New York state will end a mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings but will keep school masking rules in place, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.
New York is the latest in a long line of states to roll back mask mandates amid a decline in daily infection and hospitalization numbers. Still, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that it’s too early for the agency to drop its nationwide mask recommendations.
“We are prepared, we are working on that guidance, we are working on following the trends for the moment,” she said. “Our hospitalizations are still high, our death rates are still high… We are encouraged by the current trends (but) we’re not there yet.”
In New York, the mandate requiring face coverings in public places such as grocery stores, shops and offices, was put in place Dec. 10 amid the surge of omicron variant infections. It was set to expire Thursday unless the Hochul, a Democrat, extended it.
“Given the declining cases, given the declining hospitalizations, that is why we feel comfortable to lift this, in effect tomorrow,” Hochul said.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker today is also expected to join the ranks of fellow Democratic governors in rescinding some indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases drop rapidly across the United States.
“I think I’ve said over the last few press conferences that I really believe that we ought to be looking seriously at how to ratchet that back,” Pritzker said of his mask mandates at a news conference Tuesday. “I think we’re going to be making announcements very soon about that.”
Across the country, indoor mask requirements in blue states are falling like dominoes: Delaware’s indoor mask mandate will end Feb. 11; Oregon is lifting its requirements by March 31; California’s will be up by Feb. 16. Oregon and Delaware also both announced plans to lift masking in schools this week, as did New Jersey and Connecticut.
Meanwhile, a growing chorus of doctors and parents are specifically calling for an end to school mask mandates. Some point to increasing access to vaccinations for children and declining COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Another group argues long-term masking puts an outsize burden on kids and impacts their mental health and possibly their development.
“You cannot sustain a red-alert, all-hands-on-deck, emergency kind of response indefinitely,” said Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. “People just can’t be on high alert like that without fatigue, without breaking.” Read more here.
Also in the news:
► Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday announced plans to extend restrictions for Tokyo and 12 other areas three weeks until early March. Omicron infections show little signs of slowing and most Japanese still lack booster shots.
► Utah will no longer offer residents rapid COVID-19 tests after an analysis showed one brand of nasal swabs used at state mobile clinics often yielded false negatives.
► Johnson & Johnson shut down its only plant making usable batches of its COVID vaccine, although the pharmaceutical company says it has millions of doses in inventory, the New York Times reported.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 77 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 909,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 401.5 million cases and over 5.7 million deaths. More than 213 million Americans – 64.2% – are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘 What we’re reading: Heavy demand for coronavirus testing attracted lab operators who benefited from a narrow regulatory loophole while collecting millions in federal funds. USA TODAY’s Ken Alltucker and Grace Hauck explain.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
Infections, hospitalizations decline sharply; daily deaths rise
New infections fell 44% over the last week and hospitalizations fell by 25% as the omicron surge appeared to be ebbing, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, speaking with Dr. Anthony Fauci and others at a White House briefing, said daily new cases averaged almost 250,000 per day while hospital admissions averaged 13,000.
Deaths, however, rose 3%, averaging about 2,400 per day, she said. Death totals generally lag a few weeks behind other data from the pandemic.
Walensky and others at the briefing stressed the importance and effectiveness of booster shots. More than 90 million boosters shots have been administered, including about two-thirds of all eligible adults, officials said.
“I know there will come a time when we move from a phase of crisis to a time when COVID-19 is not disrupting our daily lives,” Walensky said. “I am confident that CDC and our public health partners will lead the way.”
Florida surgeon general won’t say whether he’s vaccinated
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, questioned at a contentious confirmation hearing where Democrats urged him to promote the shots, refused to disclose whether he has been vaccinated. Ladapo was appointed in September by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the two share a disdain for COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other health policies embraced by the federal government.
“I personally believe that people can make … decisions that they’re more comfortable with if elements like coercion or misrepresentation of data or hiding of data are not part of the process,” Lapado told lawmakers.
Republicans in the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections eventually approved Ladapo’s confirmation, which now goes to the state Senate.
Pandemic reaches new heights in Hong Kong
Hong Kong surpassed 1,000 confirmed coronavirus infections in one day for the first time since the pandemic began – and recorded its first two deaths in six months. Health authorities announced that recovered COVID patients no longer needed to wait 10 days to be discharged from overwhelmed hospitals.
“We appeal to those who test preliminary-positive to stay at home patiently, as they might have to wait for a few days before being admitted to a hospital,” said Dr Larry Lee Lap-yip, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority.
Britain to eliminate last restrictions soon
Britain’s last remaining COVID restrictions could be gone by month’s end, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. The last major rule, mandatory self-isolation of at least five days after testing positive, had been scheduled to expire March 24. Johnson said the domestic rules would end early if positive data trends continue.
Face masks are no longer mandatory anywhere in England, except on London’s public transport network. Virus passports for gaining entry to nightclubs and large-scale events were scrapped, as was the official advice to work from home. In Britain, 65.4% of those 12 and over have had a booster vaccine, and 84.5% have been fully vaccinated.
WHO: New infections down 17% in last week, deaths also decline
The World Health Organization says reported coronavirus infections fell 17% worldwide over the last week compared to the previous week, including a 50% drop in the United States. Deaths globally declined 7%. The weekly report from the U.N. health agency shows the omicron variant makes up nearly 97% of all cases tallied by the international virus-tracking platform known as GISAID. Just over 3% were of the delta variant.
“The prevalence of the omicron variant has increased globally and is now detected in almost all countries,” WHO said. “However, many of the countries which reported an early rise in the number of cases due to the omicron variant have now reported a decline in the total number of new cases.”
You’re more likely to die from COVID in the US than other wealthy nations
Although the omicron variant of the coronavirus appears less likely to cause severe disease compared to previous dominating strains, the U.S. is still experiencing more COVID-19 deaths than at any other point in the pandemic.
The U.S. case fatality rate – the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases – has decreased from 1.63% since the height of the delta wave on Sept. 1 to 1.18% as of Feb. 6, according to Our World in Data.
But while the country’s case fatality rate during the delta wave was below other high income countries, it’s now among the highest. Health experts worry the U.S. may be falling behind compared to the progress against the virus made by other countries.
“Overall, there are fewer deaths per infection that are occurring, even in the U.S., but the numbers aren’t as good as we’ve seen in other parts of the world,” said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist and professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Low vaccination and booster rates, lack of testing and consequences from the an imperfect health system have stunted U.S. progress in the pandemic leading to more COVID-19 deaths and a higher case fatality rate, health experts say. Read more here.
– Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY
Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/02/09/covid-mask-mandates-cases-vaccinations/6712215001/
Protesters fighting Covid-19 vaccine mandates temporarily stopped two-way traffic on the busiest international land-border crossing in North America, as a nearly two-week demonstration in Ottawa threatened to expand and disrupt U.S.-Canada trade.
Authorities in Canada and the U.S. said the Ambassador Bridge, a 1.6-mile corridor that connects Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, was temporarily closed late Monday night because of a demonstration by truckers and their supporters. The protesters are calling for governments to rescind Covid-19 policies requiring individuals to be fully vaccinated to enter restaurants and gyms or to board planes and trains.
Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-vaccine-protests-disrupt-traffic-on-u-s-canada-bridge-11644351229
She also called for stricter penalties on lawmakers who flout existing rules on reporting stock ownership and trading under a 2012 law called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.
“What we’re trying to build is consensus,” she said.
Striking such an agreement could prove tricky. Existing bills differ on whether spouses and family members should also be prohibited from owning and trading individual stocks, whether capital gains taxes on forced stock sales should be deferred, and whether the prohibition should apply to other assets like businesses.
And some Democratic leaders have raised questions about a slippery slope. Insider trading is already illegal, and the STOCK Act bars members of Congress from trading on any “nonpublic information derived from” their position. That law also mandates disclosure of most stock trades, although Ms. Pelosi noted that it had not been an effective deterrent.
If Congress is going to go further and bar individual stock ownership outright, critics argue, then what about real estate holdings? Should a lawmaker with student loans be allowed to weigh in on legislation on loan forgiveness?
But for proponents of a stock ownership ban in both parties, the imperative is “pretty simple,” as Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, put it.
“The idea that we’re coming in and buying, selling, buying, calling in puts, it’s a bipartisan problem,” said Mr. Roy, who co-wrote legislation in 2020 with Representative Abigail Spanberger, Democrat of Virginia, that went nowhere.
The sophisticated and lucrative trades of Ms. Pelosi’s wealthy husband, Paul Pelosi, have also attracted attention, especially from Republicans.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/politics/pelosi-stock-trading-congress.html
The next day, Dec. 15, Trump called a meeting with Rosen, soon to replace Barr at the helm of the Department of Justice, and Richard Donoghue, who would become Rosen’s deputy. The president brought up ASOG’s report, Donoghue later said in a deposition with Senate investigators. “He said something to the effect of, you know, ‘Have you guys seen this report? This is unbelievable. This is a disaster.’ ” Donoghue said he and Rosen mollified Trump by explaining that a hand recount was planned and would shed light on whether the alleged problem in Antrim was real.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/02/09/giuliani-antrim-prosecutor-voting-machines/
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Tuesday criticized his party’s censure of two prominent Republican critics of Donald Trump, joining an intra-party battle that could upend his efforts to project an image of party moderation in this year’s midterm elections.
Last week, the Republican National Committee censured Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two Republicans serving on the House of Representatives select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of then-President Trump stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC,” McConnell told a news conference.
The RNC took its action on Friday, calling the Democratic-led committee’s inquiry an attack on “legitimate political discourse.”
McConnell rejected that description, saying, “We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.”
The controversy comes as Republicans are hoping to regain majorities in the House and Senate in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
McConnell, the Senate minority leader and one of his party’s most wily political tacticians, has been trying to paint Biden as a former moderate radicalized by the Democratic Party’s left wing. Projecting an image of moderation for the Republicans could help the party’s Senate candidates in key states.
Lawmakers close to McConnell have found themselves on the defensive about the RNC censure resolution.
“They said, in the resolution, they wanted Republicans to be unified. That was not a unifying action,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas.
Senate Republican leaders were quick to acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.
“If we want to win the elections in November, there are better things for us to be focused on,” said Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican after McConnell.
“The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get majorities in the fall, then it’s better to turn our fire on Democrats and not on each other,” Thune added.
Others pointed to Senate Republican criticism of the RNC as a problem for candidates in some states.
“Whatever you think about the RNC vote, it reflects the view of most Republicans,” said Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who objected to 2020 election results on Jan. 6.
“In my state, it’s not helpful to have a bunch of D.C. Republicans commenting on the RNC… super unhelpful,” he said.
Democrats may be vulnerable in November, particularly considering Biden’s falling public approval numbers in opinion polls. The party of sitting presidents typically loses congressional seats in the first midterm elections after winning the White House.
McConnell has sought to cast Biden and his pricy “Build Back Better” social spending plan that is stalled in the Senate as creatures of the Democratic Party’s left wing. McConnell has accused Biden of ignoring troubles facing American families such as inflation, including higher energy costs.
“If the president starts acting like a moderate, like he campaigned, we can do business,” McConnell told Fox News last month.
While McConnell is calling for bipartisanship, he often has been a partisan warrior himself. As majority leader, he refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy and last year said he might block Biden’s nominees to the high court if Republicans gain Senate control. He also has used the Senate’s filibuster rule to thwart parts of Biden’s legislative agenda, including voting rights.
McConnell did deliver critical Republican votes last year for two bipartisan priorities – a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a deal to avert a default on the federal government’s debt. Both prompted enraged statements from Trump, who has called for McConnell’s ouster from his Senate leadership post.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-infighting-rattles-mcconnells-us-midterm-elections-strategy-2022-02-08/
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Tuesday criticized his party’s censure of two prominent Republican critics of Donald Trump, joining an intra-party battle that could upend his efforts to project an image of party moderation in this year’s midterm elections.
Last week, the Republican National Committee censured Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two Republicans serving on the House of Representatives select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of then-President Trump stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC,” McConnell told a news conference.
The RNC took its action on Friday, calling the Democratic-led committee’s inquiry an attack on “legitimate political discourse.”
McConnell rejected that description, saying, “We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.”
The controversy comes as Republicans are hoping to regain majorities in the House and Senate in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
McConnell, the Senate minority leader and one of his party’s most wily political tacticians, has been trying to paint Biden as a former moderate radicalized by the Democratic Party’s left wing. Projecting an image of moderation for the Republicans could help the party’s Senate candidates in key states.
Lawmakers close to McConnell have found themselves on the defensive about the RNC censure resolution.
“They said, in the resolution, they wanted Republicans to be unified. That was not a unifying action,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas.
Senate Republican leaders were quick to acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.
“If we want to win the elections in November, there are better things for us to be focused on,” said Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican after McConnell.
“The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get majorities in the fall, then it’s better to turn our fire on Democrats and not on each other,” Thune added.
Others pointed to Senate Republican criticism of the RNC as a problem for candidates in some states.
“Whatever you think about the RNC vote, it reflects the view of most Republicans,” said Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who objected to 2020 election results on Jan. 6.
“In my state, it’s not helpful to have a bunch of D.C. Republicans commenting on the RNC… super unhelpful,” he said.
Democrats may be vulnerable in November, particularly considering Biden’s falling public approval numbers in opinion polls. The party of sitting presidents typically loses congressional seats in the first midterm elections after winning the White House.
McConnell has sought to cast Biden and his pricy “Build Back Better” social spending plan that is stalled in the Senate as creatures of the Democratic Party’s left wing. McConnell has accused Biden of ignoring troubles facing American families such as inflation, including higher energy costs.
“If the president starts acting like a moderate, like he campaigned, we can do business,” McConnell told Fox News last month.
While McConnell is calling for bipartisanship, he often has been a partisan warrior himself. As majority leader, he refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy and last year said he might block Biden’s nominees to the high court if Republicans gain Senate control. He also has used the Senate’s filibuster rule to thwart parts of Biden’s legislative agenda, including voting rights.
McConnell did deliver critical Republican votes last year for two bipartisan priorities – a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a deal to avert a default on the federal government’s debt. Both prompted enraged statements from Trump, who has called for McConnell’s ouster from his Senate leadership post.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-infighting-rattles-mcconnells-us-midterm-elections-strategy-2022-02-08/
While now open for travel from Canada to the US, across the other side, the Michigan Department of Transportation said the bridge remained closed and advised drivers to divert to nearby Port Huron to head into Canada. Business groups in the US and Canada called the blockade “an attack on the well-being of our citizens and the businesses that employ them”, and demanded a full reopening.
Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60267841
TALLAHASSEE — A provision tucked into two education bills moving through the Florida Legislature is causing a major stir this legislative session.
The so-called “parental rights in education” bills, Senate Bill 1834 and House Bill 1557, say parents should have more say in deciding what their children are exposed to in the classroom. If the bills were to become law, they would give parents the right to sue school districts that violate their provisions.
Critics, who call the measures Florida’s “don’t say gay” bills, argue the measures are an attempt to weaponize the idea of parental rights to marginalize LGBTQ people.
The part of the bills generating the most debate is short: just 31 words.
“A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students,” the bills read.
What exactly does that mean? Lawmakers and advocates have different ideas. Let’s dig into the debate. Here are the three most pressing questions about the measures.
1. What problem are the bills trying to solve?
In recent years, Republicans in the Legislature have passed a number of measures aimed at asserting the rights of parents to shape their children’s future. Perhaps most notable among them was a bill that became law in 2021, House Bill 241, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which stopped government agencies from interfering with a parent’s right to “direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health” of their child.
This year’s bills would build upon that measure, giving parents the right to sue school districts that fail to notify them of “critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.” School districts could withhold some information from parents if the disclosure would “result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect.”
The controversial 31-word sections on sexual orientation and gender identity are just part of the four-page bills, which would go into effect July 1 if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs them into law.
According to a House bill analysis, some school districts have policies that “exclude” parents from certain discussions, such as confidentiality policies aimed at keeping LGBTQ kids safe.
For example, the analysis cited policies in Hillsborough, Broward and Palm Beach counties that say it’s inappropriate to divulge a child’s sexual identity to a parent without the child’s consent. House staffers cited a case in Leon County in which parents sued the school district for allegedly freezing them out of a discussion about their child’s gender identity.
At a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, the bill’s sponsor, said discussions about a child’s sexuality or gender identity would fall under the auspices of his bill. That means if it became law, a school district would not be able to maintain policies that keep a kid’s sexual orientation or gender identity from parents in many cases.
Get insights into Florida politics
Subscribe to our free Buzz newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
As of Tuesday, the bills had cleared one committee in the House and one in the Senate.
2. What does it mean for a district to not “encourage classroom discussion” about gender identity?
This is by far the major sticking point in the legislation. The bill’s sponsors, Baxley and Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, say the measure is meant to stop schools from creating curricula geared toward educating young children about gender or sexual orientation before they are mature enough to handle it.
Classroom presentations, school clubs and other less formal discussions between students and teachers involving gender or sexuality would be allowed under the bill, they say.
“Conversations are going to happen,” Harding said at a House committee meeting in January where lawmakers voted to move the bill forward. Children and students ask a lot of questions.”
In an interview Monday, Baxley noted the bill singles out “primary grade levels” — instruction for young kids. Primary school ends in third grade.
However, critics have argued that whatever the intentions of its authors, the bills’ language is vague.
“When I write my lesson plans as per the Florida Department of Education, they must be clear and specific,” said Myndee Washington, a Pasco County teacher who testified at Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing. “This bill is neither clear nor specific.”
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, one of the few openly gay members of the Florida Legislature, noted the relevant section comes with an important conjunction: or. If interpreted broadly, the section wouldn’t just apply to primary school students, it would apply to any policies that are not “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate,” he said.
To Smith, that could mean restrictions even in classrooms with older kids.
“That sentence in the bill seems to have two different standards,” Smith said.
Nadine Smith, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida, which opposes the bills, said the measures attempt to solve a nonexistent problem. There is no developmentally inappropriate curriculum about sexual orientation or gender identity being taught to young kids, she contended.
Absent that, the bill will succeed only in stopping teachers from having honest conversations with students, she said.
“The chilling effect is real,” Smith said.
Does Gov. Ron DeSantis support the bills?
DeSantis has been a supporter of the movement to allow parents to assert more control over their children’s schools, and this bill is no exception. When asked about his thoughts on the legislation Monday, the Republican governor said the bills made sense.
“We’ve seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, ‘Oh, don’t worry, don’t pick your gender yet,’” DeSantis said at a news conference in Miami on Monday. “They won’t tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. That is entirely inappropriate. Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write.”
President Joe Biden has a different take. After the Senate committee voted to advance the bill Tuesday, a White House spokesperson issued a lengthy statement.
“Every parent hopes that our leaders will ensure their children’s safety, protection, and freedom,” the statement read. “Today, conservative politicians in Florida rejected those basic values by advancing legislation that is designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most.”
• • •
Tampa Bay Times Florida Legislature coverage
Sign up for our newsletter: Get Capitol Buzz, a special bonus edition of The Buzz with Emily L. Mahoney, each Saturday while the Legislature is meeting.
Watch the Florida Legislature live: The Florida Channel, a public affairs programming service funded by the Legislature, livestreams coverage at thefloridachannel.org. Its video library also archives coverage for later viewing.
We’re working hard to bring you the latest news from the state’s legislative session. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. If you haven’t already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription.
Source Article from https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/02/08/floridas-dont-say-gay-bills-explained/
- The Kremlin threw cold water on Macron’s claim that Putin said he wouldn’t escalate the Ukraine crisis.
- “Moscow and Paris couldn’t do any deals. It’s simply impossible,” a Kremlin spokesperson said.
- Western leaders have expressed grave concerns about Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine.
The Kremlin on Tuesday pushed back on assertions from French President Emmanuel Macron that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to not to escalate the situation with Ukraine. Russia suggested that Macron didn’t have enough influence in NATO for Moscow to negotiate any deals with Paris.
After meeting with Putin in Moscow on Monday, Macron traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At a press conference in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, Macron said Putin told him that he “won’t be initiating an escalation.”
“I think it is important,” Macron added.
But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a phone call with reporters on Tuesday rejected the notion that Putin made any such pledges. “This is wrong in its essence. Moscow and Paris couldn’t do any deals. It’s simply impossible,” Peskov said, per The Guardian.
“France is a leading country in the EU, France is a member of NATO, but Paris is not the leader there. In this bloc, a very different country is in charge,” Peskov added. “So what deals can we talk about?”
Zelensky on Tuesday also expressed skepticism about Russia making verbal commitments to de-escalate.
“I do not really trust words. I believe that every politician can be transparent by taking concrete steps,” Zelensky said during a press briefing with Macron, according to Reuters.
Russia has gathered roughly 130,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders. The Kremlin claims it has no plans to invade, but has rejected calls from Western leaders to pull its troops back to reduce tensions. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, annexing Crimea in the process, and has since backed rebels in a war against Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas region. Moscow has consistently denied having a military presence in the Donbas, despite solid evidence to the contrary.
As it threatens Ukraine with the prospect of invasion, Russia has made demands for binding security guarantees from the West. Among other things, Russia has insisted that Ukraine and Georgia be blocked from ever joining NATO. The alliance and Washington have vehemently rejected this demand, underscoring that NATO’s open door policy is not up for discussion.
On Monday, Putin seemingly quoted Soviet-era punk-rock lyrics about rape and necrophilia while discussing the Minsk accords — ceasefire agreements signed in 2014 and 2015 (negotiated in Minsk, Belarus) aimed at ending fighting in the Donbas.
The Minsk accords have never been fully enforced, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine has continued.
Russia and Ukraine have fundamentally different interpretations of the accords.
Critics say the agreements offer unfavorable terms to Ukraine, and would give Russia too much influence over Ukrainian politics — perhaps even veto power. Minsk grants special autonomy to separatist territories in the Donbas.
The Biden administration has characterized the Minsk accords as the path to peace, while accusing Russia of distorting the intentions of the agreements.
—U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) February 8, 2022
“With regard to Minsk, the US and Ukraine are united in believing that Minsk is the path forward to resolve the conflict in the Donbas that was created by Russia’s invasion in 2014, and the best way to restore Ukraine’s border, to restore its sovereignty, as well as to uphold the rights of Ukrainian citizens, including those living in the Donbas,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Monday. “Russia has made good on virtually none of its obligations under Minsk.”
Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-denies-macron-claims-about-deals-with-putin-on-ukraine-2022-2
With that, a dam had broken. Within hours, Democratic governors in California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon moved to lift some mask mandates, and other states and cities indicated that mandates may be ending soon. In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu laid out benchmarks on Tuesday for when the city would lift proof-of-vaccine requirements if hospitalizations and case numbers continued to fall.
Even in Virginia, where an executive order making masks optional in schools, by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, is tied up in legal challenges from liberal school districts, 10 out of 21 Democratic state Senators joined with Republicans on Tuesday to advance legislation that would do just that.
While the specific steps vary by state, the message was the same: It’s time to move on.
In New York, the lifting of the mandate on businesses would have far-reaching effects on many public settings, including retail shops, restaurants and malls as well as workplaces — a boon for companies struggling to attract workers back to their offices.
Ms. Hochul’s move would not affect the mask mandate in New York schools, which expires on Feb. 21 and has become increasingly contentious, sparking heated feuds among parents, teachers and students over public health and individual liberties.
Ms. Hochul said this week that she hoped to ease mask rules in schools eventually, but that the state first needed to scrutinize public health metrics. “I am optimistic that we’re trending in that direction, but I still need the time,” she said on Monday.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/new-york-mask-mandate.html
Big changes to the Big Apple’s alfresco restaurant scene are on the table — including a plan to get rid of its popular, but controversial, outdoor dining sheds.
The head of the city Department of Transportation’s Open Restaurants Program told a City Council committee on Tuesday that the makeshift structures won’t be allowed to remain standing after the COVID-19 pandemic eases.
“We don’t envision sheds in the permanent program. We are not planning for that,” program director Julie Schipper testified.
“What would be in the roadway [are] barriers and tents or umbrellas, but not these full houses that you’re seeing in the street.”
Schipper said that the DOT’s program — which would replace emergency measures adopted amid the pandemic — “is really being planned for a post-COVID scenario, where you can dine outside when that feels nice and comfortable, but you won’t need to be in a house on the street.”
In response to a question about whether existing sheds would be allowed to remain, Schipper said, “We will not be grandfathering in any of the restaurants and their current structures right now.
“These restaurants applied very quickly for the self-certification process during the emergency program,” she said. “Going forward, there will be full review, so they will have to submit their plans that they plan to include.”
Schipper’s remarks came during a daylong, virtual hearing on legislation, requested by Mayor Eric Adams, for a permanent outdoor dining program to help boost the city’s struggling restaurant industry.
Under an emergency order signed last year by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, restaurants can continue to use sidewalks and streets through early July.
The bill’s sponsor, Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection Chair Marjorie Velazquez (D-The Bronx), said “outdoor dining reimagined what the city could do with our streets” but acknowledged “some unintended negative consequences,” including “excessive noise” and more “trash and vermin.”
Velazquez also said some sidewalks became “less accessible” to people with disabilities and noted the “eyesore” of abandoned sheds and “a handful of accidents where cars have driven into outdoor structures.”
Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) — who likened the curbside cabins to “shantytown sheds” — complained that restaurant owners have “been able to increase the size of their space, not pay real property taxes on it, not pay rent on it, and have the ability to get free space courtesy of New York City.”
“While we’ve created a program for restaurants, we haven’t created a program for the shoe store next door, for the bookstore next door to that, to the hardware store that have all lost sidewalk space, that have all lost [parking] spots, that have all lost the attraction of a block to people wanting to shop there because it is now chaotic and anarchist,” he said.
Susan Stelzer, district manager for Manhattan’s Community Board 3, which covers the restaurant-heavy East Village and Lower East Side, said zoning rules drafted to protect neighborhood residents had all been turned inside-out by outdoor dining.
“We have drunk people under our bedroom windows,” she said. “Twelve o’clock and one o’clock is not acceptable for people that need to get up in the morning and go to work and put their children to bed.”
And Susi Schopp, a member of the East Village’s St. Marks Tenant Association, said the outdoor dining program “has failed with regards to enforcement” and “has significantly reduced the quality of life for New Yorkers, including a quiet nighttime enjoyment of their dwelling.”
“My block, between St. Marks and 2nd and 3rd avenues, is lined with 50 eating and drinking establishments. The street is now looking like a shanty town,” she said.
“Since the trial program was launched, our block has seen an already terrible increase in rat infestation, noise pollution until the early morning hours, unsafe conditions, increased crime, sidewalk and street congestion, sidewalks as narrow as three feet.”
David Mulkins, president of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors also said, “During off-hours, and when businesses fail and sheds sit empty, they become a safe haven for thieves and rapists.”
Meanwhile, Haley Fox, a co-owner of Alice’s Tea Cup, which has locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, spoke in favor of the sheds, saying the Omicron surge forced her business to close during December, which “would’ve been the month we caught up for most of the year.”
“These structures provide us the extra seating, and done properly, they provide us also a way of staying out of confrontation of people who come in and say, ‘Oh, but I’m not vaccinated and I want to eat inside,’ because we can say: You can eat outside,” she said.
“Also we service a lot of kids at my place. I think a lot of businesses feel that way and as we know, 25 percent of children have gotten vaccinated. So there’s really no other way.”
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, insisted there is room for compromise.
“We are not saying: Make every single aspect of this temporary emergency permanent. We’re saying: We need to create a more standardized and sustainable program,” he told the committee.
“This is an incredible opportunity coming to our city that came out of all the doom and gloom of the pandemic,” he said. “So, let’s get it right. We shouldn’t be so focused on what didn’t work. We should focus on what is going to work in the future.”
The City Council hasn’t yet scheduled a vote on the bill.
Source Article from https://nypost.com/2022/02/08/nyc-plans-to-get-rid-of-outdoor-dining-sheds-after-pandemic/
Ms. McDaniel has rejected that reading of the resolution, and on Tuesday a spokeswoman said: “The R.N.C. has repeatedly condemned all acts of political violence and lawlessness, including what occurred on Jan. 6. Unfortunately, this committee has gone well beyond the scope of the events of that day, and is why the R.N.C. overwhelmingly passed a resolution censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.”
Several members of the committee assert that when the censure mentioned “ordinary citizens” and “legitimate political discourse,” it was referring to people like Kathy Berden, a Republican committee member from Michigan who put herself on a fake slate of electors for Mr. Trump. Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the state by more than 154,000 votes, or nearly 3 percentage points.
Republican National Committee members portray Ms. Berden as an innocent victim of an overzealous investigation, noting that she is elderly and a widow. The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Ms. Berden last month as part of an effort to find out who orchestrated the drive to put forward false electors in several states that Mr. Biden won, a potential crime.
Over time, as Mr. Trump has strengthened his grip on the party, more Republicans have become convinced that he was not culpable for the violence. The nonpartisan Pew Research Center, in new polling released on Tuesday, found that fewer Americans, 43 percent, now say Mr. Trump bears a lot of responsibility for the attack than a year ago, when 52 percent said he did. About 32 percent of adults now say Mr. Trump bears no responsibility at all for the mayhem, up from 24 percent. Only 10 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the former president bears a lot of responsibility, down from 18 percent a year ago.
On Capitol Hill, there is little appetite among Republicans for talking about the riot. House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning with a clear message: The party should focus on ensuring that Ms. Cheney, of Wyoming, does not win re-election in November. (Mr. Kinzinger, of Illinois, has already announced his retirement.)
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/republicans-censure-mcconnell.html
“There’s been nothing but love, unity and peace out here,” said John Van Vleet, a trucker from Ontario. “It’s important for me to come down here to fight for my freedoms,” he said.
Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60267841
Prior to the statewide mask mandate going into effect Dec. 15 amid the omicron surge, eight Bay Area counties — San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Marin, Sonoma and Napa — issued their own mask mandates in response to the delta variant, and devised a set of shared criteria for lifting these mandates. Solano County did not join the other counties, and the county’s website confirms masks will no longer be required after Feb. 15.
Of the eight counties with their own mandates, only Marin County was able to satisfy the three conditions to lift its mandate before the statewide mandate came down in December.
SFGATE reached out to all eight of those Bay Area counties and asked whether they would stick with the original shared criteria or lift the mandate Feb. 16 along with other counties in the state. Notably, no counties recommitted to the shared criteria.
San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara
San Francisco demurred last week when asked about its future masking plans, and said Tuesday it is discussing “next steps” with other counties.
“San Francisco is currently evaluating our local situation based on cases, hospitalizations, and vaccination citywide including booster doses, and is consulting with our regional and state partners on next steps regarding our indoor masking requirements,” the San Francisco Department of Public Health said in a statement.
“In Contra Costa County, we are in the process of evaluating our county masking requirements in light of the upcoming changes to state guidance and will announce any changes to local orders as soon as they are finalized,” a spokesperson for Contra Costa County wrote in an email.
“Alameda County case rates and hospitalizations continue to decline,” a spokesperson for Alameda County wrote in an email. “We are monitoring these metrics and evaluating the role of our local face masking order in light of the expected State mask policy changes. We will provide an update to residents before February 15.”
Santa Clara County said an update will come during a Board of Supervisors meeting later Tuesday. During that board meeting, Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said she had no update to provide.
Marin
Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told SFGATE in January his county will no longer be using case rates to set public policy, making it the first (and only) Bay Area county that adopted the shared criteria to publicly ditch that requirement.
“We’d be looking at hospitalizations as our primary indicator, and importantly, hospitalizations ‘for COVID,’ where it’s directly attributable to the virus,” Willis said. “That’d be the primary metric we’d be looking to.”
The county’s deputy public health officer told the Marin Independent Journal masks will longer be required after Feb. 15.
“Marin no longer has a local health order around masking, so we’ll align with the state,” Dr. Lisa Santora said.
Sonoma
Sonoma County did not return an SFGATE request for comment, but county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase told the Press Democrat that while case rates are moving “in the right direction,” virus transmission is still widespread.
“We’re discussing next steps now with other Bay Area counties, we’ll know better by that time what direction we’re going,” Mase said.
San Mateo and Napa
San Mateo and Napa counties also did not return SFGATE requests for comment.
San Mateo County’s health department has its own dashboard displaying the county’s progress in meeting the shared criteria. It was last updated earlier this week and shows the county does not meet the case or hospitalization requirements.
Source Article from https://www.sfgate.com/coronavirus/article/Bay-Area-mask-mandates-lift-when-16842173.php