Activists and Biden officials have helped reunite 861 children with their parents but 337 remain in limboUS officials still cannot find the parents of 337 children separated at the Mexico-border by the Trump administration.According to a new court filing released on Wednesday by the justice department and the American Civil Liberties Union, attorneys, activists and Biden officials have helped reunite 861 children with their parents but 337 remain in limbo. Continue reading...
The Olympic experience in Tokyo was hard on us athletes, run by an organization that cares little for us as individuals. But we still dreamThe Tokyo Olympics were set to be one of the greatest Games ever held. As a fan of Japan and its culture, I was looking forward to these Games more than either of my two previous Olympiads. Yet the 2020 Games – set during the Covid-19 pandemic following one of the most politically tumultuous presidencies in American history – turned out nothing like I could have expected.We were greeted by smiling volunteers, but just like myself and my fellow athletes they were told to put on a brave face while the International Olympic Committee ran things in the same dismal way it always has. Continue reading...
This was the kind of bipartisan bill many observers never thought would be possible in 2021. But don’t be too quick to celebrateIs Washington functional? This week would seem to suggest that the answer is a resounding and surprising yes. On Tuesday, 69 senators – 19 Republicans and 50 Democrats – passed the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework”, a $1tn bill that invests in everything from roads and bridges to electric grids and public transit.Related: Kathy Hochul vows to change ‘toxic’ culture as she waits to become New York governor Continue reading...
We are told not to worry about breakthrough cases because they are ‘mild’ – but long Covid is anything but mildOn 1 May, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking breakthrough infections that did not lead to hospitalization or death. Its rationale was to “maximize the quality of the data collected on cases of greatest clinical and public health importance”, making the continued assumption that non-hospitalized Covid cases are not important but “mild”: without complications, manageable at home, where patients fully recover in two weeks.I have dealt with persistent symptoms for 17 months – an illness now called “long Covid” – and not collecting data based on this assumption is an enormous mistake, one that has persisted throughout the pandemic and has severe consequences moving forward. Continue reading...
People in Pacific north-west flock to cooling centers, plus 17 questions to ask yourself before quitting your jobGood morning,Oregon has declared a state of emergency as the Pacific north-west prepares for triple-digit temperatures just weeks after a deadly heatwavestruck the region. People streamed into cooling centers and misting stations on Wednesday evening in an effort to escape the sweltering heat. Continue reading...
Acheleke Fuanya claims officers knelt on his neck in the attack at a Louisiana prison to force him to accept deportationA Cameroonian asylum-seeker is suing the US government for an alleged assault by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, who he said knelt on his neck and suffocated him to try to force him to accept his own deportation.In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, Acheleke Fuanya said the alleged attack, at a Louisiana prison in January, has left him with persistent back and waist pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also claims lingering Covid symptoms after the alleged incident in which he says the Ice officers were unmasked in violation of official regulations. Continue reading...
Louisa Terrell, White House director of the office of legislative affairs, is the tip of the spear of Biden’s team as she fulfils one of the most difficult jobs in a deeply divided political landscapeIn the early days of the Biden administration members of the new president’s White House legislative affairs team had a meet-and-greet with Senate Republicans’ chiefs-of-staff. At the head of this Democratic delegation was Louisa Terrell, Biden’s White House director of the office of legislative affairs.Terrell, speaking to the audience of powerful Republican aides, laid out how she worked. She felt even in these politically polarized times compromise should be pursued. They wouldn’t agree on everything, but there were deals to be had. At the same time Terrell said, according to four sources with knowledge of this meeting, her team had a job to do and planned to do it. Continue reading...
Pacific north-west prepares for triple-digit temperatures just weeks after heat resulted in hundreds of deaths in regionOregon declared a state of emergency as the Pacific north-west prepared for triple-digit temperatures mere weeks after a deadly heatwave clobbered the region. People streamed into cooling centers and misting stations on Wednesday amid sweltering heat.Governor Kate Brown said: “Oregon is facing yet another extreme heatwave, and it is critical that every level of government has the resources they need to help keep Oregonians safe and healthy.” Continue reading...
‘I will fight like hell for you,’ says Democrat, who is set to become state’s first female governorKathy Hochul, who is set to become New York’s first female governor after Andrew Cuomo resigned over sexual harassment allegations, has said she will work to change the “toxic” work culture in the state’s top office.“The promise I make to all New Yorkers, right here and right now, I will fight like hell for you every single day, like I’ve always done and always will,” the Democrat who has served as Lieutenant Governor since 2015, but remains an unfamiliar face to many in the city, told a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...
David Lidstone, known locally as 'River Dave', lived an off-the-grid life for three decades until last week when his cabin burned down. On 15 July, Lidstone was jailed on a civil contempt sanction and was told he would be released if he agreed to leave the cabin, following a property dispute that started in 2016. The landowner, 86-year-old Leonard Giles, wanted Lidstone to leave the property. A fire destroyed Lidstone’s cabin hours after he defended himself during a court hearing last Wednesday. Nevertheless, Lidstone says he is not grieving the loss of his life in isolation
To emerge truly victorious the US president will have to win over the right of the Democratic party and push for big, bold changeOn Tuesday, 19 Republican senators, including minority leader Mitch McConnell, joined with Democrats to pass Joe Biden’s $550bn infrastructure bill. In a polarised age, this act of bipartisan politics seems miraculous. To vote for the bill, Senate Republicans had to go against the wishes of Donald Trump, who had warned against handing Mr Biden a victory before midterm polls in 2022. They also U-turned on a core Republican principle: that private investment is superior to government intervention.Yet the Republicans’ vote was rooted in self-interest. Only four will face the voters next year and the spending was popular, even with Republicans. Crucially Mr McConnell had protected the filibuster. Unless Republicans relented, Mr Biden might have done away with legislative tool that preserves the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for legislative success. Instead Mr Biden thanked his opponents for their courage in backing his proposal. This moment represents a test of Biden’s faith that Congress, and democracy, can still work and get things done. Continue reading...
Those being expelled risk being sent back to the very dangers they fled, UNHCR saysThe UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern about a new US practice of transferring asylum seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico.Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in Central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said. Continue reading...
Number of patients seeking tests in the state has more than doubled from a month ago, fueled by the Delta variantMedical providers and pharmacies in the California Bay Area are scrambling to keep up with the newly-increased demand for Covid-19 testing, as cases of the virus surge fueled by the highly-contagious Delta variant.At one CVS pharmacy in Richmond on Tuesday, a sign taped to the front door announced “Rapid Covid tests temporarily sold out”. At a hospital in the city where the drive-thru Covid testing site had recently been taken down, a line of walk-in patients seeking tests stretched down the block in front of the hospital. And in San Francisco last week, the old scene of lines of cars with passengers inside waiting to be tested was back at the city’s drive through test site. Continue reading...
People across the state have suffered from the governor’s me-first approach to politicsAndrew Cuomo, the governor of the state of New York, has resigned after the publication of a report by the attorney general which documented that he sexually harassed 11 women and his staff retaliated against one of those women who had the temerity to speak out. (Cuomo denies any wrongdoing.)Some commentators have taken the opportunity to note that not only did he run a toxic workplace, sexually harass staff and violate state and federal laws in his actions, he also has run the state poorly, despite the reputation he developed during the coronavirus pandemic. But, based in part on my experience of having worked in his administration, it would be more accurate to say that Cuomo has run New York poorly because he ran a toxic workplace, sexually harassed staff and violated state and federal laws. Continue reading...
Staunch Trump ally facing multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit related to his attempts to undermine the US presidential electionsRudy Giuliani, the staunch ally of Donald Trump who is facing a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit related to his attempts to undermine the US presidential elections, has embraced a new potential earning stream.Internet users, should they be inspired to do so, can now buy customized video messages from Giuliani, who has joined Cameo, a service that sells personalized videos recorded by celebrities. Continue reading...
Biden administration considering reimbursing school officials who lose their pay if DeSantis follows through on his threatAs school districts in Florida resist efforts to ban masks in schools amid a surge in Covid cases, the Biden administration has said it will consider supporting education leaders who are financially penalised for taking such action by the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.On Tuesday the Broward county school board in Florida, one of the largest in the state, became the latest to flout an order by DeSantis outlawing mask requirements. Earlier this week the governor said he would permit the state board of education to withhold payment of school district leaders who implemented mask mandates. Continue reading...
‘Society is not going to allow it,’ says New Hampshire man who lived off-the-grid life until his cabin burned down last week“River Dave”, an 81-year-old New Hampshire man who lived an off-the-grid life for three decades until last week when his cabin burned down, said he no longer thinks he can return to his hermit lifestyle.“I don’t see how I can go back to being a hermit because society is not going to allow it,” David Lidstone said in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Anerican won the US PGA at 50 in May but Steve Stricker would be better off leaving the six-times major winner out of the US teamIt provided the story of this and plenty other golfing years. Phil Mickelson, a few weeks short of his 51st birthday, strode to US PGA Championship glory at Kiawah Island as giddy crowds engulfed the 72nd fairway. Mickelson had done his bit for ageing sportspeople everywhere by virtue of a freakish result on account of form alone.Mickelson balanced South Carolina “realism” – the concept that he may never win again with the potential to go on a streak. By July and the Open Championship, a dejected Mickelson departed after 36 holes. “I’m having some challenges staying sharp,” he said. His focus, one assumes, was hardly helped by a needless and very public spat with a local reporter in Detroit immediately before he signed for rounds of 80 and 72 at Royal St George’s. Continue reading...
David Boies, the lawyer representing an American woman who alleges that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her when she was 17, said on Tuesday the royal would not be able to 'ignore the courts' after she filed a civil case against him in the US. The prince has repeatedly denied the allegations in the lawsuit, brought by one of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accusers, Virginia Giuffre. Boies said his team tried to open settlement talks with Andrew's lawyers but they were ignored
Lawmakers approve Democrats’ budget resolution on party-line 50-49 vote hours after passing $1tn infrastructure billDemocrats pushed a $3.5tn framework for bolstering family services, health and environment programs through the Senate early Wednesday.The overnight vote advances Joe Biden’s plans for reshaping federal priorities, and came hours after passing a $1tn infrastructure package. Continue reading...
President Biden has hailed efforts of Democratic and Republican senators to pass bill that will create ‘millions of jobs’. Plus: have lockdowns fuelled unhealthy attitudes towards drinking at home?Good morning.The US Senate passed a giant bipartisan infrastructure bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with 19 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus to push it through. Continue reading...
State- and city-based campaigns target people at neighborhood level where vaccination rates are low despite the spread of DeltaAs a police sergeant in a rural town, Carlos Cornejo isn’t the prototypical social media influencer. But his Spanish-language Facebook page with 650,000 followers was exactly what Colorado leaders were looking for as they recruited residents to try to persuade the most vaccine-hesitant.Cornejo, 32, is one of dozens of influencers, ranging from busy moms and fashion bloggers to African refugee advocates and religious leaders, getting paid by the state to post vaccine information in hopes of stunting a troubling summer surge of Covid-19. Continue reading...
Had Cuomo not been a sex pest, he would have gotten away with hiding thousands of deaths in nursing homes to protect his donorsThe amazing thing about Andrew Cuomo’s announcement this week that he is stepping down as governor of New York is not that he left office, it is that it took this long for him to resign. And among the most troubling parts of the interminable saga is how many crimes he and New York politicians normalized in the process – because so many of these officials were complicit, too.Cuomo resigned in the wake of Attorney General Tish James’s report detailing his sexual crimes. But here’s the truth that’s hard to say aloud: if the New York governor had not been a sex pest, he likely would have gotten away with hiding thousands of people’s deaths in nursing homes and shielding his healthcare industry donors from any liability – all while profiting off a $5m book deal and being venerated by liberals and corporate media outlets as a shining star. Continue reading...
by Lucy Sherriff of the Fuller Project on (#5N6PJ)
A system ‘built for men’ exposes women to chemicals that have been linked to miscarriage, birth defects and slowed fetal growthSofia Huston panted heavily as she pushed to close the gap between herself and the colleague in front.Clad in bright yellow heavy-duty uniforms, hard hats and gloves, the crew trudged up “Cardiac Hill”, a grueling terrain south-east of Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles county, and so steep “you could kiss the ground in front of you”. Continue reading...
Ellen Havre Weis directed the Museum of Modern Mythology, celebrating the likes of the Michelin Man and Colonel SandersThe Jolly Green Giant, Mr Clean and the Frito Bandito lost one of their most enthusiastic supporters last month with the passing of Ellen Havre Weis, a California museum founder and author who recognized the mythology in America’s advertising characters.Weis co-founded and directed the Museum of Modern Mythology, a once renowned San Francisco tourist destination where a vinyl Michelin Man rubbed elbows with a lifesize statue of Colonel Sanders and a plastic figurine of the monocled Mr Peanut featured among thousands of other advertising characters. Continue reading...
Violence erupted between antifascist protesters and supporters of a far-right preacherA Washington state man who was involved in an armed brawl at a contentious protest in downtown Portland over the weekend was also charged, along with his son, over his presence during the attack on the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January.Jeffrey Grace’s ongoing participation in far-right street politics since January – which has included trips to the southern border – indicates that widespread charges against those involved in the Capitol attack have not deterred at least some militant pro-Trump supporters from further direct actions. Continue reading...
A juvenile black bear was filmed on video by stunned shoppers after it wandered into a Los Angeles area supermarket. The bear was spotted inside the Ralphs supermarket in Porter Ranch before it was shooed out. It was later seen outside and was tranquillised and relocated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service Continue reading...
In the shocking new documentary Alliances Broken, the behind-the-scenes story of ‘the Fyre festival of sports’ is brought to light“It was the wealthy trying to make more money off lower level people and they just used them,” 23-year-old film-maker Steven Potter says of his new documentary Alliances Broken. “Used them and abused them.”His film follows the swift decline of the 2019 American football league, the Alliance of American Football. The film presents, as Potter characterizes it, a disastrous story of abusive avarice, promises broken and dreams dashed. Continue reading...
Experts say contamination presents ‘extremely troubling’ health threat in America’s largest estuaryGroundwater on military bases along the Chesapeake Bay is contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” at levels many times above the level some regulators say is safe for drinking, and they are likely ending up in blue crabs, oysters and other marine life that are consumed by humans.The Chesapeake Bay holds a diverse ecosystem that stretches about 200 miles from northern Maryland to southern Virginia, and is among the world’s most productive estuaries. Its brackish saltwater is renowned for shellfish like oysters and blue crabs, the latter of which largely drives the state’s $600m seafood industry that sends product across the globe. Continue reading...
Senate expected to reintroduce Democrats’ marquee election reform bill known as the For the People Act before summer recessTop Democrats in the Senate are poised to make another attempt to push through voting rights legislation before the chamber leaves Washington for a summer recess, in a sign of their determination to counter a wave of Republican-led ballot restrictions across the nation.Related: Biden hails Senate passage of giant $1tn bipartisan infrastructure bill Continue reading...
As flames approached, Kimberly Price fled her beloved California hometown of Greenville. An hour later, most of it was goneAfter weeks of fire, smoke and warnings, Kimberly Price’s beloved hometown had run out of time.With wind driving the Dixie fire directly into Greenville, Price’s longtime partner, John Hunter, told her she needed to leave. Price, 58, had spent most of her life in the close-knit Sierra Nevada community. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving, but the flames were everywhere. Continue reading...
Comeuppance for Democrat’s towering arrogance and egotism, and evidence of a growing shift from New York’s notoriously macho and hardball politicsChris Cuomo, a prime time host on CNN, had a question for his brother: “With all of this adulation that you’re getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president?”Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York state, where polls showed 87% approval for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, insisted he was not. But the question persisted as Cuomo became the most prominent and trusted Democratic voice during a public health crisis that had then US president Donald Trump flailing. Continue reading...
by Joanna Walters in New York and agencies on (#5N5WP)
White House and top New York Democrats hail courage of women who came forward with their storiesTwo more women who identified themselves as victims of New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s pattern of sexual harassment in the workplace came forward on Tuesday to add their voices to the reaction to his resignation announcement.An attorney for the two women said her clients were “vindicated and relieved that Cuomo will no longer be in a position of power over anyone”. Continue reading...
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has resigned after an investigation by the state attorney general that found he sexually harassed multiple women, most of whom worked for him, and also retaliated after some made complaints. The Democratic governor had lost the support of the party establishment, with Joe Biden calling on Cuomo to resign and similar demands issued by House speaker Nancy Pelosi
New York will its first female governor in Hochul, a centrist Democrat, following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation over sexual harassment allegationsWhen the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, leaves office in 14 days time after resigning over allegations that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, the state will finally get its first female governor.Related: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide resigns amid sexual harassment scandal Continue reading...
Children accounted for 15% of new Covid cases reported last week, American Academy of Pediatrics data analysis showsAs Covid cases among children continue to rise in the US due to spread of the Delta variant, experts are urging the federal government to fast-track vaccine approval for those under the age of 12.New data analysis from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) indicated that children accounted for 15% of new cases reported last week, with a total of almost 94,000 cases. There was a 4% increase in child cases over the past two weeks, the AAP found. Continue reading...
The Duke of York is the subject of a US civil suit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was abused while a minor“I could have worse tags than ‘Air Miles Andy’”, Prince Andrew once remarked, “although I don’t know what they are.” Yeah, well … SPOILERS. I’m not sure if the Duke of York would have better luck if he considered the question again today, in light of Various Events of the past few years. His infamous Newsnight interview revealed him to be a man of such baroque stupidity that in some ways its most sensational revelation was that Prince Edward must have been the clever one.And so to events overnight in New York. For the first time, the Queen’s second son has been made the subject of a US lawsuit, a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, formerly Roberts, teenage victim of Andrew’s former close friend, the late underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre alleges that the Queen’s second son sexually abused her when she was a minor on three occasions – in London, in New York, and in the US Virgin Islands. Quite a lot of air miles, there, though I fear we can rule out HRH cashing them in for a free flight to the US any time soon. The prince has not commented on the case but he has always denied the claims saying they’re false and without foundation. Continue reading...
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