta"], "publish_date": "2022/11/23"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/11/football/james-mcclean-ireland-poppy-remembrance-day-spt-intl/index.html", "title": "Remembrance Day: For one dissenting voice, this is his most ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nFor footballer James McClean, Remembrance Sunday is arguably his most difficult day of the year.\n\nSince he first refused to wear the poppy in 2012, McClean and his family have been subjected to abuse both in football stadiums across England and online.\n\nThe Republic of Ireland international, who was born in Northern Ireland, has been outspoken about what the poppy and Remembrance Sunday mean to his community and its relationship to the British military.\n\nBut what is the poppy and why has it become so controversial in football?\n\nThe poppy finds its origins in a poem written by John McCrae during World War I, “the war to end all wars.”\n\nDespite the death and destruction of WWI, poppies were a common sight amid the cloying mud of the Western Front, according to the Imperial War Museum.\n\nThese days, the red and black image of a poppy is displayed on footballers’ shirts in England during early November as a mark of remembrance to the UK’s fallen soldiers.\n\nThe distinctive, small flower has become a symbol used to remember the soldiers and other servicemen and women of Great Britain who fell in WWI.\n\nThe poppy can be seen up and down the country on Remembrance Sunday. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images\n\nSince the 1920s, the symbol has traditionally been worn around Remembrance Sunday – this year it falls on the November 13 – to honor those who gave their lives in service of the country and the freedoms gained from their sacrifice.\n\nSales of the poppies to the public go towards the Royal British Legion, a charity that supports members of the UK armed forces and veterans.\n\nBut as the years have gone by, the mourning and remembrance rituals evolved and now extend to all of those who have given their lives in service of the country.\n\nFor some in the UK and abroad, though, there is unease about honoring a military that carried out atrocities in their homelands across the globe – places such as Ireland and Northern Ireland – as funds that come from poppy sales go in part to support British veterans who served in Northern Ireland.\n\n“Most Irish nationalists, most Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland regarded it as being not for them. It’s not part of their culture,” Ivan Gibbons, a lecturer in Modern Irish and British history, tells CNN Sport.\n\n“[It is a] sort of a badge, an emblem or totem of British imperialism, British colonialism.”\n\n‘The Troubles’\n\nMcClean is one such dissenting voice.\n\nThe 33-year-old footballer has carved out a solid – if unspectacular – career in English football, plying his trade for various clubs in the top three divisions.\n\nHe was born and raised in Derry, a small town in Northern Ireland bordering the Republic. Derry was at the heart of “the Troubles,” a 20th century sectarian conflict between predominantly Catholic Irish nationalists, mostly Protestant Ulster loyalists and British security services over who controlled Northern Ireland.\n\nIn the bloodiest year of the conflict, 1972, nearly 500 people died from fighting. One explanation for this was the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, broadly referred to as the IRA, in 1969, which embraced “armed struggle” against British rule.\n\nAnother was the introduction of internment without trial – the vast majority of those imprisoned were Catholic – which politicized many into the nationalist cause.\n\n\"The Troubles\" split communities in Northern Ireland who still feel the affects more than 20 years later. Michel Laurent/AP\n\n“Bloody Sunday” – when British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed nationalist protesters in Derry in January 1972 – was a flashpoint in the conflict. Some 38 years after, a 2010 British government inquiry found that the shooting was unjustified, and then-Prime Minister David Cameron offered an apology to the victims in parliament.\n\nSix of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday hailed from the Creggan Estate in Derry where McClean grew up.\n\nMcClean publicly remembers Bloody Sunday and has posted on his social media accounts in commemoration of those victims and the day “innocence died.”\n\nMcClean initially played for Northern Ireland, part of the UK, making seven appearances for their under-21 side, but he jumped at the chance to play for the Republic, a team in which he felt he belonged.\n\nAt the time, he questioned the Northern Irish football team’s decision to play “God Save the Queen” as its national anthem.\n\n“I cannot understand why it is played. Fifty per cent of the people in Northern Ireland do not recognize it as their anthem and among that 50%, quality footballers will emerge,” he said in a 2011 interview with the Belfast Telegraph.\n\nPoppy controversy\n\nIn November 2012, the Premier League instituted the wearing of the poppy on the weekend of Remembrance Sunday for all players. McClean refused.\n\nHaving already received abuse for his decision to play for Ireland – so much so that he closed his Twitter account – fans went further by sending him death threats.\n\nSince then, McClean has regularly received abuse from fans in stadiums in England as well as online. That abuse has regularly turned to death threats towards him as well as his family. In 2020, he revealed in an interview with the BBC that he has often received bullets in the mail and even considered retiring because of the abuse.\n\nHis wife, Erin McClean, said on Twitter in 2021: “Why should we have to read messages like that daily for almost a decade?\n\n“We’ve been spat at, shouted at, nights out have been ruined by people making remarks towards him.\n\n“I even remember once someone threatened him saying they were taking a gun with them to a certain match and I can still remember watching that match in absolute fear on the TV.”\n\nMcClean isn’t the only footballer to have chosen not to wear the poppy and receive abuse for that decision.\n\nIn 2018, Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic – who then played for Manchester United – decided against wearing the symbol because of the “reminder” of the bombs dropped by NATO on his hometown Vrelo in Serbia.\n\n“I do not want to undermine the poppy as a symbol of pride within Britain or offend anyone,” Matic wrote. “However, we are all a product of our own upbringing and this is a personal choice for the reasons outlined.”\n\nEarlier this year, a mural of James McClean was unveiled in Creggan Estate. Mickey Rooney/Alamy Stock Photo\n\nSimon Akam, a military journalist and author, says that as fewer people are directly related to those the poppy remembers, it has become less of a personal symbol and more of a performative gesture.\n\n“It’s both non-political and political … a kind of public notion of doing the right thing. But it’s ingrained within British society,” Akam told CNN Sport.\n\n“In the 1920s, when [over] 800,000 casualties had been reported [as fatalities] by Britain in the First World War, everyone would have known people that had died. It [the poppy] would have had an immediate emotive response that would have been extraordinary,” adds Akam.\n\n“In the conflicts that I wrote about in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 15 years Britain lost about 600 soldiers. The proportion of population who directly knew someone who’d been hurt or killed was [tiny].”\n\nThe abuse directed at McClean has often turned into anti-Catholic and anti-Irish abuse.\n\nHe recently posted a video taken from his match against former club Sunderland where thousands of fans chanted, “F**k the pope and the IRA.”\n\nIn his post, McClean also complained that football’s governing bodies have done very little to deal with the sectarian abuse he gets, but he doesn’t “expect anything to be done about this by the FA, EFL.”\n\nWhen contacted by CNN Sport, a Football Association spokesperson said: “We strongly condemn all forms of discriminatory and offensive chanting. Any participants or fans who believe that they have been the subject of, or witness to, discrimination are encouraged to report it through the correct channels: The FA, the relevant club or via our partners at Kick It Out.\n\n“The FA looks into any alleged discriminatory language or behaviour that is reported to us, and we work closely with the clubs and relevant authorities to ensure appropriate action is taken.”\n\nMcClean has 95 caps for Ireland and earlier this year, captained his nation for the first time. Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile/Getty Images\n\nLikewise, an English Football League – the governing body for the second-tier of English football – spokesperson said: “The EFL condemns all forms of discriminatory and offensive chanting and will provide assistance wherever appropriate in respect of any investigations undertaken by the Club, FA and other authorities.\n\n“The League has worked with other football bodies in the past and will continue to do so in the future to provide support for James.\n\n“At the beginning of the season, the EFL issued guidance to Clubs to support their match day operations to tackle discriminatory behaviour and hate crime.”\n\nWhile governing bodies in England have been very vocal about trying to tackle racism in football, McClean asked in 2021 if “being abused for being Irish and anti-Irish abuse [is] acceptable?\n\n“Is it not popular enough to be seen to be acknowledged or spoke out about too?”\n\nGibbons concurs: “The football authorities don’t see abuse of an Irish footballer on a par with abuse of Black footballers … Their mindset just doesn’t comprehend it.”\n\n‘Celtic Symphony’\n\nLast month, a video emerged of the Irish women’s team singing the “Celtic Symphony,” a popular Irish nationalist song that contains the line: “Ooh ah up the ‘RA,” a nod to the IRA – though not the Provisional IRA according to the writer of the song – for which the team was heavily criticized by English media outlets.\n\nBoth head coach Vera Pauw and player Chloe Mustaki publicly apologized for singing the song.\n\nOne TV presenter asked Mustaki if “education is needed” among the squad as well as for an apology – comments that offended some in Ireland, who argue it is people in England who need to be educated on British Imperialism.\n\n“It is not for the British to interpret a former colony’s history, culture, or future,” said writer Tony Evans, who comes from Liverpool, a city with a strong connection to Ireland, following the country’s Great Famine in the 19th century when it’s estimated that approximately one million died and nearly two million were forced to emigrate, with Liverpool absorbing a huge number of Irish emigrants.\n\n“The Empire is just a memory. The imperial mindset lingers on,” added Evans.\n\nIreland's first ever qualification to the Women's World Cup was overshadowed by the response to their celebrations. Ryan Byrne/INPHO/Shutterstock\n\nAs expected, McClean – as the only player not wearing a poppy – was routinely booed during his Wigan’s side’s trip to Swansea last weekend.\n\nThis is despite McClean stating that, if the poppy was simply a reminder of those lost in the two World Wars, he would happily wear it. After all, over 50,000 Irish men died across the two conflicts.\n\nGibbons says that this is a common position in Ireland, saying that there has been a “dramatic change” in attitudes towards the poppy in Ireland and that more and more people are happy to use it to commemorate those lost in those two wars. Though Ireland was neutral in World War II, thousands of its citizens volunteered in the British Army.\n\nAs Gibbons points out: “People fought and died in World War I and particularly in World War II to ensure that people like McClean – who may have political views which we are uncomfortable with – has the right to express those things,” and that in abusing him for his views is indeed “the negation of the war fought against fascism.”", "authors": ["Alasdair Howorth"], "publish_date": "2022/11/11"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/13/australia/australia-queen-king-republic-referendum-intl-hnk-dst/index.html", "title": "Australia is asking its people one question and it's not whether to ...", "text": "Brisbane, Australia CNN —\n\nWithin 24 hours of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the first cracks were forming in a carefully choreographed Australian response to the passing of its Head of State.\n\nDuring a televised match between Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) teams in Melbourne on Friday, players stood to attention to hear an Acknowledgment of Country immediately followed by one minute of silence for the Queen.\n\nHowever, the juxtaposition of a declaration that players stood on “unceded” Indigenous land followed by a tribute to the former monarch of the country that claimed it was uncomfortable for some.\n\nBy Saturday, all other minutes of silence for AFLW games had been canceled, and the director of one of the clubs, the Western Bulldogs, released a statement saying the tribute “unearths deep wounds for us.”\n\nFremantle Dockers players line up before an AFLW match with the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne, September 9, 2022. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images\n\nThe incident demonstrates the lingering pain felt by Australia’s First Nations people since the occupation of their country by British settlers in 1788. In other Commonwealth Nations, the Queen’s death has prompted rumblings – some louder than others – of moves to abandon the British monarchy for a republic. But in Australia, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s pro-republic views, there’s no concerted push in that direction.\n\nIn interviews and press conferences since the Queen’s death, Albanese has repeatedly said now is not the time to time to be talking about a republic. And on Tuesday, the Australian Republican Movement seemed to agree, suspending its campaign on the issue until after the period of mourning “out of respect for the Queen.”\n\nBut for Albanese, the reluctance to push for a republic right now is not just a matter of respect for the late monarch. The Labor leader made a pre-election promise to hold a referendum to recognize Australia’s First Nations people in the constitution within his first three-year term, if he won office.\n\nWhen asked about it on Monday, Albanese said: “I said at the time I couldn’t envisage a circumstance where we changed our Head of State to an Australian Head of State but still didn’t recognize First Nations people in our constitution and the fact that we live with the oldest continuous culture on Earth. So that’s our priorities this term.”\n\nAustralian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the Proclamation of King Charles III, on the forecourt of Parliament House on September 11, 2022 in Canberra, Australia. Mick Tsikas/Getty Images\n\nA resounding ‘no’\n\nChanging the constitution requires the majority of Australian people across the country, as well as the majority in most states to vote “yes” in a referendum, a notoriously difficult task. Since Federation in 1901, only eight of 44 proposals for constitutional change have been approved.\n\nThe last rejection came in 1999, when the country’s citizens were asked if they wanted to replace the Queen and Governor-General with a President.\n\nBack then, campaigning focused on cutting ties with an archaic monarchy and moving forward as a bold new multicultural nation intent on forging its own path. Indigenous issues weren’t high on the agenda, though Australians were asked a second question, to approve a new preamble to the constitution that honored First Nations people for their “kinship with their lands.” That failed too, with Aboriginal elders of the day complaining they hadn’t been consulted on the wording.\n\nAn Aboriginal land rights protest in Spring Street, Melbourne, 1971. Fairfax Media/Getty Images\n\nIt wasn’t a surprise. Indigenous people had long complained their voices hadn’t been heard by successive governments, so much so that in 1999, Yawuru man Peter Yu, now Vice President First Nations at the Australian National University (ANU), took the advice of a local elder to take their message to the Queen.\n\n“A very old senior leader said, ‘You better go and see that old girl overseas … because they call her name the wrong way over here,’” Yu recalled. The old man meant that the only time Aboriginal people heard the Queen’s name was when they were arrested, Yu told CNN. “They felt that, given the community’s respect for the Queen, her name was being sullied and her reputation being besmudged, and that therefore we needed to go and explain the situation,” he said.\n\nSo they did.\n\nYu and an delegation met Queen Elizabeth for around 30 minutes in Buckingham Palace, and received a much warmer welcome from the monarch than either government in the UK or Australia, he said.\n\nToday, Yu says views within the Australia’s Indigenous community on the Queen are mixed – as they are in most communities.\n\n“There are strong emotions,” he said. “And we are continuing to suffer the full force of the consequences of colonization. But do we hold her personally responsible for it? I don’t,” he said. “Who I hold responsible for it is the Australian government … governments who deliberately neglected their duty of care. That’s what I’m angry at.”\n\nQueen Elizabeth II watches an Aboriginal cultural performance near Cairns, March 2002. Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images\n\nVoice to Parliament\n\nBy the end of his first term, Albanese has promised a referendum on the Voice to Parliament – a body enshrined in the constitution that for the first time would give Indigenous people a say in laws that affect them.\n\nJohn Warhurst, Emeritus Professor of political science at ANU and former chair of the Australian Republic Movement, says a referendum on the Voice to Parliament is “undoubtedly the first priority” over a republic.\n\n“You won’t get argument about that among republicans,” he added.\n\nAn image of Queen Elizabeth II looks down from the sails of Australia's Opera House, September 9, 2022. Robert Wallace/AFP/Getty Images\n\nThe Voice to Parliament is important for a number of reasons, said Warhurst. “It’s a line in the sand about Australia’s colonial past. It’s a line in the sand about race relations in Australia … and I think the message internationally would be a shocking one, too, if we fail to pass this referendum.”\n\nHowever, not all Indigenous people back the concept.\n\nTelona Pitt, a Ngarluma, Kariyarra, and Meriam woman of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island descent, is the admin of the “Vote no to constitutional change” Facebook group, which has 11,000 members.\n\nShe believes not enough Indigenous people were given a say in drafting the document that led to plans for a Voice to Parliament. And she says the government is already aware of Indigenous problems but hasn’t done enough to fix them – and that won’t change with a referendum on a Voice to Parliament.\n\n“All it’s going to do is just disempower Aboriginal people and power up the Parliament against us,” she said.\n\nProtesters take part in an \"Invasion Day\" rally in Sydney on January 26, 2022. Steven Saphore/AFP/Getty Images\n\nPitt says a referendum should be held among Indigenous people to see who supports the change before any questions are put to the wider public.\n\nWarhurst says approving the Voice to Parliament would ease the passage of further constitutional change – but on the flip side, rejecting it could mean a longer road to a republic.\n\nHe said after the Voice to Parliament passes, Australia may be ready to consider life after the monarchy.\n\nThat may not happen for another five to 10 years, but campaigning on the issue would have to start early “from scratch” as Australia is not the same place it was in 1999, he said.\n\nPotentially, convincing Australians that it is time for a republic may be easier by then, as the nostalgia of a lifetime under the reign of the Queen will have passed for older generations, who grew up with much closer ties to the British monarchy.\n\n“Queen Elizabeth’s presence was influential for some in sticking with the status quo,” Warhurst said. “So I think now that we’ve moved on to a new King, part of the reluctance in the Australian community has gone.”\n\nHowever Yu, from ANU, said the issue of Australia’s Indigenous people must be addressed before any talk of a republic.\n\n“How can you have a republic without settling the matter with the First Peoples?” he asked. “For me, It’s a nonsense. It has no integrity. It has no sense of moral or soul.”", "authors": ["Hilary Whiteman"], "publish_date": "2022/09/13"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/uk/queen-elizabeth-stunt-double-scli-intl-gbr/index.html", "title": "Queen Elizabeth's Olympic stunt double jailed for attack on girlfriend ...", "text": "London CNN —\n\nA UK court has sentenced Queen Elizabeth II’s stunt double to 18 months in prison after he threw his girlfriend down a staircase and shattered her shoulder.\n\nGary Connery was convicted of grievous bodily harm without intent at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday, a spokesman for the court told CNN on Wednesday.\n\nIn addition to a prison sentence for the attack, which took place in October 2020, the judge also imposed a restraining order, the spokesman said.\n\nConnery dressed as Queen Elizabeth II during the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images\n\n“It is abundantly clear that you have shown absolutely no remorse for what happened and accept no fault on your behalf,” Judge Nigel Daly told 53-year-old Connery, according to the PA Media news agency.\n\nAt the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics, Connery stood in for the British monarch in a skit in which the Queen met James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, before they both appeared to get into a helicopter to fly to the Olympic stadium.\n\nViewers then saw what appeared to be the Queen and Bond, but were in fact Connery and a fellow stuntman, parachute into the stadium.", "authors": ["Jack Guy"], "publish_date": "2022/08/17"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/football/banner-flown-boris-johnson-premier-league-spt-intl/index.html", "title": "'Stop Boris': Banners protesting UK PM Boris Johnson flown over ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nBanners protesting UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were flown over Premier League games on Saturday.\n\nThe banners were seen over Manchester United’s clash with West Ham United at Old Trafford as well as at Elland Road where Leeds United hosted Newcastle United.\n\nThe message towed behind the plane read: “Boot him out!” followed by the website of the group who organized the protest, Open Britain.\n\nIn a message posted on Twitter confirming it was behind the message, Open Britain said: “We’ve taken the campaign to #StopBoris to the skies.\n\n“The country no longer wants him as PM – now’s the time to boot him out and the place to make it happen is stopboris.com.”\n\nVisit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos\n\nA general view of the Premier League match between Manchester United and West Ham at Old Trafford. Zac Goodwin/PA Images/Getty Images\n\nThe website linked in the protest takes users to a petition calling for Johnson to be removed from power, which has almost 80,000 signatures at the time of writing.\n\nIt comes as the pressure continues to mount on Johnson over alleged summer garden parties and Christmas gatherings held in Downing Street when the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns. A report into the allegations, set to be released this week, could be the final straw for Johnson’s increasingly mutinous party.", "authors": ["Ben Morse"], "publish_date": "2022/01/23"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_25", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/30/fact-check-rumor-litter-box-michigan-school-false/9214248002/", "title": "Fact check: No, a Michigan public school did not provide litter boxes ...", "text": "The claim: A Michigan school put litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats\n\nA video of a central Michigan school board meeting went national in mid-January after a parent claimed that a \"nefarious\" agenda had taken hold of public schools in her county.\n\nIn the Dec. 21, 2021, YouTube video, which has over 80,000 views, Lisa Hansen says during the Midland Public Schools board meeting she had been told there was a litter box in the bathroom of at least one local school for students who self-identify as cat \"furries.\"\n\n\"I’m still wrapping my brain around this a little bit, but yesterday I heard something and I was stunned ... I'd even use the word 'furious,'\" she says. \"I heard that at least one of our schools, in our town, has, in one of the unisex bathrooms, a litter box for the kids that identify as cats … I am really upset, as a parent, that my child is put in an environment like that.\"\n\nMeshawn Maddock, the co-chair of the state Republican Party, shared the unsubstantiated comment on Facebook.\n\nIn general, \"furries\" are people who adopt and identify with an anthropomorphized animal persona, often within online or local communities of other furries, says Furscience, the public face of a team of researchers who study the subculture. Roughly three in four are under the age of 25, the group writes.\n\nHansen noted the rumor warranted \"more investigation\" and did not make a claim about who had installed the litter boxes. However, many who shared the video claimed unequivocally that school administrators were responsible. This was the case for a Jan. 21 Facebook post that was viewed over 8,600 times and a tweet shared over 5,000 times.\n\n\"At a recent school board meeting, it was revealed that a Michigan school placed a LITTER BOXES in the bathroom for students that identify as cats,\" user Jovan Pulitzer captioned the video in the Facebook post. \"Unbelievable.\"\n\nMany commenters who watched the video took the claim seriously. \"It is ok to pretend to be a cat or dog in your private time, but the world and work force should not be forced to play along,\" one said.\n\nSpecial access for subscribers! Click here to sign up for our fact-check text chat\n\nHowever, as USA TODAY reported, the district's superintendent shut down the rumor soon after Maddock shared the video on Jan. 20.\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to Maddock and others who shared the claim on social media for comment.\n\nSuperintendent: 'No truth whatsoever' to litter box claim\n\nIn an email sent to parents, staff and community members on Jan. 20, Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael Sharrow denied the claim that \"litter boxes were provided within MPS student restrooms for those who identify themselves as 'furries.'\" The email was also published in a regional Facebook group.\n\n\"Let me be clear… there is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools,\" he wrote. \"It is such a source of disappointment that I felt the necessity to communicate this message to you.\"\n\nIt was \"unconscionable\" that he was addressing the rumor, Sharrow said, but he felt it necessary to do so because of its renewed spread on social media. As he stated in his message, the board meeting took place on Dec. 20, 2021, and did not circulate widely until mid-January.\n\nHansen did not provide evidence for the claim about litter boxes during the school board meeting. She told The New York Times on Jan. 23 that she was a \"concerned mom\" who didn't feel she knew enough about what was going on at her child's school.\n\n“We parents aren’t sure what our schools are up to,” she wrote in an email, according to the Times. “That’s the problem. Accountability is not a crime.”\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to Hansen for comment.\n\nOur rating: False\n\nBased on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a Michigan school put litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats. The source of the claim was a parent at a Midland County School Board meeting who said she had \"heard\" that this had occurred in one local school, but she did not provide evidence. The district's superintendent said in a public statement that \"there have never been litter boxes within (Midland Public) schools.\"\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/01/30"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/02/02/fact-check-biden-executive-order-discrimination-transgender-women-sports/6686171002/", "title": "Fact check: Biden executive order on discrimination in women's sports", "text": "The claim: Biden's executive order says transgender female athletes must be allowed to compete against women and is tied to federal funding\n\nSince taking office on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden has issued a flurry of executive orders, including one that is aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and prohibiting workplace discrimination in the federal government.\n\nWhile the move was celebrated by LGBTQ advocates, the announcement brought forth criticism from some conservatives on social media, with claims that the order threatens women's rights. Critics protested with the hashtag #BidenErasedWomen.\n\nA Facebook post shared on Jan. 23 claims Biden ordered schools to allow transgender athletes to play in women's sports.\n\n\"This is insane. A Biden Executive order call for Transgenders to be included in Women's sports,\" reads a post from “Students for Trump” founder Ryan Fournier, which has been posted to Facebook as a screenshot by a Facebook user.\n\nAnother user shared a screenshot of a tweet from author Abigail Shrier that reads, \"On day 1, Biden unilaterally eviscerates women's sports. Any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women's teams, women's scholarships, etc. A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls.\"\n\nMark Chase, a spokesperson for Fournier, pointed to Section 1 of the executive order and said education institutions that receive federal funding must allow boys who self-identify as girls to participate in female sports, and that there would be administrative consequences if not. He said the order would build upon the Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton case \"in an ambitious manner.\"\n\n\"Women’s sports is a protected category. This ensures fair competition, which will only be diminished if schools are pushed to give biological men the right to participate in them. This executive order is a threat to decades of women’s achievement thanks to executive fiat,\" Fournier said In a statement to USA TODAY.\n\nUSA TODAY reached out to Shrier and the Facebook users for comment.\n\nFact check: Vice President Kamala Harris used 2 Bibles when she was sworn in\n\nThe executive order explained\n\nThe “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” calls for a broader application of last year's Supreme Court Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, which mandated that LGBTQ people are protected from sex discrimination in the workplace.\n\nThe majority opinion held that, “It is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.”\n\nThe order builds on the landmark ruling and directs federal agencies to extend protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and calls for the Supreme Court ruling to apply to Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in federally funded schools.\n\nUnder \"Bostock's reasoning,\" Title IX, the Fair Housing Act and Section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act “prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, so long as the laws do not contain sufficient indications to the contrary.”\n\n\"Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love,\" Biden's executive order reads. \"Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.\"\n\nThe order states that discrimination against LGBTQ people \"overlaps with other forms of prohibited discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race or disability,\" as spelled out in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\n\nThe executive order does not tie an education institution's federal funding to allowing biological male athletes access to women's sports teams and scholarships, the White House said in a statement issued to USA TODAY.\n\nThe order mandates that all students, including transgender students, be able to learn without facing sex discrimination, and as part of that, transgender women should compete on female teams, according to the statement.\n\nFact check:Biden said he plans to increase COVID-19 small business relief to people of color and women\n\nExperts and advocates weigh in\n\nAdvocates for the LGBTQ community also have refuted claims that the executive order takes away women's rights and emphasized that the order spells out existing laws.\n\nGillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the National Women’s Law Center, told Vox that the order is not a \"radical step\" and that the Biden administration is \"merely enforcing the Supreme Court's ruling as it was written.\"\n\nBranstetter added that Biden's executive order “is not an abandonment of his call for unity by any stretch of the imagination,” and \"it’s frankly a little boilerplate because it’s merely enforcing the Supreme Court (decision) as is the executive branch’s constitutional duty.\"\n\nChase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote on the ACLU's site that Biden \"most certainly did not 'erase women' — whatever that means.\"\n\n\"By stating the administration’s intention to follow Supreme Court precedent and federal law, at core all the newly-elected president did was lay out what the law is and agree, unlike his predecessor, to follow it,\" Strangio wrote, adding that federal statutes are the source of legal protections for LGBTQ people, not Biden's executive order.\n\nHowever, what the order does do, according to Strangio, is establish that the Biden administration is prepared to enforce all legal protections under federal law for LGBTQ people.\n\n\"Every employer, every landlord, every health care provider that is considering firing or evicting or denying health care to a transgender person must now think about the fact that all three branches of the federal government have made clear that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is illegal,\" Strangio wrote.\n\nMore: As transgender troop ban gets reversed, LGBTQ community hopeful for Biden's years to come\n\nTransgender athletes at college and Olympic levels\n\nThe executive order does not address athletics beyond the mention of discrimination in \"school sports.\" Further, transgender amateur athletes already have policies they must follow in order to compete.\n\nAccording to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which oversees 24 sports at over 1,000 colleges and universities, gender confirming surgery or legal recognition of a player's transitioned sex is not required in order for transgender players to participate on a team.\n\nWhen hormones are used, the NCAA requires one year of hormone treatment for trans female athletes prior to competing on a women's team, and trans male athletes remain eligible to compete in women's sports until the athlete begins a physical transition using testosterone.\n\nIn November 2015, the International Olympic Committee agreed that those who transition from female to male are able to compete in male sports without restriction.\n\nThose who transition from male to female are able to compete in the women's category after declaring the gender identity of female, which cannot be changed for a minimum of four years; and demonstrating testosterone levels below a specific level for at least 12 months before their first competition and then throughout the eligibility period.\n\nFor K-12, according to Transathlete.com, policies vary by state and and school district, with 16 states having policies in place that facilitate the full inclusion of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming students in high school athletics. There are 14 states that require medical proof, and 10 states that did not issue statewide practices but allow schools to create their own policies on a case-by-case basis.\n\nFact check: National Guard members didn't turn away from Biden's Inauguration Day motorcade in dissent\n\nExisting legal battles\n\nClaims about the executive order follow legal and legislative action aimed at transgender athletes.\n\nRepublican lawmakers in several states are pushing legislation to ban transgender athletes from competing in sports for the gender with which they identify.\n\nGet these in your inbox: We're fact checking the news and sending it to your inbox. Sign up here to start receiving our newsletter.\n\nIn Montana, a GOP-backed bill bans transgender students from playing on school and college sports teams for the gender with which they identify, the Associated Press reported. Proponents of the bill say allowing transgender athletes to play can result in a an unfair playing field in middle and high school sports.\n\nA group of female high school runners in Connecticut — one of the states that allows transgender athletes to compete without restrictions — filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to block transgender athletes in the state from participating in female sports, according to the Associated Press.\n\nOur ruling: Missing context\n\nThe claim that Biden's gender discrimination executive order says transgender women must be allowed to compete on women's teams is MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research. The order protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and states children should not be \"denied access\" to \"school sports.\" The White House said this would include having transgender females play on women's teams. But the posts do not acknowledge that rules for transgender athletes are already in place at the college and Olympic levels, as well as in many states and school districts. Further, it is false to say any educational institution that receives federal funding must add biologically male athletes to teams.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2021/02/02"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/23/fact-check-uns-agenda-21-2030-agenda-wont-create-new-world-order/5474884002/", "title": "Fact check: UN's Agenda 21, 2030 Agenda won't create 'new world ...", "text": "The claim: The United Nations will establish a 'new world order' under its Agenda 21/2030 Mission Goals\n\nIs a \"new world order\" part of the UN's plan? There is evidence that the claim has circulated on social media for years, but a May repost by Facebook user Vernon Adkinson recently went viral.\n\nOver 20 goals comprise the \"new world order\" the United Nations will focus on as part of its \"Agenda 21/2030 Mission Goals,\" according to the claim. Items on the agenda include one world government; a single cashless currency; government-owned and controlled schools, colleges and universities and an end to single-family homes.\n\n\"THIS IS NOT A CONSPIRACY THEORY,\" Adkinson insisted in the caption. \"If you don’t believe it, a simple google search will take you to the U.N. website where you can access the document and read it for yourself. It is amazing (not) how well the Covid 19 plandemic ties in with Agenda 21/2030.\"\n\nAdkinson did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.\n\nWhat are the U.N.'s Agenda 21 and its Agenda 2030 mission goals?\n\nAgenda 21 was one of several agenda items for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment & Development in Rio de Janeiro.\n\nThe agenda included 31 items addressing global social and economic dimensions; conservation and resource management; role strengthening for women, children and workers, as well as proposed methods of implementation.\n\nItems listed in the \"new world order\" do not appear in Agenda 21. For instance, there is no mention of currency. Terms like \"military\" and \"sovereignty\" also do not appear, though both are referenced in the \"new world order.\"\n\nMore:'No one is safe until everyone is safe': Vaccine nationalism threatens global coronavirus effort\n\nHowever, there are brief mentions of some of the items from the claim. The term \"central banking\" is present in reference to capacity-building in developing countries; it is not described as a \"world central bank.\" Property rights are also addressed, regarding protecting women's rights to property, but not an end to all privately owned property.\n\nThe 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2015 that is focused around achieving 17 goals within 15 years:\n\nEnd all poverty in all forms everywhere End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Reduce inequality within and among countries Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (acknowledging the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development\n\nTerms like \"one world,\" \"currency,\" \"military,\" \"family unit,\" \"5G,\" \"private transportation,\" \"air travel,\" and \"synthetic drugs\" are not mentioned in the 2030 Agenda, though they are listed in the \"new world order.\"\n\nThere are references to equal rights and access to land and other forms of property for poor and vulnerable men and women, full and permanent sovereignty over natural and economic resources for individual states and universal health coverage to include affordable vaccines for all. The 2030 agenda does not mention global sovereignty over these items as the claim suggests.\n\nIs the United Nations planning to institute a 'new world order' by 2030?\n\nThere is no evidence that the U.N. will establish \"one world government\" along with associated implications, such as a single military and currency.\n\nDaniela Gross, a spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General, told USA TODAY in an email that the claim is entirely fabricated.\n\n\"No, this is false. This is not a genuine UN document,\" Gross wrote.\n\nThe author of a 2014 report on Agenda 21 conspiracy theories, Heidi Beirichm, told AFP Australia in June that the \"new world order\" claim is a far-right hoax.\n\n\"That post is filled with all the bogus claims the far right has made against (Agenda 21) for a long time now,” Beirich, a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said.\n\nMoreover, Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda are not legally binding. The latter is subject to each country's commitment. A frequently asked questions page states that \"implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes.\"\n\nSimilarly, Beirich described Agenda 21 as a \"perfectly sensible planning paper, a nonbinding statement of intent aimed at dealing with sustainability on an increasingly crowded planet,\" in her 2014 conspiracy theory report for the Southern Poverty Law Center.\n\nOur rating: False\n\nWe rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. A claim suggesting the UN's Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will establish \"one world government\" has been debunked by experts. A representative from the UN said that the agenda is not a genuine agency document.\n\nOur fact-check sources:\n\nThank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.\n\nOur fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/07/23"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/health/pride-month-explainer/index.html", "title": "Pride Month: What to know about the LGBTQ celebration | CNN", "text": "CNN —\n\nJune is Pride Month, when the world’s LGBT communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves.\n\nBut Pride gatherings are more than bright colors and good times. They are rooted in the arduous history of minority groups who have struggled for decades to overcome prejudice and be accepted for who they are.\n\nThe original organizers chose this month to pay homage to the Stonewall uprising in June 1969 in New York City, which helped spark the modern gay rights movement. Most Pride events take place each year in June, although some cities hold their celebrations at other times of the year.\n\nWho celebrates it?\n\nA participant from Venezuela takes part in Berlin's annual gay pride parade in 2017. JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images\n\nPride events are geared toward anyone who feels like their sexual identity falls outside the mainstream – although many straight people join in, too.\n\nLGBT is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQ, or even LGBTQIA, to include queer, intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don’t experience sexual attraction.\n\nThese terms may also include gender fluid people, or those whose gender identity shifts over time or depending on the situation.\n\nHow did it start?\n\nPeople celebrate outside the historic Stonewall Inn during the New York Pride March on June 27, 2021, in New York City. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images North America/Getty Images\n\nIn the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, and began hauling customers outside. Tensions quickly escalated as patrons resisted arrest and a growing crowd of bystanders threw bottles and coins at the officers. New York’s gay community, fed up after years of harassment by authorities, broke out in neighborhood riots that went on for three days.\n\nThe uprising became a catalyst for an emerging gay rights movement as organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance were formed, modeled after the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement. Members held protests, met with political leaders and interrupted public meetings to hold those leaders accountable. A year after the Stonewall riots, the nation’s first Gay Pride marches were held.\n\nIn 2016 the area around the Stonewall Inn, still a popular nightspot today, was designated a national monument.\n\nWhere did the Pride name come from?\n\nMembers and allies of the LGBTQ community march on June 12, 2021, in Washington. Drew Angerer/Getty Images\n\nIt’s credited to Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” who organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.\n\nWhat’s the origin of the rainbow flag?\n\nEric Thayer/Getty Images\n\nIn 1978, artist and designer Gilbert Baker was commissioned by San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk – one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US – to make a flag for the city’s upcoming Pride celebrations. Baker, a prominent gay rights activist, gave a nod to the stripes of the American flag but drew inspiration from the rainbow to reflect the many groups within the gay community.\n\nBaker, a prominent gay rights activist, gave a nod to the stripes of the American flag but drew inspiration from the rainbow to reflect the many groups within the gay community.\n\nA subset of flags represent other sexualities on the spectrum, such as bisexual, pansexual and asexual.\n\nCan I participate in Pride events if I’m not LGBT?\n\nKamala Harris, then California's attorney general, rides in San Francisco's Pride parade in 2016. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/AFP/Getty Images\n\nSure. Pride events welcome allies from outside the LGBT community. Parades and other celebrations are opportunities to show support, to observe, listen and be educated.", "authors": ["Ayana Archie"], "publish_date": "2022/06/01"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2018/11/18/4-h-transgender-lgbt-iowa-john-paul-chaisson-cardenas-iowa-state-university-civil-rights/1572199002/", "title": "4-H: Trump agency push to dump LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's ...", "text": "The Trump administration pushed the national 4-H youth organization to withdraw a controversial policy welcoming LGBT members — a move that helped lead to the ouster of Iowa's top 4-H leader earlier this year, a Des Moines Register investigation found.\n\nThe international youth organization, with more than 6 million members, introduced the new guidance to ensure LGBT members felt protected by their local 4-H program. The document and their attempts to broaden membership in the LGBT community was a smaller part of a larger, multi-year effort to modernize the federally authorized group.\n\nSeveral states posted the national guidance on their websites, including Iowa, where it prompted fierce opposition from conservatives and some evangelical groups.\n\n\"The current focus of this campaign may be Iowa, but the values and vision of the entire Cooperative Extension are under attack,\" Andy Turner, director of the New York 4-H program, wrote in an email to John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas, Iowa's top 4-H leader, last April.\n\nWithin days of the LGBT guidance's publication, Heidi Green, then-chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, requested that it be rescinded, Sonny Ramaswamy, then-director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the federal department that administers 4-H, told the Register.\n\nAfterward, a NIFA communications manager sent an \"urgent\" email to at least two states — Iowa and New York — urging the 4-H organizations there to remove the LGBT guidance from their websites, the Register found.\n\nThe subsequent decision to take down the policy set off a firestorm this spring that engulfed 4-H programs in at least eight states — including Iowa, Idaho, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia and New York.\n\nAnd it eventually precipitated the firing of Iowa 4-H director John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas, a fierce advocate of the LGBT policy, the Register found after conducting extensive interviews and examining more than 500 pages of state and federal communications.\n\nThe 4-H policy's removal comes amid other moves by the Trump administration to roll back federal protections that the previous administration saw as also covering gender identity — or the deeply held sense of who one is that may differ from the sex organs with which one is born.\n\n► New Tuesday:Chuck Grassley says USDA should not have pressured 4-H to rescind LGBT policy\n\nThe Trump administration previously declared it would place limits on transgender troops serving in the military, and it rescinded a 2016 Dear Colleague letter issued by Obama’s Education Department that said prohibiting transgender students from using facilities such as restrooms that matched their gender identity violates federal anti-discrimination laws.\n\nThe administration also attempted to remove questions about gender identity from the 2020 census. And, in October, the New York Times obtained a leaked memo from the Department of Health and Human Services that seeks to define gender as “either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with.”\n\nThe move would “essentially eradicate federal recognition of the estimated 1.4 million” transgender Americans, the Times reported.\n\nThe Trump administration to date has declined to comment on the leaked memo.\n\n► New Monday:A national LGBTQ civil rights organization is pressing the Trump administration on its role in 4-H pulling transgender protections\n\nIowa director pressured to drop policy\n\nAs Iowa’s document — and the ones posted to other states’ sites — circulated the internet this spring, Christian conservative leaders and media outlets rallied their supporters to pressure 4-H leaders to remove the document, and a Christian law firm threatened legal action.\n\nSome states relented. In Iowa, Chaisson-Cárdenas, the first statewide Latino director of 4-H in the organization’s 115-year history, resisted.\n\nA dyslexic Guatemalan refugee who graduated from the University of Iowa, Chaisson-Cárdenas was adamant that 4-H was “for all kids.”\n\nEmails sent to John Lawrence — vice president of Iowa State University’s Extension and Outreach, which oversees Iowa's 4-H program — reflect deeply felt opinions for and against the policy.\n\nSome said the policy was “great” and “very positive.” One former 4-H member, who claimed to be a transgender father, offered to speak on the issue.\n\nOthers, who identified themselves as 4-H volunteers, leaders and former members, called the policy a “fascist push to redefine humanity” and characterized transgender children as “horrendous” and “sinful.”\n\nSeveral threatened to pull donations, leave leadership roles in their local extension or call their state legislator. Chaisson-Cárdenas said he received threats on his life.\n\nIn emails, Chaisson-Cárdenas pushed back against his bosses' efforts to apologize or retract the document.\n\n“I guess I am not sure why we are valuing the propaganda machine of a recognized hate group over the existing rights of LGBTQ youth?” Chaisson-Cárdenas wrote in reference to WorldNetDaily, an alt-right online publication that extensively covered the dust-up in Iowa.\n\n“It feels wrong to me,\" he wrote.\n\nThe battle to modernize 4-H\n\nIn 1991, USDA and extension leaders wrote a document titled “Pathway to Diversity” that called on university extension systems to become more diverse and multicultural.\n\nAs a congressionally authorized youth program, 4-H had an obligation to follow federal civil rights statutes, according to the document, but more importantly, if 4-H wanted to survive for 100 more years, it needed to diversify.\n\nSince first drafting official inclusion policies, leaders in extension services and their colleagues in 4-H headquarters regularly reaffirm their commitment to diversity, experts said.\n\nRecently, 4-H committed to the campaign “4-H Grows: A Promise to America’s Kids,” which seeks by 2025 to have the organization reflect \"the population demographics, vulnerable populations, diverse needs and social conditions of the country.\"\n\nAs part of that pledge, extension leaders partnered with 4-H headquarters to create “working groups” around vulnerable populations, including incarcerated and LGBT youth, as well as kids with disabilities.\n\nBy 2015, 4-H headquarters was receiving frequent questions about how best to include LGBT students in local programming, according to documents obtained by the Register.\n\n“With the recent surge of communication by the press on issues impacting LGBTQ people, we are starting to see an urgent need for training and resources to help combat the negative impact of these messages on our young people,” wrote Kimberly Allen, an extension specialist and professor at North Carolina State University.\n\nKatherine Soule, the chair of an LGBT working group in 2016 and a leader of California’s 4-H, said group leaders were asked to adapt the Obama administration’s Dear Colleague letter protecting gender-identity rights for 4-H.\n\nSoule and a group of western 4-H leaders created a best-practices document that became the foundation of a national guidance. That guidance document went through multiple drafts before being posted to NIFA's website.\n\nBonita Williams, a national program leader with 4-H, emailed state 4-H leaders March 13 with a link to a web page that had resources on all vulnerable populations identified in the \"4-H Grows\" promise.The national LGBT guidance was posted within the sub-category on LGBT youth.\n\nThe national guidance called on 4-H to treat all students consistent with their gender identity and allow them \"equal access,\" even when families or community members \"raise objections.\"\n\n\"As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others’ discomfort cannot justify a practice that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of individual,\" the national proposal read.\n\nThe document drew angry responses from 4-H leaders across the country and threats of \"additional action\" from the Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Register's review of documents found.\n\nOpponents argued that the policy violated people's First Amendment rights by forcing them to use pronouns that might appear contrary to a person’s physical appearance, according to emails to 4-H headquarters. Some said the guidance also violated federal law, which does not list gender identity as a protected class.\n\nThe policy created “an environment in which my family no longer feels welcome,” Heather Jenkins, a local leader in Frederick County, Virginia, wrote to national leaders March 26.\n\n\"Believing that God creates us in His own image as male and female is not hate speech,\" Jenkins wrote. “When you create an environment in which my family is discriminated against because we refuse to use and subscribe to specific terms and vocabulary that go against our religious beliefs, you are infringing on our rights.”\n\nThe LGBT guidance was removed from NIFA's site by the next day.\n\nTransgender Iowans: In the spotlight, seeking their true selves\n\n‘A very political situation'\n\nRamaswamy, NIFA’s former director, said in an interview that he had received “two, maybe three calls” about the LGBT policy when he was summoned to a meeting with Green, then the chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, a few days after the new guidance was published.\n\nAt that meeting, Green asked Ramaswamy to remove the document, which he said struck him as odd because 4-H posts \"guidance about all manner of things.\"\n\nWhen contacted by the Register, Green — who has since left the USDA — refused to answer questions about the meeting and hung up.\n\nRamaswamy said he agreed to remove the guidance because the document hadn't crossed his desk before it had been posted, which is a step in the organization's typical approval procedure.\n\nAfter the document was removed, a March 27 email titled “Urgent message” was sent by Dianne Bell, NIFA's web communications manager, to at least two states — Iowa and New York — urging them to remove the policy from their websites.\n\n\"Regrettably, we must ask you to remove it from your website immediately,” Bell said in the three-sentence email that also asked the states to confirm that the policy had been removed. The email did not outline any reasons for the federal retraction or explain its request of the state 4-H chapters.\n\nRamaswamy said Bell “had no right to do that,” adding that she was only supposed to find out what states were planning to do with the policy.\n\nOther officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to answer questions, instead sending a three-sentence statement that said the guidance didn’t officially set 4-H policy and should never have been disseminated.\n\nNeither officials with the department nor the 4-H national headquarters would answer specific questions about how and why the policy was retracted.\n\nThree of the four authors of the policy declined or did not respond to questions. The fourth, Soule, told the Register she didn’t have answers.\n\nThe about-face on the LGBT policy by national 4-H headquarters left some 4-H volunteers angry and program officials confused, according to the Register’s investigation.\n\n“I feel bad for the folks at USDA,” Glenda Humiston, the vice president of the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources, told other 4-H leaders during a May training video. “I think they are in between a rock and a hard place.” “We’re out here at the land grant universities developing new knowledge, new research, ways to implement your jobs better,” she continued, “and they’re being put into a very political situation.”\n\nWhat happened in Iowa\n\nIn Iowa, Chaisson-Cárdenas said he was particularly excited to have received guidance from other 4-H leaders regarding LGBT issues.\n\nBefore Williams, the national 4-H program leader, had emailed state 4-H leaders a copy of the national guidance, Chaisson-Cárdenas said he had been approached by a transgender student in Iowa who didn’t feel safe at the county office but wanted to be involved in 4-H.\n\n“Please let your committee know that we have taken their LGBT stuff to serve as the basis of our new state policy,” Chaisson-Cárdenas wrote to Williams in response to her email. “Let them know that they are making a difference.”\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas said he presented hard copies of the national policy to the Iowa 4-H leadership team, including Lawrence, the ISU vice president, and the team's advice was to add Iowa State language but to stick closely to the national policy.\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas said he showed leaders the revised Iowa document again, on March 19, and that none of the leaders recommended any further changes.\n\nThen, after securing what he believed to be approval, Chaisson-Cárdenas posted the LGBT guidance and opened the document for comment. A link announcing the proposed guidance was added to the 4-H Focus newsletter on or around March 21.\n\nLawrence said he was on medical leave when the document was presented to the leadership team. He said he does not remember providing edits to Chaisson-Cárdenas and said he did not see what was posted until after he returned to the office.\n\nLawrence said the process for creating policy wasn’t followed. A \"guidance document\" had been presented to the team, but when the document appeared online, \"the word 'guidance' was taken out of the first page and 'policy' was put on,\" he said.\n\n\"The document itself as guidance would have been a good piece of education for our staff — of best practices, of recommendations — and, I think, could have been used in that setting,\" Lawrence said. \"But when it comes across as policy and everybody must follow, it set a very different tone.\"\n\nThe Iowa LGBT document, which Lawrence kept up through the comment period, does include the word \"policy\" on top of the first page. But the portion suggesting ways to ensure LGBT students' safety appears under the header “Guidance for inclusion.”\n\nEmails trickled in during the first weeks the policy was posted, but the issue remained mostly under the radar until mid-April, when Chaisson-Cárdenas defended the policy on air with conservative WHO Radio host Simon Conway.\n\nThat evening, Lawrence emailed ISU’s senior communication officials about the matter, noting that the university’s president and provost were involved and that Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, had called him.\n\n“Certainly, there were questions raised from many places, including (from) individual legislators,” Lawrence said.\n\nOver the next few days, the trickle of emails became a deluge.\n\n\"It was an embarrassment to the 4-H program from the beginning and only got worse as the program wore on,” wrote a member of the Crawford County extension council, referring to the WHO interview. “… Who decided that John-Paul should speak for all the thousands of 4-H'ers and their families in this latest of his uninformed attempts at being relevant?\"\n\n“Sitting on my desk is the latest request from the 4-H Foundation for my donation,\" said the extension member, whose name was redacted by Iowa State. \"It will sit there until you … either fire this man or at least put him in a position where he can do no further damage to our program.”\n\nOn April 12, Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization in Des Moines, issued a call to supporters to protest the document’s “radical” approach, which he saw as allowing “a man who claims the female gender (without any medical procedure or legal verification) to sleep in the girls' hotel rooms.”\n\nLawrence sent a form email to extension staff and council members later that day reminding them the guidance was a draft, not an enshrined policy.\n\nAs pressure on Iowa State continued to mount, Chaisson-Cárdenas emailed his bosses, asking them to remind extension members that federal and state civil rights laws already provide transgender students the right to use facilities in line with their gender identities.\n\nIf counties discriminate against LGBT youth, he wrote, they will be in violation of those laws — guidance or no guidance.\n\n\"This was not about the policy itself,\" Chaisson-Cárdenas told the Register. “As a matter of fact, … John had to admit to me, he could not find anything wrong with the actual policy.\"\n\nLawrence said that he can't remember exactly what he told Chaisson-Cárdenas.\n\n‘A very heavy price’\n\nOn May 10, less than a month after the comment period ended and the guidance was pulled from the Iowa chapter’s website, “restated” guidelines were posted.\n\nThey affirmed that Iowa 4-H does not discriminate on the basis of 14 characteristics, including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” But they did not address the issue at the heart of the controversy — the use of sex-segregated facilities by transgender students.\n\nLawrence issued a letter of discipline to Chaisson-Cárdenas that same day, expressing disappointment in how the Iowa transgender guidance was approached and posted as 4-H “policy.”\n\n“Your lack of judgment and professionalism is deeply concerning,” Lawrence wrote.\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas contends he followed procedure. In multiple emails, Chaisson-Cárdenas refers to having shown the LGBT policy at least twice before it was posted to Lawrence; Chad Higgins, the senior director of extension and his direct supervisor; and the rest of the Iowa chapter's leadership team. Neither Lawrence nor Higgins countered his claim in writing, according to the documents obtained by the Register.\n\n\"What was posted on the website, I did not edit,\" Lawrence said, adding that he did not remember if the leadership team provided guidance as to what Iowa's policy should be.\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas said he was given the opportunity to resign at the May 10 discipline meeting or “next steps would be taken.” He kept working, maintaining his stance that xenophobia is pervasive within 4-H and that an updated inclusion policy with specific protections for LGBT members was needed.\n\nHe was terminated in August.\n\nAsked for details explaining Chaisson-Cárdenas' dismissal, Iowa State issued a statement listing his \"tendency to focus on individual tactical projects while neglecting the overall strategic direction of the Iowa 4-H program; concerns raised by peers, employees and partners about his management style; and a pattern of poor decision-making and judgment.\"\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas said he was never put on a performance plan — normally a necessary step to firing someone from the university — and said he was never given lower than “meets expectations” on any performance review. Even as comments on the LGBT policy were rolling in, Chaisson-Cárdenas’ said his supervisors graded him as meeting expectations in his annual performance review.\n\nLawrence declined to confirm if those claims were accurate.\n\nIn the wake of his firing, more than 200 people — including 4-H leaders — signed a letter to ISU President Wendy Wintersteen noting that Chaisson-Cárdenas has had a career of “intentionally reaching youth who were otherwise overlooked.”\n\n“To remove him from his position in the midst of this great work is a disservice to youth in Iowa and throughout the nation,” the letter read.\n\nLawrence said his message to Extension staff across Iowa after Chaisson-Cárdenas' termination was that despite a change in leadership, “we’ve not had a change in direction.”\n\n“Our focus on diversity needs to continue and, quite frankly, we need to strengthen it,” he said.\n\nIowa State Extension is working with the Office of Equal Opportunity to hire another person to work on issues of discrimination, Lawrence said. When that person is hired, diversity officer Ross Wilburn will focus on education and coaching and the new person will focus on enforcement.\n\nRamaswamy, whose six-year appointment ended in May, called both Chaisson-Cárdenas’ firing and the fallout at Iowa State “mind-boggling.”\n\n“Look at the memos that come from Iowa State University and it says, down on the bottom, that they're about 'equal opportunity,' right?” Ramaswamy said. “… What this tells me is they’re about equal opportunity when it's convenient.”\n\nIn hindsight, he said he should have pushed back against the effort to remove the transgender guidance.\n\n\"I wish I had stood up and said, 'Take a hike. We will not take it down,'\" he said. \"'So sue me; so fire me' — I should’ve stood up.\"\n\nChaisson-Cárdenas said he believes he had an obligation to resist efforts to retract the transgender guidance and to fight xenophobia in 4-H’s ranks.\n\n“I’m paying a very heavy price for doing it, and I don't regret it for a single second,” he continued, his voice catching.\n\n\"It was the right thing to do.\"\n\nWant more stories like this? Subscribe to the Des Moines Register today.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2018/11/18"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/27/tech/elon-musk-twitter/index.html", "title": "Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter and fired its top executives ...", "text": "New York CNN Business —\n\nElon Musk has completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, a source familiar with the deal told CNN Thursday, putting the world’s richest man in charge of one of the world’s most influential social media platforms.\n\nMusk fired CEO Parag Agrawal and two other executives, according to two people familiar with the decision. Twitter declined to comment.\n\nThe deal’s closing removes a cloud of uncertainty that has hung over Twitter’s business, employees and shareholders for much of the year. After initially agreeing to buy the company in April, Musk spent months attempting to get out of the deal, first citing concerns about the number of bots on the platform and later allegations raised by a company whistleblower.\n\nMusk appeared to acknowledge the takeover in a tweet Thursday night saying, “the bird is freed.”\n\nBy completing the deal, Musk and Twitter have avoided a trial that was originally set to take place earlier this month. But Musk’s takeover, and the immediate firings of some of its top executives, now raises a host of new questions for the future of the social media platform, and the many corners of society impacted by it.\n\nIn addition to Agrawal, Musk on Thursday fired CFO Ned Segal and policy head Vijaya Gadde, according to the two sources. Musk also fired Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, according to a source.\n\nLeft to right, clockwise: Twitter former executives Vijaya Gadde, Parag Agrawal, Ned Segal, Sean Edgett. Andrew Harnik/AP/Kevin Dietsch/Patrick T. Fallon/Martina Albertazzi/Bloomberg/Getty Images\n\nMusk has said he plans to rethink Twitter’s content moderation policies in service of a more maximalist approach to “free speech.” The billionaire has also said he disagrees with Twitter’s practice of permanent bans for those who repeatedly violate its rules, raising the possibility that a number of previously banned, controversial users could reemerge on the platform.\n\nPerhaps most immediately, many will be watching to see how soon Musk could let former President Donald Trump back on the platform, as he has previously said he would do. Depending on the timing, such a move could have major implications for the upcoming US midterm elections, as well as the 2024 Presidential campaign.\n\nIn taking those steps, Musk could singlehandedly upend the media and political ecosystem, reshape public discourse online and disrupt the nascent sphere of conservative-leaning social media properties that emerged largely in response to grievances about bans and restrictions on Twitter and other mainstream services.\n\nEarlier this week, Musk visited Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters to meet with employees. He also posted an open letter to Twitter advertisers, saying he doesn’t want the platform to become a “free-for-all-hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.”\n\nThe acquisition also promises to extend Musk’s influence. The billionaire already owns, oversees or has significant stakes in companies developing cars, rockets, robots and satellite internet, as well as more experimental ventures such as brain implants. Now he controls a social media platform that shapes how hundreds of millions of people communicate and get their news.\n\nA deal that went off the rails\n\nEven for Twitter, a company known for a certain amount of chaos over its history, the months-long deal process with Musk was turbulent.\n\nMusk, a prominent and controversial Twitter user, became involved with the company earlier this year when he built up a more than 9% stake in its shares. After announcing he had become Twitter’s largest shareholder, Musk accepted and then pulled out of an offer to sit on the company’s board.\n\nMusk then offered to buy Twitter outright at a significant premium, threatened a hostile takeover and signed a “seller-friendly” deal to buy the company that involved waiving due diligence.\n\n“This is not a way to make money,” Musk said in an on-stage interview shortly after making an offer to buy Twitter. “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”\n\nMusk also pledged to “defeat the spam bots or die trying,” referring to the fake and scam accounts that are often especially active in the replies to his tweets and those of others with large followings on the platform.\n\nWithin weeks of the acquisition agreement, however, Musk began raising concerns about the prevalence of those same fake and spam accounts on Twitter and ultimately attempted to terminate the deal.\n\nMusk visited Twitter's San Francisco headquarters earlier this week before the acquisition closed to meet with employees. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images\n\nTwitter sued him to follow through with the agreement, alleging that Musk was using the bot argument as a pretense to get out of a deal for which he had developed buyer’s remorse. In the weeks after the deal was announced, much of the stock market, including social media companies, declined amid concerns about rising inflation and a looming recession. The downturn also hit Tesla and, in turn, Musk’s personal net worth.\n\nLegal experts widely believed that Twitter was on strong footing to have the deal enforced in court. Two weeks before the contentious legal battle was set to go to trial, Musk said he would follow through with the deal on its original terms after all. As the parties negotiated, Musk’s attorneys asked a judge to stay the legal proceedings, prompting pushback from Twitter, which feared that Musk might not stay true to his promise to close the deal.\n\nIn a sharp response, Twitter’s lawyers wrote that Musk had been attempting to exit the deal and “now, on the eve of trial, Defendants declare they intend to close after all. ‘Trust us,’ they say, ‘we mean it this time.’”\n\nDelaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Judge McCormick gave the parties until 5 p.m. on Oct. 28 to close the deal or face a rescheduled trial.\n\nWhat’s next for Twitter\n\nWith the deal drama out of the way, attention now turns to Musk’s plans for Twitter.\n\nBeyond the removal of Twitter’s CEO and other executives, Musk’s takeover could also usher in the return of some measure of influence over the company by founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO in November and left its board in May. While Dorsey has said he will not formally return to Twitter, he has privately discussed the takeover with Musk and offered advice.\n\nMusk has also reportedly told prospective investors in the deal that he planned to get rid of nearly 75% of the company’s staff, in a move that could disrupt every aspect of how Twitter operates. He previously discussed dramatically reducing Twitter’s workforce in personal text messages with friends about the deal, which were revealed in court filings, and didn’t dismiss the potential for layoffs in a call with Twitter employees in June.\n\nAmong the changes Musk could make to Twitter is restoring the account of former President Donald Trump, who was banned from the platform following the January 6 Capitol attack in 2021. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\n\nUnder Musk, Twitter may not have use for many of its existing staff. Musk has repeatedly made clear he would overhaul Twitter’s content moderation policies and bolster what he calls “free speech,” potentially undoing years of efforts from the company to address misinformation and harassment and to create “healthier” conversations on the platform.\n\nSuch a move could also have ripple effects across the social media landscape. Twitter, although smaller than many of its social media rivals, has sometimes acted as a model for how the industry handles problematic content, including when it was the first to ban then-President Trump following the January 6 Capitol riot.\n\nAnd in recent years, several alternative social networks have launched largely targeting conservatives who claim more mainstream services unduly restrict their speech. These services include Trump’s Truth Social and Parler, which Kanye West recently said he would acquire. While it’s unclear how far Musk could go in fulfilling his free speech dreams, any loosening of existing content moderation policies could effectively make Twitter, which provides a much larger audience, a more enticing service for some of the users who have fled to those smaller, fringe services. (Musk, however, could run into regulatory issues, especially in Europe, depending on how far he takes his efforts to loosen content restrictions.)\n\nApart from content moderation, Musk has also tossed out a wide range of other possible changes for the platform, from enabling end-to-end encryption for Twitter’s direct messaging feature to suggesting recently that Twitter become part of an “everything” app called X, possibly in the style of popular Chinese app WeChat.\n\nDespite his months-long attempt to get out of buying the company and his own recent remarks that he is “obviously overpaying” for it, Musk has tried to sound optimistic about Twitter’s potential.\n\n“The long-term potential for Twitter, in my view, is an order of magnitude greater than its current value,” he said on Tesla’s earnings conference call last week.", "authors": ["Donie O'Sullivan Clare Duffy", "Donie O'Sullivan", "Clare Duffy"], "publish_date": "2022/10/27"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/23/ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court-hearings/7051271001/", "title": "Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court hearing: Live stream, updates", "text": "Gallup Poll finds 58% of Americans back Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.\n\nJudge says life experiences would shape Supreme Court approach.\n\nSen. Lindsey Graham reasserts grievance about treating of past nominees of GOP presidents.\n\nJackson on child pornography offenses: \"I know how serious this crime is.\"\n\nWASHINGTON – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson defended her sentencing practices and her views on expanding the Supreme Court, among other topics, during a second day of sometimes sharp questioning from members of the Senate Judiciary CommitteeWednesday, as hearings continue over her historic nomination to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.\n\nAt one point, the judge said - if she is confirmed - that she will recuse herself in a case before the court about the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard University. The Harvard Law graduate has been a member of the college’s board of overseers since 2016.\n\nSenators asked the judge about a wide range of topics Tuesday, including about her judicial philosophy, her faith, her work as a former federal public defender and sentences she handed down as a District Court judge in Washington.\n\nWednesday's hearing began with two senators finishing up their first round of questions, before moving into a second round – slightly shorter – with questions from the committee's 22 members. The hearing ended just before 8 p.m. after 10 hours of questioning\n\nIt was a stark contrast at times. Some Republicans accused her of being soft on crime, of being evasive on questions such as expansion of the court, and of being a liberal activist judge. Democrats were deferential to her, praising not only her judicial temperament but her trailblazing status as well.\n\n\"It's hard for me not to look at you and see my mom – not to see my cousin,\" Sen. Cory Booker told Jackson during an emotional moment. \"I see my ancestors … and nobody’s going to steal that joy.”\n\nDemocrats are planning to finish the hearings on Thursday and hope to move Jackson to a final confirmation vote by early April.\n\nJackson's first day:Jackson fights back against GOP criticism over sentencing, Gitmo\n\nDemocrats push back on GOP demand to release pre-sentencing reports\n\nSpeaking to reporters after the hearing, Democratic senators continued to push back on the GOP demand that pre-sentencing reports in cases involving child pornography cases be unsealed.\n\nRepublicans, who have accused Jackson of being too lenient with pedophiles, want the reports public. The controversy involves sentencing recommendations from the Probation Office that are included in pre-sentencing reports. Those reports are sealed – that is blocked from public view – because they contain personal information about the defendants and victims.\n\n“The notion of making those pre-sentence reports available for this political environment, and be potentially available for public consumption, is reprehensible and dangerous,” Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “These reports contain sensitive information about innocent third parties and victims, and children for God's sake.”\n\nDurbin promised to fight the request every step of the way, and said “I'm counting on the victims rights group to be with me in this process.”\n\nVermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a former prosecutor, said no prosecutor he knows would want the documents released.\n\nRhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, another former prosecutor, said “the day that pre-sentence reports become public for even one judge is the day that the entire probation department has to be cautious from there on about the kind of cooperation that they will get from people who divulge extraordinarily intimate things.”\n\nFormer prosecutor Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said releasing pre-sentencing reports could also put probation officers in danger. He said the information they contain “is explosive.”\n\nDurbin said that he’s spoken to some Republicans who signed a letter earlier Wednesday requesting documents who are now rethinking their ask.\n\n“I've been speaking to some Republican senators who once they reflected on this letter, had second thoughts about it, they were misled initially that we have lots of documentation,” Durbin said. “We had one sheet of paper, that we shared with them almost immediately”\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nEmotional Leahy: Jackson 'an inspiration to us all'\n\nDemocrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest serving current senator, said he was appalled at the racially tinged criticism of Jackson even before the hearings began.\n\n“When I hear one of my Republican colleagues talk about how terrible it was to have the president say he was going to name a black woman to the Supreme Court, because ‘what does that say to all these qualified white men,’ -- I thought when I first came here that that era of Jim Crow and all was over, and I was amazed to hear it here,” Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont told reporters after the hearing.\n\nA visibly emotional Leahy said Jackson “is an inspiration to all of us, to our families, those of us who have daughters, and granddaughters both white and black.”\n\n“She's gonna make history and for some who are opposing her, it's a bitter pill to accept this kind of change in America,” Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.\n\n“There was a promise that they were going to treat her with respect, obviously four or five of my colleagues didn’t get the memo,” Durbin added. He told reporters he hasn’t heard from any Republicans planning to vote yes yet.\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nCommittee vote on Jackson likely in early April, setting up floor vote by Easter\n\nSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced at the end of the hearing Wednesday that senators would meet on Monday, March 28, to consider whether to send a recommendation for Jackson's confirmation to the Senate floor.\n\nBut committee rules -- and past practice -- generally allow for a nominee to be \"held over\" for a week. That would mean a committee vote for Jackson on April 4.\n\nIf that schedule holes, it would queue up a final confirmation vote by the full Senate before Easter, the target Durbin had set before Jackson was nominated.\n\n- John Fritze\n\nBlackburn ends questioning on abortion, critical race theory\n\nAfter more than 23 hours, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Jackson ended Wednesday with a series of probing questions from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., including about critical race theory.\n\n“Do you consider critical race theory in your sentencing decisions as a judge?” Blackburn asked of the theory dealing with systemic racism.\n\n“Critical race theory, any academic theory, is not considered in my sentencings,” Jackson said. “It never comes up in sentencing.”\n\nBlackburn also pressed Jackson on gun rights, sentencing and abortion. In virtually every one of her answers, Jackson said she couldn’t answer.\n\n“The Supreme Court is looking at that very issue in a case before right now,” Jackson said. “And as a nominee for the Supreme Court, it's important that I not speak to it because the court is deciding this question.”\n\nBlackburn seemed to acknowledge that was the case, and also seemed to nod to the idea that Jackson is likely to be confirmed.\n\n“That,” Blackburn said of the abortion issue, “is an issue will be decided before you go to the court.”\n\n- John Fritze\n\nJackson draws line between legal and political war power decisions\n\nJackson demurred on her views on war powers in response to questioning by Georgia Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff.\n\n“In the war powers realm, there may be questions of law that are appropriate for courts to decide, but there may also be political questions,” Jackson said.\n\nShe said, for example, that a dispute between the legislature and executive branches over exercises of authority not governed by the law, like the executive authority to move troops during war, would not present a question for the court to decide.\n\n“That would be the kind of thing I would have to carefully examine in order to determine whether I could rule,” she said.\n\n- Dylan Wells\n\nJackson chokes up about trailblazer status, her initial Harvard experience\n\nSen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., praised Jackson for rising from humble beginnings to become the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court.\n\n“What would you say that checks into all those young Americans — the most diverse generation in our nation's history — what would you say to some of them who may doubt that they can one day achieve the same great heights that you have?” Padilla asked.\n\nThe room fell silent for Jackson's response as she choked back tears. Her husband and parents nodded as Padilla told Jackson, \"you do inspire, you are an inspiration.\" Soon after, Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas pulled out a tissue in the audience.\n\n“I hope to inspire people to try to follow this path because I love this country, because I love the law, because I think it is important that we all invest in our future and the young people are the future,” she said. “And so, I want them to know that they can do and be anything.”\n\nJackson, a Miami native, said she didn’t know anything about alma mater Harvard University until her debate coach took her there to enter a speech competition. After she enrolled, Jackson soon questioned whether she belonged there.\n\n“And a black woman I did not know was passing me on the sidewalk, and she looked at me and I guess she knew how I was feeling,” Jackson said. “And she leaned over as we crossed and said ‘persevere.’ I would tell (young people) to persevere.”\n\n- Chelsey Cox and Dylan Wells\n\nBlack members of Congress moved by Booker’s speech\n\nMembers of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke to reporters after Sen. Cory Booker’s emotional remarks about the historical nature of Jackson’s nomination and Black representation.\n\nBooker’s comments brought Jackson to tears, and once he finished speaking the judge’s parents embraced the senator, as did many of his colleagues and Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee of California, as well as Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.\n\n“It makes me so proud that we have a soon to be Supreme Court justice, the first African American woman,” said Lee, who wiped tears from her eyes while hugging Booker. “I just have to say, since 1789 – just think what this country has lost.”\n\nThe three representatives are members of the Congressional Black Caucus. There are only three Black men in the Senate able to vote on the nomination, and no Black women.\n\n“Those who wish to derail it, shame on you, because Black women around America are rising. Peacefully they are rising up and they may stop you in the streets in your state to ask you why you could not vote for a competent, qualified black woman who was in slavery by her history and had the beast of burden,” Jackson Lee said.\n\n“We can't apologize for her complexion. She's a black woman. It is time for the Supreme Court to have this personality, this persona,” Green added. “My god, if not her, who? She’s one of our best.”\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nKennedy: Are unenumerated rights policy?\n\nSen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed Jackson on the idea that judges aren't policymakers, questioning if the court's recognition of unenumerated rights is a type of policymaking.\n\nUnenumerated rights are those not explicitly included in the Constitution. Without saying it directly, Kennedy was likely referring to the right of privacy the court has recognized that was an underpinning of the Roe v. Wade decision that recognized a right to abortion.\n\n\"The role of the judiciary is to interpret the law,\" Jackson responded. \"To the extent that somebody argues to the court that there's been a violation of the due process clause of the Constitution, it is within the role of the court to determine what that means.\"\n\n- John Fritze\n\nJackson again defends representation of Guantanamo detainees\n\nGOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas focused on Jackson’s representation of Guantanamo Bay detainees during his questioning. Jackson has been pressed on the issue previously during the hearing, and explained that she represented them as a federal public defender.\n\nCotton latched on to Jackson's representation of a detainee both as a public defender and later while working at a law firm that took up the case. Jackson said she was asked by the partners at the firm to work on the case because of her familiarity with the case.\n\nThe senator asked if America would be less safe if the detainees at Guantanamo were released.\n\n“Senator, America would be less safe if we don’t have terrorists out running around attacking this country, absolutely. America would also be more safe in a situation in which all of our constitutional rights are protected,” Jackson said.\n\nShe added: “This is the way our scheme works. This is how the constitution that we all love operates, it’s about making sure that the government is doing what it is supposed to do in a time of crisis.\"\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nSenators spar over pre-sentencing records\n\nSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sparred with Republicans over documents the GOP wants to review as they debate Jackson’s handling of child pornography cases.\n\nThe battle began when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attempted to submit a letter he said was signed by 10 Republicans seeking information from the U.S. Probation Office about its sentencing recommendations in the cases at issue.\n\nDurbin declined to recognize Cruz and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., accused Cruz of trying \"to get on television\" with the request. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the committee, later got Durbin’s attention to submit the letter.\n\nThe controversy involves sentencing recommendations from the Probation Office that are included in pre-sentencing reports. Those reports are sealed – that is blocked from public view – because they contain personal information about the defendants and victims. Sometimes the sentencing recommendations from the office become public later, though none are included in the dockets of the cases at issue.\n\nDurbin said the White House contacted Jackson’s chambers on Thursday to request the Probation Office recommendations. Durbin, holding up a copy of a chart, said “the Probation Office provided this chart reflecting those recommendations.”\n\nThe chart shows that Jackson often sentenced defendants at or above recommendations from the office as USA TODAY reported Wednesday in summaries of the cases.\n\nDurbin denied that Democrats had withheld the information from Republicans.\n\n“Once the Republican side requested the same information, my staff shared it within minutes,” Durbin said. “So now, your side, senator, has exactly what the White House and the Democratic side has the same chart provided by the Probation Office.”\n\nDurbin also threw cold water on the idea of requesting the sentencing reports.\n\n\"I am not going to be a party to turning over this information and endangering an innocent person,\" Durbin said. \"I don't believe this information is going to change anyone's vote.\"\n\nThe Probation Office has not vouched for the chart and the office has not responded to multiple requests for information from USA TODAY.\n\n- John Fritze and Kevin McCoy\n\nHirono asks Jackson about abusive practices by federal judges\n\nSen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, who introduced a bill on workplace sexual misconduct, asked Jackson about improving workplace safety and protections against sexual harassment.\n\nJackson said she tries to act as a role model for her law clerks.\n\n“I try to bring in people who have the respect of others, people who come with strong recommendations, people who I think will get along with one another and certainly people who I think will get along with me and we create a little group, a working group,” Jackson said. “And I think that it's worked out well.”\n\nDuring her questioning, Hirono said federal judicial branch employees are not protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She introduced a bill to protect this group from sexual harassment and misconduct.\n\n- Chelsey Cox\n\nJackson fights emotion during Booker’s speech\n\nSen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the only Black member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emotionally spoke about the historical significance of Jackson’s nomination while the Supreme Court nominee fought back tears.\n\n“I'm sorry, you're a person that is so much more than your race and gender,” Booker said. “You're a Christian, you’re a mom, your (an) intellect, you wrote books, but for me, I’m sorry, but it's hard for me not to look at you and see my mom – not to see my cousin. I see my ancestors … and nobody’s going to steal that joy.”\n\n“You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American,” Booker added, and said he would rejoice once Jackson ascends to the highest court of the land.\n\nJackson’s father embraced the New Jersey senator after his speech. Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Al Green, D-Tx.; and Sen. Alex Padilla; D-Calif, hugged him, as well.\n\n- Chelsey Cox\n\nJackson says she regrets committee's focus on sentencing\n\nSen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., as expected, immediately returned to questions about sentences Jackson handed down in child pornography cases when she was a District Court judge.\n\n“Do you regret it?” Hawley pressed Jackson. “I just wonder if you regret it or if you stand by it?”\n\nJackson responded: “What I regret is that in a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we've spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.\"\n\nJackson said she had sentenced more than 100 people and that “no one case can stand in for a judge's entire record.”\n\nWhen Hawley asked Jackson if she had anything to add, she said no. And after several more minutes of back-and-forth between the two, Jackson appeared to be exasperated.\n\n\"I’ve answered this question,\" Jackson said repeatedly. \"I'll stand by my answer.\"\n\n- John Fritze\n\nBlumenthal compares Jackson to judicial trailblazers\n\nSen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called out Jackson's shared birthday with trailblazer Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman confirmed as a federal judge.\n\nJackson has previously talked about being inspired by Motley, a native of Blumenthal's home state of Connecticut, and has often commented on their shared birthday: Sept. 14.\n\n“When you're the first it means no one has ever done it before like you and there may b hundreds or thousands of people who might have wanted that opportunity and thought, 'I can't do that because there's no one there like me,'” Jackson said. “And so being a trailblazer — whether it's Judge Motley or Justice (Thurgood) Marshall or Justice (Sandra Day) O'Connor — being a trailblazer is really inspiring,\"\n\n–Chelsey Cox\n\nSasse decries cancel culture, cameras in Supreme Court\n\nSen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., asked Jackson about the status of free speech on college campuses, decrying how speakers with differing views have been shouted down or have been scared away from universities, including “traditional liberals.”\n\n“It is better to debate ideas that you disagree with than to shout them down—isn’t it,” Sasse said.\n\nJackson said law schools in general should be a place where different arguments should be made, adding she and the senator are on the same page.\n\nSasse then spoke out against allowing cameras in the Supreme Court, saying they are a main culprit behind dysfunction in Congress. He urged the justices to reject such a proposal.\n\n“We should recognize that the jack------ we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities,” he said.\n\n- Phillip M. Bailey\n\nCruz’ grilling on Jackson’s child sex crime sentencing leads to fireworks\n\nToting a poster-sized fact sheet of child sex crime cases sentenced by Jackson, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, again took aim at the sentences she imposed on sexual offenders.\n\n“I’m asking you to take the opportunity to explain to this committee and the American people why in 100% of the cases you have people with vile crimes – and you have language saying they’re vile crimes – but then you sentenced them to very, very low sentences,” he said.\n\nIn one of the most acrimonious moments of this week's hearings, Jackson repeatedly reiterated that “no one case can stand for a judge’s entire sentencing record” and that she sentenced more than 100 people during her career.\n\nCruz repeatedly interrupted Jackson’s responses, which led Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to jump to her defense. The Illinois senator directly addressed Jackson and said there is “no point” in responding to Cruz’ line of questioning.\n\nWhen Cruz’ allotted time of 20 minutes ran out, he continued to speak despite Durbin’s protests, asking Jackson to address the reasoning behind her sentencing in a specific case.\n\n“Will you allow her to answer the question?” Cruz asked.\n\n“You won’t allow her to answer the question,” Durbin shot back.\n\nDurbin then handed the floor over to Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., despite Cruz’ repeated cries that the committee chairman would not allow Jackson to answer his questions.\n\n- Ella Lee\n\nJackson would recuse herself in case examining race in admissions at Harvard, UNC\n\nIf confirmed for the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Wednesday she will recuse herself in a case before the court about the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard University.\n\nJackson, a Harvard Law graduate and member of the college’s board of overseers, has faced calls for recusal even before her confirmation hearings began this week. She has sat on the board since 2016.\n\nAsked by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, if she would recuse herself in the case, Jackson said: “That is my plan, senator.”\n\nThe court’s sitting justices in January agreed to hear the case about whether the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard and North Carolina violated civil rights laws and the Constitution.\n\n- Rick Rouan\n\nSchumer, other lawmakers attend third day of hearings\n\nLawmakers who are not members of the committee took the unusual step of witnessing some of the questioning happening during Wednesday's hearing.\n\nSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared in the hearing room during GOP Sen. John Cornyn’s questioning this morning, sitting in the row of chairs behind Jackson’s husband to the judge’s left.\n\nDemocratic Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio also stopped by the hearing room throughout the day, as did Democratic Reps. Al Green of Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Barbara Lee of California, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.\n\nWhite House counsel Dana Remus also attended, seated between Jackson’s parents and Supreme Court “sherpa” former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala.\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nJackson: Important to hear arguments\n\nResponding to a question from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about the court’s so-called shadow docket, Jackson said she believes it’s important to hear from the parties involved in a case.\n\n“You make determinations based on arguments, and it's important to do so,” Jackson said.\n\nThat rarely happens on the Supreme Court's emergency docket because those cases usually must be decided before the court has a chance to hear arguments. Klobuchar noted the court handed down a new emergency decision on Wednesday as the hearing was underway, an unsigned opinion that will require Wisconsin courts to redraw their legislative boundaries.\n\nMore:U.S. Supreme Court throws out Wisconsin's redistricting plan for legislative maps\n\nIn a separate case. the Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to block the state’s congressional maps.\n\nThe justices did not hear arguments in either case.\n\n“There's a need to balance getting full briefing with emergency circumstances,” Jackson said. “It's also my understanding, from my time clerking on the court, that the court does recognize the value of allowing things to what we call 'percolate,' meaning lower courts (can) hear issues,” she said.\n\n- John Fritze\n\nLee questions Jackson on personal court-packing opinion\n\nSen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, pressed Jackson on her personal view of court-packing.\n\n“I understand that the canons of judicial ethics don’t allow you to comment on matters that might come before you; this is one that could not come before you as a justice,” Lee said.\n\nJackson in response reiterated her discomfort with providing her personal opinion in a professional capacity.\n\n“I’m a human being and I have an opinion on a lot of things,” Jackson said. “The reason why, in my view, it is not appropriate for me to comment is because of my fidelity to the judicial role.\n\nThe Utah senator pushed back, noting again that the question of court-packing would not come before her (Congress would make the decision) and that he believes she could provide a “valuable” perspective because of her experience as a federal judge.\n\n- Ella Lee\n\nCornyn hints at overturning Roe while questioning Jackson\n\nGOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas asked Jackson if she feels there’s any good reason for the Supreme Court not to overrule a previous decision or overturn precedent, hinting at a possible move to overturn Roe v. Wade.\n\n“The Supreme Court has laid out factors beyond just the precedent being wrong as a reason to overturn it,” Jackson said.\n\n“All precedents of the Supreme Court has to be respected,” she later added.\n\nThe senator then questioned Jackson on the medical meaning of “viability” and the number of weeks at which a fetus is viable, and Jackson said she hadn’t studied the specific issue.\n\n“The Supreme Court has tests and standards that it has applied when it evaluates regulation of the right of a woman to terminate their pregnancy,” Jackson said. “The court has announced that there is a right to terminate up to the point of viability, subject to the framework in Roe and Casey, and there is a pending case right now that is addressing these issues.”\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nJackson: 'I know how serious this crime is'\n\nIn one of the sharpest exchanges yet over the issue of Jackson’s sentencing decisions in child pornography cases, the judge noted that she sent every one of the defendants in question to jail and asserted she followed the sentencing process laid out by Congress.\n\n“Every person in all of these charts and documents I sent to jail, because I know how serious this crime is,” Jackson said. “And on the other side of their terms of imprisonment, I ensured that they were facing lengthy periods of supervision and restrictions on their computer use so they could not do this sort of thing again.\"\n\n“That's what Congress has required of judges,” she said. “And that's what I did in every case.”\n\nJackson was responding to questions from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said Jackson declined to consider sentencing “enhancements” in some of the cases that could have increased jail time.\n\n“All I can say is that your view of how to deter child pornography is not my view,” Graham said. “I think you're doing it wrong.”\n\nThe enhancements cited by Graham include considerations such as whether a computer was used to view or distribute the illicit images. Independent experts say that virtually all pornography is viewed electronically today and argue the consideration is years out of date.\n\nMore:A look at the child pornography cases at issue in Jackson's Senate hearings\n\n“She is currently not an outlier in sentencing,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “Seventy percent of federal judges face the same dilemma and wonder why Congress has failed to act.”\n\n–John Fritze\n\nGraham: 'Not about you'\n\nSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., summed up what has been a central theme of the GOP’s response to Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court: Consternation about how previous nominees have been treated.\n\nGraham and other senior Republicans on the committee have focused much attention on previous nominees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Judge Janice Rogers Brown, whose 2003 nomination by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was stalled by Democrats for years.\n\n“This is not of your making. So it's really not about you,” Graham acknowledged before laying into how Democrats handled past nominees.\n\nGraham returned to the theme at the end of his remarks.\n\n“Did you watch the Kavanaugh hearings?” Graham asked Jackson. “How would you feel if we did that to you?”\n\nAfter Jackson demurred, Graham complained he had only 20 minutes to make a point during the third day of hearings.\n\n“She’s filibustered every question I have,” Graham said.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nGraham accuses Jackson of 'activism'\n\nSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., accused Jackson of “activism” in a high-profile immigration case that Republicans say shows she departed from the meaning of the text of federal laws passed by Congress.\n\nJackson rejected an effort by the Trump administration in 2019 to expand the number of immigrants who could be deported on an expedited basis. Her ruling against the Trump administration was overturned by the D.C. Circuit.\n\n“That, to me, is Exhibit A of activism,” Graham charged. “You reached a conclusion because you disagree with the Trump administration.”\n\nJackson said she considered two statutes in the case, the one that Graham cited and another that dictates how federal agencies make regulatory decisions. She put additional weight on that second law.\n\n“It doesn't address the fact that Congress has another statute that is presumptively applied in agency cases to tell agencies how to exercise discretion,” Jackson said.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nJackson said life experiences would shape her approach on the court\n\nAsked about what kind of Supreme Court justice she would be if confirmed, Jackson returned to her experience growing up in Miami, Florida, and the civil rights movement that ended the segregation her parents endured and paved the path to her nomination to the high court.\n\nShe said she considered herself to be a \"lucky inheritor of the civil rights dream,\" noting that her confirmation hearing is \"about the progress that we've made in this country in a very short period of time.\"\n\nJackson said she would draw on her experience as a judge, public defender and member of the Sentencing Commission in addition to being a Black woman.\n\n\"I would do what I've done for the past decade, which is to rule from a position of neutrality,\" she said. \"To look carefully at the facts and the circumstances of every case without any agendas, without any attempt to push the law in one direction or the other...interpreting the law consistent with the Constitution and precedents and to render rulings that I believe and that I hope that people would have confidence in.\"\n\n–Courtney Subramanian\n\nGallup poll: 58% of Americans support confirming Jackson\n\nJackson maintains support from 58% of Americans in her nomination to the Supreme Court, a new Gallup poll found. The statistic ties as the highest Gallup has measured for any recent nominee.\n\nThe level of support for Jackson is only on par with Chief Justice John Roberts, who in 2005 received support from 59% of Americans, according to Gallup’s polling. Other nominees since the 1980s received support in the lower 50% or below.\n\nJustices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – the two most recent nominees, whose hearings have been brought up throughout Jackson’s – received 41% and 51% of support, respectively.\n\nWhen polled down party lines, Gallup found 88% of Democrats, 55% of independents and 31% of Republicans think the Senate should confirm Jackson to the nation’s highest court. The majority of Republicans, 55%, are opposed to her confirmation, according to the poll.\n\nThe poll was taken between March 1-18, before Jackson’s hearings began. President Joe Biden nominated her to the Supreme Court on Feb. 25.\n\n– Ella Lee\n\nJudiciary Committee announces witness list\n\nThe Senate Judiciary Committee released the list of witnesses who will provide testimony on Thursday, the last day of the hearing on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.\n\nAnn Claire Williams, D. Jean Veta, and Joseph M. Drayton of the American Bar Association will kick off the day. The second group of majority witnesses is made up of Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, University of Virginia School of Law dean Risa Goluboff, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights president Wade Henderson, lawyer Richard B. Rosenthal, and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives President Capt. Frederick Thomas.\n\nOn the minority side, the witnesses are Alabama state Attorney General Steve Marshall, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State co-director Jennifer Mascott, anti-abortion activist Eleanor McCullen, First Liberty’s Keisha Russell and Operation Underground Railroad’s Alessandra Serano.\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nJackson adds to philosophy answer\n\nJackson offered additional context to her answer a day earlier about her judicial philosophy – and how she feels about the notion of originalism.\n\nOriginalism is the idea that the Constitution should be interpreted based on the meaning of the founding document’s words at the time they are written. Jackson had nodded to that theory several times Tuesday.\n\nIn response to a question from Durbin, Jackson on Wednesday said it is important to consider the original meaning but also to “analogize” to present day.\n\nDurbin had framed his question in the context of the First Amendment’s freedom of press. How, Durbin asked as he held up a cellphone, should federal courts view the First Amendment ,given that technology has changed the way most Americans read their news today?\n\n“When the court gets an issue that requires constitutional interpretation, it looks at the facts and circumstances of the particular case, and the text and principles of the Constitution in light of the times in which they were written, and analogizes to present day,” Jackson said.\n\nDurbin said that when conservatives pledge themselves to originalism they “better have your mind open to the reality that this world is changing.”\n\n– John Fritze\n\nJackson says she gave defendants their ‘day in court’ to support rehabilitation\n\nIn a line of questioning about Jackson's sentencing habits, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., suggested that Jackson’s “level of empathy” toward defendants may be “beyond what some of us would be comfortable with” regarding justice administration. She argued in response that her decisions, particularly with explaining defendants’ actions to them, expands on a congressional framework that tells judges one of the purposes of punishment is rehabilitation.\n\n“What I conveyed – or did when I was a trial judge – as I sentenced people to very lengthy periods of incarceration was, you are getting your day in court,” she said. “You are able to say what you want to say, but you have to sit here and listen to my reading into the record – the victim statements, in this case. You have to go away understanding that I am imposing consequences for your decision, your decision to engage in criminal behavior.”\n\nShe added that as a public defender, she found that many individuals were embittered by the criminal justice system, not encouraged to understand their wrongdoing.\n\n“Nobody said to them, ‘Do you understand that there are children who will never have normal lives because you sold crack to their parece, and now they’re in a vortex of addiction? Do you understand that, Mr. Defendant?’” she said. “I was the one in my sentencing practices who explained those things in an interest of furthering Congress’ direction, that we’re supposed to be sentencing people so that they can ultimately be rehabilitated to the benefit of society as a whole.\"\n\nTillis rebutted that “virtually half” of those individuals were reincarcerated within eight years before yielding his time.\n\n– Ella Lee\n\nTillis rails against court packing\n\nSen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., started his line of questioning by asking Jackson to describe the different sides of the debate over adding justices to the Supreme Court.\n\nHe then pivoted to discuss the “ecosystem” of groups supporting Jackson’s nomination, including Demand Justice, a left-leaning activist group that has called for adding at least four justices to the high court and eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.\n\n“We’re talking about the ultimate destruction of two institutions,” he said.\n\nOn court expansion:Supreme Court commission submits report to White House with no recommendation on 'packing'\n\nJackson has avoided discussing her views on the subject and made clear in her exchanges with other GOP senators that she won’t wade into the issue of expanding the size of the nine-member Supreme Court.\n\nTillis did not ask her about the issue, but warned Jackson could see attempts to add more justices if she is confirmed.\n\n– Phillip M. Bailey\n\nA look at Jackson's child porn sentences\n\nJackson has come under intense questioning at her confirmation hearing from some Republicans who accused her of being too lenient as a trial judge with sentences imposed in child pornography cases.\n\nUSA TODAY reviewed seven cases initially raised by Republicans. Among the findings: Jackson's sentences were above the punishment recommended by the Probation Office in two of the cases and Jackson issued the same sentence recommended by that office in three cases.\n\nLargely missing from the hearings so far has been extensive background on the cases in question. Here are summaries of the cases reviewed by USA TODAY.\n\n– Kevin McCoy and John Fritze\n\nGrassley spurns Democrats on information access regarding Jackson’s sentencing records\n\nRanking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, rebuffed Democrats for purportedly withholding information on data related to probation officer recommendations.\n\nDemocrats on Tuesday used a chart on probation officer recommendations to refute a line of questioning by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., regarding Jackson’s sentencing on child sex crimes, NBC News reported. Republicans claimed that information was being intentionally withheld, though Democrats said the documents were provided by the White House that morning and Durbin claimed “everyone had access to if they wanted it.”\n\n“No one on our side of the aisle had access to this information,” Grassley said. “In fact, before this past week, I'm not sure anyone but the probation office and the court had access to this information.”\n\nHe asked for more transparency and to add his name to letters from Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, requesting additional information on the data.\n\nDespite that, he also complimented the committee’s Democrats for exercising “grace and dignity” throughout Jackson’s hearing, drawing a negative comparison to now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's hearings.\n\n– Ella Lee\n\nOssoff questions Jackson about ‘presidents are not kings’ decision\n\nDemocratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia asked Jackson about a 2019 decision on presidential power over House Democrats’ effort to subpoena former White House counsel Don McGahn.\n\n“You, in an opinion that has been widely cited, made the observation that presidents are not kings. What does that mean?” asked Ossoff.\n\n“The framers decided, after experiencing monarchy, tyranny and the like, that they were going to create a government that would split the powers of a monarch in several different ways,” responded Jackson.\n\n“The separation of powers is crucial to liberty, it is what our country is founded on, and it's important as consistent with my judicial methodology for each branch to operate within their own sphere. That means for me that judges can't make law, judges shouldn't be policymakers,” she added.\n\nOssoff kicked off Wednesday's questioning. Because Tuesday's hearing ran long, he and GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina will each conduct their first round of questioning before the committee members each have an opportunity to ask a second round of questions. Ossoff’s Georgia colleague, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, was in the room watching the proceedings during Ossoff’s questioning, and Ossoff acknowledged him at the top of his remarks.\n\n– Dylan Wells\n\nCornyn accuses Durbin of editorializing hearing\n\nSen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, interrupted an opening statement from ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to complain of Durbin's apparent fact-check on his line of questioning Tuesday about whether Jackson ever referred to former President George Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as \"war criminals\" in legal filings.\n\nCornyn said after Republicans questioned Jackson, Durbin chose \"to editorialize and contradict the points being made by the side of the aisle.\"\n\nDurbin later offered new research showing she never referred to the pair as \"war criminals,\" pointing out that she was advocating on behalf of clients who raised claims of torture.\n\n\"I don't think it's appropriate for the chairman, after every time somebody on this side of the aisle ask questions of the judge, you come back and you denigrate, and you attack and you criticize the line of questioning,\" Cornyn said, adding Jackson is doing a \"pretty good job\" defending herself.\n\nDurbin defended his actions by noting he was observing \"chairman's time,\" a tradition in the Judiciary Committee exercised by former chairmen, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.\n\n\"In the minority, we waited through chairman's time when we had Republican chairs,\" Durbin said. \"There will not be a separate set of rules for Democrats in control of this committee.\"\n\n– Courtney Subramanian\n\nDurbin: Some Republicans playing politics\n\nSenate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., kicked off Jackson’s hearing Wednesday by playing some defense over charges that the judge was too lenient on sentences in child pornography cases.\n\nDurbin said the 13-hour hearing turned into a “testing ground for conspiracy theories and culture war theories.”\n\n“It is difficult if not impossible to put ourselves in your place,” Durbin said. “You're in the mainstream of sentencing when it comes to child pornography cases.”\n\nDurbin chalked the exchanges with some senators up to politics, asserting that “yesterday was an opportunity to showcase talking points for the November election.”\n\n– John Fritze\n\nThose 7 child porn cases:A look at the child pornography cases at issue in Ketanji Brown Jackson's Senate hearings\n\nAt least one key Republican senator isn't buying the criticism of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's record on sentencing in child pornography cases: Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.\n\n\"It struck me that it was off course, meaning the attacks were off course that came from some,\" Romney told The Washington Post on Tuesday. \"And there is no there, there.\"\n\nThat's significant because Romney is one of a handful of GOP senators who could potentially vote for Jackson.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nSentencing likely to reappear\n\nParticularly toward the end of Tuesday's hearing, Republicans peppered Jackson with questions about sentences she handed down as a federal trial court judge. Those inquiries were focused on seven cases involving what's known as \"non-production\" child pornography offenses, in other words possessing or distributing the material.\n\nSen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has led the charge on the issue, despite pushback from Democrats, the White House and some independent experts who note that the U.S. Sentencing Commission itself reports that the majority of the child pornography offenses at issue result in sentences that are below the federal guidelines – which are advisory.\n\nWorking mom:Jackson's comments on motherhood, her husband's tears and other moments\n\nSpeaking to reporters Tuesday, Hawley said he hadn't yet decided what questions he would ask during his second round. Given his focus on the issue so far, it seemed certain that he would raise it again Wednesday, perhaps focusing on transcripts from court proceedings Jackson held in the cases.\n\n\"Those were tough questions,\" Hawley acknowledged. \"I asked her and I thought she handled them well.\"\n\nBut Hawley indicated he wasn't convinced by Jackson's answers.\n\n\"Her argument to me was, 'Hey, this is tough, but I'm doing the best I can.' And my argument to her was, 'I don't agree with your judgment,'\" Hawley said. \"That's just a professional disagreement.\"\n\nBut Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the issues Hawley was raising were at least partly the fault of Congress for not stepping in to update the guidelines.\n\n\"This is an extraordinary challenge to every judge because Congress won't touch this hot-button issue,\" Durbin said late Tuesday. \"Judges are stuck.\"\n\n– John Fritze\n\nPlan for Day 3\n\nAfter a marathon 13-hour session Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee was angling for a shorter – slightly shorter – round of questions in the third day of hearings.\n\nTo start with, because Tuesday's hearing went so long, two members of the committee couldn't squeeze in their first round of questions: Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. They'll start off the hearings Wednesday and will get 30 minutes each.\n\nThen the rest of the committee will get a second round of questions, at 20 minutes each.\n\n\"I'm going to land this plane,\" Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., quipped as he ended his questioning late Tuesday. \"We'll take off again tomorrow.\"\n\nThe senators will also meet in a closed session to discuss Jackson’s FBI background investigation, a standard procedure for every Supreme Court nominee.\n\nThe hearings are supposed to conclude Thursday with testimony from outside groups, such as the American Bar Association.\n\n– John Fritze\n\nHow many days will confirmation hearings last?\n\nThe Judiciary Committee's hearings last four days total, with two days of direct questioning of Jackson.\n\nOn the final day – Thursday – the committee will hear testimony from the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses. They will have five minutes each for statements, and question rounds will also be five minutes.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/03/23"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/27/corrections-clarifications-2017/3031456001/", "title": "Corrections & Clarifications 2017", "text": "USA TODAY\n\nWe recognize that mistakes may happen – or that new information can emerge after a story is published – and we pledge to address all concerns quickly, fairly and transparently. If a correction or clarification is warranted, we will highlight that in the original file and explain to readers why the change was made. Any correction or clarification would also be published on our corrections log.\n\nTo report corrections & clarifications, contact:\n\nPhone , 1-800-872-7073\n\n, 1-800-872-7073 E-mail, accuracy@usatoday.com\n\nPlease indicate whether you're responding to content online or in the newspaper.\n\nThe following corrections & clarifications have been published on stories produced by USA TODAY's newsroom:\n\nDecember 2017\n\nNews: A previous version of this article gave the incorrect day for the last night of Hanukkah. That item has been removed. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/20/5-things-you-need-know-wednesday/965077001/\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misidentified the Red Cross organization involved in corrupt activities. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/12/19/calls-mount-prosecute-corrupt-red-cross-officials-ebola-survivors-face-health-complications-amid-red/962083001/​\n\nNews: In some editions Dec. 17, a story on the Republican tax plan misidentified the income levels for the new tax brackets.\n\nLife: On Dec. 18, the Week in Entertainment column misspelled Anne Bancroft and Katherine Ross’ names.\n\nFacebook: An earlier version of this post listed the incorrect release date. https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/posts/10155669314955667\n\nTech: An earlier version of this story misstated which basketball league Fox Sports broadcasts. It is the National Basketball Association. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/12/13/if-disney-buys-fox-assets-your-tv-movie-and-sports-watching-could-change/940970001/​\n\nMoney: An earlier version of this list had the wrong description for one of the states. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/12/07/best-and-worst-run-states-america-which-one-top-rated/926586001/​\n\nMoney: A previous version of this article gave the wrong location for one of the Secret Santas. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/12/12/secret-santa-pays-layaway-items-new-jersey-pennsylvania-walmart-stores/943594001/\n\nVideo: On Dec. 4, a video titled \"Camera captures terrifying 'death spin' 13K feet up\" was posted to USA TODAY’s website, Facebook and Twitter that incorrectly sourced the video. The correct source of the video is CATERS NEWS. The posts have been updated where possible.\n\nNews: A prior version of this story misstated the status of Mike Flynn's legal case. He pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/10/what-does-flynns-indictment-mean-vice-president-pence/935678001/\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of one of the accusers. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/11/trump-sexual-misconduct-accusers-megyn-kelly-today/939683001/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the missile range. It has since been corrected.\n\nNews: A story in some editions Dec. 8 about an Arctic Circle town gave the incorrect figure in Fahrenheit for the 30-year winter temperature increase in Longyearbyen, Norway. The increase was 18 degrees. The story also misspelled the name of the American who founded the town. He was John Munro Longyear.\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the country for which IOC President Thomas Bach competed. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/12/05/ioc-decision-russia-compete-neutral-athletes-pyeongchang/922438001/\n\nNews: A Dec. 6 story misstated the number of Democratic amendments added to the GOP’s tax overhaul proposal. Senate Democrats won passage of one amendment to the Republican bill.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story said Rep. Don Young would become the longest-serving member of Congress. He is the longest-serving congressional member who is currently in office. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/12/05/alaskas-don-young-become-longest-serving-member-congress-after-conyers-retirement/922937001/\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story linked to Facebook comment purportedly from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That reference has been removed. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/11/26/lawmakers-ask-questions-tennessees-potential-hiring-greg-schiano/896197001/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report included a new name for A Prairie Home Companion. A name hasn't yet been chosen. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/12/03/prairie-home-companion-renamed-town-hall-after-garrison-keillor-allegation/917378001/\n\nMoney: An earlier version misstated the name of Cindy Gallop's website. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/12/01/sexual-harassment-went-unchecked-decades-payouts-silenced-accusers/881070001/​\n\nNovember 2017\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story included the incorrect day of the Ravens-Steelers game. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/11/29/ranking-nfl-playoff-division-races-nfc-afc-south-west-north-east/902077001/\n\nMoney: A previous version of this story conflated information about willingness to take a pay cut and the amount willing to be taken. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/29/money-no-longer-biggest-incentive-selecting-job/901899001/\n\nTech: In an earlier version, the headline overstated the number of channels YouTube removed. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/11/22/youtube-kids-programming/891024001/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Charles Manson's grandson. Jason Freeman is the son of Charles Milles Manson Jr. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/20/charles-manson-one-nations-most-infamous-mass-killers-dead-83/870075001/​\n\nNews: An earlier version misstated the month temporary protected status will end for Haitians who came to the U.S. following the 2010 earthquake in that country. The special protections will end in July 2019. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/20/trump-administration-send-haiti-earthquake-victims-home-18-months/883328001/​\n\nSports: A previous version of this story misstated players who had 3,000 hits and 500 home runs for their careers​ as of 1996. They were Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/11/13/mlb-rookie-of-year-aaron-judge-cody-bellinger/856753001/​\n\nSports: A story in the Nov. 20 edition on 40 things we learned from the NFL weekend included incorrect information about the Giants-Chiefs game. One touchdown was scored.\n\nTech: This story has been updated to clarify Tesla's statement on the Roadster's pricing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/11/16/musk-steals-his-own-truck-show-new-roadster-reveal/873392001/​\n\nNews: A Kaiser Health News story that ran Nov. 17-19 understated Americans’ reliance on Medicaid. About 25% of people will turn to the federal-state health insurance program for help at some point over the course of the year.\n\nBooks: Holiday Wishes by Jill Shalvis (Avon Impulse) is No. 40 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. The incorrect book was listed at that position on D2 Nov. 9.\n\nNews: A Nov. 15 story about a shooting spree in Northern California misstated in some editions the middle name of Kevin Janson Neal, identified as the gunman by the Rancho Tehama subdivision.\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated a court’s decision on Isiah Thomas. He was found to have aided and abetted a hostile work environment. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/11/james-dolan-liberty-wnba-madison-square-garden\n\nStates: An item in the Michigan section of the Nov. 6 State-by-State page mistakenly contained information about a Portage, Ind., shipping port.\n\nTech: Uber hopes to launch flying car service by 2020. A previous version of this video incorrectly stated the capabilities of UberAir's flying cars. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/11/08/ubers-blade-runner-flying-car-mission-comes-l-a/840064001/\n\nNews: A previous version of this story erroneously included a mass shooting in Oregon in which the gunman did not use an AR-15. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/06/ar-15-style-rifles-common-among-mass-shootings/838283001/\n\nNews: A Nov. 1 video on a rescued baby beluga calf misstated the amount of beluga whales left in the wild. There are only 328 Cook Inlet beluga whales left in the wild. There are other populations of beluga whales found in the world. https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/animalkind/2017/11/02/baby-beluga-whale-rescued-after-found-distress/107239198/\n\nSports: A Nov. 3 story on the World Series included the incorrect year for when Cleveland last won the World Series and left out a team among those who have never won the Series. The Indians won in 1948, and the Brewers are among those who have never won. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/11/03/world-series-over-free-agency/828166001/\n\nNews: A story Oct. 27 about proposed tax changes for Americans misstated the effective date for mortgage-interest changes. The proposed changes would take effect after Nov. 2.\n\nSocial media: An Instagram post on @USATODAY on Nov. 2 used the wrong photo with a quote from the Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa. The post was deleted.\n\nOctober 2017\n\nYour Say: A previous version of this letter to the editor mislabeled Kevin Spacey’s behavior. It is now labeled as “predatory.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/10/31/readers-sound-off-outrage-over-kevin-spacey-misplaced/817397001/\n\nSports: A previous version of this story included an incorrect position for the PIrates' Bill Mazeroski in the 1960 World Series. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/11/01/world-series-game-7-classics/820041001/\n\nSports: An item in Sportsline Oct. 26 incorrectly referred to Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. He is the owner/president/general manager.\n\nSports: A previous version of this story included an incorrect nickname for Don Meredith. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/10/26/middle-finger-often-middle-sports-controversy/804550001/​\n\nSports: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Martinsville as the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit.https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2017/10/26/martinsville-playoff-race-first-data-500-preview/803115001/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the story mischaracterized the Edison Electric Institute. The story also misstated the payment status of workers from Jacksonville Electric Authority for work performed. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/30/puerto-rico-power-restoration-why-taking-so-long/806747001/​\n\nMoney: A story on changes in Mega Millions lottery game on Oct. 25 left out several states and the District of Columbia that initially are offering the Just the Jackpot option at its inception that happened Saturday. The 17 states total are Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/10/24/5-things-change-mega-millions-starting-saturday/792842001/\n\nTech: The password-free login option, Wi-Fi Protected Setup, is built into the Android operating system. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/10/29/wi-fi-connection-problems-worst-here-three-ways-solve-them/803027001/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misstated the date of Rodrigo Duterte's election. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/23/all-presidents-men-and-women-trump-like-leaders-proliferate/789931001/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the headline accompanying this story misstated the poll result. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/10/25/discrimination-white-americans-minorities-poll/801297001/​\n\nOpinion: This editorial has been updated to reflect the fact that not all of the U.S. soldiers killed in Niger were Green Berets. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/10/24/niger-surprise-disservice-to-fallen-troops-editorials-debates/793599001/\n\nLife: A photo in an Oct. 19 story about new faces in fall TV misidentified actress Dominique Fishback.\n\nNews: A story Oct. 16 about the new dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School misspelled the name of Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/15/university-chicago-makes-history-first-jewish-divinity-school-dean/748077001/\n\nLife: A story Oct. 12 about allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein mischaracterized the nature of discussions around Louis C.K.’s behavior toward women. The comedian has been dogged by rumors of inappropriate behavior, but has not been publicly accused. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/10/10/harvey-weinstein-controversy-more-than-just-one-man/747632001/\n\nMoney: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the source of viewership data and incorrectly stated Fox Business Network's name. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/10/13/fox-business-network-rides-politics-and-punch-ratings-success-fight-cnbc/753711001/\n\nNews: A story Oct. 10 about Puerto Rico aid efforts had an inaccurate list of reasons for the bottleneck. There is no shortage of trucks or drivers. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/09/puerto-rico-aid-hurricane-maria/741739001/\n\nLife: Taylor Swfit's ... Ready For It is a promotional single that hasn't been marketed to radio. An earlier version of this story did not make that distinction.​ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/10/09/taylor-swift-failing-charts-heres-why-her-first-two-singles-havent-soared/729600001/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report gave an incorrect date for when McDonald’s Szechuan sauce was available. The limited supply was given out on Oct. 7. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/10/08/mcdonalds-more-szechuan-sauce/744932001/​\n\nLife: Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book What Happened is non-fiction. It was previously misclassified in USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.\n\nCollege: A previous version of this article misspelled Hanan Rimawi’s name and misstated the year she began her volunteer work. http://college.usatoday.com/2016/01/30/bridging-generations-tulane/​\n\nSports: A previous version of this story included an incorrect number of home runs Roger Maris hit in 1961. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/09/25/aaron-judge-50-home-runs-rookie/701759001/​\n\nSocial media: On Oct. 2, graphics were posted to USA TODAY Facebook and Twitter that said the Las Vegas massacre was the worst shooting in U.S. history. While it is the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, there are other, more deadly massacres in America’s past. The posts have been updated where possible.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story gave the incorrect party affiliations for Rep. Greg Walden​​​​, ​R-Ore., and Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/10/03/equifax-ex-ceo-faces-questions-why-its-internal-controls-failed/725756001/​\n\nSeptember 2017\n\nNews: A previous version of this story misstated how long a nude sculpture may be on the National Mall. Organizers hope to have it there until March 7. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/29/heres-why-45-ft-tall-nude-sculpture-coming-national-mall/718238001/​\n\nMoney: Based on information reported in a study by Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment, an earlier version of this story misidentified Charles Koch’s first job. According to Koch’s spokesman, his first job was as a consultant with Arthur D. Little. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/21/billionaire-richest-people-first-jobs-top-degress/686886001/\n\nSports: An earlier version of this article misidentified Phil Mickelson. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/09/phil-mickelson-brother-caddie-tim-presidents-cup-selfie-obama-bush-clinton-golf\n\nSports: Joey Odoms has been a former member of the Maryland Army National Guard since Aug. 10, 2016, and is not a current member as previously stated. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/09/ravens-national-anthem-singer-joey-odoms-resigns-statement-baltimore-nfl-fans-ethical-decision\n\nNews: A silhouette in the Sept. 22 Snapshot illustrated an incorrect aircraft. It should have been a B-29.\n\nNews: A Sept. 20 map that examined the U.S.-Mexican border contained inaccurate numbers for the entry port traffic of two Texas cities. El Paso has 28,011,030 and Boquillas, 14,099. In addition, a story accompanying the map misspelled the name of the GIS project manager at Arizona State University. She is Shea Lemar.\n\nNews: A story Sept. 26 in some editions about Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act gave the incorrect day. It happened Sept. 26.\n\nSports: A USA TODAY Sports Facebook Live video, about the NFL protests on Sept. 24, was deleted because of technical difficulties with the video feed.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the distance from Puerto Rico's east coast to the island of Culebra. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/24/isolated-puerto-rican-town-need-water-power-and-news/697827001/\n\nNews: A Sept. 26 story in some editions about President Trump’s comments on sports failed to identify the source of a quote. It was NFL spokesman and former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart who said, “When the president of the United States calls anyone a son of a bitch, it’s a story.”\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misidentified the founder of National Day Calendar, Marlo Anderson. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/09/18/made-up-holidays-talk-like-pirate-day/533398001/​\n\nLife: Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari won an Emmy for best writing for a comedy series for Master of None. An earlier version of this story misidentified the show. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/09/18/emmys-not-on-camera-telecast/676144001/\n\nOpinion: A Sept. 15 column contained a quote asserting that a relative of Gov. Phil Bryant was involved in the murder of Emmett Till. The assertion is unsubstantiated, and Bryant said in February that it is false. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/15/mississippi-choice-confederate-past-new-flag-and-future-margaret-mcmullan-column/661382001/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of one of the firefighters, Chris Sillman. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/13/without-official-order-houston-firefighters-were-undermanned-harvey-flood-rescues/657734001/​\n\nSocial media: A post on USA TODAY’s Facebook page on Sept. 11 shared an outdated graphic illustrating Hurricane Irma’s path. It was removed and reposted.\n\nNews: A previous version of this article included an incorrect photograph of Isaiah Lecompte, a 17-year-old who was injured in a shooting. The photo was of a different teen. https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/wilmington-gun-investigation-chain-of-violence/​\n\nTech: The T-Mobile One plan to take advantage of the Netflix deal costs $120 per month for two lines. The story has been updated. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/09/06/want-free-netflix-t-mobile-hopes-so/637191001/​\n\nNews: A story Sept. 1 on former president Barack Obama’s ancestral village of Kogelo, Kenya, misstated its direction from Nairobi. It is 250 miles northwest of the capital. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/02/obamas-struggling-ancestral-kenya-village-misses-him-and-cashing-his-presidency/581838001/\n\nMoney: A previous version of this story, from the Associated Press, provided incorrect information about home interest deductions. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/09/01/tax-reform-push-simplify-taxes-on-but-dont-touch-some-deductions/620531001/​\n\nAugust 2017\n\nSocial media: An earlier version of this graphic understated the total costs for U.S. natural disasters. https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/903349349308096512 https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/903349725268762627 https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/photos/a.100797840666.101835.13652355666/10155249090590667/?type=3&theater\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the role of the Fox News employee fooled by the shark photo. He is a host. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/08/29/hurricane-harvey-shark-photo-fake-and-part-bigger-problem/612601001/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this video incorrectly identified the location of the flood. https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/08/29/good-samaritan-batman-truck-saves-man-flood/105044324/\n\nLife: An Aug. 29 photo caption on a story about 10 successful summer movies incorrectly described a scene depicting British soldiers in the movie Dunkirk. The soldiers were preparing to evacuate the harbor.\n\nCollege: An earlier version of the story below misreported the approximate number of students enrolled at University of Houston. It has just over 40,000 students. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/28/how-texas-universities-are-coping-with-harvey/\n\nNews: An Aug. 17 story on the solar eclipse incorrectly described a school attendance policy for Nashville Public Schools. After originally deciding in July to modify the school calendar so students would attend class on Aug. 21, the city’s board of education later approved a newly modified calendar that did not include Aug. 21 as a school day.\n\nCollege: A previous version of this story misidentified one of the co-founders of The Tab. He is George Marangos-Gilks. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/24/check-out-these-5-student-digital-media-orgs-with-campus-editions/\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Rhode Island Senate Finance Committee will vote on a new stadium deal for the Pawtucket Red Sox in the fall. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/08/22/minor-league-parks-bad-deal-cities/591770001/\n\nTech: A previous version of this story inaccurately described a facet of Verizon's 5GB plan. It limits the resolution of video streaming. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/08/23/verizons-cheaper-unlimited-data-plan-means-serious-tradeoffs/595720001/\n\nSports: A previous version of this story included inaccurate information about the cause of death for Rocky Marciano Sr. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2017/08/21/rocky-marciano-jr-floyd-mayweather-doesnt-deserve-record-conor-mcgregor/588155001/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report misstated the duration of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin’s partnership. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-comedy-genius-dead-91/584342001/​\n\nFacebook: An earlier version of this graphic misstated the conditions of Bannon's departure. It's been deleted. https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/photos/a.100797840666.101835.13652355666/10155194726990667/?type=3&theater\n\nNews: An earlier version of this video incorrectly stated the country of registration for the freighter, ACX Crystal. The freighter is registered in the Philippines. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/17/commander-stricken-destroyer-fitzgerald-relieved-after-navy-report-cites-failures/577805001/\n\nNews: An earlier test version of this newsletter, which didn't go out to subscribers, incorrectly referred to the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer. https://www.usatoday.com/story/nletter/2017/08/15/final-eclipse-checklist/565261001/​\n\nMoney: A previous version of this story didn't clearly state that Nicholas Langeveld is the former chairman of Affectiva. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/08/17/funding-women-founded-startups-stalling-here-some-reasons-why/490286001/​\n\nTwitter: Public college campuses in Texas permit concealed carry as of Aug. 1, not open carry. https://twitter.com/USATODAYcollege/status/897838987011928064\n\nNews: This post has been updated to remove an embedded tweet from an account that could have been interpreted as belonging to national security adviser H.R. McMaster. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/08/14/obama-charlottesville-tweet-likes/567196001/\n\nCollege: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the University of Northern Colorado student body president. He is Kevion Ellis. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/14/college-leaders-across-the-country-unite-to-condemn-racism/​\n\nOpinion: An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly characterized carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/14/climate-change-trump-administration-editorials-debates/562985001/\n\nLife: An earlier version of the photo caption in the following gallery misidentified Sheryl Lee Ralph. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/2017/08/14/twinning-all-your-favorite-celebrity-twins/104398712/\n\nSports: A photo caption with a story about Kyle Larson’s NASCAR win at Michigan in some Aug. 14 editions misidentified his team. Larson drives for Chip Ganassi Racing.\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misidentified the location of Guam. It's in the western Pacific. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/09/state-media-north-korea-releases-jailed-canadian-pastor-humanitarian-grounds/551685001/​\n\nMoney: In charts on The America’s Markets page on Aug. 9, closing prices for Aug. 8 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite were inverted. The close for the S&P 500 was 2,474.92 and the Nasdaq close was 6,370.46\n\nNews: A previous version of this story misstated when the U.S. gained control of Guam. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/nation-now/2017/08/08/guam-reacts-north-korea-nuclear-threatilitary/551184001/​\n\nCollege: A previous version of this article misclassified the percentage of Asian American students in Harvard’s incoming class. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/07/for-the-first-time-ever-most-of-the-new-harvard-class-isnt-white/​\n\nCollege: A previous version of this story contained an incorrect credit on the photograph of the Kind Campaign founders. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/03/how-we-became-activists-lauren-paul-and-molly-thompson-of-kind-campaign/​\n\nCollege: A previous version of this story misquoted Esther Schor speaking about the symbolic meaning of The New Colossus. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/03/statue-of-liberty-poem-immigration/​\n\nTech: A previous version of this story mentioned a title that Audible removed from its Audible for Dogs list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/08/06/audible-teams-up-cesar-millan-calm-dogs/539529001/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misidentified the length of Despacito's Hot 100 run. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/08/03/justin-bieber-breaks-silence-canceled-purpose-tour-rambling-instagram/535705001/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of actor Grant Show. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/08/02/80-s-campfest-dynasty-gets-new-century-makeover-cw/533147001/​\n\nNews: An Aug. 2 story on violence in Cancun, Mexico, misstated Chicago’s homicides. The Illinois city leads the nation in total homicides this year but does not have the highest rate per capita.\n\nNews: On an earlier version of our website, a headline about a prison release was mistakenly attached to a story about President Trump and Donald Trump Jr. USA TODAY regrets the error.\n\nCollege: A previous version of this article included a styling of Kesha’s name that she no longer uses. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/01/voices-kehas-new-song-is-a-feminist-anthem-and-im-here-for-it/​\n\nJuly 2017\n\nSports: Katie Dalmasso's age was misstated in an earlier version of this story. She is 32. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/07/29/who-hugh-freeze-conflicting-views-former-ole-miss-coach-emerge/522705001/​\n\nNews: The following video was removed from USA TODAY social media accounts. https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/07/27/shark-jumps-onto-fishing-boat-stuns-everyone/104061530/\n\nNews: A previous version of this story and correction notification have been updated to correct misinformation provided by the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment regarding its 2009 goal for lead in drinking water. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/26/contaminants-water-legal-but-still-pose-big-health-risks/510237001/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story featured an incorrect photo of Calvin Lai. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/24/why-juries-have-hard-time-convicting-cops/506662001/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the percentage of respondents who said President Trump wasn't likely to complete his first term. The correct number is 36%. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/24/impeach-donald-trump-poll-americans-split-remove-president/501871001/​\n\nMoney: Zoe Dawkins’ company, Indeed, matches 50% of the first 6% of 401(k) contributions. In the July 19 edition, the match was incorrectly reported. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/07/19/young-investor-yolo/474990001/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the following article misstated the person who created the Facebook group. It was Steve Ciprani. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/07/21/march-public-education-protesters-gather-washington/497683001/\n\nNews: A story in some editions on July 20 about the Senate’s Obamacare repeal plan misstated the day the Congressional Budget Office released its report. It was July 19.\n\nNews: A front-page story July 19 that provided updates on figures prominent in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial incorrectly identified the sister of Nicole Brown Simpson. She is Denise Brown.\n\nMoney: An earlier version of this story had the name of the Buick Riviera spelled incorrectly. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/07/19/5-dead-car-models-automakers-could-revive-by-2020/103790348/\n\nMoney: A previous version of the following story misstated Tanya Meck's title. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/07/17/deltas-response-ann-coulter-doesnt-fit-their-brand/484529001/\n\nLife: A headline and associated Web page address for a July 18 Entertain This! post about Duchess Kate’s fashion choices while in Poland misidentified the concentration camp visited by the royal family. Due to the inaccurate nature of the web address (URL), the item was also republished on the website. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/07/20/duchess-kate-respectful-and-stylish-poland-visit/497551001/\n\nTech: An earlier headline and accompanying tweet for this story referenced the wrong MacBook model. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2017/07/18/im-using-touchscreen-macbook-pro-heres-how/483911001/\n\nTravel: An earlier version of this story, based on other media reports, misstated American Airlines' response to the odor. Passengers were routinely deplaned. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/07/17/american-airlines-says-passed-gas-did-not-cause-flight-evacuation/483617001/\n\nMoney: A previous version of this story misstated which day Moe's was offering free queso. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/07/13/moes-starts-beef-chipotle-over-queso/476426001/\n\nUSA TODAY College: An earlier version of the following article misidentified the graduation status of college senior Venkayla Haynes.http://college.usatoday.com/2017/07/12/survivors-blast-ed-dept-officials-claim-that-90-of-campus-rapes-are-regretted-hookups/\n\nMoney: A story July 11 about feral cats being used by businesses to control rodents misstated the age of Brittany Sorgenstein. She is 31.\n\nNews: A story July 10 on immigration advocacy groups’ gains in opposing President Trump’s policies misstated Mike Fernandez’s source of wealth. It came from the health care industry.\n\nNews: A front-page story July 12 incorrectly reported that neither of two memorials to Newark’s violent disturbances in 1967 uses the word “riot.’’ In fact, one memorial does use the term.\n\nTech: An earlier version of the following article gave the incorrect price of the plan if you transfer from another carrier by July 31. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/07/10/virgin-mobiles-iphone-only-plan-whats-catch/461210001/\\\n\nNews: In a story about port trucking July 10, USA TODAY incorrectly stated how low Rene Flores’ take home pay could be. At times, he made a few hundred dollars per week.\n\nNews: An earlier version of the following story misstated John Quinn’s role at USA TODAY. He was a founding editor who succeeded John Curley as the paper’s second top editor.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/12/john-quinn-founding-usa-today-editor-dies/470702001/\n\nNews: In an earlier version of this story, the amount of Vitamin D used in the study was misstated. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/08/if-vitamin-d-may-sunburn-remedy-what-does-mean-skin-cancer/460710001/\n\nTech: Amazon says the Next brand is not owned or developed by the company, but Amazon Wine is serving only as the seller. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/07/06/amazon-start-selling-its-own-wine/454805001/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report gave an incorrect title for the James Brown biopic Get on Up. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/07/08/true-blood-star-nelsan-ellis-dies-39/462062001/\n\nTwitter: A tweet was sent from @USATODAY on July 6 about fried chicken that did not meet our standards. The tweet has been removed. https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/883078100841631744\n\nOpinion: An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly stated that Missoula, Mont., and San Marcos, Texas, have adopted a minimum wage of $15 an hour. Missoula has hiked wages for city workers only; San Marcos has adopted a plan that says companies taking advantage of city subsidies must pay $15. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/07/05/minimum-wage-fight-seattle-loses-editorials-debates/450011001/​\n\nLife: The original story misidentified the gender of Donal Logue's child. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/06/27/gotham-star-asks-twitter-help-find-missing-son/103239118/​\n\nJune 2017\n\nNews: A graphic in the June 30 edition should have listed Iran as one of the nations affected by the travel ban.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the date Earhart disappeared. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/30/why-mystery-amelia-earhart-endures-80-years-later/439102001/​\n\nMoney: A story on Walgreens dropping its bid to purchase Rite Aid should have said that Rite Aid's stock price dropped 26.5% Thursday. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/06/29/walgreens-rite-aid/438450001/\n\nNews: A story June 30 about how retail giants enabled the exploitation of truckers misidentified a spokeswoman for Target. She is Erika Winkels. https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/news/rigged-retail-giants-enable-trucker-exploitation/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misidentified Fox Business News’ Lisa Kennedy Montgomery. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/06/29/seth-meyers-shames-fox-and-friends-for-praising-trump/103281666/​\n\nMoney: A story in the June 26 Money section on small businesses in the South misspelled the name of the start-up Wyzerr.\n\nNews: The investigation is looking into the conduct of Jane Sanders. An Associated Press headline on an earlier version of this story misstated the target of the inquiry. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/06/26/feds-looking-into-bernie-and-jane-sanders-over-real-estate-deal/430452001/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this article misstated a detail from a University of Western Ontario study. Both groups in the study gained some muscle mass. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/14/long-distance-running-bad-losing-weight/396053001/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report gave an incorrect air time for the BET Awards. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/06/22/leslie-jones-bet-awards-host/103081230/\n\nTech: A previous version of this story gave the wrong federal agency that previously employed Thomas Martin. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/stevenpetrow/2017/06/20/cell-phone-number-scams-identity-theft/102787432/​\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name and role of the teacher shown in the Tesserae yearbook photo posted to Facebook. She is technology teacher Sharon Kendrick. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/06/21/new-voices-bill-new-york-high-school-journalists/​\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misspelled Lindsey Gaetani’s first name. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/06/21/she-was-once-a-homeless-single-mother-she-just-graduated-from-college/\n\nMoney: This story originally misstated the parties that settled economic-loss claims involving Takata air bags. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/06/19/takata-air-bag-recall-bankruptcy/103003136/\n\nNews: A weather page graphic June 20 misstated the temperature of the sun’s core. It’s about 29 million degrees Fahrenheit.\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misstated Zachary Wood’s role in the Williams College club Uncomfortable Learning. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/06/19/2-students-are-testifying-to-the-senate-about-free-speech-on-campus/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated Marie-Pierre St-Onge’s title. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/16/coconut-oil-isnt-healthy-its-never-been-healthy/402719001/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misidentified the artist behind Mike Will Made-It's Nothing is Promised. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/06/16/rihanna-dj-khaled-bryson-tiller-wild-thoughts-samples-santana/102914450/\n\nWeather: A previous version of this story misstated how long it had been since the June snowpack was this large. The amount of snow on the ground in the central Sierra region this week marked the biggest June snowpack in years. https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/06/07/californias-endless-winter-8-feet-snow-still-ground-june/102586278/​\n\nNews: A front-page graphic June 8 that showed the senators who would be questioning ex-FBI director James Comey omitted Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.\n\nNews: A story in the June 1 edition about cellphone charging technology mischaracterized MRI scans, which leverage magnetic resonance and not ultrasound.\n\nMay 2017\n\nLife: In 1957, John Wayne headed to Greece while travelling overseas to film 'Legend of the Lost' with Sophia Loren. A previous version of this image incorrectly identified the location. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/05/24/remembering-john-wayne-with-never-seen-photos-on-his-110th-birthday/102083924/\n\nMoney: A May 24 story about efforts to recover money for victims of Bernard Madoff’s fraud inaccurately identified the source of payments to trustee Irving Picard’s law firm. The firm is being paid by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/05/23/us-madoff-fund-has-paid-zero-fraud-victims-so-far/102048186/\n\nOpinion: An earlier version of this column misidentified one of the presidents Roger Ailes advised. It was George H.W. Bush. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/05/18/roger-ailes-coarsened-politics-and-media-before-imploding-in-tawdry-scandal-column/101829146/\n\nNews: An item in the Connecticut section of the May 19 State-by-State page misidentified the police department that is being urged to release a video of the fatal shooting of an unarmed 15-year-old driver. It is the Bridgeport Police Department.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this video incorrectly listed the presidents who were impeached. https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/videos/1870106343313885/\n\nNews: A story May 11 about Russia’s reaction to the firing of FBI Director James Comey listed the wrong state for Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat.\n\nNews: A photo caption accompanying a May 10 story on how colleges are dealing with students’ needs for mental health resources mistakenly implied the number of suicide victims at the University of Vermont-Burlington. A group called Active Minds placed 1,100 backpacks on the university’s campus to honor suicide victims in general. The figure represents the number of college students who die by suicide each year, according to the group, not the number at the University of Vermont.\n\nMoney: The corporate logo accompanying a news item about Level 3 Communications in the May 5 edition was incorrect.\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story misstated the ages of the victims and some details of the collision. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/05/10/chris-berman-espn-wife-dies-car-accident/101502960/​\n\nTech: An earlier version of this story gave the incorrect source and number for a projection of unfilled computing jobs. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/03/28/tech-skills-gap-huge-graduates-survey-says/99587888/​\n\nNews: In earlier versions, the gender of Aubrey Hooper was incorrect. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/02/police-alter-story-after-fatal-shooting-texas-teen/101192656/\n\nLife: A story on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 misidentified the location of Pinewood Studios. It is south of Atlanta. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/05/01/guardians-on-galaxy-vol-2-set-visit-chris-pratt-kurt-russell/101098586/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this photograph had the incorrect political affiliation in the caption. https://www.usatoday.com/media/cinematic/gallery/101081406/nerd-prom-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-red-carpet-photos/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misidentified one of the groups organizing marches on May Day. It should be Beyond the Moment. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/04/30/thousands-expected-for-may-day-protests/101132580/​\n\nSports: An earlier version of this post misstated when this call occurred. It was from 2013. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/manny-ramirez-japan-baseball-home-run-call​\n\nApril 2017\n\nNews: A Page One story on April 26 by the Center for Public Integrity, published by USA TODAY, on tax cuts in several states incorrectly stated North Carolina’s actions concerning the state sales tax rate. North Carolina expanded the items that were subject to the state sales tax. The story also should have made clear that in North Carolina, the state charges a sales tax of 4.75% and that another 2%, or more, can be added by counties. The story also incorrectly stated North Carolina’s top income tax rate in 2012. The top income tax rate was 7.75%. The story also should have made clear that some states are phasing out state income tax rates over time and the Tax Foundation’s position on North Carolina’s and Kansas’ tax reform proposals. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/04/26/7-states-may-provide-window-into-taxes-under-trump/100893760/\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misrepresented some of the people Brooke Evans met with on Capitol Hill. She met with senatorial staff members. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/04/27/how-one-student-turned-her-struggles-with-homelessness-into-a-crusade/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the length of the documentary. It is one hour and twenty minutes. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/04/28/what-know-before-diving-into-netflixs-casting-jonbenet/100848172/​\n\nNews: A prior version of this story misidentified the city of Boulder City, Nev. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/04/20/weak-markets-make-consumers-wishful-recycling-big-problem/100654976/​\n\nMoney: An April 27 story about the Trump administration’s tax proposal should have made clear that individuals are subject to the estate tax if they inherit at least $5.5 million. Married couples must inherit at least $11 million.\n\nTech: Due to an error in the underlying report, a previous version of this story and the accompanying chart gave the incorrect estimate for Salesforce cloud revenue. It is projected to be $10 billion, up 21%. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/04/26/oracles-mark-hurd-builds-cloud-arsenal-take-amazon/100652206/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misrepresented Starlee Kine's role in Serial Productions. She was a story consultant on S-Town. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/04/25/serial-productions-s-town-record/100656842/​\n\nButterfly: An article on April 23 about Australia’s proposed new citizenship test misstated the country’s population. It is 24 million.\n\nNews: A story on April 19 about a ceremony in which Georgetown University formally apologized to the descendants of 272 slaves misquoted Sandra Green Thomas. She said: “And so, I return. No, we the descendants return to the home place, to our ancestor’s home place acknowledging contrition, offering forgiveness, hoping for penance, and more importantly seeking justice for them and ourselves.”\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misrepresented one of Einstein's accolades. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/04/24/albert-einstein-genius-national-geographic/100824198/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report gave the incorrect date for Prince’s death. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/04/18/prince-deliverance-music-anniversary-death/100630150/​\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this article contained outdated information about the Starbucks program. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/04/17/15-companies-that-help-employees-pay-for-college/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misstated the type of service conducted on Good Friday. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/14/how-coptic-christian-town-celebrates-easter/100482588/\n\nMoney: An item on the April 13 Markets page should have stated that Valspar sold its wood-coating business to Axalta, clearing the way for Valspar’s $9.3 billion purchase by Sherwin-Williams.\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misspelled the victim's last name. The victim is Robert Godwin Sr. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/16/cleveland-police-suspect-broadcast-killing/100549268/​\n\nSports: A story in April 11 editions called a hockey minor league by an incorrect name. It is the ECHL. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2017/04/10/coaches-suits-ties-barry-trotz-scotty-bowman/100299514/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misidentified the relationship between North Korea founder Kim Il Sung and the country's current leader; he is the grandfather of Kim Jong Un. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/04/12/donald-trump-xi-jinping-china-north-korea/100363990/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the following story did not make clear that \"Democracy dies in darkness\" is The Washington Post's tagline. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/04/12/michael-wolff-tells-kellyanne-conway-youre-the-darkness/100373392/\n\nLife: An earlier version of the following Entertain This! post misidentified John Boyega’s character in the film. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/04/12/detroit-movie-trailer-kathryn-bigelow-john-boyega/100368750/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the following story misstated Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam's religion. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/12/body-first-muslim-judge-appointed-nys-highest-court-found-hudson-river/100401428/\n\nNews: A previous version of the following tweet incorrectly stated the yield of the Hiroshima bomb. https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/852625181524840448\n\nNews: A tweet sent from @USATODAY on April 13, with a link to a story about David Dao being compared by some to Rosa Parks, was deleted and reposted. The headline on the story was edited to reflect clarity that Dao’s lawyer said he received an email making the comparison and the subsequent tweet was shared with the new headline. https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/852603978663723009\n\nNews: A brief about Wentworth Military Academy and College in the April 10 State-By-State page was located under the wrong state heading. It should have run under Missouri.\n\nNews: An April 10 story about Passover foods should have indicated that Kosher laws prohibit the eating of leavened items.\n\nNews:A tweet sent from @USATODAY on April 7 about airstrikes in Syria included a GIF that did not meet our editorial standards. The tweet was removed.\n\nTech: The following story has been updated to show that the retail industry employs one in 10 U.S. workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/04/06/amazon-says-hire-30k-part-time-workers-over-next-year/100112980/\n\nNews: A graphic accompanying a story Aprill 5 about NASA probe Cassini incorrectly stated its launch date. It was Oct 15, 1997.\n\nNews: A Page One story April 5 on the centennial of the U.S. entry to World War I incorrectly named the composer of the song Over There. It was written by George M. Cohan.\n\nNews: Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this story misstated the percentage of baby box recipients in Finland who used it as an infant sleep space in a 2011 poll. Forty-two percent used it in that way. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/30/you-know-those-baby-boxes-s-nonsense-some-experts-say/99776956/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the increase in deaths associated with being overweight in a new study. The increase was 6%. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/03/sorry-little-extra-fat-not-survival-advantage-study-says/99985134/\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misspelled Brooke Bekoff’s last name. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/04/03/meet-the-two-college-students-behind-the-hamilton-memes/​\n\nTravel: A previous version of this story didn't specify that six countries were covered by the travel ban. ​https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/29/trumps-travel-ban-could-cost-18b-us-tourism-travel-analysts-say/99708758/\n\nTravel: LaGuardia Airport's Terminal B project is on schedule and on budget. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/mcgee/2017/03/29/airports/99744116/\n\nTech: The 20% discount will be available to men as well as women. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/04/03/lean-in-sheryl-sandberg-20-percent-counts-campaign-to-close-gender-pay-gap/99841634/\n\nMarch 2017\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story failed to mention that Kentucky was among the Southern states that expanded Medicaid. It has also been updated to say a rapid increase in deaths among young people ages 15 to 44 led to 85% of the increase in premature deaths. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/29/suburban-drug-overdoses-fuel-spike-premature-death-rate/99728380/\n\nSports: An earlier tweet implied Jason Day was participating in WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He previously withdrew. https://twitter.com/usatoday/status/845032869315661825\n\nTech: An earlier version of this story was not complete in its description of Amazon's review policy. Amazon bans on incentivized reviews, which includes reviews in exchange for free or discounted products, does not apply to its Vine program or book reviews. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/03/20/review-you-wrote-amazon-priceless/99332602/​\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story included an erroneous reference to the location of Fairfield University. It is located in Connecticut. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/03/20/muslim-college-women-find-acceptance-and-love-with-hijab-celebrations/​\n\nSports: An earlier version of the headline accompanying this post misstated the gender of the fan’s child. http://thebiglead.com/2017/03/16/worst-dad-at-the-ncaa-tournament-leads-vcu-cheers-with-passed-out-son-in-his-arms/​\n\nOpinion: The March 16 editorial on the environment should have said that last month was the second hottest February on record globally, after February 2016. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/03/15/trump-fiddles-while-earth-burns-editorials-debates/99126844/​\n\nLife: Irresistible in Love by Bella Andre is No. 36 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. The title of the book was incorrect in the March 16 edition.\n\nNews: A March 16 story on President Trump’s travel ban omitted Yemen as one of the six majority-Muslim nations targeted by his revised executive order.\n\nMoney: A story March 10 about the impact of General Motor’s decision to sell its European operations carried the wrong byline. The reporting came from Detroit Free Press staff writer Mark Phelan, who is part of the USA TODAY Network. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/03/09/soul-searching-gm-after-selling-opel/98933702/\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story included outdated information about the relationship between Young Invincibles and the Center for Community Change. Young Invincibles is no longer sponsored by the center and is fully independent. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/03/07/report-the-race-gap-in-higher-education-is-very-real/​\n\nNews: A USA TODAY Network Tennessee photo about Gatlinburg fires, published in a Dec. 1 video, was digitally enhanced and did not meet the Network’s publishing standards. The image, taken by a contract photographer, has been removed.\n\nNews: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified to whom Edward Snowden released classified government information in 2013. Snowden gave the documents to multiple news outlets. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/03/07/wikileaks-says-has-published-cia-hacking-codes/98844256/​\n\nLife: A photo in an earlier version of this story misidentified Romain Dauriac. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/03/08/scarlett-johansson-files-divorce-romain-dauriac/98892796/​\n\nLife: The USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list published in the newspaper on March 2 was incorrect because of a provider error in reporting data. The list has been revised with the correct data, and an updated version of the 150 top best-sellers appears online at books.usatoday.com.\n\nOpinion: An earlier version of this column misidentified a Department of Education program called “School Improvement Grants.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/03/02/betsy-devos-trump-delivers-education-promises-column/98594982/​\n\nLife: A previous version of this story contained social media postings that have been removed. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/01/11/selena-gomez-the-weeknd-abel-tesfaye/96454802/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misattributed a quote to director Bill Condon. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/03/01/beauty-and-beast-introduce-world-first-gay-disney-character/98593276/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story listed Bette Davis' Oscar credits incorrectly. She won the Best Actress award for the 1935 film Dangerous. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/03/01/feud-stars-real-bette-davis-and-joan-crawford/98416212/​\n\nCollege: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of scholars who skipped the 2017 International Studies Association conference and the number of usual attendees at the annual event. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/03/01/scholars-skip-academic-conference-over-trump-travel-ban/​\n\nFebruary 2017\n\nTech: An earlier version of this column misstated the percentage points that blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are underrepresented in the tech industry compared with the U.S. labor force. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/02/27/shareholder-calls-on-apple-to-fix-diversity-senior-management-board-tony-maldonado/98196276/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misidentified the movie at the center of the first season of FX’s Feud. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis co-starred in 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/02/28/coming-fx-2018-feud-charles-and-diana/98524346/\n\nLife: Richard Arlen was misidentified in a previous Wings movie still. http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/movies/2014/03/03/the-academy-awards-best-picture-through-the-years/1815109/\n\nMoney: Because of a production error, the year-to-date figures for the Market Performance by Sector chart were calculated incorrectly and have been wrong daily since Jan. 5.\n\nNews: A previous version of this article gave an incorrect title for Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/19/umm-what-supposed-terror-attack-baffles-swedes/98129506/\n\nNews: A previous version of this story included the wrong location regarding an incident between the U.S. Navy and Russia. It should have said the Black Sea. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/15/russian-spy-ship-spotted-near-us/97939010/​\n\nSports: Comet, a Coton de Tulear, owned by Elaine Baird, competes in the agility competition at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. An earlier version of this photo misidentified Comet. http://www.usatoday.com/media/cinematic/gallery/97792682/141st-westminster-kennel-club-dog-show/\n\nSports: An earlier version of this tweet misstated Tom Brady's meaning. https://twitter.com/USATODAYsports/status/831569835989540865\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story misstated whom Tom Brady was referencing as he discussed setting politics aside when deciding whether to visit the White House. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2017/02/14/tom-brady-white-house-visit/97888762/​\n\nMoney: The cover story on workplace romances misspelled Melinda Gates’ first name.\n\nNews: A previous version of this article misstated details about the \"One China\" policy and the timeframe of when the U.S. recognized Beijing's position that there is one China. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/09/president-trump-china-xi-jinping-policy-united-states/97730540/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story had the wrong price for the Zac Posen gown. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/02/10/zac-posen-betty-boop/97421456/​\n\nCollege: A previous version of this article misstated the date New York City schools closed for winter storm Niko. http://college.usatoday.com/2017/02/09/winter-storm-niko-is-causing-many-northeast-colleges-to-close/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the status of Ben Carson’s nomination. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/09/how-some-trump-advisors-see-islam-their-own-words/97662862/​\n\nTech: An earlier version of this report misstated the salary difference between older candidates and younger ones. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/02/09/being-black-tech-can-cost-you-10k-year/97695196/​\n\nSports: A previous version of this story misstated the number of days Michael Floyd was with the Patriots. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/02/michael-foyd-patriots-stats-super-bowl-ring-51\n\nLife: In a previous version of this story a giveaway was mentioned that has now expired. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/02/04/look-ahead-week-of-feb-5/97106898/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this story inappropriately referred to a recently disclosed legal opinion raising questions about the constitutionality of the government's power to seize \"too big to fail\" banks. The opinion does not apply to the Dodd-Frank law as enacted. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/03/through-executive-orders-trump-takes-aim-financial-regulations/97431284/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story should have attributed the statement updating the condition of Jamie Lynn Spears' daughter Maddie to hospital staff. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/02/07/jamie-lynn-spears-daughter-maddie-regains-consciousness/97607614/​\n\nNews: A previous version of this article did not include USA TODAY coverage of the December 2015 terror attack in London. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/07/usa-today-white-house-donald-trump-terrorist-attacks/97584176/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized traits associated with gender non-conforming people. The story also misstated the topic of Couric’s discussion with Yale University students. http://ux-origin.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/02/03/katie-couric-gender-identity-natgeo-doc/97421704/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this report misattributed a quote to the White House press secretary. http://ux-origin.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/02/07/white-house-78-terror-attacks-list-trump/97582018/​\n\nMoney: Because of a production error, the source of a statistic in Monday's Snapshot was left off. The information comes from a Hyperwallet survey of 1,500 U.S. e-commerce marketplace sellers.\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story contained the incorrect name of Lady Gaga’s opening song. The song she opened with was God Bless America. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/nation-now/2017/02/06/did-you-catch-these-hidden-messages-lady-gagas-halftime-performance/97537744/​\n\nMoney: A story on Under Armour’s earnings published in the Feb. 1 edition incorrectly stated the company’s revenues. Revenue figures were in the billions, not millions.​\n\nJanuary 2017\n\nNews: An earlier version of this photo misidentified the service branch of Marines shown. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/2017/01/19/donald-trumps-inaugural-parade/96786956/\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misidentified which states have new restrictions on driver's licenses. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/30/5-things-you-need-know-monday/96944340/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified one of the two ‘La La Land’ songs nominated for the original song Oscar. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/01/11/la-la-land-golden-globes-backlash/96360032/​\n\nNews: An earlier tweet of this story was accompanied by an incorrect image. https://twitter.com/usatoday/status/825337790741233664​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this caption incorrectly identified Schiffrik. http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/nation/2017/01/21/protesters-rally-at-womens-march-on-washington/96878212/\n\nNews: An earlier version of the following headline and story misidentified the action taken by the Trump administration. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/01/21/what-does-trumps-first-executive-order-mean-your-mortgage/96881572/\n\nLife: A previous version of the following story misidentified the designer of Melania Trump's pre-inauguration dress worn Thursday night. The gown was designed by Reem Acra. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/01/20/melania-trump-helps-design-her-own-inaugural-gown/96845012/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this photo caption misidentified the service branch of the Marines pictured. http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/2017/01/19/donald-trumps-inaugural-parade/96786956/​\n\nMoney: A story about the opening of tax season that ran Tuesday listed the wrong phone number for the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center appointment hotline. The number is 844-545-5640. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/01/23/five-things-early-tax-filers-need-know/96941142/​\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story had the wrong date for the Oscars. It is Feb. 26. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2017/01/24/octavia-spencer-no-one-hit-wonder-return-oscar-party/97003130/​\n\nSports: An earlier version of this report misstated the first name of the Oregon assistant coach. It is David Reaves. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/pac12/2017/01/22/oregon-assistant-coach-administrative-leave-dui-arrest/96923514/​\n\nNews: This post has been updated to correct John Kelly's first name. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/01/20/trump-next-time-were-going-win-old-fashioned-way/96817236/​\n\nNews: An earlier version of this story misstated the fatal-accident rate among airliners. The story has been updated with the correct statistics. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/17/failure-find-malaysia-airlines-flight-370-leaves-many-questions-unanswered/96677490/​\n\nSports: A previous version of this tweet misquoted Bo Jackson. https://twitter.com/USATODAYsports/status/819646563639263233\n\nSports: An earlier version of this story contained a photo that incorrectly identified Anthony Lynn. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/chargers/2017/01/12/san-diego-chargers-anthony-lynn-coaching-search/96484872/\n\nMoney: A headline Friday about Amazon’s hiring plans misstated the company’s time frame for adding U.S. workers. The new jobs are expected to be completed in 2018.\n\nMoney: An earlier version of this story didn't clearly state that 25% of unemployed Americans have been out of work for at least six months. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/08/out-work-six-months-more-heres-why-you-cant-find-job/96224280/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this post misidentified the choir singing America the Beautiful. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/01/11/abc-taking-the-stage-african-american-music-and-stories-that-changed-america-obamas/96396394/\n\nMoney: A graphic and story in the Jan. 8 edition on U.S. owners' equity in real estate should have said that all the equity figures used were in trillions of dollars.\n\nLife: Naomi Campbell is pictured on the Golden Globes' red carpet. An earlier version of the 11th image misidentified her. http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/people/2017/01/08/stars-shine-on-2017s-golden-globe-awards-red-carpet/96320408/\n\nNews: A story Jan. 6 about dinosaur footprints did not make clear the involvement of a source, Brent Breithaupt, who was quoted. He was not involved with the analysis of the dinosaur tracks.\"\n\nMoney: A chart on fees affecting retirement savings Jan. 8 had a typographical error. It should have said investing $10,000 a year in a retirement plan that averages 7% returns over 30 years is great.\n\nLife: The description of the Jan. 10 episode of The Mick was outdated due to a change in Fox’s programming plans.\n\nLife: A previous version of this story misidentified Aaron Taylor-Johnson. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/01/09/golden-globes-ballroom-and-heres-what-happened/96335452/\n\nLife: An earlier version misstated the number of SAG Award wins for Meryl Streep. The story has also been updated to clarify the number of award nominations Streep has received. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/01/09/why-meryl-streep-isnt-overrated-numbers/96340752/\n\nNews: Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway’s name was misspelled in some editions Jan. 10.\n\nNews: A full-page graphic about the Affordable Care Act in the Jan. 10 newspaper misstated the body mass index percentages. The number represented BMIs greater than 30.\n\nLife: Producer Mimi Valdes is pictured with Pharrell on the Golden Globes' red carpet. An earlier version of this story misidentified her. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/01/08/8-worst-dressed-golden-globes/96323378/\n\nLife: An earlier version of this story misstated controversial affiliations for Milo Yiannopoulos. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/01/03/leslie-jones-speaks-out-after-harasser-milo-yiannopoulos-lands-book-deal/96100890/​\n\nTech: An earlier version of this story understated the number of products that received CES 'Best of Innovation' awards. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/01/04/28-coolest-ces-products/96098496/\n\n2016:Corrections & Clarifications\n\n2018:Corrections & Clarifications\n\n2019:Corrections & Clarifications", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/04/27"}, {"url": "https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/12/us/kansas-teacher-sues-pronouns-religion-transgender/index.html", "title": "A Kansas teacher is suing school officials for requiring her to ...", "text": "CNN —\n\nA Kansas teacher is suing her school district superintendent, board members and principal after being suspended for not using a student’s preferred name.\n\nPamela Ricard, who teaches math at Fort Riley Middle School, says she refuses to use the preferred names and pronouns of transgender and nonbinary students because it violates her religious beliefs.\n\nAfter being disciplined multiple times for refusing to use a student’s preferred name, Ricard filed a federal lawsuit against the Geary County Schools Unified School District on Monday.\n\nIn the lawsuit, she argues that denying requests to allow her to ignore students’ preferred names and pronouns “deprived her of due process and equal protection of law” and violated her First Amendment rights to free speech and exercise of religion. Ricard also accused the defendants of breaching their contract with her.\n\nRicard maintains in the lawsuit that her decision does not harm her students, but LGBTQ organizations and medical associations throughout the country have consistently stressed the detrimental consequences of misgendering children and ignoring their preferred names.\n\nMisgendering a child can seriously impact their ​self confidence and mental health, according to Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of GLSEN, a national organization supporting LGBTQ+ students and educators in K-12 schools.\n\n“Ms. Ricard’s faith teaches her that God immutably creates each person as male or female,” the lawsuit states.\n\n“We proposed a neutral policy to the district over eight months ago that would allow teachers to uniformly address students by their enrolled names,” Josh Ney, Ricard’s lawyer, told CNN. “That proposal was summarily rejected by the district, so we brought this lawsuit due to the constant threat of termination hanging over my client’s head.”\n\nFort Riley Middle School did not respond to CNN’s multiple requests for comment. Mark Edwards, the legal counsel representing the Geary County Schools Unified School District, told CNN they have no comment.\n\nAccording to the suit, after one incident of Ricard using a student’s birth name instead of their preferred name, then principal Shannon Molt sent an email on March 31 to all teachers at Fort Riley Middle School, saying: “When we have a student that requests to go by a preferred name that is different than their given name, our district honors the request. Once you are aware of a preferred name, use that name for the student.”\n\nRicard acknowledges in the suit that despite being told that another student who was listed in school records as female preferred to be addressed by a different name, Ricard called the student “Miss [student’s last name].” Ricard was reminded multiple times to use the student’s preferred name and pronouns, but continued to call the student by their last name only.\n\nIn April 2021, the lawsuit says Ricard received a three-day suspension with pay for violations of 11 district policies, including rules on bullying and diversity and inclusion. Multiple appeals were denied by school officials, the lawsuit says.\n\n“Any policy that requires Ms. Ricard to refer to a student by a gendered, non-binary, or plural pronoun (e.g., he/him, she/her, they/them, zhe/zher, etc.) or salutation (Mr., Miss, Ms.) or other gendered language that is different from the student’s biological sex actively violates Ms. Ricard’s religious beliefs,” the lawsuit says.\n\nRicard may face “further disciplinary action,” including termination, if she continues to violate the policy, according to the lawsuit.\n\n“I continue to enjoy teaching my students day in and day out, but the stigma of being officially labeled a ‘bully’ simply for using a student’s enrolled last name has been disheartening,” Ricard told CNN in an email. “I love all my students, but I shouldn’t be forced to contradict my core beliefs in order to teach math in a public school.”\n\n‘This is about the basic rights and dignity of a human being’\n\nIn the suit, Ricard says that not using a student’s preferred pronouns does not “interfere with the efficient functioning of a school” or “create a hostile learning environment.”\n\nHowever, LGBTQ organizations who support and advocate for the rights of students, as well as major health associations in the US, strongly disagree with this perspective.\n\n“We know from research, long term, very powerful research that affirming a young person’s gender leads to better health and well-being,” said Joel Baum, senior director of the nonprofit Gender Spectrum, which supports gender-diverse youth. “This is about the basic rights and dignity of a human being. Your beliefs do not allow you to refuse to acknowledge who a student is.”\n\nThe American Psychological Association, American Medical Association and the Pediatric Endocrine Society, and dozens of other medical associations, have officially recognized the importance of affirming a young person’s name and pronouns, Baum said.\n\nLGBTQ youth who attend schools where they are not protected by policies preventing discrimination against them “report lower GPAs and are more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe,” Willingham-Jaggers told CNN.\n\n“Transgender youth are more likely to consider suicide than their peers, and experience other mental health crises which are exacerbated when they face this kind of stigma and erasure in the classroom,” she said.\n\nYet transgender youth across the country continue to face discrimination when attempting to stand up for who they are, or speak up when they feel threatened.\n\nIn Kansas alone, over 50% of LGBTQ+ secondary school students who experience harassment don’t report the incident due to fear it will make the situation worse, according GLSEN Kansas Statewide Organizer Will Rapp.\n\n“This incident isn’t an isolated issue. According to GLSEN research, more than 40% of transgender students in Kansas report being unable to use their chosen name and correct pronouns in school,” Rapp told CNN. “When educators express this kind of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment it sends a message that school is not a safe place and many LGBTQ+ youth and especially transgender youth feel unable to approach trusted educators for support.”\n\n“Every educator must be held accountable for creating a safe and affirming environment for all students, regardless of gender identity,” Rapp said.\n\nAlong with being unable to use their preferred names and pronouns, 85% of transgender students reported being harassed or assaulted in school, according to GLSEN.\n\nA need for stronger policies and training\n\nRicard argues in her lawsuit that the district’s policy on names and pronouns has been inconsistent and does not provide teachers with clear guidance on determining the preferences of a student and parents.\n\nFollowing her initial suspension in April 2021, the school sent out a “Use of Preferred Names and Pronouns” guidance document that asked staff members to share the student’s request with administrators or counselors and respect their chosen pronouns, according to the lawsuit.\n\nIn September 2021, the Geary County Schools Unified School District’s Board of Education also adopted an addition to the district’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy to require educators to refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns, the lawsuit says.\n\nRicard’s requests for religious accommodations that would exempt her from having to follow the guidance and policies were denied, according to the lawsuit.\n\n“This idea of religious exemption, simply because you aren’t comfortable with something, flies in the face of so many aspects of public education,” Baum said. “Imagine if a science teacher who believes the world was created in six days isn’t comfortable teaching evolution. That wouldn’t fly. Beliefs are one thing, and conduct is something else.”\n\nTransgender students in the United States face obstacles that extend far beyond the classroom.\n\nArkansas last year became the first state to ban gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy, for minors. West Virginia also signed a bill into law in 2021, which was temporarily blocked, that prohibited transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s secondary school or higher education sports teams.\n\nA judge in Texas on Friday also blocked the state from enforcing Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to investigate gender-affirming care of minors as “child abuse,” which parents and advocates criticized as another attack on transgender children.", "authors": ["Alaa Elassar"], "publish_date": "2022/03/12"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/04/13/johnny-depp-amber-heard-libel-case-trial-court-updates/7291850001/", "title": "Legal experts break down Johnny Depp, Amber Heard verdict ...", "text": "Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard, alleging she defamed him in a Washington Post op-ed.\n\nHeard referred to herself as \"a public figure representing domestic abuse\" in the op-ed.\n\nDepp argued that he is a victim of domestic violence by Heard.\n\nA jury awarded Depp more than $10 million in damages – but also $2 million to Heard.\n\nJohnny Depp and Amber Heard's libel trial has come to a close with Depp emerging the victor.\n\nA jury awarded the star more than $10 million in damages, essentially agreeing that Heard's 2018 opinion piece about being a victim of spousal abuse – in which she did not name Depp – had a negative impact on his career.\n\nBut the jury also awarded Heard $2 million after one of Depp's lawyers, Adam Waldman, called Heard's claims a \"hoax\" before the trial. Alafair Hall, a spokeswoman for Heard, told USA TODAY that Heard plans to appeal.\n\nHeard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft discussed the plans to appeal with the \"Today\" show Thursday, telling host Savannah Guthrie \"she has some excellent grounds for it.”\n\n“She was demonized here,” Bredehoft said. “A number of things were allowed in this court that should not have been allowed, and it caused the jury to be confused.”\n\nThe attorney also alleged social media swayed the jury's decision despite being advised not to look at the case outside of the courtroom. \"They went home every night. They have families. The families are on social media. We had a 10-day break in the middle because of a judicial conference. There’s no way they couldn’t have been influenced by it,\" she stated.\n\nOpinion:Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reduced all of us with their disgusting display\n\n“Both Depp and Heard were using the court of public opinion, both of them were auditioning for the chance to star in another $1 billion movie,\" said criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter of Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor, after the verdict. \"And after this trial, Depp is likely to have that chance again, whereas Heard may struggle to come back.\"\n\nIn closing arguments, Depp attorneys Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew painted a picture of Heard as the abuser in the couple's tumultuous marriage.\n\nHeard's lawyer J. Benjamin Rottenborn in turn called Depp \"a monster\" who abused his ex-wife and engaged in an ongoing smear campaign that started when the couple divorced.\n\nBut Heard wasn’t believable \"and got terrible advice from her attorneys,\" said trial attorney Christa Ramey, co-founder of Los Angeles-based civil litigation firm Ramey Law PC. \"She looked and sounded phony and rehearsed, like an actress reading a script. ... She did a lot to damage her case.\"\n\nDepp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, alleging she defamed him in her Washington Post opinion column (which is printed in Fairfax County, Virginia) in December 2018. She in turn countersued him for $100 million.\n\nJury reaches verdict:Johnny Depp wins libel trial, Amber Heard partially wins countersuit\n\nJohnny Depp takes the stand in Amber Heard trial, says claim has 'no truth to it whatsoever'\n\nJohnny Depp, Amber Heard trial:Exes face off in court over multimillion dollar libel case\n\nBoth actors dove deep into their mutually destructive relationship on the stand.\n\nAddressing Heard's assault allegations and his history with substance abuse, Depp told the courtroom, \"The only person I ever abused in my life is myself.\"\n\nHeard told the courtroom her ex-husband \"knows he's lying, otherwise why can't he look at me?\"\n\nThe jury of five men and two women skewed male, which \"probably played a role in this verdict,\" said Beverly Hills entertainment attorney Mitra Ahouraian, who often deals with defamation issues. \"Some men, after the #MeToo movement, have a phobia of being accused of something that’s not true and having their whole life ruined, so if any men on the jury had those concerns, that may have swayed them a bit.”\n\nAhouraian noted that Depp \"gained a lot of goodwill by using the trial to tell his side of the story and rebuild his image\" and his win could encourage other celebrities to use the courts as a platform, \"assuming there's some truth to their side.\"\n\nBut \"most celebrities can’t stomach that kind of an ordeal, which is why they typically settle outside of court. We have never seen a celebrity trial like this one and we may not see it again for a long time.”\n\nJohnny Depp, Amber Heard libel trial:Your lawsuit FAQs, answered\n\nHere's a recap of what happened during the trial:\n\nJohnny Depp wins libel trial, Amber Heard partially wins countersuit\n\nDepp won the defamation lawsuit he filed accusing ex-wife Heard of defaming the \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" star in a 2018 op-ed, with a Virginia jury awarding him $10.35 million in damages and vindicating his stance that Heard fabricated claims that she was abused by Depp before and during their brief marriage.\n\nHeard also partially won her counter-lawsuit over comments made by Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman, who called her abuse allegations a hoax. The jury awarded her $2 million in damages.\n\nThe jury came to the unanimous verdict Wednesday after 13 hours of deliberations and six weeks of testimony.\n\nDepp said he was \"truly humbled\" that the \"jury gave me my life back\" in a statement to USA TODAY Wednesday.\n\nOpinion: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reduced all of us with their disgusting display\n\n\"My decision to pursue this case, knowing very well the height of the legal hurdles that I would be facing and the inevitable, worldwide spectacle into my life, was only made after considerable thought,\" Depp's statement read. \"From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.\"\n\nHeard was present in the courtroom as the verdict was read. In a statement to USA TODAY, Heard said she was disappointed and \"heartbroken\" by the verdict. \"I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback,\" she said. \"It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.\"\n\nJohnny Depp's lawyer says jury needs to \"give (him) his life back\"\n\nVasquez, who has become internet famous amid the high-profile trial, asked the jury on Friday \"to give Mr. Depp his life back\" by finding Heard guilty of libel. Heard “ruined his life by falsely telling the world she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp,” Vasquez told the jury in closing arguments.\n\n\"There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp,\" Vasquez said. \"And there is a victim of domestic abuse in this courtroom, but it is not Ms. Heard.\"\n\nVasquez and Chew maintained that Depp never abused Heard and that Depp's career and reputation plummeted following the Washington Post op-ed.\n\nVasquez called Heard's testimony \"a performance, the role of her lifetime as a heroic survival survivor of brutal abuse,\" saying she \"went all in\" and \"spun a story of shocking, overwhelming, brutal abuse.\" Vasquez accused Heard of doctoring the photos and said evidence that Heard has embellished some of her injuries is proof that all her claims of abuse are unfounded.\n\nAmber Heard's lawyer calls Johnny Depp a \"monster\"\n\n“In Mr. Depp’s world, you don't leave Mr. Depp,” Rottenborn said. “If you do, he will start a campaign of global humiliation against you.”\n\nHeard's lawyers Rottenborn and Bredehoft used their two hours in an effort to capture Depp as a \"wild animal\" who abused drugs and alcohol and said when Heard hit him, she was defending herself.\n\nRottenborn said the nitpicking over Heard's evidence of abuse ignores the fact there's overwhelming evidence on her behalf and sends a dangerous message to domestic-violence victims.\n\n“If you didn’t take pictures, it didn't happen,” Rottenborn said. “If you did take pictures, they’re fake. If you didn't tell your friends, they're lying. If you did tell your friends, they’re part of the hoax.”\n\nAmber Heard details personal impact of trial: 'Every single day I have to relive the trauma'\n\nHeard took the witness stand Thursday and detailed how her libel lawsuit with Johnny Depp has affected her personally and professionally, tearfully testifying about allegedly being \"harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day\" from Depp's fans since the trial began.\n\n\"People want to kill me and they tell me that every day,\" Heard said through tears. \"Johnny threatened … promised me that if I ever left him, he'd make me think of him every single day.\"\n\nThe \"Aquaman\" actress continued: \"Every single day I have to relive the trauma.\"\n\nHeard said she is \"not a saint\" and \"not trying to present myself as one\" but decided to go through the libel trial to give voice to those in similar situations. \"Johnny has taken enough of my voice,\" she said. \"I hope to get my voice back.\"\n\nThe actress also said the experience of going to trial \"has been agonizing, painful and the most humiliating thing I've ever been through.\"\n\nHeard was then cross-examined by Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez. She refuted claims from Depp's witnesses, including claims that she called paparazzi to photograph her with bruises on her face outside the courtroom when she filed a restraining order in May 2016 and sent TMZ a video of Depp slamming cabinets during an argument.\n\nWho is Camille Vasquez?Johnny Depp's internet-famous lawyer is inspiring Latina admirers\n\nJohnny Depp returns to the stand in libel trial\n\nDepp was also back on the witness stand Wednesday, testifying as a rebuttal witness.\n\nThe actor disputed a claim made by Heard that Depp had nothing to do with getting her a role in the superhero blockbuster \"Aquaman.\" When Heard testified, she pushed back on a question from Depp's lawyers insinuating Depp got her the role.\n\nDepp, though, said that after Heard auditioned for the role, he talked to the studio on her behalf. \"Ultimately she did get the job, so hopefully, I suppose, I had curbed their worries to some degree,\" he said.\n\nOn the stand, Depp also answered a question about what it has been like for him to listen to Heard's testimony during the trial.\n\n\"Insane,\" he said, \"It's insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence…that she's accusing me of. (It's) horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel.\"\n\nDepp added that \"no human being is perfect\" and once again denied the allegations.\n\nJohnny Depp's ex Kate Moss testifies on abuse allegations\n\nHeard previously cited an alleged incident between Depp and Moss during her earlier testimony. During Heard and Depp's U.K. trial in 2020, the actress claimed that two people told her Depp once pushed Moss down the stairs.\n\nMoss, who dated Depp in the '90s, denied the claims in testimony May 25.\n\nThe model recalled an incident in Jamaica where she and Depp were leaving a room after a rainstorm. Moss testified that Depp left the room first and she followed.\n\n\"I slid down the stairs and hurt my back and I screamed because I didn't know what happened to me and I was in pain,\" she testified. \"He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical care.\"\n\nMoss added: \"He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.\"\n\nAmber Heard's legal team rests its case as trial inches to a close\n\nAttorneys for Heard wrapped up their case Tuesday without calling Depp to the stand. In a win for Heard's team, Judge Penney Azcarate declined to throw out a $100 million counterclaim Heard filed that alleged Depp's then-lawyer, Adam Waldman, had defamed Heard when he called her abuse allegations a hoax.\n\nAzcarate said the bar for tossing out a claim before it goes to the jury is high and there was enough evidence to allow it to go forward. She had already ruled Depp could be held responsible for statements made by his lawyer, a principle Depp's team disputes.\n\nDepp has denied he ever struck Heard, and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Heard has testified about more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at Depp’s hands.\n\nA Warner Bros. executive also testified Tuesday that Heard's role in the film \"Aquaman 2,\" as well as her ability to renegotiate her contract, were not impacted by any statements made by her ex-husband or his representatives.\n\nThe video deposition of Walter Hamada, president of DC Films Production, was played in court Tuesday. Hamada said Heard's role in \"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,\" slated for a 2023 release, was never reduced from how it was originally written in the script.\n\nJohnny Depp's severed finger likely self-inflicted, surgeon says\n\nA severed fingertip on Depp's hand took center stage at the trial Monday, an injury that Depp said was caused by Heard throwing a vodka bottle at him during a violent 2015 brawl. Heard in turn has testified that during that fight Depp assaulted her sexually with a bottle.\n\nHand surgeon Richard Moore said on the stand that photographs of Depp's injury were not consistent with a bottle shattering on or near his hand, noting that the rest of his hand would likely have sustained cuts as a result. Moore said that the injury instead was much more consistent with the finger being pinched between accordion doors — which is what Depp told friends in a text message after the incident.\n\nDepp has since said that he lied about having caused the injury himself in order to protect Heard. The actress has consistently maintained that she never injured Depp during their brief and volatile marriage.\n\nEllen Barkin recalls Johnny Depp as controlling during their dating months\n\nBarkin, the actress who dated Depp for a few months in the '90s, described the actor as controlling and jealous in a recorded deposition played at the trial May 19.\n\n“Where are you going?” Barkin said Depp would ask her. The actress described their relationship as largely sexual. “Who are you going with? What did you do last night?”\n\nBarkin added: “I had a scratch on my back once that got him very, very angry because he insisted it came from me having sex with a person who wasn’t him.\"\n\nBarkin, who co-starred in the 1998 Depp film \"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,\" said that during filming Depp threw a wine bottle in her direction while he was fighting with some friends in a hotel room. However, she said she didn't know why he threw the bottle.\n\nOther recorded depositions played for the jury also characterized Depp as an out of control force whose spending and drinking only escalated after he reached megastardom in the \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" series.\n\nAmber Heard's sister says she saw Johnny Depp land blows\n\nHeard's sister, Whitney Heard Henriquez, testified May 18 that she not only witnessed Depp land blows in a fight with her sister, but that she was forced to intervene in order to protect the actress.\n\nHenriquez said the fight took place in 2015 shortly after the couple married. Heard had discovered that her new husband had cheated on her; Depp countered that Heard had forced him into the extramarital affair, Henriquez said. Her testimony is the first eyewitness account of Depp striking Heard. Depp has denied hitting his ex-wife.\n\nAlso Wednesday, a onetime friend of Heard's, Raquel Pennington, said in a pre-recorded video deposition that while she never saw Depp hit Heard, she often saw Heard with cuts and bruises. After one fight, Pennington photographed Heard's facial injuries. Heard told her friend that the actor had head-butted her.\n\nThe photos Pennington took showed a swollen nose, a cut lip, and two moderately black eyes on Heard's face. She also took a photo of strands of hair that she said were ripped from Heard's scalp.\n\nAmber Heard talks about Washington Post op-ed, alleged sexual assault\n\nHeard returned to the stand on May 17 facing stiff cross-examination questioning about both a fight in Australia that resulted in an alleged sexual assault, as well as the more recent Washington Post op-ed at the center of Depp's libel lawsuit.\n\nThe actress previously testified that he sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle during the fight, and he has testified that she severed the tip of his finger. Both have denied the other's allegations.\n\nVasquez said Heard didn't seem to be scared of the \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" actor despite the alleged assault. \"This is a man who tried to kill me,\" the actress testified in response. \"Of course it's scary. He's also my husband.\"\n\nVasquez also addressed the op-ed during Heard's testimony on Tuesday, asking if specific parts of the article were about Depp. Heard said the article was in response to the #MeToo movement rather than specific to her ex-husband.\n\n\"When powerful men, in general, do something horrible or something they shouldn't there is a system in place to protect them, clean up after them, maintain them, keep them afloat,\" Heard testified of her op-ed. \"It was not about him.\"\n\nShe later added: \"It was a reference to a general larger phenomenon, not just Johnny.\"\n\nAmber Heard describes bruise cover-ups, denies leaving fecal matter in bed\n\nHeard took the stand on May 16 and described a 2016 fight she had with Depp in which he allegedly threw a phone at her. The fight led to her filing for divorce.\n\nJurors in the trial were shown photos of Heard's face after that altercation, which clearly showed redness and swelling. Depp's lawyers have argued that Heard is concocting claims of abuse, and Los Angeles police officers who testified earlier in the trial did not report seeing evidence of facial injuries.\n\nHeard also testified she became an expert at hiding evidence of abuse, using a make-up color wheel that allowed her to apply different shades of make-up that counteracted the bruising depending on the healing process stage. “I'm not going to walk around L.A. with bruises on my face,” she said.\n\nHeard also rebutted accusations that in retaliation she left human fecal matter in the couple's bed, saying it was likely the couple's Yorkshire terrier who had developed bowel problems after eating Depp's marijuana.\n\n“Absolutely not,” she said about the alleged poop prank. “I don't think that's funny. I don't know what grown woman does. I was not in a pranking mood.”\n\nAmber Heard tells jurors Johnny Depp sexually assaulted her with a bottle\n\nA tearful Heard took the stand to recount how in a jealous rage Depp flung her into a ping pong table and then sexually assaulted her with a bottle that she feared was broken.\n\n\"I couldn't get up,\" Heard said, crying. \"I thought he was punching me. I could just feel this pressure on my pubic bone.”\n\nThe incident took place in 2015, shortly after their marriage and as Depp was starting to shoot the fifth installment of the \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" series in Australia.\n\nHeard said that Depp was angry almost from the moment she arrived at their home, convinced that she was having affairs with some of her co-stars, including Billy Bob Thornton and Eddie Redmayne. Heard denied having the affairs.\n\nDuring the fight, Heard said she thought a drunken Depp was assaulting her with his fist, but later figured out that she was being assaulted with a bottle. “I looked around and saw so much broken glass. I just remember thinking, ‘Please God, please don’t be broken,'” she said.\n\nAmber Heard begins testimony, recalls 'falling in love' with Johnny Depp\n\nHeard began her testimony May 4 by recounting details from her childhood and early days in Hollywood, including meeting Depp on the set of 2011's \"The Rum Diary,\" and how their relationship progressed from colleagues and friends to eventual romantic partners after filming wrapped.\n\nThe two had \"no contact\" for a while after filming – Depp at one point called her and invited her to his California home, Heard said, but they didn't end up seeing each other until the press tour for the film later on. Heard said it was then that they began \"falling in love\" but kept things under the radar because his split with ex Vanessa Paradis, with whom he shares two children, had not yet been publicized.\n\n\"When I was around Johnny I felt like the most beautiful person in the whole world,\" Heard said, later adding, \"I fell head-over-heels in love with this man.\"\n\nAs their relationship progressed, Heard said Depp took issues with clothing she wore and expressed concern she was cheating on him with friends. And arguments began to turn ugly, Heard alleged, with Depp tossing around expletives, smashing glass or turning over a table before leaving and coming back as the \"wonderful, almost unreal... unbelievably nice, sensitive, warm generous funny man that I loved,\" she said.\n\nAmber Heard's lawyers say she has PTSD from violent marriage\n\nHeard suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from violence she suffered at the hands of Depp, including multiple acts of sexual assault, psychologist Dawn Hughes testified May 3.\n\nHughes said there is corroboration of many of the instances of abuse, including apologies and admissions made by Depp to Heard and admissions he made to friends in text messages about his bad behavior when he drinks. In some cases, Heard told her therapists about the abuse contemporaneously, Hughes said.\n\nDepp has said he never physically abused Heard. Hughes said Heard acknowledged that she did at times push and shove Depp, call him names and insult his parenting.\n\nMuch of the violence, Hughes said, stemmed from Depp’s obsessive jealousy. He insisted she avoid nude scenes, if she worked at all, and accused her of affairs with actors Billy Bob Thornton and James Franco. If she did work on a film, Depp would call the director and others on set and say he “had eyes” there who would report to him if she fraternized improperly, Hughes said.\n\nLawyers argue whether Johnny Depp's career was tanking before op-ed\n\nDepp's team contends that the prolific actor's career was torpedoed when ex-wife Heard wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in 2018 in which she spoke broadly about being a victim of domestic violence.\n\nDepp's agent, Jack Whigham, told the court that Heard's piece was \"catastrophic\" to the actor's career, specifically linking it to the disappearance of a $23 million deal to appear in a sixth installment of the lucrative \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" film series.\n\nLawyers for Heard countered that it was in fact Depp's own self-destructive behavior that caused Disney to demur, and not welcome Depp back as Captain Jack Sparrow — not the article. They cited reports of heavy drug and alcohol use, a lawsuit by a crew member in July 2018 who says he was punched on set by Depp, and a separate libel lawsuit Depp filed against a British newspaper in 2018.\n\nAmber Heard op-ed was supposed to mention Johnny Depp specifically\n\nMuch of the trial so far has been a look into the fraught relationship between Depp and Heard, and not the actual article at the center of Depp's $50 million lawsuit against her. But on April 28, the article took center stage.\n\nTerence Dougherty, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, told jurors there was a push and pull between Heard and her lawyers, and the ACLU, which drafted the 2018 Washington Post op-ed piece under Heard's name, reflecting her role as an ACLU ambassador on gender violence issues.\n\nDuring those discussions, Heard sent back an edited version approved by her lawyers that \"specifically neutered much of the copy regarding her marriage,\" according to an email from Jessica Weitz, an ACLU employee who coordinated with Heard.\n\nAccording to the email, though, Heard was looking for a way to have a deleted passage restored to the article.\n\nThe final article never mentioned Depp by name. Instead, Heard was identified as \"a public figure representing domestic abuse,\" and in another passage she wrote, \"I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.\"\n\nJohnny Depp blackballed from 'Pirates' due to abuse lawsuit, says agent\n\nChristian Carino, a one-time agent for both Depp and Heard, testified April 27 that Heard's spousal abuse lawsuit resulted in Hollywood agents and producers wiping Depp from a \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" sequel, although he provided no evidence for the claim.\n\n\"It is something within the industry that is understood,\" Carino told the courtroom. Earlier in the trial, Depp told the court that even if Disney offered him $300 million to appear in a sixth movie in the lucrative franchise, he would reject it.\n\nAlso appearing on the stand Wednesday were two Los Angeles police officers who responded to 911 calls at Depp's penthouse in 2016. Both officers indicated they saw no evidence of bruising or battery when Heard met them at the door. Heard's lawyers countered that the police officers could not have accurately assessed her condition, given dim lighting and their distance from her.\n\nMore:Officer responding to Johnny Depp, Amber Heard fight testifies he saw no injuries on actress\n\nAmber Heard has 'histrionic personality disorder,' doctor says\n\nForensic psychologist Shannon Curry took the stand April 26 to testify on behalf of Depp and delivered her opinion that Heard suffers from both a borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.\n\nCurry said she came to those conclusions after a dozen hours of interviews with Heard as well as a review of her mental health records.\n\nShe described those suffering from borderline disorder as being “driven by an underlying fear of abandonment.” Histrionic disorder is associated with “drama and shallowness” and a need to be the center of attention, and noted that sufferers often were people who are physically attractive and “utilize their looks to get that attention.”\n\nCurry's testimony would seem to support Depp's contention that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship. Heard's attorneys countered that Curry had drinks and dinner with Depp at his home before she was hired. Curry said that was part of the interview process.\n\nMore:Psychologist hired by Depp's team says Amber Heard suffers from histrionic personality disorder\n\nJohnny Depp warned Amber Heard of 'bloodbath'\n\nDuring cross-examination on April 25, Heard attorney J. Benjamin Rottenborn played a series of audio recordings of alleged fights between his client and the \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" star.\n\n\"The next move, if I don't walk away … it's going to be a bloodbath, like it was on the island,” Depp says on the recording. Later, he yells, “You stupid (expletive)” at her.\n\nDepp winced on the stand as the clips were played, while Heard appeared to fight back tears. Depp wrapped up his time on the stand by revisiting a fight that the actor said resulted in a severed fingertip after Heard threw a vodka bottle at him.\n\nHeard's attorneys countered with text messages from Depp to his physician in which he said \"I have chopped off my left middle finger.\" Depp said he was joking, adding that music was his first love and a fingertip is integral to playing guitar. \"Why would I ruin the only thing that I was really good at in my life besides my children?\" he said.\n\nAmber Heard's lawyers bring up Johnny Depp's drug use with past texts\n\nDuring court on April 21, Heard’s attorneys sought to undermine Depp by spending hours in court focused on the actor's drinking, drug use and texts he sent to friends — including one about wanting to kill and defile his then-wife.\n\nDepp's text messages only bolster his ex-wife's defense, her lawyers said.\n\n“I, of course, pounded and displayed ugly colors to Amber on a recent journey,\" Depp said in a text message to Bettany, in July 2013, which was shown to jurors. “I am an insane person and not so fair headed after too much of the drink,” he continued.\n\nRottenborn focused on another exchange that year between Depp and Bettany in which Depp wrote: “Let’s burn Amber!!!”\n\nDepp has previously apologized to the jury for the vulgar language in the texts and said that \"in the heat of the pain I was feeling, I went to dark places.” He apologized again Thursday.\n\nRottenborn also showed the jury one of Depp’s texts to Bettany in 2014 in which he referenced whiskey, pills and cocaine. The texts were written during a period in which Depp said he had stopped drinking. And they were sent around the time of a private flight from Boston to Los Angeles, during which Heard said Depp assaulted her while he was blackout drunk.\n\nJohnny Depp recalls last argument with Amber Heard\n\nHeard has said the first time she was assaulted was when Depp slapped her in 2013 after she made fun of a tattoo he had — one that used to say “Winona Forever” when he was dating the actress Winona Ryder that he altered to “Wino Forever” after they broke up.\n\n“It didn't happen,” Depp said of the alleged assault when he testified on April 20. “Why would I take such great offense to someone making fun of a tattoo on my body?”\n\nDepp also gave a graphic description of a final fight as the couple drifted toward divorce, accusing Heard and her friends of pretending that he was assaulting her. Soon after, Heard sought a restraining order and was photographed with marks on her face.\n\nThe fight had started as Depp said he’d realized it was time for the couple to split. The argument intensified, he said, as Depp accused her of leaving human fecal matter on his side of the bed in the penthouse they’d shared. He said Heard kept denying it, blaming it on their small dogs, but he was convinced she was lying.\n\nJohnny Depp calls Amber Heard's Washington Post op-ed 'heinous'\n\nIn court April 19, Depp shared his side of the story, opening his testimony by calling Heard's Washington Post story \"heinous,\" adding \"I never struck Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any women in my life.\"\n\nDepp added he took the stand to prove Heard's claims have \"no truth to it whatsoever,\" and because he feels a responsibility to \"stand up for my children,\" referring to daughter Lily-Rose, 22, and son Jack, 20.\n\nHe also testified primarily about the early years of his relationship with Heard, saying she seemed \"too good to be true\" at first. He said there were little things though, that gave him indications of a rocky relationship ahead. And within a year and a half, it was as if Heard had become another person.\n\nJohnny Depp's doctor recalls treating actor's severed finger\n\nIn a video deposition recorded Feb. 22 and played in court April 18, per People, Variety and The Washington Post, Depp's doctor and a nurse recalled treating the actor after ex-wife Heard allegedly threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015.\n\nDr. David Kipper said he wasn't aware how Depp had been injured when cleaning his wounds in Australia, where the actor was filming the fifth installment of \"Pirates of the Caribbean.\" In July 2020, Depp accused Heard of throwing a bottle at him, which severed the top of his middle finger.\n\nHeard has denied Depp's claims, saying he may have injured his finger when he smashed a telephone. Heard's attorneys have also referred to text messages in which they say Depp acknowledges cutting the finger himself.\n\nKipper added that Depp told an emergency room doctor he'd cut his own finger with a knife, according to People.\n\nKipper said Heard was present and seemed upset but added he did not notice any physical injuries on her and she did not seek medical attention. Lloyd also testified that at one point in Australia, she saw a bruise on Heard's arm, according to The Washington Post. Both Kipper and Lloyd said on April 18 that they did not witness physical abuse between the couple.\n\nMore:Johnny Depp's friend rejects Amber Heard's abuse claim as 'malicious lie,' says he never saw bruises\n\nAmber Heard's former assistant call actress 'verbally abusive'\n\nKate James, a former personal assistant to Heard from 2012 to 2015, said she never saw the actress suffer any physical abuse at the hands of Depp — but she said Heard once spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.\n\nHeard descended into screaming fits of blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk and high on illegal drugs, James testified in a video deposition that was played in court April 14.\n\nDepp, on the other hand, was very calm, almost shy, \"like a total Southern gentleman,” James said.\n\nJames said she was hired with an initial salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard's dry cleaning to talking with the actress' Hollywood agents.\n\nJames said she also was tasked with picking up two copies of any magazine that featured Heard and storing them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard went into a “blind rage” when James failed to place the magazines in the garage, she said.\n\nJohnny Depp's longtime neighbor saw no evidence of abuse\n\nIsaac Baruch, a longtime friend and next-door neighbor of Depp, testified April 13 that Heard had told him the movie star threw a phone at her and hit her inside the couple’s Los Angeles penthouse.\n\nBut Baruch said he never noticed any evidence of abuse on Heard’s face, both when he first saw her in the hallway or the next day in the sunlit lobby of their art deco-style building.\n\n“She's got her face out like this to show me, and I’m looking, and I inspect her face,” Baruch said of the encounter in May 2016. “And I don't see anything. … I don't see a cut, a bruise, swelling, redness.”\n\nBaruch, a painter, said Depp has financially supported him, providing him with places to live and giving him about $100,000 over the years.\n\nMore:Johnny Depp's friend rejects Amber Heard's abuse claim as 'malicious lie,' says he never saw bruises\n\nBaruch also testified that he saw security video showing Heard's sister Whitney throwing a fake punch at Heard’s face while the two waited for an elevator in the building where he and Depp and Heard lived. “And then they start laughing,” he said.\n\nDepp’s attorneys argue that the sisters were practicing for a real punch to feign abuse from Depp.\n\nOpening statements: An abusive husband or an unstable wife?\n\n“You’re going to see who the real Johnny Depp is — behind the fame, behind the pirate costumes,” Heard Rottenborn told the jury during opening statements in the civil trial on April 12. “Because Johnny Depp brought this case, all of this is going to come out.”\n\nHe argued that Heard was exercising her First Amendment rights as an advocate when she wrote the article, which focused largely on the broad topic of domestic violence. He also pointed out that the article in question never even mentions Depp’s name.\n\n'Fantastic Beasts' cast change:Mads Mikkelsen talks replacing Johnny Depp in film\n\nDepp, Heard opening statements:Remarks feel familiar to London trial from 2020\n\n“Everyone in Hollywood knew exactly what she was talking about,\" countered Johnny Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew. \"Today, Johnny Depp's name is associated with a lie.\" Depp's team argued that the article is an example of “defamation by implication.”\n\n“You’re going to learn that (Heard) is a profoundly troubled person who manipulated people around her, like she manipulated Mr. Depp,” added Vasquez.\n\n“She can’t back down. She has been living and breathing this lie for years,” Vasquez said. “She’s going to give the performance of a lifetime in this courtroom.”\n\nContributing: Marco della Cava, Edward Segarra, Hannah Yasharoff and Amy Haneline, USA TODAY; Matthew Barakat and Ben Finley, The Associated Press", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/04/13"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_26", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": []}
{"question_id": "20230210_27", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:40", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/959628/profile-lee-anderson", "title": "Lee Anderson: new deputy Tory party chair who backs the death ...", "text": "We will use the details you have shared to manage your registration. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your registration as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWould you like to receive The WeekDay newsletter ?\n\nThe WeekDay newsletter provides you with a daily digest of news and analysis.\n\nWe will use the details you have shared to manage your newsletter subscription. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your subscription as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWe will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we believe we have a legitimate case to do so, for example to send you communications about similar products and services we offer. You can find out more about our legitimate interest activity in our Privacy Policy.\n\nIf you wish to object to the use of your data in this way, please tick here.\n\n'We' includes The Week and other Future Publishing Limited brands as detailed here.", "authors": ["Chas Newkey-Burden"], "publish_date": "2023/02/10"}, {"url": "https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/955771/who-are-tory-net-zero-scrutiny-group", "title": "Who are the Tory Net Zero Scrutiny Group? | The Week UK", "text": "We will use the details you have shared to manage your registration. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your registration as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWould you like to receive The WeekDay newsletter ?\n\nThe WeekDay newsletter provides you with a daily digest of news and analysis.\n\nWe will use the details you have shared to manage your newsletter subscription. You agree to the processing, storage, sharing and use of this information for the purpose of managing your subscription as described in our Privacy Policy.\n\nWe will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we believe we have a legitimate case to do so, for example to send you communications about similar products and services we offer. You can find out more about our legitimate interest activity in our Privacy Policy.\n\nIf you wish to object to the use of your data in this way, please tick here.\n\n'We' includes The Week and other Future Publishing Limited brands as detailed here.", "authors": ["The Week Staff"], "publish_date": "2022/02/15"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/food/victor-panichkul/2014/12/18/registration-now-open-oregon-wine-symposium/20593485/", "title": "Registration now open for Oregon Wine Symposium", "text": "Victor Panichkul\n\nStatesman Journal\n\nRegistration is now open for the largest annual wine industry educational event in the Pacific Northwest.\n\nThe Oregon Wine Symposium is scheduled for Feb. 24-25 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.\n\nIn addition to speakers and seminars, there will be more than 145 trade show exhibitors showcasing a wide range of products.\n\nKeynote speaker Michael Dorf, founder and CEO of City Winery, a unique urban wine venue that combines live music with winemaker tastings and talks, will share his story of growing his innovative wine business from scratch. With City Winery venues now in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Napa, Dorf is redefining the experience of wine and culture across generations, according to Michelle Kaufmann, communications manager at the Oregon Wine Board.\n\nA variety of other sessions will give attendees advice on a variety of topics including: drivers of profitability in the wine industry, differentiating your brand through storytelling and choosing a fermentation vessel.\n\nAlso open for registration is the annual Oregon Wine Symposium Awards dinner, held at the Doubletree Portland on Feb. 24.\n\nThe fee for the symposium is $175 for single or $140 for multiple attendees for Oregon Wine Association members, $210 for single and $175 for multiple attendees for non-OWA members, and $75 for students. Tickets for the awards dinner are $125 each. For information or to register, go to symposium.oregonwine.org.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2014/12/18"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/08/andrew-cuomo-wine-beer-cider-spirits-summit/7458983/", "title": "NY to spend $6M to promote wine, beer", "text": "Ashley Hupfl\n\nAlbany Bureau\n\nALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the state will spend $6 million to market New York's wine and beer industry and seek to reform laws to expand distilleries in the state.\n\nCuomo held the second Beer, Wine, Spirits and Cider summit near the Capitol to tout the booming industry and hear recommendations on how to add new businesses.\n\nHe said he will introduce the Craft New York Act to simplify distilling manufacturing licenses and lower fees, expand marketing opportunities and modernize shipping laws. It would have to be approved by the Legislature.\n\nDistillers have been on the rise in New York after laws were loosened in 2012 — when the first summit was held.\n\n\"We are fully cognizant we have further to go, because we want this to work better.\" Cuomo said. \"We're taking liquor producers and we're making them marketers, restaurateurs, tourism destinations — these are not normal connections and it's not normally what [the State Liquor Authority] does.\"\n\nHe said the State Liquor Authority would be issuing advisories to clarify some laws and regulations that date back to the Prohibition era and have caused confusion in the beverage industry.\n\nThe $6 million will go to a promotional campaign to boost the state's beverage producers, he said. It's the latest investment in the state's marketing of the industry.\n\nCuomo in 2011 launched a $60 million tourism campaign to publicize food and beverage products made-in-state called \"Taste NY.\" Cuomo contended that the initial $60 million investment has yielded $4 billion in economic activity.\n\n\"Your industry, we believed in from the get-go. It had tremendous potential for growth. It is a magnificent industry, not only in terms of potential, but also it complements the rest of the state economy overall,\" Cuomo said at the summit.\n\nAfter reforming New York's laws, the number of farm-based beverage licenses for distilleries, wineries, breweries and cideries has risen 72 percent since 2011, Cuomo announced late last year.\n\nNew York is home to nearly 500 wineries, breweries, distilleries, and cideries, and the state ranks third in the nation in wine production. New York has the second-most distilleries in the country, and three of the top-producing 20 brewers are in New York.\n\nThe state has issued 32 farm-brewery licenses since January 2013.\n\nBill Barton, owner of Bellwether Hard Cider in Tompkins County, which opened in 1999, lauded the Taste NY program and the positive impact it has had on his business.\n\n\"Cider had a huge growth area from a very tiny start, but there's still tremendous potential and the beverage summit, the regulatory changes and everything that's gone on recently really has been crucial for this industry to get off the ground,\" Barton said at the event.\n\nState Liquor Association president Tom Edwards said the group will host its trade show at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center for the first time this August. The association is donating half of the 50,000 square feet convention center space to small Taste NY upstarts who help promote their products.\n\nThe president of the state Brewers Association, Dave Katleski, who owns Empire Brewing in Syracuse, said the industry would like to see a change in state law to make it easier for breweries to direct ship to their customers and allow them to sell pints to customers on taste tours. Other wine and spirit owners brought up similar concerns.\n\n\"Right now, unless you are a 'farm' brewery, you cannot sell a pint of beer to someone who comes to your tasting room. Well you can, but have to have a restaurant,\" Katleski said at the summit. \"If there were a change to adjust the law to allow them to sell pints of beer, that would have a huge economic impact to breweries.\"\n\nAHUPFL@Gannett.com\n\nTwitter.com/ashleyhupfl", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2014/04/08"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/arizona/2017/11/09/arizona-winemaker-didnt-disclose-past-discileft-liquor-board-after-failed-disclose-past-discipline/846546001/", "title": "Arizona winemaker who quit board didn't disclose violations", "text": "The Arizona winemaker who resigned his seat on the state liquor board was appointed to that body based on an application that didn’t disclose his past history of liquor law breaches, the Governor’s Office said Wednesday night.\n\nJohn McLoughlin, who sells wine under various labels, including Arizona Angel, Sultry Cellars and Jerome Winery, resigned from the board last week following a conversation with a member of the governor’s staff about that missing information, a spokesman for the governor said.\n\n“After discussing that, discussing those omissions, he made his decision to resign,” said Patrick Ptak, the governor's spokesman. Ptak would not disclose who had the conversation with McLoughlin.\n\nMcLoughlin’s decision ended a tenure that lasted two meetings and marked the first time an Arizona winemaker had been appointed to the board.\n\nReached by phone Thursday morning, McLoughlin declined to comment further about his liquor board appointment.\n\n\"I took my licks like a responsible person,\" he said.\n\nHe urged The Republic to go after people currently violating liquor laws whom he suggested The Republic was protecting or \"possibly being paid by.\" He then hung up.\n\nIn a previous interview, on the day he submitted his resignation, McLoughlin refused to explain why he resigned, saying he only wanted positive stories about the Arizona wine industry.\n\nMcLoughlin, in 2005, paid a $10,000 fine and surrendered his liquor license for 90 days after inspectors found, among other violations, he illegally imported California wine into the state and sold it to consumers in a Jerome business designed to give the illusion of a winery tasting room.\n\nMcLoughlin since has operated the largest vineyard in the state, Dragoon Mountain, in the Willcox area. He also has become an advocate for Arizona-made wines, and takes veiled public shots at unnamed winemakers he thinks are trying to pass off out-of-state wine as Arizona-made.\n\nReports reveal infractions\n\nHis infractions, which dated back to 2005, came to the attention of the Governor’s Office after The Republic asked the Liquor Department for information about them. A listing of the statutes and rules McLoughlin violated was found on the department’s website. The Republic, in September, asked for the reports that detailed those five violations from 12 years ago.\n\nUpon fulfilling that records request, the department shared the information with members of the Governor’s Office.\n\nIn doing so, the Liquor Department director, John Cocca, tried to defend McLoughlin’s actions. “Our position is what better board member than one who had administrative violations and took responsibility for his mistakes,” Cocca wrote.\n\nPtak said on Wednesday that the idea to appoint McLoughlin to the board came after he asked for a proclamation from Gov. Doug Ducey to declare October as Arizona Winegrowers Month.\n\nSuch proclamations, given enough notice, are routinely fulfilled, said Ptak, the Ducey spokesman. “I don’t think we ever really denied one,” he said.\n\nBut the request brought McLoughlin to the attention of Tim Roemer, deputy director of the state’s homeland security office, Ptak said. Roemer knew the state liquor board had vacancies and, by statute, needed a certain number of members who lived outside Maricopa County.\n\nMcLoughlin, who listed his residence as his vineyard in Willcox, seemed a good fit, Ptak said.\n\nOn April 4, Roemer sent McLoughlin an email that included a link to an online application to be on a state board or commission. The email, a copy of which was released to The Republic under a public records request, also told McLoughlin to contact him with any concerns or questions.\n\nOn April 18, Roemer sent a follow-up email regarding the application. McLoughlin’s wife, Brighid, responded saying she had already filled out the application for her husband.\n\nThe brief form contains a section labeled: “Affirmation of Eligibility.”\n\nThe section asks a series of questions regarding criminal history, substance abuse or conflicts of interests and an opportunity to explain any events. On McLoughlin’s application, the question asking about “Professional Misconduct” was answered, “No.”\n\nQuestions at a tasting room\n\nIn September 2004, a liquor inspector, with his wife, entered the Jerome Winery. Though the inspector was off duty, according to his report, elements of the business raised his professional suspicion.\n\nThe business gave off the air of being a winery tasting room, but the inspector noticed the liquor license said it was a beer and wine bar. He also noted there was beer for sale in a refrigerator, something unusual for a tasting room. Additionally, his report noted, behind the bar were unlabeled bottles of wine — “shiners” in the industry parlance.\n\nThe employee behind the bar told the inspector and his wife that the wine was made from grapes grown in Willcox and produced a book of photos of the vineyard. She said, according to the report, that the barrels in the room held wine that was either fermenting or being aged for later bottling.\n\nThe inspector came back a month later for an official inspection.\n\nAs that visit began, the inspector wrote that he saw an employee label a “shiner” bottle right before selling it to a customer.\n\nWhile looking behind the scenes, the inspector found boxes of mostly-unlabeled bottles of wine, in some rooms stacked floor-to-ceiling.\n\nDecision to resign was his\n\nMcLoughlin, in an interview with investigators, said his business was designed to produce the illusion of a tasting room to provide an entertainment experience for customers.\n\nMcLoughlin said, according to the report, that he intended to eventually open his own winery and was operating the business in this manner to raise funds.\n\nHe told inspectors the bottles he sold were clearly labeled as containing California wine and that he was doing nothing wrong.\n\nThe beer, he additionally explained, was purchased from Costco.\n\nAt this time, Brighid McLoughlin was not married to John McLoughlin, nor associated with his business. It was not clear whether she knew of the 12-year-old violations when she filled out the application for her husband.\n\nShe did not return a request for comment.\n\nPtak said that the decision to resign was McLoughlin’s.\n\n“He stepped forward to resign,” Ptak said.\n\nIn his letter, sent to the Liquor Department on Nov. 2, McLoughlin said he did so “regretfully,” citing only “extenuating circumstances.”", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2017/11/09"}]}
{"question_id": "20230210_28", "search_time": "2023/02/19/03:41", "search_result": [{"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2019/05/20/kimmel-spurs-all-in-the-family-the-jeffersons-all-star-revival/3705469002/", "title": "Kimmel spurs 'All in the Family,' 'The Jeffersons' all-star revival", "text": "Archie Bunker and George Jefferson are getting a casting makeover, but they’ll be saying the same things that entertained (and outraged) millions when first uttered in the 1970s.\n\nLate-night host Jimmy Kimmel and groundbreaking TV producer Norman Lear are reviving the two classic characters Wednesday, with Woody Harrelson as Archie and Jamie Foxx as George, in ABC’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’” (8 EDT/PDT). Kimmel and Lear will host the 90-minute special, which will feature an episode of each series from the original script.\n\nThe star-studded cast also includes Marisa Tomei, Wanda Sykes, Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Anthony Anderson, Ellie Kemper, Sean Hayes and Justina Machado, who starred in Netflix’s recently canceled adaptation of another Lear classic, “One Day at a Time.”\n\nMore:Jimmy Kimmel, Norman Lear to re-create 'All in the Family,' 'Jeffersons' episodes in live special\n\nMore:TV legend Norman Lear isn't resting on laurels\n\n“Woody and Jamie were the first people we asked, and they both agreed immediately,\" Kimmel says. \"I texted them, and within a minute, I got a text back saying, ‘Yes, I’m in. I want to do this.\"\n\nScheduling issues were the only consideration, he says, joking: \"It just shows that when they say no to me for other things, they’re saying no because they don’t like me.”\n\nKimmel, a TV fan and the host of ABC's \"Jimmy Kimmel Live!,\" hopes the special reintroduces comedies that entertained as they dealt with serious and controversial issues, including race, prejudice, sexual assault and social inequality, that are still debated today.\n\nMore:Jimmy Kimmel mocks Constance Wu for emotional reaction to 'Fresh Off the Boat' renewal\n\n“For me, the inspiration is the work of Norman Lear and the great television shows that I want to make sure are not forgotten by a new generation,” he says. “They’re important shows, just as important as anything in our culture. I think television is seen as less than that sometimes, but to me and my family, these are shows we love and learned from.”\n\nKimmel, Lear and ABC won’t say which episodes of “All in the Family,” which featured Carroll O'Connor as Archie and aired on CBS from 1971-79, and spinoff “The Jeffersons (1975-85) will be staged, but they're expected to be “Henry’s Farewell,” a 1973 “Family” episode that includes the first appearance of Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson, and “A Friend in Need,” the 1975 “Jeffersons” premiere.\n\nMore:Norman Lear among those receiving Kennedy Center Honors on tonight's TV broadcast\n\nKimmel and Lear plan no changes in the original scripts, which included bigoted and sexist language and may still draw opposition today, making ABC censors nervous.\n\nHow does Lear respond to critics who say his hot-button shows couldn’t be revived as series today?\n\n“You're wrong,\" he says. \"There may be some segments of the culture that will have a different reaction than we experienced in the ‘70s, but that wants to be discussed also. Let’s learn more about them,” Lear says.\n\nKimmel and Lear, who will introduce the special and talk afterward, acknowledge they can't top the original actors, but they're proud to have a top-notch cast and director: James Burrows, the preeminent sitcom master known for his work on \"Cheers,\" \"Will & Grace,\" \"Frasier\" and \"Friends.\"\n\nMore:Norman Lear's hits gain new relevance in era of TV remakes\n\nLear also is a fan of the studio-audience sitcom, a venerable format sometimes criticized as stale but one that still attracts large audiences, as “The Big Bang Theory” proved.\n\n“There is nothing like a live audience and actors who live off the reaction to the last thing they said,” he says. “It’s a chemistry that one can’t find any other way.”\n\nHow did it all come about?\n\n\"I was thinking about these live (TV) musicals and whether there were other ways you could do the same thing. And then I started thinking about television shows,\" Kimmel says. \"Doing it live makes it appointment television and adds a level of excitement (for) the actors and director that you might not have if you know (there's) a safety net. I think it will be more of a must-watch moment.\"\n\nBesides his production and hosting duties, Kimmel is enjoying the project simply as a TV fan.\n\n\"For me to be able to work with Norman and this unbelievable cast he has attracted is something that is very exciting,\" he says. \"And also just fun.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/05/20"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/07/28/bernard-cribbins-dead-doctor-who-wombles-railway-children/10171615002/", "title": "Bernard Cribbins, British 'Doctor Who' actor, dies at 93: 'A legend ...", "text": "Jill Lawless\n\nThe Associated Press\n\nLONDON — Bernard Cribbins, a beloved British entertainer whose seven-decade career ranged from the bawdy “Carry On” comedies to children’s television and “Doctor Who,” has died. He was 93.\n\nAgent Gavin Barker Associates announced Cribbins’ death on Thursday.\n\n“Bernard’s contribution to British entertainment is without question,” it said. “He was unique, typifying the best of his generation, and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.”\n\n'Deeply honored, beyond excited':Ncuti Gatwa revealed as the new 'Doctor Who'\n\nA warm, avuncular character actor, Cribbins was a childhood presence for several generations of Britons. He played station porter Albert Perks in the 1970 movie classic “The Railway Children” and voiced all the characters in “The Wombles,” a 1970s animated series about a family of burrowing creatures living under London’s Wimbledon Common.\n\nCribbins also was the voice of road-safety squirrel Tufty Fluffytail in a series of public information films, and held the record for the most appearances — more than 100 — on children’s storytelling TV series “Jackanory.”\n\nBorn into a poor family in Oldham, northwest England, in 1928, Cribbins left school in his early teens and got his start as a stage manager and bit player in regional repertory theater.\n\nHe moved on to West End productions before appearing in a dizzying range of British films, including 1960 comedy “Two-Way Stretch” alongside Peter Sellers; 1966 “Doctor Who” spinoff “Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD”; the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale”; and one of Alfred Hitchcock’s final thrillers, “Frenzy” in 1972.\n\nTony Dow obituary:'Leave It to Beaver' actor dies at 77 after entering hospice\n\nHe appeared in several movies in the “Carry On” series, was a memorable guest star on classic sitcom “Fawlty Towers” and had top 10 hits with comedy songs “Hole in the Ground” and “Right Said Fred.”\n\nA younger generation knew Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, a companion to David Tennant’s titular Doctor, when ”Doctor Who” was revived in the early 21st century. He appeared in another BBC children’s series, “Old Jack’s Boat,” between 2013 and 2015, and filmed scenes earlier this year for an upcoming “Doctor Who” 60th-anniversary special.\n\nDavid Warner obituary:British actor who starred in 'Titanic,' 'The Omen' and 'Tron,' dies at 80\n\n“Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T. Davies remembered Cribbins as “a wonderful actor.”\n\n“I’m so lucky to have known him,” Davies said. “Thanks for everything, my old soldier. A legend has left the world.”\n\nCribbins’ wife of 66 years, Gill, died last year.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2022/07/28"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2016/06/14/tv-best-bets-tue-june-14/94794544/", "title": "tv-best-bets-tue-june-14", "text": "8 p.m., ABC: To Tell the Truth — One of several classic game shows being revived by ABC this summer begins its run, with Anthony Anderson spending his hiatus from \"black-ish\" as both the host and an executive producer here. The format still has several people claiming to be the individual in question, with a panel having to determine who indeed is telling the truth. Notable among the guessers — tireless genre veteran Betty White.\n\nAnthony Anderson hosts \"To Tell the Truth,\" 8 p.m., ABC.\n\n8 p.m., FOX: Hotel Hell — A new episode set in Harper's Ferry, W. Va., continues in \"Town's Inn, Part 2\" — and the fact that there is a second part indicates how big a challenge Gordon Ramsay faces in upgrading the site in question. The biggest hurdle is the owner's resistance to modernization, so Ramsay tries to find a balance between improving the place and retaining a substantial percentage of its history.\n\n9 p.m., TNT: Animal Kingdom — Adapted from a critically acclaimed 2010 Australian feature film, this edgy new drama revolves around a spectacularly dysfunctional Southern California crime family headed by tough-as-nails grandmother Janine \"Smurf\" Cody (Ellen Barkin). Into this world moves a teenage grandson, Joshua (Finn Cole), after his mother dies of a heroin overdose.\n\n10 p.m., TBS: Wrecked — While this new comedy series isn't officially a send-up of \"Lost,\" it could be, with its central premise of a bunch of strangers stranded together on a deserted island after their plane crashes. In the series premiere, a British ex-special forces agent leads a rescue mission, while the survivors make a discovery that could change everything.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2016/06/14"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2016/05/31/maya-rudolph-martin-short-nbc-variety-series/84988192/", "title": "NBC gambles on 'Maya & Marty' to revive variety format", "text": "Patrick Ryan\n\nUSA TODAY\n\nNEW YORK — \"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.\"\n\nAn NBC executive uses that familiar mantra when asked about Maya & Marty (Tuesdays, 10 p.m. ET/PT), the network's latest attempt at reinventing old-school variety series. Starring Saturday Night Live alums Maya Rudolph and Martin Short, the show will feature a mix of comedy sketches, song-and-dance numbers, and pre-taped segments, with guests including Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, Tom Hanks, Kelly Ripa, Larry David and Paul Rudd.\n\n\"It's very much got traditional variety flavor, and that's not something anyone here is frightened of,\" says Paul Telegdy, NBC's president of alternative and late-night programming. \"We completely embrace it.\"\n\nMaya & Marty is the byproduct of The Maya Rudolph Show, an hour-long variety special that pulled in nearly 7 million viewers when it aired on NBC in May 2014. Short, 66, came aboard after he appeared with Rudolph on last year's Saturday Night Live 40th-anniversary special and found they had palpable chemistry.\n\nHaving known each other for about 10 years, Short says, they \"have a lot of shared takes on life, that often creates a good combination. We're both parents. We both have an attitude of, 'This is just showbiz, it should be fun.' We both work and thrive in a loose, happy atmosphere.\"\n\nMaya & Marty's initial six-episode order will be similarly free. Each episode will tape in front of a studio audience Thursday nights at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, right across the hall from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. They will then have five days to edit the show before it airs Tuesdays: determining what works and what doesn't, and adding in pre-taped material (which they estimate will account for about 30% of each episode).\n\n\"We want this to have the best possible things in it,\" says Rudolph, 43. Coming from SNL, \"there is a sensibility that it's not done until it's done. So if something comes up after the dress rehearsal and (we) go, 'That didn't work, let's trim that' or 'Let's add this,' then we will.\"\n\nBut what will prevent Maya & Marty from suffering the same fate as NBC's other attempts at variety programming? Rosie O'Donnell's critically panned special, Rosie Live, bombed in 2008. Neil Patrick Harris' Best Time Ever, an ambitious (and expensive) game-and-variety show hybrid, was nixed after one season last fall.\n\nAlthough Rosie Live predates Telegdy's time at NBC, he says \"the Rosie O'Donnell debacle, as I can only describe it creatively and from a ratings point of view, may have felt like a bold swing.\" Best Time Ever, meanwhile, \"was a bold swing of a different kind of show to Maya & Marty,\" which, if successful, would likely return next year.\n\nOf the recent additions to the variety genre, which was pioneered by Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett and Johnny Carson in the 1950s and '60s, TV historian Tim Brooks says that Harris' was probably the most innovative, different take, but it wasn't enough to carry it, for whatever reasons.\" The format can be a tough sell to advertisers, who crave younger viewers. \"The traditional variety shows skew old,\" Brooks adds. \"You have to do something like In Living Color (which aired on Fox in the early '90s) to make it seem hip and contemporary.\"\n\nAsked what Maya & Marty will do differently from O'Donnell's and Harris' endeavors, and whether there's an appetite for variety in 2016, the co-hosts turned testy.\n\n\"That's such a loaded question, that has this expectation that it's going to be like those shows,\" Rudolph says. \"It's not like those shows, it's its own show.\"\n\nShort adds: \"Isn't that like saying to Bill Cosby in 1981, 'Why would there be an appetite for a sitcom?' \"\n\nWhen it comes down to it, \"I want to do this show and you want to do this show, so that's the show we're creating,\" Rudolph says. \"If people aren't into that, they don't want to watch us, but I do not base my career choices off other people's successes and failures.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2016/05/31"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/11/02/30-best-tv-shows-peacock-parks-and-rec-suits/6122629002/", "title": "The 35 best TV shows to watch on Peacock in July: 'Top Chef ...", "text": "There's more than you think going on with the bird: Peacock, that is.\n\nThe streaming service from NBCUniversal, the latest entrant into the streaming wars, may seem like an unnecessary add-on to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+ and HBO Max. But with both paid and free ad-supported tiers, a handful of originals and a deep library that includes exclusive access to some of the best TV shows of all time, Peacock is worth a look.\n\nThe library of series (some non-exclusive) is deep, including beloved sitcoms (\"Parks and Recreation,\" \"The Office\"), classics (\"Murder, She Wrote,\" \"Alfred Hitchcock Presents\"), recent cable series (\"Psych,\" \"Suits\") and originals (\"Girls5Eva\"). We've rounded up the 35 best shows available to stream on Peacock as of July 2022 (in alphabetical order). (Asterisks denote shows that are only available with a premium subscription.)\n\nDon't have Peacock?:50 best TV shows to watch on Netflix right now\n\n1. “30 Rock”\n\nAlec Baldwin, Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan make an endlessly appealing trio in NBC's award-winning series about a \"Saturday Night Live\"-style sketch comedy series. One can’t help but wonder what fake sketch show “TGS with Tracy Morgan” might have to say about the 2020s (ignore the terrible recent infomercial the cast did for this streaming service; it was beneath them).\n\n2.“Alfred Hitchcock Presents”\n\nIf you’re looking for thrills, look no further than this series, created and hosted by the master of suspense, director Alfred Hitchcock. This superb 1955-62 anthology series, which originally aired on CBS and NBC, has “Twilight Zone” vibes but features murder mysteries, thrillers and dramas rather than science fiction.\n\n3. “The Affair”*\n\nShowtime’s dark relationship drama is scintillating and twisty: a grown-up soap opera. Starring Dominic West, Maura Tierney and Ruth Wilson, the chemistry and frequent fights on the 2014-19 series radiate off the screen.\n\n4. \"Baking It\"\n\nPrimetime Emmy winners Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg come together to host this festive baking competition, in which eight duos of home bakers compete in a series of culinary challenges, concocting a variety of holiday desserts to vie for a grand cash prize. A judges' panel of blunt grandmas appears to gives the show an endearing homey feel, as well ascomplementing Rudolph and Samberg's quirky banter.\n\n5. “Battlestar Galactica”\n\nStarring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Katee Sackhoff, this bold, breathtaking space opera from Syfy perfectly captures the anxiety, fear and uncertainty of post-9/11 America, even with its fantastical sci-fi concept. You won't be able to stop hitting \"next episode.\"\n\n6. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”*\n\nFrom Dan Goor and Michael Schur, producers of \"Parks and Recreation,” the former Fox (and now NBC) workplace comedy, set in a New York police precinct, also masters fast-paced humor and an upbeat tone.\n\n7. “The Carol Burnett Show”\n\nThere are a multitude of series from the mid-20th century available to stream, many of which have a classically upbeat energy. One of the best is the timeless CBS sketch comedy of Burnett, an American treasure.\n\n8. “Charmed”\n\nThere is no better late '90s/early 2000s nostalgia trip than “Charmed,” with its crop tops, butterfly clips and combat boots. While it has its flaws (particularly in the later seasons) it is still a gripping, complex fantasy series.\n\n9. “Cheers”*\n\nWith a magnetic cast – including Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Shelley Long, Woody Harrelson and Kelsey Grammer – reliable jokes and comforting setting, the classic Boston sitcom set in a bar \"where everybody knows your name\" holds up after all these years. (*Season 1 is available to all users, but Seasons 2-11 require a premium subscription.)\n\n10. “Downton Abbey”\n\nWhat makes the PBS period drama about an aristocratic British family in the early 20th century and its household staff so riveting is the way it dresses up soapy drama in high-class clothes: a little trashy, a little classy and a lot of Maggie Smith asking what a \"weekend\" is.\n\n11. “Eureka”\n\nThis delightful Syfy series creates a world in which the greatest minds on Earth are gathered in one small Pacific Northwest town to work their scientific miracles, turning the little hamlet of Eureka into a futuristic enclave. The town sheriff (Colin Ferguson), who's merely average on the IQ scale, is tasked with cleaning up all the messes caused by out-of-control experiments.\n\n12. “Everybody Hates Chris”\n\nBased loosely on Chris Rock’s young life in the 1980s (and nodding to the next show on this list in its title), this UPN (and later CW) series toyed with the tropes of the family sitcom. The great performances, including Tyler James Williams as Chris and Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold as his aggrieved parents, are the bow on top of the irreverent humor.\n\n13. “Everybody Loves Raymond”*\n\nIf you want guaranteed laughs and guaranteed comfort, look no further than CBS' touchstone sitcom, which remains one of the greatest entries in the genre. For nine seasons, Ray (Ray Romano), Debra (Patricia Heaton), Robert (Brad Garrett), Marie (Doris Roberts) and Frank (Peter Boyle) were like a second family. Even 16 years after it signed off, “Raymond” is hilarious and vital.\n\n14. “Frasier”*\n\nIf “Cheers” isn’t enough Kelsey Grammer for you, try this slightly more cynical and mature NBC spin-off centered on the delightfully uppity Frasier Crane (Grammer), one of the most successful of all time. (*Season 1 is available to all users, but Seasons 2-11 require a premium subscription.)\n\n15. “Friday Night Lights”\n\nThe drama on NBC's acclaimed high school football series, based on a book and movie, undeniably makes it one of the best shows to binge-watch, equally entertaining fo6 teens and adults. They don’t make teen dramas like this anymore.\n\n15. \"Girls5Eva\"\n\nPeacock's first great original series, “Girls5Eva” is a sweetly funny sitcom created by Meredith Scardino and executive-produced by the “30 Rock” team of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. “Girls” is about a has-been 1990s girl pop group – played by Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps and Paula Pell – that tries to make it again in middle age. Season 2 brings back their riffing, rapping glory on May 5 (episodes stream weekly). (Some episodes are available to all viewers, some require a premium membership.)\n\n17. \"Good Times\"*\n\nThis Norman Lear series from the 1970s about the Evans family, a Black family getting by in Chicago, is a television classic and a welcome addition to the streaming landscape. John Amos, Esther Rolle and Janet Jackson are among the wonderful cast of the \"Maude\" spin-off (which itself was an \"All in the Family\" spin-off) that aired for six seasons on CBS.\n\n18. “House”*\n\nHugh Laurie’s turn as the misanthropic, wisecracking doctor struggling with addiction has become an iconic TV role. Combining the relationship drama and life-and-death stakes of the medical procedural with the mysteries of a cop show, “House” was a huge hit for Fox and remains a one-of-a-kind show.\n\n18. “Law & Order: SVU”*\n\nThere's a comforting sameness to the nearly 500 (and counting) \"SVU\" episodes: Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) investigates the crime, finds her perp and justice is served. (Seasons 1 and 2 are available to all users, but Seasons 3-22 require a premium subscription.)\n\n19. “Making It”\n\nAmy Poehler and Nick Offerman host this NBC crafting reality competition, which is the closest thing the U.S. has to its own version of \"The Great British Baking Show.\" While it swaps delicious cakes for stunning handmade crafts, it retains the sweetness and kindness that sets “Baking” apart from catty, hyper-competitive reality TV. Poehler also shows off an incredible collection of overalls.\n\n20. \"Modern Family\"*\n\n\"Family\" ran for 11 acclaimed seasons, following the antics of the large and blended Dunphy and Pritchett families. The series' long popularity stemmed from its talented cast (including Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Sofía Vergara and Ed O'Neill) and relatable laughs for families and married couples. (*Season 1 is available to all users, but Seasons 2-11 require a premium subscription.)\n\n21. “Monk”\n\nFor those who like to mix slapstick comedy with murder-of-the-week police drama, “Monk” is a touchstone series. Tony Shalhoub's Emmy-winning performance as a genius detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder makes this 2002-09 USA Network comedy a true classic.\n\n22. “Mr. Mercedes”*\n\nBased on Stephen King’s recent book series, \"Mercedes\" is a detective mystery with flavors of the author’s signature horror. Brendan Gleeson plays retired detective Bill Hodges, who hunts for a sociopath who drove a stolen Mercedes through a crowd, killing 16 people. (*Season 1 is available to all users, but Season 2 requires a premium subscription)\n\n23. “Murder, She Wrote”\n\nJessica Fletcher (the absolutely wondrous Angela Lansbury) is a joy to watch in all 12 seasons of this classic detective series, which aired from 1984-96 on CBS.\n\n24. \"The Office\"*\n\nThe long-running NBC sitcom is Peacock's biggest get to date. Consistently one of the most-watched shows on Netflix, the new streamer hopes to lure new subscribers with the beloved workplace comedy. And it might just work. There is just no getting sick of the hilarious series, no matter how many times you watch Michael Scott (Steve Carell) burn his foot on a George Foreman grill. (*The first two seasons are available to all users, but Seasons 3-9 require a premium subscription.)\n\n25. “Parenthood”\n\nMessy, tear-jerking, angering and melodramatic, NBC’s 2010-15 family drama is far superior to that other NBC family drama everyone talks about (\"This Is Us\"). Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Dax Shepard, Craig T. Nelson, Monica Potter, Mae Whitman and more make the Braverman family achingly relatable.\n\n26. “Parks and Recreation”*\n\nPeacock is now the only place to stream this beloved NBC sitcom about a hardworking city employee (Amy Poehler) and her work family. Although its rosy view of politics and government bureaucracy may feel a bit dated, it is still one of the best sitcoms NBC ever made. (*The first two seasons are available to all users, but Seasons 3-7 require a premium subscription.)\n\nMore:'Edgy' 'Saved by the Bell' reboot to debut on Peacock just in time for Thanksgiving\n\n27. “Psych”\n\nA faux-psychic (James Roday Rodriguez) is really a hyper-observational investigator, but he prefers to make jokes and have fake visions with the help of his best friend (Dule Hill). Although originally a crime-of-the-week procedural, later seasons of the series focused more on its pop-culture parodies (“Clue” and “Twin Peaks” are among the best) and goofball comedy. Although the series and revival movie are also available to stream on Amazon Prime, Peacock is the exclusive home of the sequels “Psych 2: Lassie Come Home” and \"Psych 3: This is Gus.\"\n\n28. “Royal Pains”\n\nMark Feuerstein plays a very chill, very charming “concierge doctor” in this 2009-16 USA series. The whole doctor thing was mostly an excuse for his disaffected protagonist to bum around the Hamptons on the periphery of the rich and famous, which made for a perfectly pleasant, beachy series.\n\n29. “Saturday Night Live”\n\nWhile you're waiting for new episodes from Season 47, you can dive into the 46 previous seasons of NBC's late-night institution for some quick laughs and topical (well, at the time) parodies.\n\n30. “Suits”\n\nAn underachiever with a photographic memory (Patrick J. Adams) poses as a lawyer at a high-powered New York firm and wins big cases in this snappy USA legal drama. Once you get over seeing the former Meghan Markle without Prince Harry – and the show's admittedly absurd premise – enjoy the soapy drama.\n\n31. “Superstore”*\n\nNBC's series about employees at a big-box store is something like a modern-day \"Cheers,\" a workplace comedy set outside a traditional white-collar office in a place we all have wandered into at some point. (The blue vests of the fictional Cloud 9 store might remind you of a certain retail chain.)\n\n32. “Top Chef”*\n\nThere are dozens of food shows and chef competitions, but this Bravo staple remains the best, pitting a group of chefs in a series of grueling competitions. Peacock already has the entirety of the recent Season 19, set in Houston, streaming.\n\n33.“Will & Grace”\n\n“Will & Grace” broke new ground on NBC from 1998-2006 and was halfway decent in a recent revival. In either run, this must-see-TV sitcom was a fount of fast-paced dialogue, frequent pop-culture references and easy cast chemistry.\n\n34. \"We Are Lady Parts\"\n\n\"Lady Parts\" is a smart, snappy ensemble comedy about an amateur British punk rock band, whose members are all women of Muslim faith. The series kicks off with the band's search for a lead guitarist, which leads to the discovery of Amina (Anjana Vasan), a shy player with stage fright who's unlucky in love. The young cast has wonderful chemistry, the music is lively and the writing feels utterly unique.\n\n35. “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”\n\nNBC’s musical comedy (and two-time USA TODAY Save Our Shows winner) about a San Francisco coder (Jane Levy), who hears other people's thoughts through music after an MRI mishap, is ambitious and fun. The upbeat series (at least in rhythm and emotion, if not plot) has a talented cast of singers belting their hearts out.\n\nHave a different streaming service? Here are the shows worth checking out:\n\nContributing: Edward Segarra", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2020/11/02"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/01/31/house-of-cards-netflix-kevin-spacey/1877813/", "title": "Netflix gambles big on 'House of Cards'", "text": "Gary Levin, USA TODAY\n\n%27A new paradigm%2C%27 says star Kevin Spacey\n\nThe actor sees similarities to Shakespeare%27s %27Richard III%27 in unbridled ambition\n\nWriter Beau Willimon is %27fascinated by the paradoxical nature%27 of politics\n\nNetflix is playing politics with television.\n\nThe online streaming service barges into big-budget original series with House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey as conniving congressman Francis Underwood. The first 13-episode season is available as of Friday — all at once — in 40 countries to Netflix's 30 million subscribers, and a second season is already promised for early next year.\n\nThis month only, the first episode can also be watched free by non-subscribers at netflix.com/houseofcards.\n\nNetflix has built a business streaming movies and TV repeats for $8 a month. Now it's hoping to rival pay-cable channels HBO, Showtime and Starz by offering up exclusive programming as a lure to keep customers paying those monthly fees. Cards alone marks a high-end, $100 million-plus investment, topping rival bids by HBO and AMC; Netflix is also reviving Fox's canceled cult comedy Arrested Development with 14 new episodes in May.\n\nSpacey calls it \"a new paradigm,\" noting he expects \"other companies that have done very well as portals for content start to make their own content and want to compete. Whether or not we're a big splash or we're at the beginning of something, I do think that's where things are headed.\"\n\nAnd Modi Wiczyk, co-CEO of producing studio Media Rights Capital, says he chose Netflix because of its offer of complete creative control, the unprecedented 26-episode commitment before a single frame had been shot, and for the show's role as trailblazer: \"It gave us the opportunity to be the anchor, the defining show,\" he says, the way The Shield, Mad Men or The Sopranos were for their cable networks. \"It was really kind of rare air.\"\n\nBorrowed from the BBC\n\nCards was adapted from a novel by Michael Dobbs (a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher) and a subsequent 1990 BBC miniseries. David Fincher (The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) shepherded the project, directing the first two episodes and creating sprawling film-style sets in Baltimore and on location in Washington. Fittingly, production wrapped on Election Day.\n\nIt borrows the British setup, with American tweaks: As a new president takes office, Francis Underwood (Spacey), a South Carolina Democrat and House majority whip who has paid his political dues, is in line for a coveted post as secretary of State (consider him John Kerry). When he's suddenly denied the job, he looks for payback and another ladder to climb, aided by his equally ruthless wife, Claire (Robin Wright). Among his pawns are a naïve but ambitious reporter (Kate Mara) and a misbehaving congressman (Corey Stoll).\n\nThe setting of this series is the corridors of Capitol Hill, but \"the show isn't about politics; it's about power,\" insists the show's head writer and executive producer, Beau Willimon (Farragut North,The Ides of March). \"Politics just allows us to see master power players at work: people who are experts at manipulation, intimidation, persuasion, seduction and deception. It's like watching grand-master chess players at a game.\"\n\nSTORY:Netflix makes shows of its own\n\nThough the initial premise implies a revenge fantasy, \"what will be clear to people in the first several minutes of the show is this is a story about ascendancy,\" Willimon says. \"This is a man, really a couple, that is interested in power for power's sake. They are unabashedly self interested, they are remorseless in their self-interest. When you're already in a fairly high office and you want more, and up, where do you go, and how do you get there, and what's the highest you can go?\"\n\nLike Scottish actor Ian Richardson, who starred in the original Cards, Spacey has portrayed Shakespeare's Richard III on stage, and he sees similarities in both roles. Each addresses the viewer directly at times, in soliloquy fashion. And each has the unbridled \"ambition, politically, although I don't think there'll be as big a body count at the end\" of Cards, Spacey says.\n\nEssentially, Underwood has one goal, says Wright: \"If you're thinking about dealing with the rules of war, what are those laws? To be feared. (And) if you need to be feared, you have to annihilate everyone else in some sense.\" Which she does, as a tyrannical boss at a charity and a fiercely protective wife, in a role that Spacey likens to Lady Macbeth.\n\n\"But I also think what's quite different about Richard and this show is Richard doesn't have a relationship with a wife he trusts implicitly and whose character is as formidable as he is,\" he says.\n\nBut modern political cynicism may resonate more deeply. \"I'm endlessly fascinated by the paradoxical nature of our political systems,\" Willimon says. \"We expect our leaders to be bastions of moral integrity, and then we expect them to be effective. And those things do not mix well in the martini glass. To be an effective leader, you have to be willing to do things that most people would find morally abhorrent. And at the same time (people) want them to be saints.\"\n\nSpacey finds further parallels in recent reassessments of politicians such as Lyndon B. Johnson. \"Yeah, he was ruthless, he was a bastard, he was a manipulator, but he got three civil-rights bills passed,\" he says.\n\n\"We have seen over the last four years the most ineffectual congress in the history of the United States,\" says Spacey. So \"it will be very interesting for an audience to observe a character who gets (stuff) done. For them, the question will be, do the ends justify the means?\"\n\nWhat has changed since the four-hour British miniseries first aired, spawning two sequels?\n\n\"Certainly starting from 2000 on, people have been a lot more politically conscious,\" Willimon says. \"It doesn't mean they are more politically sophisticated, but they're more engaged. There are moments veering (between) consensus and deep polarization; they see the virtues of political system, but more often its flaws.\"\n\nAnd perhaps a bigger change is in the media's coverage of politics as a 24/7 sport, \"and not even just the media; everyone has a phone, everyone is a journalist,\" Willimon says.\n\nUnlike her British counterpart, Mara's Zoe Barnes is \"working at a time when print journalism is very much up in the air, and struggling with how it will be as relevant as it once was. She's naïve, but she's savvy, and she's taking chances. She throws her journalistic ethics out the window, and it works. Some people lose their careers as a result of that. Others are where they are because they're doing things they're not supposed to do.\"\n\nAnother first for Spacey\n\nCards marks Spacey's first lead TV role, though he grew up watching the tube, back when standalone episodic television was designed for viewers with \"short attention spans.\" (The Wild Wild West was a favorite, he says.)\n\nBut since a string of movie hits that included L.A. Confidential, The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, he has been drawn to the theater, running London's Old Vic, and now television. \"As studios moved further and further away from making movies I was involved with in the '90s,\" he says, TV become a more hospitable home \"if you want to explore complexity and you want to have really interesting characters to play and plot lines to go off in different directions.\"\n\nCards' choice of a non-traditional TV home prompted changes in the usual marketing model. Instead of a blanket ad campaign that began weeks before its debut, Cards has been recommended to Netflix's subscribers who've watched similar types of movies and TV shows, and is being promoted with a more traditional campaign that starts today, including the free episode for non-subscribers.\n\nAnd Netflix doesn't care whether viewers flock in droves to the show right away, as a commercial TV network must. The company only hopes that they show up in sufficient numbers over the long haul. Other networks \"have a lot of pressure to get people to watch in a narrow time frame,\" says chief content officer Ted Sarandos. \"We don't think that's conducive to making great television.\"\n\nAt Wednesday's New York premiere, he called Cards \"the first series created for the on-demand generation.\" But the risk in the all-at-once strategy is that viewers can sign up for a free month-long trial at netflix.com, watch all 13 episodes and then quit without paying a penny.\n\nAnd the Netflix model caters to the binge viewing that TV fans crave: \"We want people immediately when they finish a chapter to want to go to the next one,\" Willimon says.\n\n\"It seems that's the way people are consuming their entertainment these days, in big blocks. So it shows you audiences do have a long attention span,\" adds Spacey.\n\nWhether it's long enough to sustain Cards beyond two seasons is a question only Netflix can answer: Unlike other TV shows, the streaming service does not use Nielsen ratings as a report card. Instead, it can easily (and privately) track what, when and how each of its subscribers watches.​\n\n\"We've known for a long time where we want Hour 26 to be,\" Willimon says. \"Whether or not we have privilege of going to a third season, or fourth or fifth, there will be a certain completeness to our story … and a door open should we have the opportunity to walk through it.\"", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2013/01/31"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2014/01/31/off-broadway-review-a-mans-a-man/4937679/", "title": "'A Man's a Man': A rollicking, but sobering, ride", "text": "Elysa Gardner\n\n@elysagardner, USA TODAY\n\nClassic Stage Company%27s superb cast thrives under Brian Kulick%27s stinging direction\n\nDuncan Sheik wrote new melodies for stark%2C lyrical musical numbers\n\nUSA TODAY rating%3A three and a half out of four stars\n\nNEW YORK — Today's reality TV producers have nothing on Bertolt Brecht.\n\nBack in the 1920s, the epic theater pioneer had the wacky idea that an audience might enjoy watching a man be stripped of his identity entirely and provided a new one, as others describe the process in all its ludicrous, wrenching detail.\n\nThat Brecht had a higher purpose in mind than public humiliation in no way diminishes the entertainment provided by the resulting dark comedy, A Man's a Man. And in Classic Stage Company's robust new revival (three and a half out of four stars), which opened off-Broadway Thursday, the work proves as deliciously farcical — and sobering — as ever.\n\nMan's much put-upon protagonist, Galy Gay, is an Irish dockworker described by another character, in Gerhard Nellhaus's accessibly witty translation, as \"a solid citizen\" whose \"head was rather thick.\" While trying to procure fish for the dinner his wife is making, Gay comes across a group of British soldiers stationed in colonial India, who decide to have a little fun with him — in part to save their own hides.\n\nOne of their troop members has gone AWOL at a rather inconvenient time, it seems, and the boys need to find a stand-in, fast. So after earning Gay's trust, they set about using increasingly callous methods of deception and disorientation to convince him that he is, in fact, their old comrade, Jeraiah Jip — and manage to enlist his help in burying, quite literally, this other fellow named Gay.\n\nIn the process, Gay — that is, Jip — becomes a more efficient and brutal fighter than the man born Jip ever was. And Brecht, while making us laugh at everyone's ridiculous behavior, also chillingly reinforces our own potential for psychological and moral malleability — and that this aptitude, however disturbing, can enhance our prospects for survival.\n\nThe all-male cast, under Brian Kulick's brisk, stinging direction, proves both adept at broad humor and capable of stunning us into thoughtfulness, as Brecht would have intended. Gibson Frazier's transformation as Gay is at once obvious and jarring, as will Stephen Spinella's artfully exaggerated menace as the sadistic sergeant known, for good reason, as Bloody Five.\n\nJason Babinsky, Martin Moran and Steven Skybell are all superb as the alternately jocular and savage soldiers, and the noted transgender performer Justin Vivian Bond is winningly cast as the worldly, pragmatic Widow Begbick. Bond's lusty but vaguely rueful woman of a certain age is prominent in several starkly lyrical musical numbers scored by Duncan Sheik, who is shaping up to be the most consistently engaging musical-theater melodist of his generation.\n\nSheik has a worthy collaborator here in scenic designer Paul Steinberg, an opera veteran who has furnished CSC's intimate venue with a minimalist but brightly imaginative set, dominated by green wood — the color of the jungle, and of money — and bright orange barrels that serve as multi-functional props, with actors rolling them and, to simulate gunfire, banging on them.\n\nThe most elaborate feature is an enormous, whimsical representation of Ganesha, a Hindu deity with the head of an elephant. That animal ends up playing a key role in the plot, which, we are assured early on, is \"incomprehensible.\" No matter: however bizarre or surreal the journey, A Man's a Man will leave you shaken, and invigorated.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2014/01/31"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/10/29/apple-tv-netflix-disney-all-streaming-services-ranked/2484448001/", "title": "Disney+ to Apple TV+ to Netflix: The major streaming services, ranked", "text": "Welcome to the era of the Streaming Wars.\n\nHollywood is getting more crowded than ever as two new online streaming services, HBO Max and Peacock, prepare to join the digital fight for your eyeballs and money in 2020.\n\nThe new TV landscape can be a daunting avalanche of choices, and subscribing to every new service can easily end up costing more than that cable bill you already cut. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon still dominate the streaming world, but Disney+ and Apple TV+ jumped into the fray last fall. And don't forget smaller services like CBS All Access, Shudder and Acorn TV trying to find their place in the mix.\n\nBut not all streaming services are created equal. Before you subscribe to the latest, consider our list of the major services, ranked from best to worst. We've included only services not available as a cable channel (sorry, HBO Now), and those streaming in 2020.\n\n1. Hulu\n\nCost: $5.99/month with ads; $11.99/month commercial-free\n\nOriginals: A mix of award-winning high profile dramas (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Act”), tiny, quirky and acclaimed comedies (“PEN15,” “Shrill”), several prestige-chasing \"FX on Hulu\" originals (\"Devs,\" \"Mrs. America\" with Cate Blanchett) and occasional theatrical or streaming-only films (“Little Monsters,” “Fyre Fraud”).\n\nLibrary: Includes currently airing TV shows on ABC, NBC and Fox (“The Masked Singer,” “Stumptown”) paired with archival series (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Designing Women,” “Seinfeld,” everything that ever aired on FX) and films (“Boyz n the Hood”).\n\nKid-friendly? A robust kids' section has mostly older shows (“Sailor Moon,” “Doug”) but a few originals like “The Bravest Knight.”\n\nHulu tops our list because it's a broadly appealing service that offers plenty of genres and styles without scraping the bottom of the barrel for new content. The ability to watch current broadcast shows in-season is a huge advantage. And Hulu has the best selection of archival TV series with a solid showing of films, too (it recently acquired streaming rights to this year's best picture winner \"Parasite,\" debuting on Hulu April 8). Its originals could be better (although it has a great 2020 with \"High Fidelity\" and \"Little Fires Everywhere\"), but the service has wisely chosen not to overload us with shoddy new programming, a mistake its biggest competitor, Netflix, has unfortunately made.\n\nIn the past few months, Hulu’s value has grown now that Disney effectively owns the service. A new \"FX on Hulu\" hub now offers in-season streaming of FX series (don't sleep on \"Breeders\") and the premiere of \"FX on Hulu\" originals like \"Devs,\" which won't air on cable. More adult Marvel content will likely gravitate here as Disney+ hones its \"family friendly\" brand.\n\n2. Netflix\n\nCost: $8.99/month to watch on one screen at once, $12.99/month to watch on two screens or $15.99/month to watch on four screens in Ultra HD.\n\nOriginals: Has the largest crop of originals, which means the biggest mix in quality as well. Notables include “Stranger Things,” “The Witcher” and “The Crown,” in addition to Oscar-bait movies like Martin Scorsese's “The Irishman.” Recently trash-reality TV shows like \"Love is Blind\" and \"The Circle\" have become prominent on the service.\n\nLibrary: Shrinking every year. Although some stalwarts remain (“Breaking Bad,” “Dexter,” “Supernatural”), Netflix is investing in originals, not in holding onto the rights for legacy series and films. (\"Friends\" is already gone, and \"The Office\" and \"Parks and Recreation\" will shift to Comcast's Peacock by 2021 for U.S. subscribers).\n\nKid-friendly? Netflix’s kids’ section is massive, populated mostly with dozens of originals (A “Boss Baby” series, a “Green Eggs and Ham” adaptation) and some library content (“Pokemon\").\n\nNetflix is synonymous with the idea of streaming content, but while it pioneered the format, it hasn’t perfected it. The service has a huge number of films and TV shows to choose from, but that library isn’t as good as it once was. Netflix’s biggest flaw is that it is abandoning archival content in favor of an ever-more-mediocre slate of originals across all genres of TV and film.\n\nA handful of these series are brilliant (“The Crown,” “BoJack Horseman”); others are decent (“Queer Eye”); but most are poor facsimiles of better TV (“Ozark,” “Fuller House”). In the past few months it has better commanded the zeitgeist with buzzy series like \"Witcher\" and \"Love is Blind\" (despite questionable quality). Original movies have a distinct “TV movie” vibe. Still, Netflix is a really valuable service and the biggest name in the game, only slightly edged out by Hulu.\n\n3. Amazon Prime Video\n\nCost: $12.99/month, but comes with free two-day shipping\n\nOriginals: \"Jack Ryan,\" \"Bosch,\" \"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\" and lots of small, awards-friendly fare, a lineup that's changing rapidly as the company embraces genre shows like an upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series.\n\nLibrary: A wide assortment that most notably includes Masterpiece dramas(“Downton Abbey”), mid-2000s procedurals (“The Closer,” “Bones”), USA Network shows (“Mr. Robot,” “Suits\") and some older HBO programming.\n\nKid-friendly? Yes, Amazon includes originals like “Kung Fu Panda” and Nickelodeon series like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Dora the Explorer.”\n\nAmazon’s TV output is perfectly acceptable, especially if you like quaint British television and series your grandparents will enjoy. The streamer excels at comedies (Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Fleabag”) and dad shows (\"Jack Ryan,\" \"Bosch,\" \"Patriot\") and has an impressive selection of British TV (“Downton Abbey,” \"Grantchester\"). Its library of old series and originals is not as big as Hulu and Netflix, but it does have Oscar-nominated and acclaimed films (\"The Big Sick\" and \"Midsommar\").\n\nYour money goes further here than with any other service, because it pays for two-day shipping with all the TV as a bonus, but it still offers a higher proportion of niche programming than its rivals. Unlike Netflix or Hulu, it can’t replace your cable subscription all on its own, but its lineup is greatly expanding. Adaptations of big books like \"The Power,\" \"Wheel of Time\" and a very expensive version of “Rings\" are all in the works.\n\n3. Disney+\n\nCost: $6.99/month or $69.99/year (available Nov. 12)\n\nOriginals: The first Star Wars live-action series (“The Mandalorian”), teen comedy “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “Toy Story” spinoff “Forky Asks a Question” and a slew of nonfiction series. More Star Wars and Marvel series are promised this year and beyond.\n\nLibrary: The Disney Vault has opened, and classics (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs\") and duds (“The Shaggy D.A.”) alike will flood the service, along with recent blockbusters (“Avengers: Endgame”) from the studio. Some titles inherited from the merger with 20th Century Fox (“The Simpsons”) also are available.\n\nKid-friendly? Extremely. All content on the service is family friendly to some degree, to fit with the Disney brand.\n\nThe biggest threat to existing services comes from the biggest conglomerate in Hollywood. Disney is flexing its considerable muscle by offering its classic films paired with original series from its biggest brands: Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel. Its huge library is its biggest advantage, as is the ability to reboot and revive. But the biggest disadvantage is the lack of diversity in programming.\n\nAfter \"Mandalorian,\" most of the original series that have premiered so far have been for kids or wholesome reality (or both). The service has no plans for mature programming or mindless reality TV, both of which have their time and place. If you have kids, the value of the service goes up exponentially, but for those of us not trying to entertain tykes, other streamers have more to choose from.\n\n5. CBS All Access\n\nCost: $5.99/month with commercials, $9.99/month without\n\nOriginals: “Star Trek: Discovery,” “The Good Fight,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Why Women Kill,” \"Star Trek: Picard\"\n\nLibrary: Current (and recent) CBS series, classics (“I Love Lucy”) and movies (“Rocky”).\n\nKid-friendly? Some library content like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” but nothing for preschoolers and no originals.\n\nDon’t knock the Eye’s streaming service until you’ve tried it. It's a little on the expensive side for the number of originals, but its streaming shows have a better batting average when it comes to quality (“The Good Fight” is one of the best shows on TV, and \"Picard\" is the rare nostalgia play that is more than just fan service). In addition to CBS shows, its library includes a treasure trove of classic films and TV, such as “Happy Days” and “The Brady Bunch.” Parent ViacomCBS has announced plans to eventually combine All Access with programming from its cable channels (MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central) and Paramount film library. But for the moment, it's still limited in scope, so seeing some episodes of a “Trek” series a few times a year may not be worth the expense.\n\n6. Apple TV+\n\nCost: $4.99/month; free for one year with purchase of an Apple product (available Nov. 1)\n\nOriginals: “The Morning Show,” “See,” “For All Mankind,” “Dickinson,” “Little America,” \"Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet,\" an \"Amazing Stories\" remake and festival-style films like \"Hala.\"\n\nLibrary: None\n\nKid friendly? Some kids's shows including \"Snoopy in Space\" and \"Sesame Street\"-like \"Helpsters.\"\n\nDespite its low price tag, Apple has a distinct disadvantage in value because it has no back library of classic shows or films. You could burn through their entire new catalog in a few weeks, even thought it is slowly building. Its highest profile series, like Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon soap “The Morning Show,” have been its most mediocre. It has a few standouts, like \"Little America\" from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and \"Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet\" from the \"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia\" guys. But is it worth subscribing for just two or three guaranteed-good shows? Probably not.\n\nRanking soon: HBO Max and Peacock\n\nAlthough we haven't been able to get hands (or, rather, remotes) on 2020's two big streaming service upstarts yet, both companies have made several announcements about what kind of programming to expect.\n\nHere are the basics on each:\n\nHBO Max: Set for a debut in May, the streaming service from WarnerMedia is more than just the home of \"Friends\" and a \"Friends\" reunion (although they certainly aren't shy about promoting that). The service will include HBO content, sitcom reruns like \"The Big Bang Theory\" and \"South Park,\" dramas like modern \"Doctor Who\" and originals that include new DC Comics superhero series and an \"Apprentice\"-like reality series starring Bethenny Frankel. So far it has the highest monthly price: $14.99, roughly the same as HBO's cable subscribers now pay..\n\nPeacock: Launching in Comcast homes April 15 (and nationally July 15), NBCUniversal's service will include three price tiers, \"Law & Order: SVU\" and \"Saturday Night Live,\" and \"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\" and \"Late Night with Seth Meyers\" a few hours before the late-night talk shows air on NBC. Originals include remakes of \"Battlestar Galactica,\" from producer Sam Esmail (\"Mr. Robot\"), teen series \"Saved By the Bell\" and \"Punky Brewster;\" and an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's \"Brave New World,\" starring Demi Moore. Universal Studios' film classics also will become part of the service.\n\nHonorable mentions: AcornTV, Britbox, Shudder, YouTube and Facebook Watch\n\nA few other, much smaller streaming services are vying for your wallet. AcornTV and BritBox are for serious Anglophiles (Acorn has more mysteries, Britbox has all of classic \"Doctor Who\"). Shudder is devoted to horror. Facebook Watch and YouTube are a mix of user-created and professional content. Facebook Watch has one good original series (\"Sorry for Your Loss\" starring Elisabeth Olsen, which they canceled); so does YouTube (\"Karate Kid\" sequel \"Cobra Kai\"). Facebook Watch is free if you have time for it, and YouTube also has a free tier, with ads.\n\nContributing: Gary Levin and Bill Keveney", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/10/29"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2012/12/28/entertainment-deaths-2012/1796763/", "title": "Passages in 2012: Notable deaths in entertainment", "text": "USA TODAY\n\nBob Anderson, 89, Olympic fencer and movie sword master who appeared in some of film's most famous dueling scenes — though few viewers knew it. His first film work was coaching Errol Flynn on The Master of Ballantrae in 1952. Anderson later donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought lightsaber battles in two of the three original Star Wars films. Few knew until Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, spilled the beans in 1983. \"It was always supposed to be a secret,\" Hamill said, \"but I finally told (director) George (Lucas) I didn't think it was fair.\" Anderson was one of the industry's most sought-after stunt performers, working in From Russia With Love, The Princess Bride, The Mask of Zorro, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and more. Cause not given, Jan. 1.\n\nGerryAnderson, 83, creator of kids' action shows Thunderbirds, Supercar and Fireball XL5, all featuring marionettes in the 1960s. \"Thunderbirds are Go!\" became something of a catchphrase. Later, he produced the live-action Space 1999. In his sleep, Dec. 26.\n\nBill Asher, 90, director and producer behind the TV classics I Love Lucy and Bewitched. He directed Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for 100 of the show's 181 episodes. He also produced and directed The Patty Duke Show and Bewitched, which starred his then-wife, Elizabeth Montgomery. Montgomery and Asher had three children together. Complications from Alzheimer's disease, July 16.\n\nRobert Temple Ayres, 98, set illustrator who created the map that went up in flames during the opening of Bonanza. Officially called \"Map to Illustrate the Ponderosa in Nevada,\" it was conjured up just so it could burst into flames on television screens while the theme music played. Heart failure, Feb. 25.\n\nErnest Borgnine, 95, the beefy, gap-toothed McHale's Navy star who had an Oscar-winning résumé and 200 film credits but seemed more of an Everyman. During a 60-year career, he worked with Helen Hayes on Broadway, with Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy in film, and, for a much younger generation, as a voice actor in SpongeBob SquarePants on TV. Natural causes, July 8.\n\nDick Clark, 82: With his toothpaste-ad smile and a microphone ready, Clark was a pop culture fixture for decades. From American Bandstand host to New Year's Eve stalwart, Clark was an irrepressible entrepreneur who built an empire for himself in the entertainment industry. Heart attack, April 18.\n\nDon Cornelius, 75: Armed with sharp suits and a mesmerizing voice, in 1970 he launched the song-and-dance TV show Soul Train. With his smooth baritone, Cornelius introduced hundreds of stars to the nation's TV audience, including James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The O'Jays and Barry White. Suicide, Feb. 1.\n\nRichard Dawson, 79, British-born actor familiar to millions of Americans through such TV sitcoms as Hogan's Heroes and the game show Family Feud. Esophageal cancer, June 2.\n\nPhyllis Diller, 95, comedian who crashed the male stand-up comedy circuit to become an icon in the field. She didn't begin her comedy career until she was 37, but quickly made her mark and became a mainstay on television and in nightclubs with her wild wigs and cackling laugh. In her sleep, Aug. 20\n\nMichael Clarke Duncan, 54, imposing 6-foot-5, 315-pound, bass-voiced actor who shot to fame for playing a death row inmate opposite guard Tom Hanks in the 1999 drama The Green Mile. The murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G., whom Duncan had been hired to protect, led him to pursue acting full time in his 30s. Complications from a heart attack, Sept. 3.\n\nCharles Durning, 89, familiar character actor who played cops and politicians and lusted after a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. Survived D-Day with a Purple Heart and Silver Star. No cause given, Dec. 24.\n\nJake Eberts, 71, Canadian independent producer and founder of Britain's Goldcrest Films, which revived the British cinema industry in the 1980s with a string of Oscar-winning movies, including Gandhi and Chariots of Fire. Eberts financed or produced more than 50 films, which also included Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves and The Killing Fields. Uveal melanoma, Sept. 6.\n\nNora Ephron, 71, one of cinema's most successful female filmmakers, she reinvented the banter-rich romantic comedies of the '30s and '40s for the modern era with hits as 1993's Sleepless in Seattle and 1998's You've Got Mail. Ephron also leaves behind a legacy of novels, plays and collections of humorous essays that drew upon her own experience. Acute myeloid leukemia, June 26.\n\nChad Everett, 76, blue-eyed star of the 1970s TV series Medical Center who went on to appear in films and TV shows such as Mulholland Drive and Melrose Place. Everett played sensitive doctor Joe Gannon on Medical Center. The role earned him two Golden Globes and an Emmy nomination. He also guest-starred on The Love Boat, Without a Trace and Murder, She Wrote. Lung cancer, July 24.\n\nJames Farentino, 73, actor who appeared in dozens of movies and television shows. Farentino starred alongside Kirk Douglas in 1980's The Final Countdown. He also starred opposite Patty Duke in 1969's Me, Natalie. Farentino had recurring roles on Dynasty, Melrose Place, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers and ER, playing the estranged father of George Clooney's character. Heart failure, Jan. 24.\n\nJonathan Frid, 87, Canadian-born actor best known for playing Barnabas Collins in the 1960s original vampire soap opera Dark Shadows. The role made him a commercial success and kept him busy throughout his career with reunions, fan events and dramatic readings. Natural causes, April 14.\n\nBen Gazzara, 81, who starred in films, on TV and on Broadway in the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Hatful of Rain, which earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations. He earned TV stardom in Run for Your Life and was twice nominated for Emmysduring the show's three-year run. Cancer, Feb. 3.\n\nAndy Griffith, 86: The country boy a country came to love in his role as small-town Southern sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. Griffith embodied one of America's favorite archetypes: the seeming country bumpkin who's actually smarter than anyone around. He got his big break in 1955 in No Time for Sergeants, a TV play that became a Broadway hit. His big-screen debut came in 1957 in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd. He later starred in the TV courtroom drama Matlock. Heart attack, July 3.\n\nLarry Hagman, 81: Actor forever remembered as the gleefully conniving J.R. Ewing from the 1980s TV series Dallas. When Dallas ended in 1991 after 13 years, J.R. lived on, associated forever in popular imagination with Hagman. And when TNT said it was reviving the series last year, Hagman agreed to reprise his role. His mother was stage legend Mary Martin, and his role as an astronaut in the Sixties' I Dream of Jeannie first made him a household name. Cancer, Nov. 23.\n\nSherman Hemsley, 74: In 1973, All in the Family patriarch Archie Bunker met his match in George Jefferson, every bit his equal when it came to being bigoted, rude and utterly entertaining. That was thanks to the deft comic touch of Broadway and TV veteran Hemsley. In 1975, Jefferson and his wife \"Weezy\" (Isabel Sanford) \"moved on up to the East Side\" in their spinoff, The Jeffersons. The show ran for 11 seasons and garnered Hemsley an Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy. Complications from lung cancer, July 24.\n\nCeleste Holm, 95, bright-eyed blonde who soared to Broadway fame as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! and won a supporting actress Oscar for Gentlemen's Agreement. She also played Bette Davis' best friend in All About Eve. Natural causes, July 15.\n\nDavid Kelly, 82, Irish character actor who played Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and motorcycled naked in Waking Ned Devine. Short illness, Feb. 12.\n\nJack Klugman, 90, the guy-next-door actor who played a meek juror in 12 Angry Men, an idealistic medical examiner in Quincy, M.E., and, most unforgettably, the sloppy Oscar to Tony Randall's Felix in The Odd Couple. No cause given, Dec. 24.\n\nGeorge Lindsey, 83, most widely known for playing Goober Pyle on the iconic television series The Andy Griffith Show, also had parts in numerous films, judged the Miss USA pageant for years and was a Hee Haw cast member for years. Brief illness, May 6.\n\nHerbert Lom, 95, Czech-born actor best known as Inspector Clouseau's long-suffering boss in the comic Pink Panther movies. Lom appeared in more than 100 films, including Spartacus and El Cid. But he was most famous for playing Charles Dreyfus, the increasingly unhinged boss to Peter Sellers' befuddled detective Clouseau. The two actors starred together starting in A Shot in the Dark in 1964 until Sellers' death in 1980, and Lom continued in the series until Son of the Pink Panther in 1993. In his sleep, Sept. 27.\n\nChris Marker, 91, influential French filmmaker whose career spanned six decades. Marker's large body of work includes the 1962 classic La Jetée (The Jetty), an award-winning post-apocalyptic movie often ranked among the best time-travel films ever made. Marker was also known for the documentary style seen in his other famous work, 1983's experimental essay-film, Sunless. Cause not given, July 29.\n\nRalph McQuarrie, 82, artist who developed the look of the first Star Wars trilogy's signature characters, sets and spaceships. McQuarrie's original concepts included Darth Vader, C-3P0 and R2-D2. He also created the look of the Stormtroopers and the lightsaber. Parkinson's disease, March 3.\n\nJerry Nelson, 78, puppeteer best known for giving voice to Count von Count, the silly but instructional vampire mathematician on Sesame Street. After joining Sesame Street during its second season in 1970, Nelson brought to life such characters as Mr. Snuffleupagus and detective Sherlock Hemlock. Nelson retired from physical puppeteering in 2004 but continued to voice Muppets. Emphysema, Aug. 23.\n\nMark O'Donnell, 58, who won a Tony Award in 2003 as co-author of the book for the Broadway musical Hairspray and was nominated for another in 2008 for Cry-Baby. His other plays include That's It, Folks!, Fables for Friends and Tots in Tinseltown. Cause not given, Aug. 6.\n\nRon Palillo, 63, actor who played class clown Arnold Horshack on the 1970s television comedy Welcome Back, Kotter. Palillo's \"Oooh! Oooh!'' appeals for attention became his character's catchphrase. Heart attack, Aug. 14.\n\nFrank Pierson, 87, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Dog Day Afternoon and Cool Hand Luke. Perhaps Pierson's most famous line was for Cool Hand Luke: \"What we've got here is failure to communicate.\" He also wrote and directed 1976's A Star Is Born. Pierson served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 2001 to 2005 and served as governor of its writers branch for 17 years. Natural causes, July 22.\n\nAnn Rutherford, 94, demure brunet actress who played the sweetheart in the Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in Gone With the Wind. It was said she won the part of Carreen in Gone With the Wind because Judy Garland was filming The Wizard of Oz. Among her other films: Whistling in the Dark and its two sequels, Orchestra Wives and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Rutherford concurred with other GWTW stars that no matter what else they had done, \"our obituary will say we were in Gone With the Wind, and we'll be proud of it.\" Heart problems, June 11.\n\nVidal Sassoon, 84, arguably the world's first celebrity snipper, his name became synonymous with cutting-edge cuts — wash-and-go wedges, bobs and other crops — and, later, slapped on shampoo bottles, a staple of suburban women's grooming regimens. Natural causes, May 9.\n\nPierre Schoendoerffer, 83, Oscar-winning French filmmaker who was held prisoner in Indochina and chronicled the pain of war on-screen and on the page. He won an Academy Award in 1968 for his documentary The Anderson Platoon, which was filmed in Vietnam. Cause not given, March 14.\n\nTony Scott, 68, British-born director and producer who lived his professional life in the fast lane, directing heart-pounding hits such as Top Gun,Days of Thunder and Unstoppable. Scott, known for his trademark red baseball cap, was one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood because of his repeated success at the box office. Suicide, Aug. 19.\n\nBob Stewart, 91, television producer who created such popular game shows as To Tell the Truth, The $10,000 Pyramid and The Price Is Right. In 1956, Stewart met with Mark Goodson of Goodson-Todman Productions, the company that came up with the prototype for the TV game show. Goodson initially rejected Stewart's first idea, Three of a Kind, which he described as a show featuring three contestants claiming to be the same person and a panel trying to ferret out the truth. When Goodson asked if he had anything else, Stewart mentioned The Auctioneer, which was based on guessing the cost of consumer products. On the spot, Goodson green-lighted the second pitch, which became The Price Is Right. It made its debut on NBC in 1956. Three of a Kind became To Tell the Truth, which also premiered in 1956, on CBS. Around 1960, Stewart helped create a third hit for Goodson-Todman, Password. But in 1964, Stewart formed his own production company and had his greatest success with The $10,000 Pyramid. It first appeared in 1973. The Pyramid productions received nine Emmy Awards as best game show. Natural causes, May 4.\n\nJenny Tomasin, 73, British actress known as the clumsy, disheveled, Valentino-obsessed kitchen maid Ruby Finch in Upstairs, Downstairs. Hypertensive heart disease, Jan. 3.\n\nGinny Tyler, 86, former Disney head Mouseketeer and voice actress. When episodes of television's The Mickey Mouse Club were repackaged for syndication in 1963, Tyler became the head Mouseketeer, who hosted new segments of the TV show that were woven around the old. Tyler was also the voice on the records Bambi and Babes in Toyland and the voice of Polynesia the Parrot in Dr. Dolittle. She sang the parts of barnyard animals in Mary Poppins. Natural causes, July 13.\n\nWilliam Windom, 88, who won an Emmy Award for his role as John Monroe in the 1969 TV comedy series My World and Welcome to It. He went on to score guest appearances on several popular shows, including Twilight Zone and Star Trek, and appeared on more than 50 segments of Murder, She Wrote. He also played the part of the prosecuting attorney in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. Congestive heart failure, Aug. 16.\n\nIsuzu Yamada, 95, one of Japan's most formidable and revered actresses who is perhaps best remembered as the treacherous wife of a warlord in Throne of Blood. Yamada appeared in more than 120 film and television roles, in addition to her extensive theater career. She rose to movie stardom in the mid-1930s playing a series of \"fallen women\" under the director Kenji Mizoguchi, whose films explored societal hypocrisies toward women. Multiple organ failure, July 9.\n\nRichard Zanuck, 77, film producer who won the best-picture Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy and was involved in such blockbuster films as Jaws and The Sting after his father, Hollywood mogul Darryl Zanuck, fired him from 20th Century Fox. Heart attack, July 13.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2012/12/28"}, {"url": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/08/26/summer-2019-tv-winners-bachelorette-and-losers-big-little-lies/2059412001/", "title": "Summer 2019 TV winners ('Bachelorette') and losers ('Big Little Lies')", "text": "August is coming to a sad, humid close, which means it's almost time to say hello to shiny new fall TV series and returning favorites and goodbye to the oddballs that populate our screens in summer.\n\nSummer TV is always a mixed bag of great series and truly terrible ones. Especially on broadcast TV, where viewers usually see experimental or light programming that can either be adorably amusing or truly idiotic. This year was no exception, and there were some distinct hits – both in ratings and quality – and some true misses.\n\nWe break down the shows and personalities that came out on top, and those who would rather forget summer 2019 ever happened.\n\nWinner: 'The Bachelorette'\n\nAdding intrigue and relevance to a franchise as old as \"The Bachelor\" is nearly impossible, but the allure of Hannah Brown (who will soon take her talents to \"Dancing with the Stars\"), helped ABC make the 15th season of \"Bachelorette\" vital viewing. Not only did the series manage to beat out summer juggernaut \"America's Got Talent\" among young adults to rank as summer's No. 1 show, it also delivered great reality television and managed to reclaim its status as a buzzy, zeitgeist hit. After Tyler, Jed and all the deep talks and drama, can anyone even remember why fans wanted Hannah G. to be the Bachelorette?\n\nLoser: 'Love Island' and 'Paradise Hotel'\n\nThere was less love for CBS's version of British import \"Love Island\" and Fox's revival of \"Paradise Hotel.\" Although it was a compelling remake of the U.K. sensation, \"Island\" had meager viewership for its nightly episodes (CBS still renewed it). \"Hotel\" was an exploitative bore upon arrival and didn't fare much better.\n\nWinner: Nostalgia done right\n\nPop culture's obsession with nostalgia shows no signs of fading, but bringing back beloved TV shows has to be done in the right manner to satisfy fans and newcomers alike. With three very different story approaches, Hulu's \"Veronica Mars,\" Fox's \"BH90210\" and Netflix's \"Stranger Things\" capitalized on our cravings for the familiar, but didn't pander or talk down to viewers. \"Mars\" had a good story to tell about its protagonist (Kristen Bell) as an adult, \"BH\" went for a cute, meta and self-effacing concept and \"Stranger\" changed its winning formula and slid a few new 1980s references into the mix.\n\nLoser: Pointless second seasons\n\nAlthough revivals of \"Mars\" and \"90210\" worked, that doesn't mean every successful or beloved show needs a comeback. The second season of HBO's Emmy-winning \"Big Little Lies,\" which was initially planned as a one-time miniseries, proved a near-total failure. Despite adding Meryl Streep, the new chapter couldn't find a story that matched the incisive and beautiful first series. Worse, its disastrous finale episode finished on an incredibly sour note.\n\nWinner: Depressing miniseries about Russian politics\n\nWho knew that a low-profile miniseries about the world's worst nuclear disaster would become such a breakout hit? \"Chernobyl,\" HBO's dramatization of the nuclear power station meltdown in Soviet Ukraine in the 1980s, turned dry scientific discussions into riveting TV, and powerfully gave voice to victims of a terrible tragedy. The series was beloved by critics, scored 19 Emmy nominations and ranked as the most beloved show on the popular film and TV site IMDb.\n\nLoser: Depressing miniseries about American politics\n\nDespite its inflammatory subject matter and A-list cast (including Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane and Naomi Watts), Showtime's Roger Ailes miniseries \"The Loudest Voice\" failed to connect. The series kicked off with soft ratings on Showtime, and the Fox News founder's origin story never sparked nearly as much conversation as the cable news network itself could.\n\nWinner: Weird reality shows you can understand\n\nWho knew mini-golf could be so entertaining, even when you're not putting? ABC's Stephen Curry-produced \"Holey Moley\" was a delightful surprise this summer. It was big, weird and self-aware, with enough comedy and \"Wipeout\"-style mini-golf antics to be just the kind of summer fun viewers want. ABC also had good luck with its revival of the classic game show \"Press Your Luck,\" hosted by Elizabeth Banks, which had the gloriously cheesy set and animated \"Whammy\" of the 1970s original, making it a quirky, nostalgic treat.\n\nLoser: Weird reality shows you can't understand\n\nWhat just happened on \"What Just Happened?!!\"? Fox's gamble on a fake after-show for a fake genre series certainly didn't work out. Despite Fred Savage's best comedic efforts, the series bombed.\n\nWinner and loser: 'Veep'\n\nHBO's political comedy garnered nine Emmy nominations for its final season, and it will probably walk away with (at least) one last win for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Despite the love from the TV Academy, the last season of the series was disappointing. Perhaps because American politics are stranger than the antics \"Veep\" portrays, Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus) and the rest didn't pack the same satirical punch in their last outing.\n\nWinner (and probable gracious loser): Phoebe Waller-Bridge\n\nThe star, writer and creator of Amazon's \"Fleabag\" and creator of BBC America's \"Killing Eve\" was relatively unknown in Hollywood a few years ago, but now Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a multiple Emmy nominee working on the new James Bond film. Her fantastic summer included the exquisite second (and sadly final, for now) season of \"Fleabag\" in May and Emmy nominations for acting, writing and producing the series, and producing \"Eve.\" In a crowded Emmy field, the nominations might have to suffice, but the future looks bright for Waller-Bridge, and that's a good thing for those of us who love TV.", "authors": [], "publish_date": "2019/08/26"}]}
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