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###CLAIM: the children were devastated by the accident because they were waiting to get a ride on a stopped-to-deal-with problem.
###DOCS: A five-year-old boy was among 30 to be rescued after an 85-year-old rollercoaster broke down at a popular tourist hotspot. The wooden, twin-track Grand National ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, built in 1935, broke down at midday - leaving thrill seekers stranded more than 50 feet above ground. Staff at the popular attraction had to climb up the ride, which stands 62ft high, to escort nervous adrenaline junkies back to the ground. The wooden, twin-track Grand National ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (above) built in 1935, broke down at midday - leaving thrill seekers stranded more than 50 feet above groundSteve Ely, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, tweeted a photo of the stuck ride and criticised the Pleasure BeachAt about the same time, the UK's tallest rollercoaster at the same amusement park, Big One, also suffered a temporary stoppage, but riders were able to remain seated and the ride continued five minutes later. Steve Ely, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on the Grand National ride with his two children, tweeted a photo of the ride stuck at the top of an incline on the rollercoaster. He also criticised the Pleasure Beach and said all customers were given in compensation was a bottle of water and tickets that could not be used. An eyewitness waiting to get on the ride said his children were 'devastated' as the ride was stopped while the problem was dealt with. A spokesman for Blackpool Pleasure Beach said: 'At 11.55 am on Tuesday June 1 a stoppage occurred on the lift hill of the Grand National. Staff at the popular attraction had to climb up the ride, which stands 62ft high, to escort nervous adrenaline junkies back to the ground'All riders were safely escorted down the lift hill, and the ride was checked and re-opened just before 1pm. 'Shortly afterwards there was a very brief stoppage on the Big One lift hill, at 50ft, riders remained seated and the ride continued after five minutes.' Passengers were seen carefully being escorted down The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in April after the ride broke down on its way to the track's 200ft peakIn April, riders on the UK's tallest rollercoaster had to be escorted down after the amusement attraction broke down. Adrenaline junkies were left stranded at the highest point of the 213ft Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on Sunday, April 25. Video taken from the park below shows park staff as they were forced to scale the rollercoaster before tentatively guiding nervous visitors to safety by making them walk down. | 0 |
###CLAIM: tedros, adhanom and ghebreyesus said in a video address at the opening of the three-day berlin summit of the world health organization (who) that the only way to recover from pandemic is to work together and ensure that poorer countries have fair access to vaccine.
###DOCS: 25 Oct 2020 18.21 EDT Slovakias pilot testing in coronavirus hotspots attracted tens of thousands people over the weekend, showing an infection rate of 3.87%, government data showed on Sunday. The government plans to widen the scope to the whole country next weekend and hopes the antigen tests, along with a partial lockdown, can help curbing a sharp rise in infections, Reuters reports. Slovakias testing campaign to cover most of its population and its results will likely draw the attention of other countries, including the neighbouring Czech Republic, which has been struggling with Europes fastest surge of the epidemic. People keep a safe distance as they wait at a COVID-19 testing site as the spread of coronavirus continues, in Nizna, Slovakia, on 23 October, 2020. Photograph: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters As of 5pm local time on Sunday, health workers had done 136,904 tests with 5,298 positive results, the governments website showed. The tests were administered between Friday and Sunday at around 235 sites in four northern regions that are home to about 180,000 people. In some locations, many people even showed up who live outside the designated regions, local media reported. Thanks to the effort of all the involved staff and the responsibility of people who participated, the pilot phase of the country-wide testing has proven successful, prime minister Igor Matovics party OLANO said. The government offered an incentive to take part in the tests, offering less stringent rules to those with negative results, while those not participating face a stricter lockdown regime including a ban on commuting to work. President Zuzana Caputova has questioned the idea of sanctions slapped on those not participating in tests declared as voluntary. In the regular tests done since the pandemic started, Slovakia reported a record 3,042 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 43,843. 25 Oct 2020 17.57 EDT Australias coronavirus hot spot of Victoria on Monday reported zero cases of the new coronavirus for the first time since June, a day after the state delayed the easing of restrictions because of a fresh outbreak in Melbournes northern suburbs. The 5 million residents of Melbourne, Victorias state capital, have been placed under a hard lockdown since July to contain the spread of the virus, shutting down businesses and restricting peoples movements. The city was just emerging from a second wave after the lockdown helped bring down daily cases to single digits in recent days from a peak of 700 in early August. Men queue up for a haircut in Rathdowne St Carlton, after hairdressers are allowed to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown. Coronavirus outbreak, Melbourne, Australia, on 25 October 2020. Photograph: Chris Putnam/REX/Shutterstock But clusters in five suburbs had sparked fears of a new outbreak. Australia has so far recorded just over 27,500 coronavirus infections, far fewer than many other developed countries. Victoria, which accounts for more than 90% of the 905 deaths nationally, did not record any new deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours. 25 Oct 2020 17.10 EDT Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov said on Sunday he had a general malaise after testing positive for coronavirus and would stay at home for now for any treatment, as recommended by his doctors. The government press office said Borissov was able to carry out his duties and was in constant contact with his ministers as the Balkan country grapples with a spike in new coronavirus infections and daily anti-government protests since July, Reuters reports. Borissov had self-isolated late on Friday after he was informed that a deputy minister who he had been in contact with five days ago had tested positive. Health authorities lifted Borissovs quarantine late on Saturday after two negative results from coronavirus tests, but then he tested positive on Sunday. After two PCR tests, as of today I am positive with Covid-19, the 61-year-old said on Facebook. I have a general malaise. For the moment, on the doctors discretion, I remain on home treatment.It was not immediately clear if he was already receiving a specific treatment. He said he had postponed all meetings and planned public appearances for the coming days. In a response to wishes for a speedy recovery from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter, Borissov wrote back: Thank you. I hope to recover soon. And in the meantime I will strictly follow the orders of the health authorities.In this file photo taken on 24 April, 2018 prime minister of Bulgaria Boiko Borisov addresses a press conference. Photograph: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty ImagesUpdated at 18.22 EDT25 Oct 2020 16.40 EDT A further 76 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 31,819, NHS England said on Sunday. Patients were aged between 43 and 100. All except three, aged between 71 and 83, had known underlying health conditions. The deaths occurred between 28 August 28 and 24 October, with the majority being on or after 21 October, NHS England said. One other death was reported with no positive Covid-19 test result. 25 Oct 2020 15.34 EDT WHO chief warns against "vaccine nationalism" The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday called for global solidarity in the rollout of any future coronavirus vaccine, as the number of cases soared across the world. In a video address at the opening of the three-day World Health Summit in Berlin, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the only way to recover from the pandemic was together and by making sure poorer countries had fair access to a vaccine. It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first but if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively. And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries, he said. Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it. Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, which has killed over 1.1 million people globally. Several dozen vaccine candidates are currently being tested in clinical trials, ten of which are in the most advanced phase 3 stage involving tens of thousands of volunteers, AFP reports. The European Union, the US, Britain, Japan and a slew of other nations have already placed large orders with the companies involved in developing the most promising vaccines. But concerns are growing that countries with smaller wallets could be left at the back of the queue. The WHO has launched an international scheme known as Covax to help ensure equitable access to jabs, but it has struggled to raise the funds needed. 25 Oct 2020 14.52 EDT France sees new record as daily infections climb over 50,000 mark France registered 52,010 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, following a record 45,422 on Saturday, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It also said that 116 people had died from coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours, compared to from 137 on Saturday, taking the total confirmed death toll to 34,761. The new cases brought the total to 1,138,507, putting France now ahead of Argentina and Spain to become the country with the worlds fifth highest number of cases, after the US, India, Brazil and Russia. Commuters wearing face masks walk on the platform, of a Paris subway, Sunday, 25 October, 2020. A curfew, intended to curb the spiraling spread of the coronavirus, has been imposed in many regions of France including Paris and its suburbs. Photograph: Lewis Joly/APUpdated at 15.08 EDT25 Oct 2020 14.47 EDT Turkish Airlines will be putting foreign national pilots on unpaid leave to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its finances, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. Turkeys national carrier informed some of its foreign crew staff by email that they are to go on leave from 1 November, and that the decision would be reviewed after six months. It wasnt immediately clear how many pilots will be affected, and whether Turkish nationals would escape the cost saving measure. A spokesman for Turk Hava Yollari AO, as the airline is officially known, declined to comment. The company reported a loss of 2.23bn liras ($280m) in the second quarter, with passenger numbers down by almost two thirds this year. A Turkish Airlines office is empty after Saudi Arabias retail stores urged customers to boycott Turkish products, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 18 October, 2020. Photograph: Ahmed Yosri/Reuters25 Oct 2020 14.38 EDT Israel will begin human trials for a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by a research institute overseen by the Defence Ministry on 1 November after receiving regulatory approval. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) began animal trials for its BriLife vaccine in March. The health ministry and an oversight committee have now given the green light to take it to the next stage. Eighty volunteers aged between 18 and 55 will be monitored for three weeks to see if virus antibodies develop, the ministry said in a statement. A second phase, expected to begin in December, will involve 960 people over the age of 18, Reuters reports. Should those succeed, a third, large-scale phase with 30,000 volunteers is scheduled for April or May 2021. If successful, the vaccine may then be approved for mass use. The vaccine, the ministry said, has already tested well on a number of animal models and the IIBR has produced more than 25,000 doses for the first and second phases of the clinical trials. Our final goal is 15 million rations for the residents of the State of Israel and for our close neighbours, said IIBR director Shmuel Shapira. There are no internationally approved vaccines yet, but several are in advanced trials, including from Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna. Israel, with a population of 9 million, has begun easing a second nationwide coronavirus lockdown after a steady decline in the rate of daily infections. The country saw 692 new cases on Saturday - down from a peak of more than 9,000 several weeks ago. It has reported 2,372 deaths from the pandemic. | 0 |
###CLAIM: during one conversation, rusesabagina admitted that the rebels backed by his opposition platform were responsible for attacks inside rwanda, he said.
###DOCS: Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" and is credited with saving more than 1,000 people by sheltering them at the hotel he managed during the genocide, attends a court hearing in Kigali, Rwanda Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. The judge on Friday rejected Rusesabagina's argument in his terrorism trial that a court there cannot try him because he is no longer a citizen. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" and is credited with saving more than 1,000 people by sheltering them at the hotel he managed during the genocide, attends a court hearing in Kigali, Rwanda Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. The judge on Friday rejected Rusesabagina's argument in his terrorism trial that a court there cannot try him because he is no longer a citizen. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) A key piece of the mystery around the arrest of the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda became clear on Friday when a pastor told a Rwandan court he worked with someone from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau to trick him onto a private plane from Dubai. The pastor, Constantin Niyomwungere, alleged that Paul Rusesabagina, who now faces terror-related charges, had acknowledged that rebels backed by his opposition platform had killed Rwandans. Myself, the pilot and cabin crew knew we were coming to (the Rwandan capital) Kigali. The only person who didnt know where we were headed was Paul, Niyomwungere said. ADVERTISEMENTThe 66-year-old Rusesabagina, once praised for saving hundreds of ethnic Tutsis from Rwandas 1994 genocide while a hotel manager, now faces nine charges including the formation of an irregular armed group; membership in a terrorist group; financing terrorism; and murder, abduction and armed robbery as an act of terrorism. If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison. The case of Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and U.S. resident and outspoken critic of longtime Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has drawn international concern. He disappeared in August during a visit to Dubai and was paraded in handcuffs days later in Rwanda. His family asserts that the charges against him are politically motivated. Rusesabagina asserts that he was kidnapped. Rwandas president had hinted that he had been tricked into boarding a flight to Rwanda, a country he left in 1996. In court on Friday, Rusesabagina denounced the pastor Niyomwungere, whom he has said betrayed him. Niyomwungere said an unnamed person connected him and Rusesabagina in 2017 in Brussels and they later become friends. He said that in one conversation, Rusesabagina admitted that rebels backed by his opposition platform were responsible for an attack inside Rwanda. The pastor alleged that Rusesabagina showed no remorse, which pained him. Niyomwungere said last year he started working on a plan with the Rwanda Investigation Bureau to capture Rusesabagina. I prayed to God to give me courage and arrest this man. I prayed for a month, he said. Opportunity came when Rusesabagina said he planned to travel to Burundi, which neighbors Rwanda. Niyomwungere said he alerted the Rwanda Investigation Bureau contact. Rwandas government has alleged that Rusesabagina was going to Burundi to coordinate with armed groups based there and in neighboring Congo. ADVERTISEMENTOn Friday, Rusesabagina said all his rights have been taken away and his international lawyers have been refused. Last month, Rwandas attorney general in a video accidentally sent to al-Jazeera said authorities had intercepted messages between Rusesabagina and his legal team. How can you say my rights have been respected when I spent the first three days of captivity at an unknown location, blindfolded, tied legs and hands? he asked. When the trial resumes on March 10, the court will rule on whether Rusesabagina was kidnapped and is in Rwanda illegally. The court earlier rejected his argument that a Rwandan court cannot try him because he is no longer a citizen. His family says Rusesabagina has no chance at a fair trial because of his outspoken criticism of Kagame and human rights abuses. They also fear he might die from poor health behind bars. | 0 |
###CLAIM: tom di galoma, managing director of seaport global and holdings, said trading reflected expectations that the federal reserve might have room to hike rates earlier than thought as the economy grows and vaccine appears to be working.
###DOCS: (Updates with market activity, comment on 3-month bills, bank rates) By Ross Kerber and Saikat Chatterjee Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields subsided in cautious trading on Friday as investors repositioned, but growth concerns weighed on sentiment as data showed a strong rebound in consumer spending. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note's yield was down 5.9 basis points at 1.4564%. On Thursday it touched 1.614%, the highest in a year, rocking world markets. The note's yield is still up more than 50 basis points so far this year. Yields in other major government bonds have also increased. Raymond James market analyst Ellis Phifer said Friday's trading showed investors turning cautious and repositioning after Thursday's jump. "We moved vertical in rates and there's a point where things get overdone," he said. Part of Friday's decline could also reflect dealers convincing clients to buy bonds after poor demand for a 7-year note auction on Thursday, he added. At the front end of the curve the yield on the 3-month Treasury bill was roughly unchanged at 0.0406% after rising as high as 0.053% on Friday, up from a low of 0.03% at the start of the week. Tom di Galoma, managing director of Seaport Global Holdings, said the trading reflected an "expectation that the Fed may have room to hike rates earlier than was thought as the economy is reflating and vaccinations appear to be working." U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, jumped 2.4% last month after decreasing 0.4% in December, the Commerce Department said on Friday, setting up the economy for faster growth in the first quarter. A closely-watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at 131 basis points, about 4 basis points lower than Thursday's close. On Thursday, the gap touched 141 basis points, the most since 2015. The overnight U.S. repurchase agreement (repo) rate and the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) recovered from roughly nine-month lows on Friday, but should remain under pressure this year as the market digests excess cash in the system. The U.S. secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), which measures the cost of borrowing cash overnight using Treasury securities as collateral, was at 0.03% after dropping to 0.01% Wednesday, the lowest since May 2020. SOFR has replaced the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) as an interest rate benchmark for banks. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was down 2.1 basis points at 0.1446% on Friday. The yield on 30-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities was at 0.171%. The 10-year TIPS yield was at -0.690% and the breakeven inflation rate was at 2.129%. Editing by Mark Potter and Chizu Nomiyama) | 1 |
###CLAIM: kristin derock, marketing manager for the kristin and derock nuts brands, said in a statement that constraints in supply chains and higher demand for cereals led to shortages of products.
###DOCS: New York CNN Business If youre having a hard time finding Grape-Nuts at your local supermarket, you are not alone. The pandemic has come for Grape-Nuts. Supply chain constraints and higher demand for cereal have led to shortages of the product, Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts Brand Manager, said in an emailed statement. Grape-Nuts should be fully back on shelves in the spring, she said. There is a Grape Nuts shortage. Post Consumer BrandsThough sales of cereal in general were struggling for years, theyve grown during the pandemic as customers eat breakfast at home and reach for comfort foods. From 2015 to 2019, the US ready-to-eat cereal market dipped between one and two percent each year, according to data from Euromonitor International. From 2019 to 2020, the market grew by nearly 20% to about $10.6 billion. The Grape-Nuts shortage comes as demand for consumer goods has put a strain on supply chains, leading to shortages. All that said, people who cant get enough of Grape-Nuts can breathe a sigh of relief. Fans can be rest-assured that we have absolutely no plans to discontinue Grape-Nuts cereal, DeRock said. The cereal has been around since 1897, when it was developed by founder C.W. Post himself, according to the Grape-Nuts website. Its made with wheat and barley but no grapes or nuts. Post also makes Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles and Raisin Bran cereal, among other cereals. A message on the Grape-Nuts websites implores anxious customers to be patient. Please know that our team members are working hard every day to safely produce and ship products to our consumers during this unique time, it says. We expect our [Grape-Nuts] to be available again at your favorite retailer in the next couple months. | 0 |
###CLAIM: they have the pleasure of a bumper crop of entries after the world 's leading film festival was canceled because of the 2020 pandemic, promising a stellar year for the festival.
###DOCS: The Serpent star Tahar Rahim, US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and Parasite lead Song Kang-Ho are part of this years Cannes Film Festival jury led by director Spike Lee, organisers announced Thursday. It will be a female-majority jury for the July 6 to 17 festival, which has faced criticism in recent years for its lack of female representation. Only one woman has ever won the Palme dOr in its 73 years: Jane Campion for The Piano in 1993. This years jury will wade through 24 entries (only four by women) to decide the winner of the arthouse worlds most coveted film prize. The nine members include French actor-director Melanie Laurent, best known abroad for her role in Quentin Tarantinos Inglourious Basterds. The jury also features several international filmmakers: Brazilian Kleber Mendonca Filho, who competed at Cannes in 2016 with Aquarius, Austrian Jessica Hausner, who competed with Little Joe in 2019, and French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, whose debut Atlantique won the Grand Prix the same year. French star Rahim made his name with indie favourite The Prophet and recently had an award-winning turn in Guantanamo drama The Mauritanian and a TV hit with BBC-Netflix show The Serpent. Gyllenhaal broke out alongside her brother Jake in Donnie Darko and made her name with indie hits such as The Secretary and her Oscar-nominated turn in Crazy Heart, as well as appearing in blockbuster Batman flick, The Dark Knight. Song Kang-ho has appeared in 40 films and is a favourite of his fellow South Korean Bong Joon-ho, who cast him in Snowpiercer and as the adorable father in Parasite, the last film to win the Palme dOr (as well as Best Film at the Oscars) in 2019. The jury line-up is completed by French singing sensation Mylene Farmer, who has sold 35 million albums across a 35-year career. They have the pleasure of a bumper crop of entries that promises a stellar year for the worlds leading film festival after it was cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020. The selection includes films from US favourites Wes Anderson and Sean Penn, previous Palme winners Nanni Moretti, Jacques Audiard and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, as well as Irans two-time Oscar winner Ashgar Farhadi. | 0 |
###CLAIM: former chief inspector pillsjackie and malton both said the massive linear structure of going up, down, then out is that if the met commander is corrupt and drury corrupts the weight loss becomes so over due to eating unhealthy that humphreys and drury become worried about it.
###DOCS: Interested in 'one thing, and one thing only', Line of Duty's Ted Hastings leads the AC-12 anti-corruption squad to weed out 'bent coppers' in the hit BBC series. But while his team's mission to find the elusive 'H' continues to grip millions, a new documentary tells the true, revelatory story of corruption in the British police. The upcoming second episode of Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty sheds light on how corrupt members of the Metropolitan Police ran a 'protection racket' covering sex shops in London's Soho in the 1970s. Officers from the Obscene Publications Squad, led by corrupt officer Bill Moody, carried out periodic raids to make it appear as though they were clamping down on the illegal sale of hardcore pornography, whilst continuing to take bribes from shop owners. The corruption ran so deep that Kenneth Drury, the commander of the Met's prestigious Flying Squad of officers, even went on holiday with Soho's leading pornographer, Jimmy Humphreys. The police complicity meant that the number of sex shops climbed from 28 in 1969 to more than double that number by 1970. One insider interviewed in the documentary said the police were the 'biggest gang in Soho' in the 1970s. The officers finally met their match when new Met Commissioner Robert Mark, who was later knighted for his efforts, created a new anti-corruption unit: A-10. Their work, along with efforts by newspaper journalists, led to the jailing of Drury, Moody and his boss, Commander Wally Virgo, in 1977. The true, revelatory story of wrongdoing in the Metropolitan Police is being told in new BBC documentary Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty. The upcoming episode tells the story of how corrupt officers ran a 'protection racket' covering sex shops in London's Soho. Pictured: Sir Robert Mark, who as Commissioner of the Met from 1972 until 1977, rooted out corruptionThe corruption ran so deep that Kenneth Drury, the commander of the Met's prestigious Flying Squad of officers, even went on holiday with Soho's leading pornographer, Jimmy HumphreysOverall, during Sir Robert's five years as commissioner, more than 18 officers were collectively sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. The BBC's documentary hears from retired investigative journalists and former officers to detail the extent of the sex shops' activities and the complicity of corrupt policemen. Also featured are archive interviews with and footage of Commissioner Mark, sex shop owner Jimmy Humphreys and corrupt officer Drury. The sex shop trade in Soho blossomed due to demand for pornography in the late 1960s being at an all-time high. Material was smuggled in cheaply from Europe before being sold in shops in the UK. The job of policing the shops fell to the Met's Obscene Publications Squad. Journalist Martin Tomkinson described how the squad operated under the 'ambiguity' of the Obscene Publications Act 1959, which governed the sex shop trade. Publications were deemed obscene if they were 'liable to corrupt and deprave', but as Mr Tomkinson said, 'one person's corruption is another person's libertarianism'. Fellow investigative reporter Paul Lashmar said: 'The obscene publication squad controlled it, they dealt with it, so they decided what happened in Soho. In 1969, an investigation by the Times newspaper exposed a corrupt network of officers operating across London. Humphreys ran several sex shops in Soho which were allowed to carry on selling hardcore material thanks to the complicity of corrupt officers. Pictured: A file photo of a sex shop in Soho in the late 1970sHumphreys, who is described in the programme as a 'classic failed criminal', took over a hardware store in Soho in 1969 and turned it in to a sex shop. Pictured: Humphreys after he was extradited from Holland following his attempt to escape justiceThat led to the Met appointing officer Bill Moody to head an inquiry into the wrongdoing. However, Mr Lashmar said that he was in fact 'put there to bury it'. Martin Short, also an investigative journalist interviewed in the BBC programme, said: 'Every potential pornographer in the country wanted to come into London. 'One thing you needed to secure the entire operation was a corrupt cop or two.' The Obscene Publication Squad issued, at their discretion, unofficial licenses which allowed shops to operate. 'These licenses were unofficial licenses. It was an informal arrangement,' Mr Short said. 'Verbal only. Nothing written down. It was a protection racket. 'A protection racket is one which guarantees you the opportunity to trade but at the same time preventing other people from trading.' Humphreys, who is described in the programme as a 'classic failed criminal', took over a hardware store in Soho in 1969 and turned it in to a sex shop. Speaking in an archive interview, Humphreys said he gave Moody 4,000 for the license to operate. 'From that moment, we were in business,' he added. Mr Lashmar said of the deal: 'Moody organised the collection of bribery in a way that had never been done before. This was a rock solid alliance between bent cops and the vice industry.' However, part of the arrangement was that Moody's boss, Commander Wally Virgo, was also due a large share. Mr Short said the pair 'did not see themselves answerable to any of the regulations which would have applied to other officers. 'They really did act as a firm in a firm,' he added. Interested in 'one thing, and one thing only', Line of Duty's Ted Hastings leads the AC-12 anti-corruption squad to weed out 'bent coppers' in the hit BBC series. But the new documentary tells the real story of police corruptionHumphreys (right) admitted to entertaining Drury (left) 'three, four times a week.' Drury became so overweight from the meals he enjoyed that Humphreys became worried about his weight and gave him a rowing machine and a course of slimming pillsJackie Malton, a former Detective Chief Inspector in the Met, said: 'If you are a commander in the Met and you are corrupt there's a massive linear structure going down and down and down and then out. 'And therefore if you've got corruption at the top of the organisation at that rank, it's a very very powerful position to be in.' Interviewee Aiden McManus said he was employed along with his father to install a secret porn cinema in the basement of a sex shop. Commander Wally Virgo was the head of the Met's Serious Crime SquadHe described how, while they were at work, police raided the shop. He said the man behind the shop's counter 'didn't even blink'. Once the police had left, he said the man told him: 'don't be an idiot man we pay them every week. That was all for show. They raid us once a month for appearances sake.' 'He told me the whole story about how, if you wanted to operate a sex shop in Soho, you had to pay off the bent police. The biggest gang in Soho in the 70s was the police. You know what I mean? They were making a fortune, an absolute fortune. The documentary tells how officers would often warn shop owners that a raid was coming, so that the 'worst material' could be removed. Some goods would be confiscated by police but would then be picked up again by the pornographers from Holborn police station. The relationship between Humprheys and Moody became to close that it made Virgo 'upset' because he felt he was missing out on financial gains. It was also in Humphreys' interest to keep Flying Squad chief Drury happy. Mr Tomkinson said: 'Ken Drury had a lot of police muscle in the area. So it was in James Humphreys' interest to keep Ken Drury on side.' Drury brazenly boasted of his links with the criminal fraternity. In an archive interview, he said: 'If you have no association with the criminal fraternity, you don't know what is going on. 'It's no good going to the vicar's tea party and trying to gain information about the activities of organised teams of robbers.' Humphreys admitted to entertaining Drury 'three, four times a week.' Drury became so overweight from the meals he enjoyed that Humphreys became worried about his weight and gave him a rowing machine and a course of slimming pills. Mr Short said: 'The relationship between Drury and Humphreys. It's all quite benign. It's friendly and extremely cosy.' But Drury sealed his ultimate downfall by going on holiday to Cyprus with Humphreys and the pornographer's wife, Rusty. Laurie Manifold, who was then the assistant editor of the Sunday People newspaper, described how his publication carried out an investigation into Drury's holiday. Martin Short, also an investigative journalist interviewed in the BBC programme, said: 'Every potential pornographer in the country wanted to come into London. 'One thing you needed to secure the entire operation was a corrupt cop or two'Former Detective Superintendent John Simmonds was put in charge of the Met's new anti-corruption unit, A10Investigative journalist Paul Lashmar said the Obscene Publications Squad 'decided what happened in Soho'Incredibly, one of his reporters found after going to Cyprus that the holiday had been booked with travel agents Cooks. The bill had been paid directly by Humphreys. Mr Manifold said: 'Quite amazingly Cooks produced a copy of the bill for the holiday, the bill was paid by James Humphreys. 'There was clear proof that the holiday was nothing to do with some secret Scotland Yard operation. 'It wasn't booked by Scotland Yard or paid for by Scotland Yard. The whole thing was corrupt without any doubt.' In April 1972, Commissioner Mark took over the Met. His mantra was 'a good police force is one which catches more criminals than it employs'. Speaking in archive footage, he said: 'A bent detective not only is himself a wrongdoer, not only does he do irreparable harm to a body of men who little deserve to be discredited in that way but he harms the whole fabric of public confidence and the confidence of the courts in the police. 'As far as I'm concerned he will always be a prime target.' Mark decided to set up a dedicated anti-corruption unit, which was named A10. Until then, corruption allegations would have been carried out by members of CID (Criminal Investigation Department) themselves. Largely staffed by uniformed officers, the unit was hated by CID members, who viewed themselves as the elite, Mr Tomkinson said. Ms Malton said: 'It was a corruption unit looking at corruption within the police and therefore the CID or anybody would think of those who had gone to A10, whether they had been volunteered or been put there, were not to be trusted. 'You were seen to be a betrayer of the organisation.' Journalist Martin Tomkinson described how the squad operated under the 'ambiguity' of the Obscene Publications Act 1959, which governed the sex shop tradeLaurie Manifold, who was then the assistant editor of the Sunday People newspaper, described how his publication carried out an investigation into a holiday which Drury's took with HumphreysFormer Detective Superintendent John Simmonds was put in charge of A10. He said: 'I got the call up to A10. In one breath I was obviously pleased. 'But I wasn't happy that I was going to spend my time day in day out dealing with the bad side of the police service. 'There's no let up, there's no sort of fun side to it at all. It was sad but it was necessary.' The officers would carry out what Ms Malton called 'bin spins' on CID offices. A10 members would 'sweep everything up' during their investigations. Mr Tomkinson said: 'A10 put fear into the heart of the many corrupt CID detectives, who now realised that the game had radically changed.' Under pressure as a result of the newspaper investigations and A10's work, Drury resigned from the force in May 1972. He then sold his story to the now-defunct News of the World. He claimed that Humphreys and his wife were informers and that he had gone to Cyprus to gather information on the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. Mr Tomkinson said Humphreys was 'furious' because he was now viewed as an informant. He called a press conference where he claimed Drury was lying. Humphreys himself went on the run after he attacked a man who was having an affair with his wife. His flat was raided by officers. There they found diaries which detailed his payments to Drury, Virgo and Moody. Mr Tomkinson said: 'His diaries show that Wally Virgo and Bill Moody have, in just a 16-month period, received 53,000. That's a phenomenal amount of money.' Interviewee Aiden McManus said he was employed along with his father to install a secret porn cinema in the basement of a sex shop. He described how, while they were at work, police raided the shop. He said the man behind the shop's counter 'didn't even blink'Jackie Malton, a former Detective Chief Inspector in the Met, said: 'If you are a commander in the Met and you are corrupt there's a massive linear structure going down and down and down and then out. 'And therefore if you've got corruption at the top of the organisation at that rank, it's a very very powerful position to be in'Asked in an interview if officers were aware that he had been writing the payments down, his wife Rusty said: 'Oh no, no. I think it came as a great shock to a lot of people. But then none of us thought that this would come out.' In June 1973, Humphreys was tracked down to the Netherlands. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for the knife attack on his wife's lover. He agreed to give evidence against corrupt officers. Mr Simmonds said: 'The fear of A10 was like the fear of the policeman walking the street. It should stop the average hooligan seeing a bobby on the beat, if you like A10 became the bobbies on the beat for the police service.' From 1977, Moody, Virgo and Drury stood trial for accepting bribes. The trio were convicted and sent to prison. Moody and Virgo were jailed for 12 years, though the latter man's sentence was quashed after an appeal court found the judge had misdirected the jury. In July 1977, Drury was convicted on five counts of corruption and received eight years in prison. For his cooperation, he was released early and served only three years. Mr Short said: 'Never before, in the history of the Metropolitan Police, had so many senior officers been jailed in one roundup.' Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty airs on Wednesday, April 21 on BBC 2 at 9pm. | 0 |
###CLAIM: she expressed frustration with what she called "unrepresentative" and "uncaring" people who "volunteer without wanting to" date trans people and ask them if they are dating others aggressively.
###DOCS: Back in February, Kyle Royce, a 20-year-old in British Columbia, Canada, created a video that proved far more controversial and influential than he had imagined it would be when he uploaded it to TikTok. He had built up a small following poking gentle fun at Karen behavior. Occasionally, he would also do live-streams, during which some participants would ask about his backgroundhes a straight, cisgender Christian of mixed Asian and white ancestryand press him on controversial matters of the day. On multiple occasions, he was asked if he would date a trans woman. He was repeatedly told, upon responding no, that his answer was transphobic. I felt like I was getting unfairly labeled, he told me recently. Im not transphobic, I see that as a negative term. Then, he had an idea. Lots of sexualities are being created, he said, alluding to the proliferation of terms such as pansexual, demisexual, sapiosexual, and more. Recasting his own preferences as a sexual identity of its own, he reasoned, would be like a kind of defense against accusations of perpetrating harm. In a video trying out his idea, he said:Yo, guys, I made a new sexuality now, actually. Its called super-straight, since straight people, or straight men as myselfI get called transphobic because I wouldnt date a trans woman. You know, theyre like, Would you date a trans woman? No. Why? Thats a female. No, thats not a real woman to me. I want a real woman. No, youre just transphobic. So now, Im super-straight! I only date the opposite gender, women, that are born women. So you cant say Im transphobic now, because thats just my sexuality, you know. When I asked what his intentions were on a spectrum from 100 percent earnest to 100 percent trolling, he had trouble answering. Nowhere seemed quite right. He was trying to accurately convey his dating preferences and truly felt frustrated by others criticism. But he was also trying to make a point by co-opting a norm of LGBTQ activists: that ones professed sexual or gender identity is unassailable. Chase Strangio: The trans future I never dreamed ofHad the video spread no more widely than Royces followers, a low-stress exchange of ideas might have ensued. Instead his video quickly garnered many thousands of likes and shares. Supporters deemed the term super-straight an ingenious gambit forcing dogmatic social-justice advocates to live by the same standards they enforce on others. Royce also drew a lot of critics. Haters argued that super-straight was a cruel parody of all LGBTQ people. The video quickly disappeared from TikTok, perhaps because many users flagged it as violating the apps rules. It reappeared about a week later, presumably after human content moderators reviewed it. Thats when it went massively viral. My TikTok feed, usually a respite of surfing highlights, recipe ideas, and Generation X nostalgia, was overrun by super-straight. Fans and critics alike commented on and shared videos about the subjector posted their own. Let me break this down: trans women are women, declared the TikTok creator @tblizzy, who currently has more than 425,000 followers. So if youre a heterosexual man and you said you wouldnt date a trans woman because its a preference, thats just transphobia, period.The super-straight meme was soon proliferating on Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. The more it spread, the more people encountered it not through the original video, but through derivative content. Someone made a super-straight flag. Encountering the black-and-orange banner and the hashtag #SuperStraight, many internet users presumed they were encountering a random attack on trans people. Have you seen these colors on a TikTok video? Scroll [away] instantly, a critic warned in one of many response clips. These men are known as Super Straights. We have to keep them off the For You page. (For You is where users see whatever TikTok serves up based on an algorithm that boosts videos that garner interactions.) Our trans family is being targeted, and we have to keep them safe. Do not comment, like, or watch their content. Pause it and report it. Many users joined this effort to report fellow creators and censor their accounts in the name of safety. This mobilization in turn deepened many super-straight fans conviction that they were the victims of discrimination. For me, the fight over the term super-straight suggested something else: that social-media culture is disorienting to many people in ways that make hard conversations harder still, and that no faction in Gen Z will win an argument about matters of the heart by tarring the other side as problematic. Few decisions are more personal than the choice of a partner. Questions about an individuals sexuality need not degenerate into public fights about who is bigoted; an individual heterosexual mans hesitation to date trans women need not provoke trans-rights supporters or encourage anti-trans trolls. But whenever an asserted identity comes to double as a hashtag, drama is sure to follow. If you started dating in the 1990s, as I did, odds are youve never been asked, Would you date a trans person? To their credit, Millennials and Gen Zers have far surpassed their elders in welcoming trans people into the American cultural mainstream. Because of that progress, younger people will grapple with sensitive questions many of their elders never contemplated in the era before widespread trans visibility, when a cisgender person might never knowingly encounter a trans person in daily life. Late-20th-century film and television did occasionally feature trans characters. And the hostility of many Hollywood portrayals is one reason why some trans-rights supporters remain hypervigilant to perceived slights, particularly when they concern straight men encountering trans women. In the Netflix documentary Disclosure, a chronicle of Hollywood portrayals of trans people over the decades, the actress and writer Jen Richards, who is transgender, reflects on movie scenes where a character in a romantic entanglement with a straight man is revealed to be a trans woman with a penis. In both the 1992 drama The Crying Game and the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detectivewhich spoofs The Crying Games climactic scenea straight man retches in disgust. In some other films, the men erupt in violence. Without film representations of trans people, Richards reflected, I might not have ever internalized that sense of being monstrous, of having fears around disclosure, of seeing myself as something abhorrent, and as a punch line and as a joke. I might be able to go on a date with a man without having the image of men vomiting.She continued:When you start watching trans clips back to back, you see how often all the people around the trans character feel betrayed or lied to. But frankly, I kind of hate the idea of disclosure. And the sense that it presupposes that there is something to disclose. It reinforces their assumption that there is a secret that is hidden and that I have a responsibility to tell others. And that presupposes that the other person might have some kind of issue or problem with whats to be disclosed, and that their feelings matter more than mine. Hollywood has seldom portrayed the issue of disclosure from a trans persons perspective. But such a conversation did happen in 2016 on the show Horace and Pete. In one scene, Horace, a heterosexual man, meets Rhonda, a woman. They have mutually enjoyable sex. At breakfast the next morning, they get to know each other. Horace notes that he has two adult children who are the same age but not twinsan anomaly that prompts him to reluctantly admit that years earlier he had an affair with the sister of his then-pregnant wife. When its Rhondas turn to talk about herself, she makes a comment raising the possibility that she was born a woman in a male body. Horace cannot tell if she is kidding. That makes him uncomfortable as he questions her:Horace: You would have to tell somebody a thing like that. Rhonda: Well, but you didnt ask me before we had sex. You just told me about your big, special penis and invited me upstairs. Horace: But you dont have to ask people which one are you before you get started. A person has the right to assume certain things. Rhonda: Did I have a right to assume that you arent a sexual deviant who did the unthinkable with his special penis? In some cultures what you did in your family is considered a crime punishable by death. So did you have an obligation to tell me what kind of man I was getting intimate with instead of springing it on me like the morning paper over some eggs? Until very recently, very few people would have shamed a man like Horace for wanting to know if a prospective sex partner was trans or for feeling that he wouldnt want to have sex with a trans woman for inarticulable reasons. A 2018 study showed that only 1.8 percent of straight women and 3.3 percent of straight men would date a transgender person, The Advocate reported in 2019. A small minority of cisgender lesbians (29 percent) and gays (11.5 percent) would be willing. Bisexual/queer/nonbinary participants (these were all combined into one group) were most open to having a trans partner, but even among them, just a slim majority (52 percent) were open to dating a transgender person.Read: My parents still struggle to know me after I transitioned lateWhenever people are mismatched in their desires, the outcome can be difficult for all involved. Trans people face particular challenges: Knowing that much of your preferred dating pool disqualifies you before meeting you must be deeply frustrating. For some trans people, the subject is additionally freighted with fear that by seeking sex, they might risk violence. I empathize with people on the other side of this divide, too. Most have dating preferences that dont necessarily imply a negative view of people who fall outside themId be averse to dating an 18-year-old or a 60-year-old, yet I neither hate nor fear either age cohortand that they might not be able to change even if they wanted to. Claims that only bigots would decline to date a trans person strike some commentators as a form of coercion. Its obviously completely valid to exclude trans people from your dating pool if youre not attracted to them, and anyone who says otherwise is honestly kind of rapey, argues the YouTuber Blaire White, who is trans. Nevertheless, among young people on social media, the perspectives that Jen Richards and the Rhonda character expressed are now common enough that some cis and trans people harshly criticize trans-exclusionary daters. The longer social-media shamers condemn preferences that the overwhelming majority of people share, the more inevitable the pushback. For many, Royces meme was defensible precisely because it was couched as a plea for inclusion. The fact that people are upset about this new sexuality being created is a little hypocritical coming from the folks who created abrosexual, demisexual, gerontosexual, gynosexual, intrasexual, kalosexual, multisexual, pomosexual, sapiosexual, and literally hundreds more, White said on YouTube. Even though super-straight is a joke, the irony is that its a lot more valid than a lot of those I just listed. Actually, all of them. Yall are releasing new sexualities more than I release new videos, like its your full-time job. But you freak out when someone else does it?As super-straight spread and mutated, Royce watched the debate with alarm. He was still associated with the meme he created, but it had acquired its own momentum. Digital bullies began going through his Instagram posts, harassing his friends, and targeting his mothers business with negative reviews, causing her to fear for her safety and beg him to delete his social media. He also felt a responsibility to urge others to use his creation for good, not evil. Dont use super-straight to spread hate, he said in a follow-up video. The super-straight motto is: You do you; love and respect everybody else.Read: What do the parents of trans kids have to say? Of course, matters were beyond his control. A TikTok user who saw the original video might come away with a radically different understanding of it than, say, folks on Reddit. The super-straight video started to spread on social media, eventually hitting the /pol board of 4chan, known for being a home to far-right trolls, and growing from there, Insider reported. The board members discussed creating and sharing memes about being super straight to drive a wedge within LGBTQ communities and use the lefts tactics against themselves ... The posts also directly linked the abbreviation for super straight to the Nazi SS.On TikTok many creators who associated themselves with the label were people of color. Some gay and lesbian people began declaring themselves super-gay and super-lesbianmeaning that they too felt attracted only to people who are cisgender. Visual memes soon emerged. In some, failing to recognize self-professed super-gays or super-straights was an intolerant act. Learn the difference. pic.twitter.com/PnsS9TCyct Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 7, 2021In a video aimed at a super-straight TikToker, the YouTuber Eden Estrada retorted, Your entire sexuality is based off of trans women, and yet I bet not a single one has ever paid attention to you. Look, I can literally care less what any ugly random turd in the middle of America is attracted to. At its most dysfunctional, the meme war descended into a kind of mutually assured destruction: Many people invoking super-straight sounded like assholes. Many people denouncing it sounded like hypocrites. And the incentives were perverse: In a culture war, assholery or hypocrisy against the other side can raise your status with allies. Internet discourse does not have to be that way. A better approach begins by recognizing that the worst of what we see is not representative. Super-straight went viral in February, but it has since become the social-media equivalent of a multi-variant pandemic. No matter how far you go down the rabbit hole of YouTube compilations of super-straight TikTok videos and memes, youll remain unable to generalize about it accurately. If someone assures you that super-straight is just the expression of a new sexual orientation, or just transphobic bigotsand especially if they tell you its just Nazis, or that its critics are just hypocritical and intolerant social-justice warriorsdont let them mislead you. All of this is too expansive, fragmented, and varied for anyone to fully grasp or neatly characterize. When its layers overwhelmed me, I turned to the video essayist Natalie Wynn, whose YouTube channel, ContraPoints, excels at getting fans to grapple with the complexity of fraught subjects. Wynn is transgender. In a recent phone interview about the super-straight debate, I asked her how the public conversation about dating and trans people might proceed more constructively. She expressed frustration both with people who aggressively volunteer that they dont want to date trans people and with people who aggressively ask others if they would date a trans personand cautioned that the latter group is not representative of trans people. If my only impression of what trans people were came from Twitter, she joked, I would be a transphobe. And whats more, she said, cis allies are often the ones who are pushing the matter. Wynn does believe that being totally closed-minded to dating a trans person often comes from a place of ignorance about trans people. In her telling, people who believe that theyd never want to date a trans person should consider the possibility that they could change their mindespecially if they grew up in an environment where negative stereotypes about trans people abounded and attractive portrayals of trans people or relationships with them were nonexistent. To come out as trans, which I didnt do until I was in my mid-to-late 20s, I had to overcome an upbringing of misinformation, stereotyping, and self-loathing, she said. Might such negativity mislead cis people, too? Often, when a person finds themselves attracted for the first time to a trans person, that comes as a shock to them, she argued, as their intellectual preconceptions turn out to be at odds with how they feel. They want what they didnt think theyd ever want. Thats how this happens. Often people are surprised. They think they are not attracted to trans people, but then theres a trans person theyre attracted to. Thats how attraction works. Its not this ideological thing. She also noted that who you date is a really personal thing. And no one is ever going to respond well to being told that its bigoted to date who they want to date or to not date who they dont want to date. Berating other people is never going to elicit any reaction other than causing them to get more locked down in their view.Notice how her approach points away from drawing sweeping conclusions based on meme analysis and back toward questions about how best to understand how fellow humans think and feel. Others can challenge or contest her viewpoints and understanding by invoking their own experiences or insights. But everyone would benefit from forswearing tactical stigma and shaming, laying down their memes, calling truce in the culture wars, and talking out their differences like friends. Chloe Valdary is the founder of Theory of Enchantment, a diversity and resilience training company that the 27-year-old African American entrepreneur runs from Downtown Brooklyn. Its website lists clients including TikTok, WeWork, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Greenwich High School, and asks potential customers a loaded question: Looking for an antiracism program that actually fights bigotry instead of spreading it?The diversity, equity, and inclusion industry is booming as corporations, government agencies, high schools, colleges, and nonprofit organizations clamor for its services. Advocates insist that formal instruction in anti-racism yields more inclusive, equitable institutions. Skeptics object to what they characterize as coerced indoctrination in esoteric theories, or charge that prominent consultants like Robin DiAngelo, author of the best-selling White Fragility, traffic in false and divisive racial stereotypes. Still others cite studies finding that diversity training sessions are actually counterproductive. John McWhorter: The dehumanizing condescension of White FragilityValdary is unusual because she shares many critiques of the multibillion-dollar DEI industrial complex, as sardonic observers call it, even as she argues that her framework avoids the flaws of her competitors. We teach love and compassion, her website insists. Let us train your team. Whats more, Valdary pledges, We do not dehumanize, stereotype, or caricature anyone who seeks our services. Can her Theory of Enchantment help bridge this chasm in the culture wars? Maybe so. My first response to any anti-racism course is disgust, Mikhaila Peterson, the daughter of Jordan Peterson, told listeners in the preamble to a September podcast episode featuring Valdary. They teach white people to be ashamed of being white. Sometimes they separate people by race and pit them against each other ... The minimum these courses do is make people angry. Valdarys explanation of Theory of Enchantment didnt exactly convert Peterson to the cause: I still dont think anti-racism courses are a good idea, she said. But if there are business owners out there that are mandated to provide anti-racism or anti-bias training, Chloes course is what I would recommend, Peterson said. She doesnt come at you from a place of hatred ... I believe she really wants to make the world a kinder place without tearing anyone down.Although its too soon to evaluate the proliferation of training sessions introduced after George Floyds death, I am persuaded by older research suggesting that DEI programs can do more harm than goodeven granting that there is no universal definition of successand I think I know one reason why. The political psychologist Karen Stenner has found that roughly a third of humans have an authoritarian predispositiona kind of political personalitycharacterized by a fundamental discomfort with difference. Authoritarians tend to treat members of other racial groups best in contexts where they are presented as (or feel like, or appear to be) one of us, and with more hostility when race is seen (or identified) as a core attribute that differentiates us from them. The racial essentialism embedded in leading DEI frameworks fuels us and them thinking. Read: Being Blackbut not too Blackin the workplaceValdarys approach does not. Having interviewed her by phone and email, and having delved into her course material and the thinking behind it, I can confirm that her approach to anti-racism and inclusion really is substantively different from that of her better-known competitors. Theory of Enchantment elicits unusual openness, trust, and engagement from ideologically diverse observers, including many critics of more conventional DEI-training approaches. Chloe Simone Valdary was raised in New Orleans, where she attended Langston Hughes Elementary School. The education I received on race was grounded in a transcendent view of humanity which came specifically from an African-American literary tradition, she reflected on Twitter in July. She read the poems of Maya Angelou; various Harlem Renaissance writers; and stories from formerly enslaved people, abolitionists, and civil-rights leaders. A curriculum featuring the very best of our peoples power to express the tired struggles and abiding resilience of the human spirit taught Valdary that past injustice in no way prevented her from shaping the future. This freedom was sacrosanct, a product of our black experience and a rejection of any idea that tried to confine our being black to one particular label or stereotype, she wrote in a Commentary essay. Our ability to be anythingavant-garde artists or well-to-do investment bankers, charitable or devastating, complex or simplewas a rebellion against the old guards attempt to define us by any one experience.Her family belonged to the Seventh-Day Sabbatarian Christian Intercontinental Church of God, where the congregation worshipped on Saturdays, observed Old Testament holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, and did not celebrate Christmas. Growing up Christian without partaking in mainstream holidays gave me an identity marked by paradox, characterized by the ambiguity of being both within and without a community, she told me in an email correspondence. At times this made her feel ostracized, but it also sparked her curiosity. For example, being taught that Christmas is derived from the ancient festival of Mithras can teach you to make shallow dichotomies between the pagan and the so-called pure, she reflected, but it can also help you conclude that what matters most is the symbolic bringing of light into darkness that both the ancient pagan and modern Christian festivals suggest. Both festivals essentially represent this same human yearning: in the darkest of days and times, in the dead of winter is when to look for the light.She told me she no longer identifies with the Church. But some of its teachings taught me to question everything, and out of that came wonder and a sense of transcendent oneness.Read: When a white Republican teen invited a Black pastor to preach in his hometownIn 2011 she enrolled at the University of New Orleans, where she majored in International Relations and studied diplomacy. After graduating in 2015, she reflected that although her academic field offered many frameworks for combatting conflict, it seldom addressed a related but conceptually distinct task: teaching people how to love. Wasnt that a glaring deficiency? One of her heroes, Martin Luther King Jr., repeatedly stated in the last decade of his life that the end goal of his activism, even beyond equal rights for all people, was the creation of a beloved community rooted in redemptive agape, love. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends, King said. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age.Valdary, nothing if not ambitious, decided she wanted to teach people to love like that. But how? She would study what people already love in hopes of reverse engineering the processwork she completed during a paid fellowship at The Wall Street Journal. She sought data in popular culture, identifying people and products that inspire quasi-religious devotion. Companies like Nike and Disney and artists like Beyonce counted tens of millions of loyal fans. Did any common denominator explain their appeal? All were creating content where we as the audience see ourselves and our potential reflected back to us, she told me, arguing that with Just Do It, Nike was tapping into the human need for self-actualization; that almost every Disney movie incorporated Jungian archetypes and variations on the heros journey as metaphors for the human condition; and that Beyonces iconography and lyrics like Who run the world? Girls! made her fans feel their potential reflected in her artistry. Valdary wanted a name for this process of affecting others by helping them see their own potential. In 2016, as she completed what would become an 82-page paper on her findings, she read the 2011 book Enchantment by the Silicon Valley marketing specialist Guy Kawasaki, best known for his stint at Apple. He believes that traditional marketing and even outright manipulation are less effective than what he calls the process of enchantment. If you can enchant someone, you can bring about a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change, he argued. By enlisting their own goals and desires, by being likable and trustworthy, and by framing a cause that others can embrace, you can change hearts, minds, and actions.Read: The false promise of anti-racism booksNow Valdary had a name for her theory: the Theory of Enchantment. In her estimation, people in the process of enchantment can be taught, as they come to more fully appreciate their own potential, to love themselvesand people who have learned to love themselves can be taught to love their neighbors. In 2018, after two years of delivering lectures on her framework in the U.S. and abroad, she saw that her Theory of Enchantment could be applied to efforts to manage diversity and fight racism within institutions, so she launched a business, targeting educational institutions and corporations. Three principles guide all of the coursework her company offers:Treat people like human beings, not political abstractions. Criticize to uplift and empower, never to tear down, never to destroy. Root everything you do in love and compassion. The Theory of Enchantment course, which Valdary taught in person before the pandemic and lately offers remotely via Zoom, eschews newly ascendant social-justice concepts and academic literature in favor of philosophical texts, civil-rights-movement speeches, nonacademic anti-racist authors such as James Baldwin, and pop culture, including shoe commercials, scenes from films, and song lyrics. The course lasts up to six weeks, though Valdary offers shorter options. At first, she focuses on peoples relationships with themselves. She aims to teach the skills to develop self-worth, urging reflection on challenges we all share: mortality, imperfection, vulnerability, parental baggage. By making peace with the most trying aspects of the human condition, you will be able to develop a capacity for empathy, she wrote. You will naturally want to create inclusive spaces, because the lens through which you see the world will be driven by openness, not by fear or cynicism.Achieving openness is hard, a lesson Valdary underscores with Kendrick Lamar lyrics: I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA. To thrive in spite of our flaws, we need to hone skills of self-mastery. She teaches Stoic philosophy, citing complex passages from original texts and endeavoring to make those ancient words come alive by putting them in dialogue with elements of pop culture, like The Lion King. Concepts like sympathiathe idea that you are connected with everyone else around youis precisely what the song Circle of Life is about, she told the Los Angeles Review of Books in December 2019. Read: Can cops unlearn their unconscious biases? Next, the course shifts focus from loving and improving oneself to cultivating empathy for others. Valdary uses Beauty and the Beast to illustrate the difference between monsters and men, and explore which responses to monstrous behavior make change most likely. We use a great snippet from an interview Jay Z did, where he talks about how therapy helped him to see that when he was growing up in Brooklyn and someone said, in a threatening way, What are you looking at?, they were coming from a place of insecurity and hurt, and didnt want him to see their pain, Valdary told me. Once you understand that theres a whole lot of baggage and complexity behind the facades that we project, you start to look for the depth of things, gain awareness of your own depth, and see the depth in others. We teach [about] Daryl Davis, the Black musician who successfully convinced multiple people to leave the KKK. We teach something from a show called The Redemption Project, where Van Jones went to San Quentin to arrange conversations between victims and offenders. It has nothing to do with race. The individuals are of the same racial background. Beyond the household names in her course, Valdary was influenced by Albert Murray, the musician, novelist, critic, and essayisteasily one of the twentieth centurys most important aesthetic theorists of American culture, the Harvard historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. declared in the foreword to the 50th-anniversary reissue of Murrays essay collection The Omni-Americans. The book repeatedly objects to reducing Black and white Americans to a folklore of white supremacy and a fakelore of black pathology, arguing that adherents of those mutually reinforcing ideas neglect glaring evidence that all Americans are more alike than different. Murray argued that ... there was no so-called American culture without the Negro American formal element and content in its marvelous blend, and no black American culture without its white American influences and form, Gates concluded. In one passage in How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, the academic, educator, and Atlantic contributor, presents U.S. history as a duel between racists and anti-racists, writing, Before and after the Civil War, before and after civil rights, before and after the first Black presidency, the White consciousness duels. The White body defines the American body. The White body segregates the Black body from the American body. The White body instructs the Black body to assimilate into the American body. The White body rejects the Black body assimilating into the American bodyand history and consciousness duel anew. The Black Body in turn experiences the same duel. The Black body is instructed to become the American body. The American body is the White body. To which Valdary replied on Twitter: BLACK CULTURE IS AS FOUNDATIONAL TO OUR SOCIETY AND IS AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE.As Valdary sees it, Kendi errs by treating racial groups as fixed across centuries. White America is black America and vice versa, she countered in another Twitter thread. As Murray pointed out, there is no native born black American that is not white and no native born white American that is not also black. America is a composite. So a dichotomy in terms of skin color is just false. The better distinction to make here is, I think, between [African American] culturewhich Im defining as the culture developed by slaves and their descendantsand WASP culture.Anyone can be part of either culture regardless of skin color, she insists, and even the two cultures have themselves overlapped. [African American] culture has historically been very Protestant, for example, but in its own distinct way. There are those who believe that the racial category to which they belong captures the essence of their lives, she acknowledges, but argues that a racialized sense of self is externally constructed, and Valdary instead champions an internal locus of control that transcends immutable factors. Whether or not love is in fact the key to transcending injustice, Theory of Enchantment strikes me as more likely to cause people to treat one another better than other diversity training for the simple reason that it rejects race essentialism, which alienates many, and centers love, which does not. Robin DiAngelos popular white fragility framework breaks the first rule of the Theory of Enchantment, Valdary points out, by treating white people as a monolith and racially essentializing everyone. All individuals are complex and multifaceted. If we treat any human being, any group of people, as a conglomerate, we run the risk of stereotyping them, reducing them, in our words and in our actions, and turning them into an abstraction, she said. Thats not going to be helpful or sustainable for anyone. We have to treat each other like family.Whereas DiAngelo explains the alienation that her sessions elicit from some by faulting the participants for being too fragile, Valdary believes that it is her job to get everyone to participate enthusiastically. Dance and DJing has thoroughly affected my approach to all this because what a DJ does is facilitate an experience in which people from all walks of life dance, she told me. Its another numinous experience that has roots in the African American aspect of my identity, and its why Im an avid DJ and dancer. But before presuming the efficacy of any framework, including Theory of Enchantment, we should study outcomes with rigorthe entire DEI industry lacks sufficient assessmentand ask whether advancing social justice is best accomplished through more training for elites. You can tell a lot about the role that Valdary plays in the culture wars by her ability to enchant others in situations when most never could. I saw her trending on Twitter recently, usually a sign of an angry pile-on, but in this instance people were praising her for a thread about Donald Trump supporters and critical race theory, two of the most fraught and polarizing subjects in America. She is critical of both, once writing, Trump cant take on critical race theory ... he shares its fundamental belief that life is a zero-sum power game, that its okay to dehumanize your enemies, and that preying on peoples fears for the sake of power is fair game.On this occasion, she was empathizing with adherents of these rival ideologies that she rejects. I think Im having one of the biggest aha moments I've had all year, she began. After studying various documents that circulate in diversity, equity, and inclusion circles on the woke left, she noticed that they define equitable workplaces as those that value things like interdependence and collaboration. If you boil much of it down, she suggested, activists are urging a more communal work life, where employees are seen as humans with worth and emotions, such that communication and collaboration are important to thriving. Valdary believes that woke approaches to DEI incorporate racecraft, which is distorting and counterproductive. But she cheers attempts to create workplaces that reduce alienation and isolation. Heres the bridge, she continued. On the right, a defining feature of communities that voted for Trump at the highest rates was their alienation. She cited Tim Carneys carefully reported book Alienated America, in which he shows that Trump was more popular in places where fewer traditional connections existed among citizens. These were communities where the civic life and civic institutions in the community evaporated, Valdary wrote. Churches were shuttered; communal life dithered ... It was precisely the absence of a shared sense of belonging and communal life that led to an increase in deaths of despair, opioid addictions, aimlessness, and the like. In this respect, folks on the woke left and the reactionary right want the same things, Valdary observed. Alienation is a massive culprit re our societal woes ... Groups who are fighting against it can only see how it affects *their in group* but not their adversary.I largely agree with Valdary here: As I see it, if woke-left or reactionary-right illiberalism wins, everyone loses. But reduce alienation in American life and both woke illiberalism and Trumpist illiberalism will wither and their adherents will be better off. You may disagree. Regardless, notice how her thread treats people she fundamentally disagrees with as human beings, not political abstractions; how she criticizes to uplift, not to tear down; the compassion of her approach and how it synthesizes disparate insights and injects them improvisationally into the public square. While attuned to what ails usalarmed by it, in factshe insists that it is within our power to overcome if we love with urgency. Right now we are dealing with mass unemployment, poverty, inequality, a pandemic, and abuses of power, she lamented on Twitter. We have no idea what traumas and fears our neighbors carry, and they have no idea which of those we carry. Nevertheless, she said, were all afflicted by the same fears because were human, never mind racialists caught up in hyper-identitarian ideology who urge us to treat one another with contempt. This is madness, Valdary objected. It is the African American tradition to use soul power to wage a war of unconditional love against hatred, discord, and bigotry. This is my birthright. If you are an Americanregardless of where you come fromit is your birthright too.In one of the most memorable passages in The Omni-Americans, Murray muses on the blues idiom in American music. Some misconstrue the blues as a mere therapeutic expression of despair for Black people they regard as alienated from the country. But the blues idiom, like all transcendent art, goes beyond making life bearable, he explained. It helps make human existence meaningful and significantand it is quintessentially American, he observed, as well as absolutely essential to thriving in America. No other attitude, he believed, is more appropriate to the ever-shifting circumstances of all Americans, who inhabit a dynamic country that has always demanded a pioneering spirit. Every anti-racist intellectual, and every DEI-training framework, is sharply aware of human ugliness. But Valdarys participation in public discourse and her pioneering Theory of Enchantment distinguish themselves. They contend with the human condition and its infernal absurdities and frustrations by playing with the possibilities that are also there. | 2 |
###CLAIM: clinton, traveling to georgia for a rally of supporters two weeks ahead of a runoff election that will determine which party controls the senate, announced his decision to make the concession.
###DOCS: AdvertisementPresident Trump blasted a White House correspondent during a testy exchange on Thursday, branding the reporter lightweight for speaking over him to ask if he would concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden. Im the President of the United States. Dont ever talk to the president that way,' Trump told Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason on Thursday during a heated question-and-answer session in the White House. Trump later said it's a 'very hard thing to concede' the election, but admitted he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden. But he stopped short of admitting that meant he had lost - despite Biden's huge lead in Electoral College votes and refused to say if he would attend the inauguration. The meeting was the first time the president had taken questions from the press since Election Day. Trump spoke to reporters in the White Houses ornate Diplomatic Reception Room after holding a teleconference with members of the US military stationed across the globe. He thanked the troops for their service and jokingly warned them not to eat too much turkey, then turned to the election after ending the call. Earlier during the Thanksgiving holiday, the president spent time playing golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia, before going on a Twitter rant that took aim at the election results, kneeling NFL players, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the news media, including his once-favorite cable news network, the Fox News Channel. President Donald Trump is seen above on Thursday snapping at a White House reporter during a question-and-answer session. The crew that got President Trump to answer his first questions in over three weeks. Proud to be part of it. Happy Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/1H1uBdxdG9 Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 26, 2020In his 25 minute back-and-forth with the media, Trump didn't concede his loss and insisted his legal arguments would go ahead. He argued he has time until the inauguration - which is 55 days away - but admitted it's ticking fast. He reiterated unproven conspiracy theories about voting machines changing votes for him to Biden, complained the election was 'rigged' and alleged Biden only got his record 80 million votes through 'massive fraud.' The president grew angry with Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason (pictured above in 2017), who interrupted Trump while he was giving his answer about whether he would concede if the Electoral College voted for Joe Biden on December 14Trump is trying to over throw the election results by going to court in battleground states but his legal cases have been going nowhere. States are in the process of certifying their results and the electoral college meets in about two weeks to name the winner. 'Time isn't on our side,' the president conceded. Mason asked the president if he would consider offering a proper concession after the Electoral College meets on December 14. That is when Bidens victory will be made official. Trump, however, said that the Electoral College should not confirm Bidens win. Well if they do, they made a mistake, because this election was a fraud, the president said in response to Masons question. Just so you understand, this election was a fraud, he continued. Trump said it was inconceivable that Biden won, since the former vice president captured more votes in key swing states than Barack Obama did in his election victories. [Biden] is beating Obama in swing states, which are the states that mattered for purposes of the election, the president said. So no, I cant say that [I will concede] at all. I think its a possibility... theyre trying to, look, between you people...At this point, Mason interrupts the president and begins to ask his next question before Trump finished giving his response. Dont talk to me that way, Trump snapped at Mason. Youre just a lightweight. Dont talk to me that way. Dont talk to... Im the President of the United States. Last month, Trump mocked Mason in the Oval Office for wearing a mask just weeks after the White House hosted an event in which several attendees, including the president himself, would later test positive for COVID-19. On October 23, Mason attempted to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a question in the Oval Office. 'This is Jeff Mason,' Trump explained to Netanyahu, relaying Mason's question. 'He's got a mask on that's the largest mask I think I've ever seen.' In early September, Trump held a news conference at the White House during which he demanded that Mason remove his face covering while asking a question. Mason started speaking when Trump cut him off and said: 'You're going to have to take that off, please. You can take it off. How many feet are you away?' The reporter declined to remove his mask and politely raised his voice again, asking: 'Is that better?' Trump rolled his eyes and responded: 'It's... better, yeah.' And during a briefing back in May, the president asked Mason to remove his covering and then accused him of trying to be 'politically correct' for refusing. While a concession speech may not be in the offing, the president did say on Thursday that he would leave the White House if Biden is confirmed as the next president by the Electoral College. When asked whether he would vacate the building, allowing a peaceful transition of power in January, the president said: Certainly I will. But you know that.' But Trump renewed his unproven claims that massive fraud and crooked officials in battleground states caused his election defeat. He insisted that a lot of things would happen between now and then that might alter the results. This has a long way to go, Trump said, even though he lost. Trump's administration has already given the green light for a formal transition to get underway. But Trump took issue with Biden moving forward. I think its not right that hes trying to pick a Cabinet, Trump said, even though officials from both teams are already working together to get Biden's team up to speed. And as he refused to concede, Trump announced that he will be traveling to Georgia to rally supporters ahead of two Senate runoff elections that will determine which party controls the Senate. Trump said the rally for Republican Senators David Perdue and Sen Kelly Loeffler would likely be held on Saturday. The White House later clarified he had meant December 5. Earlier on Thursday, the president played a round of golf at his Sterling, Virginia, club during which he grew angry while struggling at one particular holeOne of the reasons Republicans have stood by Trump and his baseless claims of fraud has been to keep his loyal base energized ahead of those runoffs on January 5. But Trump, in his remarks, openly questioned whether that election would be fair in a move that could dampen Republican turnout. I think you're dealing with a very fraudulent system. I'm very worried about that, he said. People are very disappointed that we were robbed.As for the Electoral College, Trump made clear that he will likely never formally concede, even if he said he would leave the White House. Its gonna be a very hard thing to concede. Because we know there was massive fraud, he said, noting that, time isnt on our side.Asked whether he would attend Biden's inauguration, Trump said he knew the answer but didn't want to share it yet. When asked if he'd go to Biden's inauguration on January 20th, Trump replied: 'I don't want to say that yet. I mean I know the answer, I'll be honest, I know the answer, but I just don't want to say it yet.' He warned that 'a lot of things happening between now and January 20th' and the election results have a 'long way' to go. But there were some signs that Trump was coming to terms with his loss. At one point he urged reporters not to allow Biden the credit for pending coronavirus vaccines. Don't let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than theyve ever been pushed before, he said. Trump wouldn't say if he would attend rival Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20thAs for whether or not he plans to formally declare his candidacy to run again in 2024 - as he has discussed with aides - Trump he didn't want to talk about 2024 yet.All states must certify their results before the Electoral College meets on December 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by December 8. Trump's last hope could be January 6, 2020, which is when Congress meets to formally certify the results of the electoral college. But the transition process has already begun. The General Services Administration, led by a Trump appointee, announced this week that federal agencies and the Biden Transition Team could start communicating. The president elect is starting to name his cabinet. In his remarks on Thursday, Trump repeated a conspiracy theory pushed by members of his legal team that votes from Dominion Voting Systems machines lost votes for him or switched votes from him to Biden. Dominion said there was no problem with their machines nor is there any evidence of what Trump alleges. 'We're using computer equipment that can be hacked,' the president complained about the election. 'We're like a third world country. We have machines that nobody knows what the hell they're looking at. I mean you take a look at all the mistakes they made,' he said. 'This election was a fraud, just so you understand this election was a fraud,' he said. He said there was proof of what he was talking about on the internet. 'If you look, just take a look anywhere on the internet. You will see many, many people where they're experimenting with this stupid machinery. Wherever you send it a certain way the votes go from Trump to Biden,' Trump said. President Donald Trump on Thursday took his first questions from reporters after the electionPresident Trump made his remarks after he spoke to U.S. troops for the Thanksgiving holidayPresident Trump started his Thanksgiving with a round of golfAnd he challenged Biden's vote tally. 'I know one thing Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes,' he said. 'The only way he got 80 million votes is through massive fraud.' The current tally of the popular votes stand at: 80,045,066 (51%) for Biden and 73,897,658 (47%) for Trump. Additionally,'You have to really take a look at what's going on. They're finding tremendous discrepancies in the votes, and nobody believes those numbers those numbers are incorrect numbers,' he said of the vote tallies. He provided no evidence of his claim. State officials have said they've found no evidence of election fraud in the November contest. 'I thought I was going to win it, and essentially I did win it. It's very very close, it's very very close,' he said. The election results are not close. Biden has 306 electoral votes and only needs 270 to win the presidency. Trump has 232. Trump played coy when asked about his own Thanksgiving plans for his last one at the White House, saying he 'can't say what's first or last.' He added that it might be the 'first one of a second term.' President Trump said he would go to Georgia on Saturday, December 5, to campaign for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David PerduePresident Trump's motorcade arrives at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va, on Thanksgiving DaySpecifically, Trump complained about results in states he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in November, specifically calling out Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 'You will find tens of thousands of false ballots,' he promised. He alleged voters in Pennsylvania who tried to vote were told they already had, said he was winning in Wayne County in Michigan but then said canvassers wouldn't certify for him, claimed there were 'tremendous discrepancies' in Wisconsin, and faulted Democrat Stacey Abrams for his loss in Georgia. Trump accused Abrams, who worked on voter registration in Georgia, with harvesting votes. 'Ballot harvesting', as it's called, is when a third party collects an individual's legal vote and turns it into state officials. The practice is legal'You're not allowed to harvest,' Trump said. He also railed against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who led a hand recount of the state that certified Biden's win, an 'enemy of the people.' 'I understand the Secretary of State, who is really an enemy of the people, the Secretary of State, and whether it's republican or not,' Trump complained. Georgia officials are doing another recount at Trump's request. Biden became the first Democrat to carry the state of Georgia since 1992 and many Democrats credited Abrams' get-out-the-vote operation in the state for his victory there. Trump is going to Georgia on Saturday, December 5, to campaign for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The two candidates are in a January 5th runoff election. Republicans need to win both seats in order to maintain their control of the Senate. The president said he spoke to them about his concerns about Georgia's voting. 'I told them today I said listen you have a fraudulent system, you have a system with the flick of a switch or the putting in a new chip can change the course of history,' he said. President Trump faulted Democrat Stacey Abrams for his loss in GeorgiaTrump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, an 'enemy of the people' - Raffensperger presided over a hand recount that confirmed Biden's victoryPresident Donald Trump called into a hearing-style event in Pennsylvania where lawyer Rudy Giuliani leveled charges of voter fraud on WednesdayIn Pennsylvania Trump's legal team is trying to stop certification of the state's 20 electoral votes for Biden. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney who is leading the charge in trying to overturn the election, testified at a Republican-led hearing of sorts on Wednesday, which Trump called into to implore GOP officials in the state to find he won Pennsylvania. 'This election has to be turned around. We won Pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot,' Trump said via a cellphone his attorney Jenna Ellis held up to a microphone. Trump also tried to subvert results in Michigan. He met with two state lawmakers at the White House to discuss the election. But, despite his efforts, the two men said they haven't seen any evidence that would change the fact that Biden won their state. 'We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election,' Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield said in a joint statement after their meeting with President Trump last week. In Wisconsin, Republicans filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to block certification of the presidential election results as a recount is ongoing. The state is supposed to certify its results on Tuesday, December 1. Trump says COVID vaccines will start going out NEXT WEEK as he brags about his accomplishments in Thanksgiving call with U.S. troopsPresident Donald Trump spent time on his call with U.S. troops bragging about his own record, noting the record stock market high this week and claiming COVID vaccines will start being delivered in the next week or two. At least three COVID vaccines show remarkable efficacy, a promising result as America sees more than 12.9 million infections and more than 263,000 deaths for the virus. The candidates are in Phase 3 clinical trials, the last step before seeking the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration. Trump said distribution will begin soon with frontline workers and high risk populations. 'We are rounding the curb,' he said on a call with troops stationed overseas. 'The vaccines are being delivered literally starting next week and week after, and the frontline workers and seniors and doctors, nurses, a lot of people going to start getting.' President Donald Trump said COVID vaccines will start going out next week with healtcare workers and at-risk populations getting them firstPresident Trump made his announcement on his traditional Thanksgiving call with troopsThe FDA is meeting Monday to talk to Pfizer about giving an emergency authorization for its vaccine to be used. Trump said the rapid development of the vaccine was a 'medical miracle.' 'Some people call that a medical miracle really a miracle. It could have taken four or five years to do this normally. It probably would have taken four or five years, just getting it through the FDA. We pushed it very hard,' he said. Gen. Gustave Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed's effort to distribute coronavirus vaccines nationwide, told ABC News that he believes the FDA's authorization, which he calls 'D-Day,' could occur between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14. Once it's authorized, he said, '24 hours later, vaccines are on the street.' Trump, in his overseas call, also bragged about Tuesday's record achievement in the stock market: the Dow hit 30,000 points for the first time. 'You're doing an incredible job and your country is doing well. We just set a record in the stock market over 30,000 in the Dow Jones industrial average,' he said. The president spoke with different members of service stationed around the world. 'Don't eat too much turkey,' he told them. 'How is Kuwait doing,' he said in his conversations with Army, Marine, and Air Force personnel stationed in Kuwait. He also spoke with Navy service members on the USS Winston S Churchill in the Red Sea, members of the Space Force in Colorado and Coast Guard forces in the Kingdom of Bahrain. On the teleconference, all the service members wore face masks. Trump did not wear one. Pfizer is meeting with the FDA on Monday to discuss emergency use authorization of its COVID vaccinePresident Trump led a round of applause for the troops when he finished his call with themWhen one of the commanders thanked him for doing the call, saying it raised morale during the holiday, Trump replied: ''I love doing it and I'm so proud of it.' He also said repeatedly the military is in better shape after his four years in the White House, claiming its equipment is in 'tippy-top' shape. 'Your equipment is getting newer and newer and better and better,' he told crew members of the Churchill. 'On the Army, we just made a tremendous purchase of equipment,' he said. And he praised one service man who said he was a golfer. The 'only exercise there is,' said the president who had played a round before speaking with them. The president spoke from the Diplomatic Room of the White House. Teed off after teeing off! Trump tears into Twitter claiming it makes up 'false trends' and demanding section 230 be repealed - after losing it on the golf course and blasting 'I hate this f*****g hole!!!' President Trump split his Thanksgiving holiday between lashing out at his enemies on Twitter, playing golf, and holding a news conference. Early in the day, the president appeared grumpy earlier in the day on Thursday, when he was caught on camera using foul language after he flubbed a golf shot while playing at his course in Sterling, Virginia. I hate this f*****g hole! Trump said after he chipped a ball into the water. Later, the president took to Twitter to blast the social media company, accusing them of making up 'negative stuff' for their trending section, and called for the repeal of Section 230, a part of a law that shields internet companies from liability for the content that users post. But within half an hour the number one trending topic in the United States was 'DiaperDon' - a reference to the president sitting behind a small desk at a news conference earlier in the day. Trump retweeted and wrote more than a dozen tweets on Thursday, including several just hours after he grew visibly angry with a Reuters reporter during the question-and-answer session at the White House. Trump also retweeted his favorite commentators - who falsely suggested theres still a chance he can overturn the results of the election - and also vented his frustration at the media, Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, kneeling NFL players, and Fox News. The president agreed with a tweet by conservative commentator David J Harris Jr, who said that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was 'in panic mode!' President Trump on Thursday blasted Twitter, accusing it of manipulating its trending topics so as to make him look badTwitter is sending out totally false Trends that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world, the president tweeted on Thursday. They make it up, and only negative stuff'Twitter users relentlessly mocked the president for the small desk from which he spoke during his White House news conference. The sight of Trump sitting at the desk prompted Twitter users to trend the topic Resolute Desk - the much larger desk where the president sits in the Oval Office. Another trending topic on Twitter was the hashtag #DiaperDon, a reaction to an image of the president sitting at his smaller deskThe president on Thursday night repeated past grievances about the November 3 election which he lost to President-elect Joe Biden. He also took aim once again at Twitter, claiming that it was conspiring to make him look bad. Trump posted a tweet linking to an opinion column written by a blogger with The Federalist, a pro-Trump, conservative-leaning news site. The opinion piece listed five more ways Joe Biden magically outperformed election norms.It suggested that that Bidens win was fraudulent since it defied several metrics that have historically been used to gauge who would win a presidential election. A must read. Impossible for Biden to have overcome these, and even greater, odds! Trump tweeted when linking the article. The president then posted another tweet complaining about media coverage of his Thanksgiving Day message to US troops stationed abroad. I gave a long news conference today after wishing the military a Happy Thanksgiving, & realized once again that the Fake News Media coordinates so that the real message of such a conference never gets out, the president tweeted. Primary point made was that the 2020 Election was RIGGED, and that I WON!Trump spoke to reporters in the White Houses ornate Diplomatic Reception Room after holding a teleconference with US military leaders stationed across the globe. He thanked them for their service and jokingly warned them not to eat too much turkey, then turned to the election after ending the call. Trump repeated grievances and angrily denounced officials in Georgia and Pennsylvania, two key swing states that helped give Biden the win. 'Resolute Desk' was also trending on Twitter late on Thursday, drawing Trump's ire'Moved from the Resolute Desk to the Coffee Table of Despair,' tweeted another Twitter userTrump then took aim at Twitter after the social media sites trending topics painted the president in an unfavorable light. Twitter is sending out totally false Trends that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world, the president tweeted on Thursday. They make it up, and only negative stuff. Same thing will happen to Twitter as is happening to Fox News daytime. Also, big Conservative discrimination!Twitter users relentlessly mocked the president for the small desk from which he spoke during his White House news conference. The sight of Trump sitting at the desk prompted Twitter users to trend the topic Resolute Desk - the much larger desk where the president sits in the Oval Office. Another trending topic on Twitter was the hashtag #DiaperDon, a reaction to an image of the president sitting at his smaller desk. The president then tweeted: For purposes of National Security, Section 230 must be immediately terminated!! !Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects internet companies from liability for the material users post on their networks. 'No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider,' the law states. Trump has long accused social media networks of being biased against conservatives and Republicans. Since the November 3 election, Twitter has been more aggressively labeling Trumps tweets with warnings about its accuracy as the president has made numerous claims about alleged voter fraud. Trump and his attorneys have yet to substantiate allegations of widespread voter fraud that he claims cost him the election. Earlier on Thursday, Trump praised a Pennsylvania judge who placed a hold on the certification process for down-ballot races in the Keystone State. A brilliant woman of courage! the president tweeted on Thursday. He was reacting to a tweet posted by David J. Harris Jr, a conservative commentator who linked to a news story on his web site about the case. Harris headline read: Judge Blocks Certification of Pennsylvania Election Results.But the headline and the article incorrectly suggest that the decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia A. McCullough will have any impact on the presidential race. The state has already certified the results of the presidential election, with Democrat Joe Biden winning its 20 electoral college votes. Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, sent a certificate of ascertainment to the national archivist in Washington with the slate of electors who support President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Pennsylvanias 20 electors, a mix of elected Democrats, party activists and other staunch Biden backers, will meet in the state Capitol on December 14. McCulloughs ruling on Wednesday temporarily blocks the portion of the election that had yet to be certified - namely the state legislature results. A majority of the legislature is controlled by Republicans. The president on Thursday also retweeted a post from Harris which links to an article about the voter fraud hearing led by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. Trump also retweeted another post by Harris, this one claiming that 'AOC is in panic mode!' The Texans won the game 41-25The post was linked to a news story about a lawsuit filed by pro-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who are suing Georgia because of an 'unlawful election.' Biden won Georgia's 16 electoral college votes, defeating Trump by slightly more than 12,000 votes. The link to the news story on Harris' site alleges that AOC is 'in trouble,' though the basis for that claim is unclear. Trump also reacted negatively to a news story about the two quarterbacks of the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions, the NFL teams who faced off against each other in the Thanksgiving game on Thursday. The Texans' Deshaun Watson and the Lions' Matthew Stafford were seen kneeling on their respective sidelines during the national anthem just before kickoff at Ford Field in Detroit. The Texans won the game 41-25. Trump has been a vocal critic of professional athletes who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. He demanded that NFL owners fire players who do so after the Colin Kaepernick controversy. Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, ignited a fierce, nationwide debate in 2015 and 2016 by kneeling on the sidelines during the Star Spangled Banner. Earlier on Thursday, Trump kicked off his Thanksgiving with a round of golf at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia and a lot of whining on Twitter, insisting there was no way Biden won the 'rigged' election and slamming Fox News. Trump left the White House Thursday morning for 18 holes at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia. But before and after his game, his focus was on the presidential election - which he still insists he won - instead of the holiday. 'Just saw the vote tabulations. There is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes!!! This was a 100% RIGGED ELECTION,' Trump complained about his Democratic rival. Twitter flagged the tweet, noting on it: 'This claim about election fraud is disputed.' The president has refused to concede the election even as his legal cases challenging the results in battleground states have gone nowhere, his campaign has turned up no evidence of major voter fraud, and states have begun to certify Biden's victory. The current tally of the popular votes stand at: 80,045,066 (51%) for Biden and 73,897,658 (47%) for Trump. Additionally, Biden has 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. The 2020 contest saw a record number of votes. Biden was the first candidate to earn over 80 million. Trump also got in a dig at Fox News. The news organization infuriated him by being the first on election night to call Arizona for Biden. The president retweeted a tweet on the network seeing declining ratings and added his own commentary: 'Will go down much further. Weekend daytime even worse, dead. They still dont get it. Fantastic alternatives! The late/great Roger Ailes is seriously missed, but I still won LEGAL VOTES by a lot!!!' Ailes, who was ousted from Fox News in 2016 over charges of sexual harassment, advised Trump on the presidential debates that year. He died in 2017 and some credit him for Trump's rise in politics. And Trump retweeted a tweet about a lawsuit Sidney Powell, the attorney dumped from his legal team, brought about in Georgia. And he complained about Pennsylvania, where his legal team is trying to stop certification of the state's 20 electoral votes for Biden: 'A total FRAUD. Statehouse Republicans, proud, strong and honest, will never let this travesty stand!' Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney who is leading the charge in trying to overturn the election, testified at a Republican-led hearing of sorts on Wednesday, which Trump called into to implore GOP officials in the state to find he won Pennsylvania. 'This election has to be turned around. We won Pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot,' Trump said via a cellphone his attorney Jenna Ellis held up to a microphone. 'We got 11 million votes more than we had four years ago in 2016. And we got many more votes than Ronald Reagan had when he won 49 states,' Trump said, pointing to an election forty years ago when the population was considerably smaller. Trump did receive 73 million votes - the most ever of an incumbent president. But Biden won over 80 million votes and the electoral college, which hands him the White House. The Trump team has shown no evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania or any other state. Trump had switched into holiday mode earlier in the day, writing 'HAPPY THANKSGIVING' atop a retweet from the SCOTUS blog, which covers Supreme Court cases. It reported that: 'Just before midnight on the night before Thanksgiving, the Supreme Court blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from enforcing attendance limits at religious services. The vote is 5-4, with Roberts and the three liberals dissenting.' The Supreme Court late Wednesday temporarily barred New York from enforcing attendance limits at houses of worship in areas designated as hard hit by the coronavirus. Andrew Cuomo's October 6 decision about houses of worship in areas designated red and orange zones, where attendance was capped at 10 and 25 people, respectively. New Justice Amy Coney Barrett ruled in the majority whereas the court's three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented. In two previous cases this year, the court on 5-4 votes turned away similar requests by churches in Nevada and California. Those votes occurred before the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The president is having Thanksgiving dinner with his immediate family. 'The First Family will be celebrating the day with immediate family for dinner at the White House. The President and First Lady wish everyone across the country a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving,' said Stephanie Grisham, the chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump, in a statement. She did not detail who was included in the immediate family, which could consist of the president's adult children from his first marriages and the first lady's parents, who live near the White House. In his Thanksgiving proclamation, President Trump encouraged Americans to gather and give thanks. 'I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings,' he said in a statement. Trump's urging Americans to gather for the holiday comes as daily deaths from COVID-19 in the United States have surpassed 2,100 for the first since May as millions of Americans continue to ignore CDC travel guidance and dire warnings from health experts that Thanksgiving could be the 'mother of all superspreader events'. Don Jr., the president's oldest son who tested positive for coronavirus a couple of weeks ago, posted a message to Instagram he is 'done with Rona' and will spend Thanksgiving with family. He videotaped the message on Wednesday with girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, noting the couple will be eating their 'back up meal' that day and then enjoying a second Thanksgiving feast. 'I wasnt sure if Id be able to be cleared to be with my family but I got the medical OK Im all done with the Rona,' he noted. And Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, posted a photo to Instagram of her, husband Eric Trump and their two kids taking a road trip to an unnamed location. The president is also reaching out to friends who could be having a tough time over the holidays. Eric Bolling, the Sinclair TV host whose son died of an accidental drug overdose in 2017, tweeted that Trump called him on Thanksgiving Day. '3 years ago today: A difficult first holiday without my Eric Chase.. the empty Thanksgiving seat being too real having just lost our son. The phone rang: 'Eric, Melania and I want to tell you how much we feel for you today' That call just came again. Thank you @realDonaldTrump,' he wrote. Last year on Thanksgiving, Trump made a surprise visit Afghanistan where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and served Thanksgiving dinner to U.S. troops stationed there. | 0 |
###CLAIM: in the meantime, according to rosario and hernandez, because of disability benefits and insurance, the hernandez family has only been covered for a portion of their salary.
###DOCS: Saul Sanchez died in April, one of six workers with fatal COVID-19 infections at meatpacker JBS USA's slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colorado, the site of one of the earliest and deadliest coronavirus outbreaks at a U.S. meatpacking plant. Before getting sick, the 78-year-old Sanchez only left home to work on the fabrication line, where cattle carcasses are sliced into cuts of beef, and to go to his church, with its five-person congregation, said his daughter, Betty Rangel. She said no one else got infected in the family or at Bible Missionary Church, which could not be reached for comment. JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, denied the family's application for workers' compensation benefits, along with those filed by the families of two other Greeley workers who died of COVID-19, said lawyers handling the three claims. Families of the three other Greeley workers who died also sought compensation, a union representative said, but Reuters could not determine the status of their claims. JBS has said the employees' COVID-19 infections were not work-related in denying the claims, according to responses the company gave to employees, which were reviewed by Reuters. As more Americans return to workplaces, the experience of JBS employees shows the difficulty of linking infections to employment and getting compensation for medical care and lost wages. "That is the ultimate question: How can you prove it?" said Nick Fogel, an attorney specializing in workers' compensation at the firm Burg Simpson in Colorado. The meatpacking industry has suffered severe coronavirus outbreaks, in part because production-line workers often work side-by-side for long shifts. Companies including JBS, Tyson Foods Inc and WH Group Ltd's Smithfield Foods closed about 20 plants this spring after outbreaks, prompting President Donald Trump in April to order the plants to stay open to ensure the nation's meat supply. The White House declined to comment on the industry's rejections of workers' claims. The U.S. Department of Labor did not respond to a request for comment. Tyson has also denied workers' compensation claims stemming from a big outbreak in Iowa, workers' attorneys told Reuters. Smithfield workers at a plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, also hit by a major outbreak, have generally not filed claims, a union official said, in part because the company has paid infected workers' wages and medical bills. Smithfield declined to comment on workers compensation. Tyson said it reviews claims on a case-by-case basis, but declined to disclose how often it rejects them. JBS acknowledged rejecting claims but declined to say how often. It called the denials consistent with the law, without elaborating. Workers can challenge companies' denials in an administrative process that varies by state but typically resembles a court hearing. The burden of proof, however, usually falls on the worker to prove a claim was wrongfully denied. The full picture of how the meatpacking industry has handled COVID-related workers' compensation remains murky because of a lack of national claims data. Reuters requested data from seven states where JBS or its affiliates have plants that had coronavirus outbreaks. Only three states provided data in any detail; all show a pattern of rejections. In Minnesota, where JBS had a major outbreak, meatpacking employees filed 930 workers' compensation claims involving COVID-19 as of Sept. 11, according to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. None were accepted, 717 were rejected and 213 were under review. The agency did not identify the employers. The Minnesota Department of Health said only two meatpacking plants there had significant coronavirus outbreaks: a JBS pork processing plant in Worthington, and a poultry plant in Cold Spring run by Pilgrim's Pride Corp , which is majority-owned by JBS. Tom Atkinson, a Minnesota workers' compensation attorney who has represented meatpacking workers, estimates up to 100 COVID-19 claims were filed by employees at the Worthington plant. In Utah, seven JBS workers filed claims related to COVID-19 by Aug. 1 and all were denied, according to the state's Labor Commission. At least 385 workers at a JBS beef plant in Hyrum, Utah, tested positive for COVID-19. In Colorado, 69% of the 2,294 worker compensation claims for COVID-19 had been denied as of Sept. 12. Although the state does not break down the denials by industry, a JBS spokesman told Reuters the company is rejecting claims in Colorado and that it uses the same claim-review procedures nationwide. JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett did not answer the question of whether JBS employees were infected on the job and declined comment on individual workers claims. He said the company has outsourced claim reviews to a third-party administrator. "Given the widespread nature of viral spread, our third-party claims administrator reviews each case thoroughly and independently," said Bruett. The administrator, Sedgwick, did not respond to a request for comment. Bruett, also a spokesman for Pilgrim's Pride, did not respond to questions about infections and claims at its Minnesota plant. At the JBS plant in Greeley, where Sanchez worked before he died, at least 291 of about 6,000 workers were infected, according to state data. The company, in its written response to the familys claim, said that his infection was not work-related, without spelling out its reasoning. The two sides are now litigating the matter in Colorado's workers' compensation system. Under Colorado law, a workers' compensation death benefit provides about two-thirds of the deceased worker's salary to the surviving spouse and pays medical expenses not covered by insurance. If JBS had not denied the Sanchez familys claim, that would have provided his widow a steady income and paid uncovered medical bills totaling about $10,000, according to his daughter. "They don't care," Rangel said of JBS. "They are all about the big profits, and they are not going to give any money out." Mass infections, little compensationThe United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents 250,000 U.S. meatpacking and food-processing workers, said last week at least 122 meatpacking workers have died of COVID-19 and more than 18,000 had missed work because they were infected or potentially exposed. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said on Sept. 11 that it had cited JBS for failing to protect workers at the Greeley plant from the virus. OSHA cited Smithfield this month for failing to protect workers at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant, where the agency said nearly 1,300 workers contracted the coronavirus and four died. Smithfield and JBS said the citations had no merit because they concerned conditions in plants before OSHA issued COVID-19 guidance for the industry. OSHA said it stands by the citations. Workers' compensation is generally the only way to recoup medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries and deaths. The system protects employers from lawsuits, with few exceptions, and allows workers to collect benefits without having to prove fault or negligence. But the system was designed for factory accidents, not airborne illnesses. In response to the coronavirus, governors and lawmakers in at least 14 states have made it easier for some employees to collect workers compensation for COVID-19 by putting the burden on companies and insurers to prove an infection did not occur at work. But most of the changes, which vary by state, only apply to workers in healthcare or emergency services. A similar proposal failed to gain support in Colorado. Mark Dopp, general counsel for the North American Meat Institute, a trade association that represents meatpackers, said it is difficult to determine where workers get infections given extensive sanitation efforts taken by meat plants and workers' daily travel to and from the plants. Tyson in April closed its Waterloo, Iowa, pork processing plant due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Ben Roth, a local workers compensation attorney, said five families of employees who died filed workers compensation claims for death benefits, and all were denied. He said meat-processing companies have an incentive to deny every claim because admitting they caused even one infection can expose the firms to liability for all workers contracting COVID-19. "That undercuts the argument that they want to make across the board: that you cant prove you got it here and not at a grocery store," Roth said. Tyson said it follows state laws for workers compensation. The company noted that Iowa law states that disease with an equal likelihood of being contracted outside the workplace are "not compensable as an occupational disease.In Colorado, Sylvia Martinez runs a group called Latinos Unidos of Greeley and said she knows of more than 20 JBS workers who applied for workers compensation and were denied. Many plant workers are not native English speakers and sought out her group for guidance, she said, adding that many don't understand their rights and fear being fired. The company's rejections have discouraged more claims, Martinez said. "If you deny five or 10, those workers will tell their co-workers," she said. 'Who is going to hire him?' JBS also contested the claim of Alfredo Hernandez, 55, a custodian who worked at the Greeley plant for 31 years. He became infected and was hospitalized in March. He still relies on supplemental oxygen and hasn't returned to work, said his wife, Rosario Hernandez. Generall y, companies approve claims if it looks probable that an employee was injured or sickened at work, said Erika Alverson, the attorney representing Hernandez. But JBS, she said, is arguing workers could have contracted COVID-19 anywhere. "They're getting into, where did our clients go, what were they doing during that time, who was coming into their house, what did their spouse do, was there any other form of exposure?" said Alverson, of the Denver firm Alverson and OBrien. A judge will decide the Hernandez case in an administrative hearing. In the meantime, the Hernandez family has only his disability benefits a portion of his salary to cover his medical and insurance costs, Rosario Hernandez said. "We're getting bunches of bills," she said. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. | 0 |
###CLAIM: rodney and harrison said at a news briefing that the mother 's boyfriend called 911 from an apartment in the st. nicholas and houses building saturday.
###DOCS: NEW YORK (AP) A 10-year-old boy was fatally abused by his mothers companion in Harlem, police said Monday. The mothers boyfriend called 911 on Saturday from an apartment in the St. Nicholas Houses, Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said at a news briefing. When the officers arrived, they found 10-year-old Ayden Wolfe lying unconscious and unresponsive in the living room. The boy was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ryan Cato, 34, was arrested late Sunday on charges of murder and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. It wasnt clear if Cato had an attorney who could comment on the charges. ADVERTISEMENTHarrison said Aydens body was covered with bruises both old and recent. He said the boy died of fatal child abuse syndrome.The Daily News reports that residents of the housing complex held a vigil for Ayden outside of his building Sunday, and tenant association head Tyrone Ball urged residents to check on their neighbors when they hear something amiss. These walls are thin enough to where you can hear a child being beaten. You think its not your business, it is your business, Ball said. It takes a village to raise a child, but the village failed. The mother of a 10-year-old Harlem boy who was bludgeoned to death in the familys apartment was investigated for neglecting the child when he was just a baby, police revealed on Monday. The womans boyfriend, Ryan Cato, 34 who is charged with murder in Ayden Wolfes death was also investigated by the city Administration for Childrens Services in an unrelated case in which he allegedly beat another woman in front of their children in December, NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said at an afternoon press conference. Mr. Cato has three prior arrests, Harrison said. He was last arrested in December in Brooklyn, where he assaulted the mother of his children in their presence. An ACS case was opened for that case.The chief said the boys mother whose name is being withheld by The Post because she has not been charged was investigated by the ACS in 2010 after Ayden was born. The outcome of the two probes was not immediately known. In an e-mail on Monday, a spokesperson for the ACS said that the agency was barred by law from discussing details of its cases, but that it was now involved in the investigation into the boys death. The safety and well-being of New York Citys children is our top priority, the spokesperson said. We are investigating this case with the NYPD.Ayden was found unconscious and unresponsive in the living room of the apartment at the St. Nicholas Houses just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Ayden was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. The victim was found with extensive bruising to his face, his extremities and all over the body, Harrison said on Monday. Some injuries were old, but others were recent. At the hospital, investigators were informed that the victims demise was caused by fatal child-abuse syndrome.Harrison said that Aydens mother had not yet been interviewed over the boys death. Cato was questioned and was charged on Sunday with murder and endangering the welfare of a child. He was awaiting arraignment on Monday. Meanwhile, police executed a search warrant at the West 131st Street apartment on Monday along with members of the city Medical Examiners Office. Aydens cousin, who would identify herself only as Jennifer A., 42, remembered the dead boy as super smart, super intelligent.She said the boys mother was a good mom and was very protective of him.She would never hurt Ayden, Jennifer said. She just would not. Something had to go terribly wrong.I dont know who this other person was that was in her home, she added. I dont know him.Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan and Nolan Hicks An apparently serially bludgeoned Manhattan boy was found dead inside a Harlem apartment Saturday, authorities said. The 10-year-old had severe trauma throughout his body, with injuries both old and new, said a source, who added that two family members were being questioned in connection with the childs death. The tragic youngster was found just before 2:30 p.m. inside a fourth floor apartment at 260 West 131st St., in the Saint Nicholas Houses, and pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital. The city Medical Examiner is expected to determine the cause of death. No arrests have been made. | 3 |
###CLAIM: that would prevent the trump administration from continuing operations of several recreational facilities, including a wollman ice skating rink in central park that is to generate 4. 5 million dollars in revenue in 2020, according to financial disclosures.
###DOCS: London CNN Business Donald Trumps businesses generated nearly 40% less revenue last year as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the hotel industry, putting the former president under financial pressure even before corporate partners and banks ditched him in the wake of the insurrection at the US Capitol. Posted on Wednesday as he left the White House, Trumps final financial disclosure as president reveals a steep decline in revenue at some of his marquee properties in 2020 and the first 20 days of this year. Sales at the Trump International Hotel Washington plummeted by 63% compared with 2019 to $15.1 million, while revenue fell 62% to $9.8 million at Scottish golf resort Turnberry. Revenue at one of the former presidents biggest businesses, the Trump National Doral golf resort near Miami, declined to $44.2 million from $77.2 million in 2019. Trump has mortgages on the property totaling between $55 million and $75 million, according to the document. The loans from Deutsche Bank mature in 2023. The Trump International Hotel located at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, D.C. Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesFederal officials are allowed to disclose their income and the value of their assets in broad ranges. Overall, Trump reported revenue for 2020 of $278 million to $313 million, down from $445 million to $483 million in 2019. Based on the midpoint of those ranges, revenue fell by 37%. Hotels and other hospitality companies, which form a substantial part of Trumps business empire, have been hit especially hard during the pandemic as travelers stay home and governments impose lockdowns. In Scotland, for example, Trump Turnberry has been forced to close because of government restrictions designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. There were a few bright spots for the Trump Organization. Revenue was fairly steady at his golf courses in Charlotte, North Carolina, Philadelphia and New Yorks Hudson Valley. Sales at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump returned after leaving the White House on Wednesday, increased to $24.2 million from $21.4 million. (He transferred his permanent residence to the Florida property from Trump Tower in New York in 2019, and spent hundreds of days golfing at courses he owned during his presidency.) Still, there are major questions about the presidents business after his supporters vandalized the Capitol earlier this month in a brazen assault that left five people dead and sparked a major corporate backlash. Twitter (TWTR) and Facebook (FB) banned Trump indefinitely, taking away his biggest megaphones. Stripe is no longer processing credit card payments for his campaign organization, Shopify stopped operating online stores for the Trump Organization and the campaign and the PGA announced it was pulling a major golf tournament from his Bedminster, New Jersey, course. New York City is seeking to terminate its business relationships with the Trump Organization. That would prevent Trump from continuing to operate several recreational venues including the Wollman ice skating rink in Central Park, which generated $4.5 million in revenue in 2020, according to the financial disclosure. Deutsche Bank (DB) has decided to no longer do business with Trump, a source told CNN Business earlier this month. In addition to the mortgages on the Doral property, Germanys biggest bank has also provided loans for the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and the companys hotel in Washington. The Trump Organization owes Deutsche Bank approximately $340 million in the coming years, the source said. Its unclear which, if any, other banks will want to loan money to the Trump Organization. New York state criminal investigators looking into Trumps business practices have subpoenaed the bank about its lending relationship with the Trump Organization. Late last month the two private bankers at Deutsche Bank who worked most closely with Trump resigned their positions. Signature Bank said following the attack on the Capitol that it had started closing Trumps personal accounts. The former president has a checking account with the bank, according to his financial disclosure. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Matt Egan and Chris Isidore contributed reporting. FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2021 file photo, extra security barricades are outside the Trump Hotel in Washington. Trump is returning to a family business ravaged by pandemic shutdowns, with revenue plunging more than 40 percent at his Doral golf property, his Washington hotel and at both his Scottish resorts. Trumps financial disclosure released as he left office this week was just the latest bad news for his financial empire after banks, brokerages and golf organizations announced they were cutting ties with his company following the storming of the Capitol this month by his political supporters (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2021 file photo, extra security barricades are outside the Trump Hotel in Washington. Trump is returning to a family business ravaged by pandemic shutdowns, with revenue plunging more than 40 percent at his Doral golf property, his Washington hotel and at both his Scottish resorts. Trumps 2020 financial disclosure released as he left office this week was just the latest bad news for his financial empire after banks, real estate brokerages and golf organizations announced they were cutting ties with his company following the storming of the Capitol this month by his political supporters. ADVERTISEMENTThe disclosure showed sizable debt facing the company of more than $300 million, much of it coming due in the next four years, and a major bright spot: Revenue at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his new post-presidency home, rose by a few million dollars. Eric Trump, who with Donald Trump Jr. has run the Trump Organization the past four years, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the disclosure doesnt tell the whole story, calling the debt negligible and the outlook for the company bright, especially at its golf resorts and courses. The golf business has never been stronger. We took in hundreds and hundreds of new members, he said, adding that profits were in the tens of millions.Hinting at possible new ventures in the post-presidency era, Eric Trump raised the prospect of a flurry of new licensing deals in which the Trump name is put on a product or building for a fee, a business that has generated tens of millions for the company in the past. The opportunities are endless, he said, declining to give details. The disclosure report filed each year with federal ethics officials shows only revenue figures, not profits, but the hit to Trumps business appeared widespread. The National Doral Golf Club outside of Miami, his biggest money maker among the familys golf properties, took in $44.2 million in revenue, a drop of $33 million from 2019. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, once buzzing with lobbyists and diplomats before operations were cut back last year, generated just $15.1 million in revenue, down more than 60% from the year before. Trumps Turnberry club in Scotland took in less than $10 million, down more than 60%. Revenue at the familys golf club in Aberdeen dropped by roughly the same proportion. The Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach club where Trump arrived Wednesday, saw revenue rise 10% to $24.2 million. Revenue at a golf club near that club and one in Charlotte, North Carolina, also rose, up about 5 percent to $13 million each. In total, Trumps vast holding of hotels, resorts, office buildings, licensing deals and other assets took in at least $278 million for 2020 and the first few weeks of the new year, down more than a third from a minimum of about $450 million in 2019. The financial blow from former clients and business partners cutting ties to Trump is unclear, but it could be sizable. The PGA of America canceled a championship tournament at Trumps Bedminster club in New Jersey, and several banks said they would no longer lend to the company, making it more difficult to roll over its debt with new loans. In addition, New York City said it would be canceling various contracts with the company, including those running skating rinks and a golf club in the Bronx. Revenue at that course, the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, fell 20% last year to $6.4 million. Eric Trump dismissed the backlash, saying parts of the business that get less attention, such as its commercial buildings, are thriving. Ive signed 125,000 square feet of office space in the fourth quarter alone, he said, referring to new leases. We hit it out of the park.The disclosure report was unclear on that claim, though the revenue at four of the companys most important commercial buildings Trump Tower on New Yorks Fifth Avenue, a Wall Street building, and two towers owned with real estate giant Vornado -- seemed to have held up during the pandemic. The report, which gives some figures in broad ranges and vague more than estimates, said the four took in over $20 million in total last year, unchanged from a year earlier. | 2 |
###CLAIM: one of those drops secured a win for the spartans, an ethan and walker relief catch at first base with two outs in the 7th inning with the runner too far off the bag.
###DOCS: Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareForty days before his Broad Run baseball team played in the Virginia Class 4 state championship game, Coach Tommy Meier told his players, Guys, give me 40 days to make memories for the next 40 years. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The Spartans gave their 30-year-old coach just that. Thirty years after the previous time the Spartans raised the state championship trophy, they proudly lifted one again Saturday after edging Hanover, 3-2, in Ashburn. They focused. They worked hard. They gave it everything they got the last 40 days, Meier said. Todays the 40th day; we finished out on top.Broad Run (16-1) was bolstered by Connor Hale, who kept the Hawks without a hit for 523 innings, his only mistake a two-run homer in the sixth. But the senior bounced back. Hes played in big games. Hes played in [front of] big crowds, Meier said. He just knows how to fight through it.AdvertisementHale worked himself through that stumble, striking out the next batter, but it was his defense that kept the Spartans on top for most of the matchup. Despite Hales five walks, Hanover left only one runner on base. Two double plays and two pickoffs kept the bases clear for much of the day. One of those pickoffs secured the win for the Spartans: Reliever Ethan Walker, who entered with two outs in the seventh, caught a runner on first base too far off the bag to end it. Our defense was shutdown all game today, Hale said. If that wasnt happening, the game couldve been a lot more different.The Spartans capitalized on the Hawks fielding troubles to get on the board in the second inning, grabbing a lead they would not relinquish. First, Tyler Morley scored on a wild throw by Hanovers pitcher, turning a bunt by Joe Ferguson into a two-base error. Later, Ferguson scored on a poor throw to third base by Hanovers catcher. AdvertisementAdam Chow gave the Spartans a key insurance run in the fifth, bringing Jacob Flicker home on a chopper to second that was delivered low to the first baseman, allowing Chow to take second and giving Broad Run a 3-0 edge. With just four outs left, Seth Keller gave Hanover life with a two-run homer to center. But Hale was not going to let that pitch define him; he retired the next three batters before Walker finished it off. Hes insane, Morley said of Hale, shaking his head. Thats it. Hes just insane.Hale, who three years ago became the first freshman to start on Broad Runs varsity squad in 10 years, ended his high school career with the state championship that he had wanted for so long. More from The Post:GiftOutline Gift Article | 0 |
###CLAIM: a department of homeland security ( dhs ) whistleblower alleged wednesday that the top officials in power used intelligence reports to manipulate public scrutiny to ensure that campaign comments about antifa and anarchists match up with campaign comments about biden, using federal resources to cook up justification for the attacks.
###DOCS: Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. Last week, 11 Democratic senators signed on to a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin demanding the United States impose new sanctions on Russians who attempt to interfere with the 2020 election. There is virtually no national security threat more serious, they wrote, than that posed by those who would undermine confidence in, and the effective operation of, our democratic elections.After the events of 2016, when Russian hackers attacked the Democratic National Committee and other high-profile Democratic targets, the prospect of a foreign nation again disrupting the presidential election is a real concern. (A Senate report released last month detailed renewed efforts by the Russian government to spread disinformation in order to influence the campaign.) But this year, theres another hostile power putting its thumb on the scales to help President Donald Trump. From the United States Postal Service to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Justice Department, Trump has sought to use the federal bureaucracy to advance his own personal ends to a degree thats unprecedented since the days of Richard Nixon. So far, the government thats interfering most aggressively and overtly in the 2020 election isnt Vladimir Putinsits Trumps. Presidents have long used the perks of incumbency to their advantage when campaigning, by showering special attention, for instance, on the states they need to win to secure reelection. But Trump has reoriented the mission of government itself, using the levers of power to hurt his opponents, suppress damaging information, and bolster his own campaign messaging. The most infamous example of Trumps use of the powers of state for electoral ends was his attempted shakedown of the Ukrainian governmentfor which Trump was ultimately impeached. In that case, Trump threatened to withhold military aid to coerce an allied nation to manufacture dirt on a political rival, former vice president Joe Biden. In other words, he used official diplomatic channels to baitunsuccessfullya foreign government into intervening in the 2020 election. So far, the government thats interfering most aggressively and overtly in the 2020 election isnt Vladimir Putinsits Trumps. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of ones oath of office that I can imagine, Utah Republican Mitt Romney said last year, explaining his vote to convict Trump in the Senate. Democrats warned that if Trump wasnt taught a lesson by way of impeachment, he would simply be emboldened to keep abusing his office for political purposes. And he has. Just a few weeks after he was acquitted in the Senate, Trump hired Richard Grenell, a longtime Republican operative who also served as ambassador to Germany, to serve as acting director of national intelligence. Grenells main accomplishment in that position was stoking the conspiracy Trump has dubbed Obamagate. Using his rarefied government perch, he selectively declassified intelligence in order to suggest that Biden had illegally spied on Trumps campaign in 2016. It was part of an effort to turn the actual misdeeds of Trumps inner circle into a conspiracy theory about his opponentan electoral disinformation campaign run by the United States governmentI think youll go down as the all-time great Acting ever, at any position, Trump told him in May as Grenell exited the DNI role. Grenell promptly took a job with the Republican National Committee. Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr has suggested he might soon release the Durham Report, the Justice Departments investigation into...the Justice Departments investigation of Russias intervention in the 2016 election. The attorney general has made no secret about the timing. Ive said there are going to be developments, significant developments, before the election, he said in an interview on Fox News last month. This really does smell, a former DOJ official told HuffPost. Barr, meanwhile, has used his position as the nations chief law enforcement official to spread false information about voter fraud, in an attempt to influence the conduct of the election itself. On CNN, in an effort to impugn the legitimacy of mail-in voting, he invented a story about a Texas man who voted 1,700 times in one electionsomething his office later conceded never happened. It was a message seemingly ripped from the presidents reelection campaign. Government interference can take the form of promoting disinformation, and it can take the form of suppressing information. On Tuesday, in a move the New York Times called highly unusual, the Justice Department intervened in defense of Trump in an ongoing defamation lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll, who has alleged that Trump raped her in the 1990s. Trump denied the charge and claimed she had fabricated the story because she was selling a new book. The governments official position is that when Trump said Carroll was not my type, he was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time, according to the departments court filing. Its a major assist to Trump, who was facing mounting legal bills from the case, as well as the prospect of having to provide DNA evidence and testify under oath in the coming months. As the Times put it, The motion also effectively protects Mr. Trump from any embarrassing disclosures in the middle of his campaign for re-election. In 2016, Trump had Michael Cohen to hush up damaging personal revelations. Now he has the DOJ. Few nodes of the administration are immune from being co-opted for campaign purposes. Not even the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which in July undid an Obama-era rule that gave teeth to a long-unenforced provision of the Fair Housing Act. Trump made no secret of the political calculation behind the movehe was trying to set up a contrast between himself and Joe Biden, who he warned would ABOLISH suburban communities by letting low-income residents invade their neighborhoods. Some synergy between policy and politics is to be expectedits natural that someone who violated the Fair Housing Act as a businessman would continue to undermine it as president. But HUD officials have taken an unusually active part in the fall campaign. Secretary Ben Carson spoke at the RNC, and HUD Region II Administrator Lynne Patton produced a video for the convention featuring interviews with New York City public housing residents, who criticized their Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, while praising their interactions with the Trump administration. The New York Times reported the next day that the residents who were interviewed did not realize they were being used as props in a partisan convention videothey thought they were cooperating with a powerful representative of a federal agency. Such is the problem: In the Trump administration, in 2020, it is impossible to tell where the government ends and the campaign begins. The same holds true at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which held a citizenship ceremony at the White House during the convention as part of a stunt to soften the presidents image. (The participants reportedly were not aware that their major life event was part of the presidents re-election effort.) At the same time, the agency was poised to disenfranchise between 200,000 and 300,000 citizens-in-waiting by delaying their naturalization process. The absence of these hundreds of thousands of missing voters, many of whom live in swing states, argued the Washington Posts Catherine Rampell, could be sufficient to sway the election.Rarely has the government interference been as explicit as it was in August, when Trump bragged that he was starving the United States Postal Service of bailout funds it had requested in the hopes of sabotaging mail-in balloting in the presidential election. They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take these millions and millions of ballots, Trump said. But if they dont get those two items...that means you cant have universal mail-in voting, because theyre not equipped to have it. (The USPS subsequently announced that it would continue to prioritize the handling of ballots.) Trump, after botching the governments response to the pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans, has also tried to exploit the crisis. He has repeatedly floated the prospect of making a Covid-19 vaccine available before the electionperhaps, he said last Friday, as early as October. Thankfully public health officials, at least so far, sound more reluctant to get involved in Trumps election schemes. Although the CDC raised eyebrows last week when it instructed states to be prepared to distribute a vaccine by November 1two days before the electionthe chief adviser for the governments vaccine program clarified to NPR that it was unlikely a vaccine would be available by then, and that the memo was merely a precautionary measure. Although Food and Drug Administration officials have insisted their vaccine approval process will not be influenced by the campaign, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a memo to states last week instructing them to be prepared to distribute a vaccine by November 1two days before Trumps self-imposed election deadline. The problem with a president who uses public policy for personal ends is you can never really tell when one becomes another. Last month, Politico reported that the Department of Health and Human Services is considering spending up to $250 million on a media blitz to defeat despair and inspire hope on the pandemic in the coming months. That is, the notion that Americans wont be safe in Bidens America. On Wednesday, a whistleblower at the Department of Homeland Security alleged that top officials at the agency used their power to manipulate intelligence reports in order to ensure they matched up with the public comments by Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and anarchist groupsin other words, they used federal resources to cook up justification for Trumps campaign attacks against Biden. According to the same whistleblower, DHS was simultaneously squelching information about Russian interference because it would reflect poorly on the president. Covering up election interference is its own form of election interference. This isnt the first election in which Trump used government resources in an attempt to reshape the outcome. Just days before the 2018 midterms, Trump sent 5,000 troops to the USMexican border in a barely-concealed gambit to force Democrats on the defensive on the subject of border security and immigration. (The troops withdrew almost as soon as the votes were done being counted.) But the 2018 ploy was a failure. And therein lies the silver lining for Democrats. Trump has demonstrated practically every day the fragility of political norms; with toothless laws like the Hatch Act, and an accommodating Senate, the separation of campaigning and governance exists more or less on the honor system. It turns out its incredibly easy to cynically treat the federal bureaucracy like an arm of the RNC. But when youre doing it all in plain sight, sometimes that becomes the story. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article ShareDaniel Coats, a former head of the intelligence community, warned Wednesday that the Trump administrations move to roll back in-person briefings to Congress on foreign threats to the 2020 election undermines the agencies mission and efforts to safeguard the vote. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Its imperative that the intelligence community keep Congress fully informed about the threats to our elections and share as much information as possible while protecting sources and methods, the former director of national intelligence said in an interview. Coatss stern warning came in response to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffes notifying Congress a week and a half ago that he was suspending in-person briefings to lawmakers, though the Senate Intelligence Committees acting chairman said his panel will continue to receive such updates. But as the official who in 2019 established the intelligence communitys program to coordinate briefings on foreign election threats, he said he felt obliged to speak publicly. Weve got to get this process back in place, he said. Designating it to one committee and not the other and shutting down all members briefings is the wrong thing to do.As a Republican U.S. senator from Indiana, Coats took part in many all-member briefings, especially in his second stint from 2011 to 2017, where each senator was afforded an opportunity to raise a question, he said. What did you mean when you said, X? Wait a minute, so-and-so said something else, he said. It is that back and forth that makes in-person hearings valuable. [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin ought to be very happy with the way this is turning out, Coats said. He can only view his efforts as successful.AdvertisementCoats also voiced dismay over the continued questioning of whether we were delivering just the facts and not trying to shape anything in terms of policymaking.Trump has long derided U.S. intelligence analysts conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and that it intends to do so in 2020. Coats said Trump has resisted any change to analysts assessments with regard to Russia. Coats is firm that Russia is the most significant foreign threat to the 2020 election. A recent public assessment by William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers for appearing to equate the efforts of China, Russia and Iran, when it is primarily Russia that is engaged in covert efforts to try to actively help Trump by attacking his opponent, Joe Biden. They clearly have demonstrated the capacity to do things other countries either cant do or have decided not to do, Coats said of Moscow. And they have a long, long history there.AdvertisementCoats noted that the 2018 midterm elections went off largely without incident, thanks in part to an interagency working group led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to coordinate the sharing of threat data among agencies, and which also provided information to the private sector and state and local election officials. Those processes worked, Coats said. We were able to assure the American people that the votes were not manipulated or influenced in any way that made a change in the result.But, Coats said, he knew that the Super Bowl of all elections is coming our way in 2020. So in 2019 he formally established the position of the election threats executive, and named to that job Shelby Pierson, a senior Russia analyst who had been ODNIs point person on the issue in the midterms. Pierson told lawmakers in February that Moscow had a preference for Trump in November. After Trump learned of the briefing from a GOP ally, he fired Coatss successor, acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire. Pierson kept her job, but Evanina was moved in to run the Hill briefings, though Pierson is marshaling the intelligence and has attended briefings with Evanina. Theres a great deal of concern among people who have spent their lives trying to stay out of politicizing intelligence and making sure that its just the facts, Coats said. That has been questioned and I think that has had a major impact on the morale of the intelligence community.GiftOutline Gift Article | 2 |
###CLAIM: excluding covid, insurance could be nullified by us taking our positive people into service and the government would not move forward on doing anything for the sector despite doing for the nhs.
###DOCS: Care home staff have been told to go into work despite testing positive for coronavirus, an alarming new report has revealed today. In the past fortnight inspectors have flagged more than a dozen care homes over problems with infection control. The Care Quality Commission has reportedly warned at least 14 homes about flaws, including telling workers with Covid to work due to staff shortages, the Guardian reported. This comes as the NHS makes plans to commandeer spare care beds across the country to help release pressure on hospitals where wards are filling up with Covid patients as the crisis escalates. National Care Association chairwoman Nadra Ahmed told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the sector had been receiving calls over Christmas about filling beds in nursing homes. But she warned: 'There's no way that providers can go back to April when we were told everything was OK and people were being discharged out of hospitals. 'Of course we want to help the NHS if we can, but we have to do that safely. The only way that can be safely done is if we're absolutely clear that the person is no longer shedding the virus and bringing it into the care service.' Hospitals across England are seeing more coronavirus patients than they did in the first wave in 2020 (Pictured: Staff in an intensive care ward in St George's Hospital in London)A medic works with a patient in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) in St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west LondonSome hospitals are approaching breaking point, and preparing to turn to care homes for help, the chief executive of NHS Providers has said. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital had surged past 30,000 by January 4, NHS data revealsLONDON'S HOSPITALS 'TO BE OVERWHELMED IN TWO WEEKS' London's hospitals will be overwhelmed by Covid-19 in less than two weeks even in a 'best' case scenario, an official briefing reportedly warns. Medical director at NHS London Vin Diwakar provided the worrying analysis to medical directors of the capital's hospital trusts over a Zoom call. Even if coronavirus patients grew at the lowest likely rate and capacity is increased - including opening the Nightingale - the NHS would still be short 2,000 general, acute and ICU beds by January 19, the HSJ reports. Three scenarios are laid out in the report - 'best', 'average' and 'worse'. These account for the impact of four per cent daily growth, five per cent growth and six per cent growth respectively. Growth for beds on January 5 was 3.5 per cent, with the rate at 4.8 per cent for ICU beds, the report claimed. AdvertisementNHS bosses say they are running out of beds due to soaring virus admissions and desperately need to offload patients to the care sector. Chris Hopson, chief of healthcare union NHS Providers, said yesterday that some hospitals are almost full already and looking for beds elsewhere for their patients. But Ms Ahmed warned that many care home providers are operating with their normal insurance in place - meaning that if they take a Covid-positive patient, it would nullify their insurance. Campaigners warn this may lead to a repeat of the 'disaster' last spring when infectious patients were sent to care homes and tens of thousands of deaths resulted. Charities and care leaders say they have a 'horrible sense of deja-vu' and it would be a 'grave mistake'. Ms Ahmed told Radio 4 today: 'We also have to remember that care homes are also struggling with staffing. The risk to the sector is enormous if we don't do this in a safe manner. 'I don't know who Chris has been speaking to, but the providers we represent are all very concerned about the risk of bringing the virus into their services. 'We are not funded properly and that's not being looked at. 'A lot of providers are practising with the normal insurance in place but Covid is excluded so if we take people who are positive into our services, it could nullify our insurance and the government hasn't moved forward to do anything about that for our sector, but they did it for the NHS. 'So surely if the NHS is looking to move people into social care settings then that has to be underwritten as a precursor to anything. 'We need to be very clear isolation in care home is in place. But there is so much that needs to be done before we can go into the role of taking hospital patients.' If care homes are turned into overflow wards for hospitals it is likely only non-Covid patients would be sent to them, following uproar over a Government policy in the first wave which saw people recovering from coronavirus sent into care homes where they were feared to have triggered killer outbreaks. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned of spiralling admissionsMore than 30,000 people are currently in hospital with Covid across the UK and the number is expected to soar after more than 300,000 people tested positive in the last week of December. This was up 27 per cent in a week and towers above the worst figure of 21,700 seen in April 2020. A CQC Spokesperson said: 'CQC inspectors have conducted 2,235 risk-based inspections of Adult Social Care locations since the beginning of the pandemic, and we have also conducted over 850 inspections focussed on infection prevention and control, in order to ensure that people are receiving safe care. 'Although in some cases we've taken action in response to poor care or inadequate infection control procedures, the majority of care providers that we have inspected have shown they are responding well to the challenges of infection prevention control during the pandemic and doing everything they can to keep people safe. Though our inspection activity we will continue to support providers to protect against the spread of Covid in care homes, take action to protect people where necessary, and check whether locations can be approved to care for people leaving hospital who cannot return to their original care setting for infection control reasons.' Chris Hopson warned yesterday: 'We are now reaching the point where hospital beds are full, community beds are full, and community at-home services are also full. 'What trust leaders are now trying to do is [use] spare capacity in the care and nursing home sector. 'They are in the middle of conversations with their care and nursing home colleagues to see if they can access that capacity.' Mr Hopson said care homes were better placed to accept patients than Nightingale hospitals because they had more staff. He called on the Government to create financial incentives for care homes to take NHS patients. He added: 'There is, of course, no question of using this capacity for patients who could introduce Covid-19 infection risk into care homes or for patients requiring complex or specialist hospital care.' A staff nurse treats patient Peter Watts, 64, in the emergency department at St George's Hospital in TootingMailOnline has contacted NHS England to ask how care homes may be utilised to help take the pressure off central hospitals. Intensive care patients are already being moved from the hardest hit regions to those where there is spare capacity. Some doctors are currently considering moving the most critically ill from London and the South East to as far afield as Yorkshire and the South West. The President of the Intensive Care Society, Dr Stephen Webb, said yesterday around 10 intensive care patients were already being shifted every day. Most of these are moved from and to hospitals within the same regions, he said, but a small number may be moved between regions. Dr Webb, who also works in the East of England, said: 'The problem with sending patients to the North is that those units were really badly affected earlier in this wave, and they could be hit with the new variant. It's a very tricky situation. 'If the virus continues as it is, I'm much more fearful we may get to saturation point for ICUs, but we have still got a bit of time. We do have capacity in other parts of the country, but not a lot. 'Currently, in the East of England, South East and London, many intensive care units are already saturated. This is where we're seeing daily export of patients. but at the moment this is mainly locally. 'So it may be a few miles down the road between London hospitals. We try to avoid moving patients and we always try to move the least sick of our ICU patients. They are transferred using all the equipment needed to keep them alive, accompanied by an ICU doctor and a nurse.' Inspectors have uncovered serious weaknesses in some care homes defences against the pandemic, including Covid-positive carers being told to work because of staff shortages, a failure to isolate residents when they return from hospital and poor use of personal protection equipment. Over the past fortnight, the Care Quality Commission has warned at least 14 care homes in England about problems with infection control, which the independent regulator says can place residents in danger of harm and breach Health and Social Care Act regulations. The problems emerged as Covid outbreaks in English care homes rose 65% in a week and GPs raced to deliver the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in an attempt to inoculate the 400,000 highest-priority people by the end of this month. Care homes reported relief on Thursday as the first doses of the new vaccine were delivered, but new data from Public Health England indicated it was a race against the clock. The number of care homes in England that recorded a Covid infection in the last week of 2020 rose to 503, more than doubling in a fortnight. Deaths from Covid in care homes, however, remain far lower than during the pandemics first wave in the spring. This week the Guardian reported growing concerns across south-east England, where a new more transmissible variant has been most prevalent, and a serious Covid outbreak in East Sussex where 13 of 27 residents died over Christmas. The CQC found problems in a number of facilities, including the Brookfield Care Home in Middlesbrough, where 41 staff and residents tested positive in the space of a week in October and eight residents died from Covid. A targeted inspection after the outbreak found the provider was not adequately encouraging social distancing and cohorting of staff and zoning of the service had not been fully adopted to minimise the risk of infection travelling between different areas of the service. At Brookfield, five staff members told CQC inspectors they or their colleagues had been asked to work with Covid symptoms or a positive test result. The Brookfield operator, SSL Healthcare, said this happened when the outbreak created severe staff shortages. It had been discussed with the local authority, which changed its advice the following day. One asymptomatic member of staff did report for duty; they left the premises within 30 minutes following the change in advice, said SSL. All recommendations have been implemented. We are confident that all our residents are safe and well cared for.At Vestige Healthcare in Tipton, in the West Midlands, inspectors observed staff wearing face masks incorrectly 30 times in one day and were told: People are not isolated when coming back from hospital.The inspectors concluded no consideration as to how to maintain social distancing had been given and ruled the home inadequate. Vestige did not respond to a request for comment. Problems identified at other homes included a lack of cleaning and staff moving between floors when they were supposed to be working in defined zones to reduce infection. In one home, inspectors found the dirty laundry of a person self-isolating after returning from hospital left in an open bag in the communal corridor. A targeted inspection at The Croft, an Autism UK care home on the Isle of Wight, found staff making close contact and touching people ... not wearing disposable gloves or aprons and a relative visiting a resident in the communal lounge shared with other people. The failure to correctly follow government best practice guidelines placed people at risk of infection, said a report that concluded the home had breached safe care regulations and was inadequate. Autism UK said it had been working incredibly hard in difficult circumstances. We have acted upon all the issues raised in the CQC report, and we can demonstrate that the processes we have in place mean that the people we support and our staff are properly protected, a spokesperson said. A spokesperson for CQC said: Although in some cases weve taken action in response to poor care or inadequate infection control procedures, the majority of care providers that we have inspected have shown they are responding well to the challenges of infection prevention control during the pandemic and doing everything they can to keep people safe. | 3 |
###CLAIM: procon ( s ), the consumer defense agency, said fines were imposed on some 100 establishments for violations of the last restrictions.
###DOCS: SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Police broke up an illegal party with nearly 600 people in a windowless Sao Paulo nightclub in the early hours of Saturday, highlighting defiance of social distancing rules that has made the countrys outbreak the worlds deadliest at the moment. COVID-19 killed 12,000 Brazilians over the past week, more than any other country. With 275,000 lives lost in total, Brazils death toll lags only the United States, where the epidemic is slowing dramatically. Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria is among the state and municipal authorities ratcheting up restrictions as Brazils outbreak surges to record levels, fueled by more contagious local variants. However, many Brazilians still defy the measures, encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro, who rails against lockdowns as job-killing and unnecessary. Sao Paulo officials have taken increasingly dramatic steps to show they mean business, including reinforced blitzes to suppress the citys famous nightlife. With axes and assault rifles, police officers broke down the door of the nightclub in the citys Capao Redondo district, piercing the darkness with lights on their guns. Hundreds of young partiers, few of them masked, cowered on the dance floor as police silenced the music and arrested organizers. I could never imagine hundreds and hundreds of people in a place without a single window, with all the doors closed, said Eduardo Brotero, the police officer who ran the operation. Jefferson dos Santos, one of the revelers forced to leave the party, voiced his disagreement with the operation: We pay taxes and we know the risks, we may get sick or infect our family. But we need to do something in life.Consumer defense agency Procon-SP said it had fined some 100 establishments for violating the latest restrictions. Carlos Cesar Marera, enforcement director at Procon-SP said the citys clandestine parties are organized over the internet. These young people, usually 18 to 23 years old, gather in these parties with no social distancing at a time when thousands of people are dying. | 0 |
###CLAIM: `` our family is devastated and we want answers as to why our healthy son died so suddenly after a routine surgery, '' he added.
###DOCS: A 20-year-old college baseball player at George Mason University died following complications from Tommy John elbow surgery, according to his father. Sang Ho Baek, who was born in Korea but grew up in Maryland, died June 12, according to the schools website after receiving confirmation from the players family. We are devastated by the passing of Sang, George Mason baseball coach Bill Brown said in a statement. Sang was an incredible teammate who was loved by everyone associated with Mason baseball. He will be missed and forever cherished in our hearts. Right now, our thoughts are with Sangs family at this unbearably difficult time.Baek appeared in seven games as a relief pitcher for the Patriots during his freshman season with the team after winning a 3A state championship in 2019 at James M. Bennett High School in Salisbury, Md. After being informed by his family about Sangs passing, we are heartbroken and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, George Mason athletic director Brad Edwards said. Sang embodied everything you would want from a student-athlete. He was an excellent student, dedicated teammate and friend to so many. We are committed to providing support and resources to Sangs teammates and all those in the Mason family who loved him.Baek is survived by his parents Seong Han Baek and En Young Lee and his sister, Sun Ho Baek. His father confirmed to the New York Times that his son underwent Tommy John surgery on June 8, adding our family is devastated and we want answers to why our healthy son would die so suddenly after routine surgery. | 0 |
###CLAIM: fearful of running out and getting hurt as well, loretta is believed to have stayed quiet around the children to protect them.
###DOCS: A woman who found her murdered mother's bloody body when she was just four years old has recalled how she enlisted a high school friend to solve the brutal crime more than 40 years later. Loretta Jones, 23, had been repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted in her Price, Utah home but managed to write her killer's name in blood before her daughter Heidi Jones-Asay woke up and discovered her dead on July 30, 1970. 'When I got up, I looked through the keyhole into the front room and when I opened the door, there was blood everywhere. It was my mom's lifeless body,' Jones-Asay recalled on a recent episode of the Oxygen true-crime series Exhumed. 'Jones had 17 stab wounds,' Sgt. David Brewer with the Carbon County Sheriff's Office told producers. 'A lot of rage went in on this one.' Despite the gruesome attack, Jones-Asay told police officers that she didn't hear her mother screaming or struggling the night of the murder. Investigators also noticed that Jones hardly had any defensive wounds. 'I believe Loretta stayed quiet to protect her own child because she was afraid her daughter would run out and get hurt as well,' Brewer explained. A medical examiner concluded that Jones was killed with a small, narrow knife. There was also semen on her, but DNA testing was still in its early stages at the time, and they couldn't find a match. Clue: Police noted that there were no signs of forced entry, suggesting that Jones had known her killerHuh? Jones-Asay told police officers that she didn't hear her mother screaming or struggling the night of the murder. Investigators also noticed that Jones hardly had any defensive woundsDoting mom: It is believed that Jones stayed quiet during the attack to protect her daughter from running out and getting hurtWithout any viable evidence at the crime scene, the only lead they had at the time was that a man tried to kidnap 10-year-old Lori Kulow Fennel on the same day as the murder. Kulow Fennel, who lived by Jones, was playing outside when a man grabbed her and tried to abduct her, but her loud screams scared him away. Jones-Asay also started talking about the night of the murder more and told her grandmother that she heard a man in their house threatening to kill her mother. She thought the voice belonged to her mom's friend 'Tom.' When trying to figure out who 'Tom' was, investigators went through Jones' diaries. They found one Tom Tom Egley whom she dated for about two months. Egley told police that he spent the day of Jones' murder in town, saying he had drinks, ate a hamburger, and went window shopping. While a bar owner confirmed she saw him that night, she noted that he had red spots all over his shirt. Kulow Fennel also identified Egley out of a lineup as the man who tried to abduct her that fateful day. Lead: Jones-Asay heard a man threaten to kill her mom that night and thought it was Jones' friend Tom Egley, who also tried to kidnap a 10-year-old girl on the day of the murderHope: The case went unsolved for decades until Jones-Asay enlisted the help of her high school friend David Brewer who works with the Carbon County Sheriff'They said, "Is this the guy?" I felt like was about throw up,' Kulow Fennel recalled on the show. Egley was charged with the attempted kidnapping, but there was no evidence in his home or the crime scene connecting him to Jones' murder. He spent just 90 days in prison and Jones' case went unsolved. Decades went by without any new leads, but Jones-Asay never stopped trying to find her mother's killer. 'If I could keep the conversation alive about my mom, then maybe I could help get her case solved,' she said. In 2009, Jones-Asay reconnected with Brewer on social media and learned her former high school friend was working with the Carbon County Sheriff. She purposely ran into him at a local arts festival to talk to him about her mom's cold case. 'I was kind of taken aback because knowing her in high school, I never knew that story,' Brewer recalled. 'I was a fairly fresh detective at the time. I had never worked a cold case, and I had never actually done a homicide yet. Suspicious: Brewer decided to exhume Jones' body to look for evident after an interview with Egley convinced him that he was the killerDoing it: 'If theres just a one per cent chance that we find physical evidence, it would be worth the effort,' Wally Hendricks, a detective with Carbon County Sheriffs Office'Heidi came in and she told me the details that she was aware of in the case. Heidi, her passion behind it and still crying after 39 years... She wanted her mom's case solved, and I owed it to her to do it.' However, the odds were stacked against him. The crime files had been lost, leaving him with only past media coverage, Jones-Asay's memory of that night, and a photo of her at the crime scene that showed a blood-soaked carpet. 'That picture kind of set me back a little because why are they taking a picture of her where her mom died?' he said. 'But this picture is the only crime scene photo we have.' Brewer managed to track down Egley's then-girlfriend who revealed that he had come home late the night of the murder and immediately took a bath with all of his clothes on. He went to the laundromat the next day and was missing several clothing items when returned. The officer found Egley living Rocky Ford, Colorado. The case's only suspect strangely claimed he couldn't remember the name of his old girlfriend who had been murdered. However, he was able to tell Brewer what he did and even ate that day. In July 2016, he asked Jones-Asay if they could exhume her mother's body to see if there was any evidence that was left behind. 'I said, "Get me a shovel. I'll help dig,"' Jones-Asay recalled. 'I was willing to do whatever needed to be done to get my mom's case solved.' After more than 40 years, investigators hoped Jones' remains were well-enough preserved that they could swab underneath her fingernails for forensic evidence. 'If theres just a one per cent chance that we find physical evidence, it would be worth the effort,' Wally Hendricks, a detective with Carbon County Sheriffs Office, told producers. However, much to their dismay, the coffin had collapsed while underground and there was too much water damage to swab for evidence. Investigators had heavily publicized the exhumation and claimed they were excited about the results as an attempt to scare Egley into giving himself away. Big break: Egley's neighbor Lisa Carter offered to wear a wire and spent weeks talking to himIncredible: Carter not only got Egley to confess, but she also convinced him to go to the police. Egley was arrested on August 2016, more than four decades after the murderJustice: Egley was found guilty of murder in October 2016 and sentenced to 10 years to life in prisonThey got their first big lead when a woman named Linda who had lived with Jones' parents as a college student came forward and told the police that Jones had written her murderer's name in blood at the crime scene. While reexamining their only crime scene photo, Brewer said he could see a 'T' and an 'O' in the bloodstain. Once again, all signs pointed to Egley, but the case might have remained cold if it wasn't for the killer's neighbor Lisa Carter. Carter contacted the police and offered to wear a wire while trying to get a confession out of Egley. She spent weeks talking to him, telling him that police had found evidence from the exhumation. The unlikely strategy worked and Egley confessed to the murder. He claimed they had consensual sex but snapped when they got into a fight. Carter convinced him to turn himself in to the police, and he did. Egley was arrested on August 2016 46 years after he had murdered Jones. He took a plea deal and plead guilty to Jones' murder in exchange for the rape charge being dropped. He was found guilty in October 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison, but Jones-Asay has vowed that she will make sure he is never freed. 'If Tom is ever eligible for parole, I will be at the parole hearing to make sure he never walks as a free man again,' she said at the hearing, Deseret News reported at the time. | 1 |
###CLAIM: the queen elizabeth, victoria and market will be made the site of the exposure between 8:00 a. m. and 9:00 a. m.
###DOCS: Victoria's health authorities will not rule out extending the state's snap five-day Covid lockdown as new exposure sites are revealed and new details emerge about the Coburg dinner virus spread. Sunday's two new local coronavirus cases - a toddler and an unrelated hotel quarantine worker - were linked to the Holiday Inn cluster, which has now reached 16 cases. Both had also attended a private dinner on Sydney Road, Coburg, on February 6. Melbourne's popular Queen Victoria Market fruit and vegetable section has been named as a new exposure spot on Thursday February 11 from 8.25am to 10.10am along with the women's toilets in section 2. The toddler's mother has been tested three times with different test results and is also potentially infectious. Four new exposure sites were also revealed on Sunday evening after an infectious person caught a tram to Melbourne's popular Queen Victoria Market on Thursday, February 11. The person caught the No.11 tram from Harbour Esplanade/Collins St at 7.55am to the William/Collins St stop at 8.10am, making it the first new exposure site. A Melbourne man outside Flinders Street Station on Sunday during the five-day lockdownThey then caught the No. 58 Yarra Tram from the Bourke/William St stop at 8.10am to the Queen Victoria/Peel St stop just before 8.30am. They went into the Queen Victoria Market fruit and vegetable section and the women's toilets in section 2, making it an exposure site from 8.25am to 10.10am. The person then caught the No.58 Yarra tram back from the Queen Victoria Market at 9.40am to the Bourke/William St stop at 9.55am making it the fourth exposure site. Anyone there at the same time as these exposures must immediately isolate for 14 days and get tested. Disturbing new details emerged about the dinner party at Coburg on Sunday, with health authorities revealing 38 people had gathered for the event. Testing commander Jeroen Weimar said a number of positive cases had been traced to the function. He rejected claims that a woman aged in her 50s who is linked to the Coburg function had gone there instead of being in isolation while infectious. the two new cases were linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak at Melbourne Airport, taking the total to 16 casesInstead, she had been infectious before she had been identified with testing. 'The staff member was identified on Wednesday and tested positive on Wednesday this week, that is February 10,' Mr Weimar said. 'At that point, the social contact point of the Saturday was not identified in those early conversations.' 'There was a negative test result that she returned as part of her normal workplace testing on the seventh but that has since been reviewed and that test is now a week positive and we have had to take the timeline back to include the sixth.' The outbreak, linked to the Holiday Inn hotel at Melbourne Airport, grew to 14 cases on Saturday, after a single additional case was recorded (pictured, cleaners in PPE disinfect the hotel on Wednesday)Greek tennis player Michail Pervolarakis (pictured) has also tested positive to Covid-19 after leaving Melbourne and travelling to South Africa'The genomics is clear that this is all part of the same strain,' Mr Weimar said. To encourage everyone at the function to step forward with contact tracing and testing, Mr Weimar said the owner of the venue would not be fined for a potential covid regulation breach. LATEST COVID EXPOSURE SITES: Authorities identified new Victorian exposure sites on Sunday: Queen Victoria Market: Fruit and vegetable section, female toilets in section two, 8.25 to 10.10am on 11/2/2021 No.58 Yarra Tram: From Bourke Street / William Street stop at 8.10am to Queen Victoria / Peel Street stop just before 8.30am, 11/2/2021 No. Advertisement'I'm not remotely interested in who did what at what time,' he said. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said contact tracers had reduced the number of primary close contacts from the Holiday Inn cluster down from 996 to 940. Of nearly 1000 close contacts, 129 are direct family relations of those who tested positive from the Holiday Inn exposure. 'It is too early to say whether we have been successful, but the signs show Victorians are doing the right thing, supporting each other, and our test, trace and isolate system is staying ahead of this,' he told reporters on Sunday. 'But it is too early to say as yet whether this fantastic effort by all Victorians has got us there.' 'We will continue to monitor it on a day-by-day basis, really it is up to the shared effort of all Victorians.' Mr Foley said the child and the quarantine worker revealed as positive on Sunday had been from separate households. 'Both have been in isolation since February 12 and both tested and returned a positive sample in isolation on February 13.' The toddler has attended the Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Glenroy, but the childcare centre has not yet been added to the list of exposure sites. Regarding the three different test outcomes for the child's mother, Testing commander Jeroen Weimar said the experts were working on it. 'Our epidemiologists and specialists are working with her and with our labs to be clear about the nature of what possible infection she may have, whether she is at the start of our infectious period or whether she is coming towards the end,' he said. 'Serology is being done, and we will work out over the next few hours exactly where this individual stands.' Authorities have also identified four more exposure sights after the three-year-old child and quarantine worker visited several venues while infected. Melbourne has become deserted as the city enters its second day of a five-day long lockdownOne of the cases visited a Woolworths at Broadmeadows Central, in Melbourne's north, between 12.15pm and 12.30pm on February 2. The person then visited Pascoe Vale Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre between 4pm and 7.30pm on February 10. They also went to Elite Swimming in Pascoe Vale between 5pm and 6pm on February 8. Another positive Covid-19 case visited Broadmeadows Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse on Pascoe Vale Road between 12.30pm and 12.45pm on February 9. 'If you have been to these sites you will need to isolate, to get tested and to stay isolated for 14 days,' Mr Foley said. 'That goes above and beyond the general circuit maker that we are currently in,' he said. The health minister refused to comment further on the original Holiday Inn case after a man was accused of sparking the Covid-19 outbreak after using a nebuliser. 'Since I have been the minister for health I have made it crystal clear that I do not comment on individual cases and put people and families through trauma,' he said. Melbourne has recorded two new local cases of Covid-19 and identified four more potential exposure sites (pictured, Victorian health minister Martin Foley)Victorian Premier Dan Andrews told the media on Sunday that the two new cases were connected to the Holiday Inn - but both had also gone to the Coburg function'And I will not be starting that today. This family needs to put all of its effort into getting well.' The new cases come after Greek tennis player Michail Pervolarakis tested positive to Covid-19 after he flew from Melbourne to South Africa. Pervolarakis had represented his home country at the ATP Cup before he left the city on February 9. Tennis Australia says he tested negative to Covid-19 the day he left Melbourne. 'His own medical advice is that it was likely he contracted the virus in Doha or on the plane,' a spokesperson said. Pervolarakis took to Instagram on Saturday to say he was 'completely asymptomatic'. 'I am completely asymptomatic at the moment and will have to quarantine in an isolation facility in Potchefstroom,' he said on his Instagram account. Melbourne's empty streets on Sunday, under lockdown again for five days'I am not a person that complains, but I feel that I need to express my disappointment with the conditions we are in.' Victoria recorded one new case in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 22. Mr Weimar added all 12 staff had tested negative at the Brunetti Cafe in Terminal 4 at Melbourne Airport. The cafe was listed as an exposure site after a Covid-19 positive person visited the venue on February 9. NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR VICTORIA FROM 11.59PM ON FRIDAY FEB 12 From Friday February 12 at 11.59pm, new rules apply to Victoria for five days until 11.59pm on Wednesday February 17 due to a worrying new outbreak of the UK mutant strain of Covid-19. 'My thanks to our health teams in other states for the coordinated way in which we continue to work.' Mr Weimar added viral fragments had also been found in wastewater in Coburg and South Melbourne. 'We have two detections that we are currently investigating. One is in the Coburg catchments which takes in Coburg, Coburg North, and the other is in the south of Melbourne, that Punt Road, Clarendon Street area, which we are keen to understand more of,' he said. Quarantine staff and soldiers prepare to welcome international travellers for quarantine at the Novotel Melbourne on Saturday'We do have a couple of exposure sites, a few cafes in that area that are listed on our website, so I would really encourage people who are in Reservoir, Southbank, South Melbourne to be extra vigilant and come forward to be tested if you have any symptoms.' Victoria has entered its second day of a five-day long lockdown as the state attempts to curb the spread of an outbreak at Melbourne Airport's Holiday Inn. Millions have been plunged back into the hardship they thought had been left behind with the lengthy restrictions and economic sacrifices of 2020. Florists and restaurants hoping to receive bumper trading for Valentine's Day are gutted at the loss of income they will incur as fresh produce goes unsold. Mr Foley said it was too early to tell whether the five-day lockdown would have to be extended. 'What we have today is the first day of a five day quick snap shot to get ahead of this,' he said. 'It is too early to say whether we have been successful but the signs that show Victorians are doing the right thing, supporting each other, all of these are positive measures.' Roads and Flinders Street Station have been emptied as the city pushes through its five-day lockdownA woman is seen walking along the deserted Bourke Street Mall as Melbourne enters Stage 4 restrictionsThe man accused of being at the centre of a the Hotel Inn outbreak had used a medical device for his asthma called a nebuliser in their hotel room, despite them being banned outside of medi-hotels. The nebuliser's use has been attributed to spread of coronavirus at the Holiday Inn. The man hit back at what he felt was authorities' criticism of him, claiming he had declared the nebuliser to medical staff at the hotel. On Saturday however, head of the state's hotel quarantine authority Emma Cassar denied he told staff about it. 'I can categorically say that there is no evidence from our audit that he has raised this with our health team,' she said. Ms Cassar said the man had been badly treated by the media and she was sorry about his experience. 'We have never accused him of doing the wrong thing,' she said. Millions have been plunged back into the hardship they thought had been left behind with the lengthy restrictions and economic sacrifices of 2020There are close to 1000 primary close contacts associated with the Holiday Inn cases who are isolating for 14 days and being tested. Their results are expected to start trickling through on Sunday and Monday. He defended the 'circuit-breaker' lockdown saying he could not ignore advice from experts. 'I've got advice to do it. I've done it. It's based on science,' he said. Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton addressed concerns about legal provisions for the lockdown to go until February 26. 'Nothing should be read into it as having any intention to extend a day beyond when we think they need to be in place. For now, that's five days,' he said. Until 11.59pm on Wednesday, Victorians are only able to leave home to shop for essential items, provide or receive care, exercise and to work or study if they can't from home. Similar to stage-four restrictions last year, there's a five-kilometre travel limit, compulsory face mask usage and no home visitors. | 0 |
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