The parents charged in the murder of their 5-year-old son, Andrew “AJ” Freund, allegedly forced the little boy to stay in a cold shower “for an extended period of time” and may have “struck” him, according to court documents.
AJ’s parents, Andrew “Drew” Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, have been charged with his murder, police said.
Crystal Lake Police
Andrew Freund Sr. in a police booking photo.
Crystal Lake Police
JoAnn Cunningham in a police booking photo.
AJ, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, was reported missing on April 18, prompting a massive, week-long search. The deadly assault occurred on or about April 15, according to court documents.
AJ’s parents ultimately provided information that led investigators to a body believed to be that of the little boy, Crystal Lake Police Chief Jim Black said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Crystal Lake Police Department via AP
This undated photo provided by the Crystal Lake, Ill., Police Department shows Andrew “AJ” Freund.
Mourners gather for a vigil outside the home of five-year-old Andrew “A.J.” Freund on April 24, 2019 in Crystal Lake, Ill.
Cunningham, 35, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; four counts of aggravated battery; two counts of aggravated domestic battery; and one count of failure to report a missing or child death.
Freund, 60, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; two counts of aggravated battery; one count of aggravated domestic battery; two counts of concealment of homicidal death; and one count of failure to report a missing or child death.
Both are due to be arraigned on Monday.
John Starks/Daily Herald via AP
In this Wednesday, April 24, 2019 photo, community members in Crystal lake, Ill. hold a vigil in memory of 5-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund.
John Starks/Daily Herald via AP
In this Wednesday, April 24, 2019 photo, community members in Crystal lake, Ill., hold a vigil in memory of 5-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund.
During the search for AJ, his younger brother was placed in a different home under a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) safety plan, a DCFS spokesman told ABC News earlier this week.
DCFS has been in contact with AJ’s family since AJ was born with opiates in his system in October 2013, DCFS officials said.
In November 2013, AJ was taken into protective custody and placed in foster care, DCFS officials said. AJ was returned to his home in June 2015, according to the agency.
In March 2018, DCFS officials investigated allegations of neglect by AJ’s parents; the allegations were unfounded, according to DCFS.
The last contact between DCFS and the family was in December 2018, after Cunningham called the cops to report that AJ’s father stole her cellphone and medication. Responding officers found a bruise on one of the children, but were “unable to make a determination of abuse,” and released the kids back to the parents, according to police reports. Child protection staffers investigated the allegations of abuse and neglect, but the allegations were unfounded, a DCFS spokesman said.
The news of AJ’s death is “heartbreaking,” Marc Smith, acting director of Illinois DCFS, said in a statement Wednesday.
“Our priority is the care and safety of Andrew’s younger sibling,” Smith said. “The Department is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of the entirety of our work with Andrew’s family to understand our shortcomings and to be fully transparent with the public on any steps we are taking to address the issues.”
ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd contributed to this report.
El problema comenzó el año pasado, cuando se percató de que ocurrían cosas extrañas: desaparecieron archivos de su computadora, su foto de Facebook cambió y los mensajes de texto que le enviaba su hija nunca le llegaban o tenían un contenido diferente.
“Nadie me creyó”, dice Gary. “Mi mujer y mi hermano pensaron que me había vuelto loco. Me pidieron una cita con el psiquiatra”.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images
Image caption
Los hackers aprovecharon una vulnerabilidad de la red a la que estaba conectada su impresora para acceder a la computadora.
Pero el empresario reunió una serie de pruebas y llamó a una compañía de ciberseguridad.
Lo que averiguaron fue que sus direcciones de correo electrónico se habían visto afectadas, sus llamadas habían sido hackeadas y se había creado toda una red paralela de internet.
“Todas mis comunicaciones pasaban a través de un hombre en un servidor no autorizado”, explica Gary.
Nadie me creyó. Mi mujer y mi hermano pensaron que me había vuelto loco
La firma de seguridad cambió y fortaleció todas las contraseñas de los aparatos conectados en su red doméstica e instaló la versión más reciente del cortafuegos.
Y Gary decidió compartir su historia para que pudiera usarse para ayudar a víctimas de este tipo de delitos (de hecho, ha escrito un libro sobre ello).
Además, se hizo voluntario de Instituto para la Responsabilidad Online y la Comunicación entre Celulares (IROC2), una organización estadounidense sin ánimo de lucro cuyo fin es educar a los niños sobre seguridad en internet.
“Sé que no estoy solo”, asegura Gary.
Riesgo creciente
Efectivamente, el riesgo de ciberataque se ha incrementado a medida que ha crecido el número de dispositivos conectados en el hogar, desde termostatos hasta bombillas y cámaras de seguridad.
Aunque controlar la calefacción e iluminación de tu casa a través de un smartphone es práctico, si no conoces los riesgos de seguridad que conlleva puedes acabar pagando un precio muy alto.
“Los consumidores piensan que si compran un producto o servicio de una marca de alto nivel, está fabricado de manera que sea relativamente seguro”, le dice a la BBC Michael Philpott, del equipo de investigación de la consultoría Ovum.
“Pero, al mismo tiempo, probablemente no comprenden del todo las consecuencias y riesgos potenciales de introducir aparatos más económicos en sus hogares”.
Los peligros de la internet de las cosas
El último informe sobre amenazas en internet de la compañía de seguridad informática Symantec dice que el 40% de la gente no es “suficientemente consciente” de los peligros y que el 79% no leyó ninguna noticia sobre el tema.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Gary Berman
Image caption
Los documentos de Gary Berman fueron saboteados y eso le afectó a su vida personal y profesional.
Pero la falta de seguridad tiene serias consecuencias, tal y como descubrió Gary Berman, quien dice en su libro que se vio afectado “física, emocional, financiera y psicológicamente” y que experimentó “miedo, ansiedad e incertidumbre”, entre otras cosas.
El Centro Nacional de Ciberseguridad de Reino Unido demostró que hasta una muñeca puede ser hackeada y usada de manera remota para controlar cerraduras electrónicas de la casa.
Brian Geisel, director ejecutivo de la firma de internet de las cosas (IoT, por sus siglas en inglés) Geisel Software, dice que, en lo que respecta a los aparatos domésticos conectados, estamos en una situación parecida a cuando aparecieron las primeras computadoras portátiles.
En ese momento, “los detectores de virus apenas estaban empezando a emerger y los cortafuegos en redes domésticas todavía no eran muy conocidos”.
Los individuos con malas intenciones actúan más rápido que las empresas y los consumidores
“La internet de las cosas está en la misma situación; los individuos con malas intenciones actúan más rápido que las empresas y los consumidores”, explica.
Pero ¿cómo estar más protegidos?
Contraseñas y encriptación
El consejo por excelencia es cambiar los nombres de usuario y contraseñas de todos nuestros dispositivos conectados y asegurarnos de que el sistema está actualizado con la última versión.
Geisel también aconseja usar siempre un cortafuegos.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images
Image caption
usar una buena contraseña es fundamental, pero mejor aún usar contraseñas diferentes para cada cosa, dicen los expertos.
Pero para muchos usuarios es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo.
Solamente recordar las contraseñas puede ser una tarea difícil, por eso es útil tener un gestor de contraseñas comoLastPass, DashlaneoSticky Password.
Sin embargo, Craig Spiezle, director de la Alianza para la Confianza Online (OTA, por sus siglas en inglés), dice que “esperar que los usuarios se conviertan en expertos en seguridad en su casa no es razonable”.
Otra opción es usar aplicaciones y establecer controles para bloquear el acceso a ciertos aparatos o páginas web, pero eso puede resultar costoso.
También puedes cifrar archivos importantes y guardarlos en un disco duro independiente o en una carpeta con contraseña.
De lo que no hay duda, pese a todo, es que aunque tal vez nuestras casas se esté volviendo más “inteligentes”, pero no por ello son más seguras.
Dolor y muerte. El torero español Iván Fandiño perdió la vida durante una corrida realizada en la localidad de Aire-sur-l’Adour, en Francia. En YouTube quedó grabado el video de su última intervención.
Fandiño hacía un quite a uno de los toros de su compatriota Juan del Álamo. Al momento de ejecutar un pase, sus pies se enredaron en su capote, trastabilló y cayó al suelo.
El animal embistió violentamente y dañó órganos vitales del torero, entre ellos el pulmón. En el clip de YouTube se ve como sus compañeros lo retiran cargado y los gestos de dolor eran evidentes.
Thomas Dufau, amigo del fallecido, contó qué fue lo que le dijo en este momento de tensión, antes de morir. “Que se den prisa en llevarme al hospital que me estoy muriendo”.
Tras haber sido atendido en la plaza de toros fue llevado al hospital de Mont-de-Marsan, en el sudoeste de Francia, pero en el camino sufrió dos paros cardíacos y llegó sin signos vitales.
La muerte de Iván Fandiño ha conmovido al mundo. En YouTube circulan videos del momento de la tragedia y también de mensajes de apoyo de la comunidad taurina.
Maputo — The European Union election observation mission, which observed the 16 October general elections in Mozambique, has accused the publicly owned television channel TVM, and the pro-government daily “Noticias” of serious bias in their coverage.
The final report from the EU mission carries an analysis of press coverage of the election campaign, concluding that TVM’s reporting on the campaign was “clearly tendentious” in favour of the presidential candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party, Filipe Nyusi. 64 per cent of TVM’s presidential campaign coverage was devoted to Nyusi, 19 per cent to Daviz Simango, candidate of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), and 17 per cent to Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo.
The TVM coverage of the political parties was also unbalanced – 56 per cent of the time went to Frelimo, 22 per cent to Renamo, 17 per cent to the MDM and five per cent to minor parties.
The imbalance was truly startling when it came to TVM panel discussions – overwhelmingly the guests TVM chose to invite were pro-Frelimo, and hostile to both opposition parties. The EU Mission report divided the tone used in these talk shows into positive, negative and neutral. It found that all the mentions of Nyusi were positive, while nothing positive was said about the other two candidates.
80 per cent of the mentions of Dhlakama in these programmes were negative and 20 per cent neutral. For Simango, the TVM panels were unrelentingly hostile, with 100 per cent negative mentions.
As for “Noticias”, the EU report found that 60 per cent of its presidential coverage went to Nyusi, 23 per cent to Dhlakama and 17 per cent to Simango. For the parties, 60 per cent of the coverage went to Frelimo, 14 per cent to the MDM, 12 per cent to Renamo and an astounding 14 per cent to the gaggle of 27 minor parties most of whom ran no campaign at all.
The report found Radio Mozambique and the main independent media group, SOICO, much fairer in their coverage. Thus in the presidential campaign, 39 per cent of the Radio’s coverage went to Nyusi, 33 per cent to Dhlakama and 28 per cent to Simango. But Nyusi was always the first candidate mentioned in the radio newscasts.
The EU mission thought that the radio’s coverage of the parties was also “reasonably balanced” – although Frelimo took 47 per cent of the time, compared with 23 per cent each for Renamo and the MDM and seven per cent for others.
The SOICO television channel, STV, was clearly making a serious attempt at balance.
The Report found that 41 per cent of its presidential campaign coverage went to Nyusi, 32 per cent to Simango and 27 per cent to Dhlakama. As for the parties, STV gave 37 per cent of the time to Frelimo, 33 per cent to Renamo, 28 per cent to the MDM and two per cent to the minor parties.
The coverage by the SOICO daily paper, “O Pais”, came close to equality between the three presidential candidates: Simango received somewhat more coverage than either of his opponents, with 37 per cent, compared to 33 per cent for Nyusi and 30 per cent for Dhlakama.
As for the parties, “O Pais” gave 39 per cent to Renamo, 38 per cent to Frelimo, 16 per cent to the MDM, and seven per cent to the most serious of the minor parties, the PDD (Party for Peace, Democracy and Development).
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Domingo, 12 de Octubre 2014 | 9:26 am
Créditos: Foto: EFE / Video: RPPTV
Fernando Leanes, representante de la OMS/OPS en el Perú, explicó que existen procedimientos de seguridad que deben seguirse al momento de colocarse los trajes de protección.
Existe todo un protocolo solo para la colocación de los trajes de protección que debe usar el personal de salud en contacto con pacientes enfermos del virus del ébola. ¿Este equipo es vulnerable al contagio?
El epidemiólogo Fernando Leanes, representante de la OMS/OPS en el Perú, recordó que se debe de respetar a “rajatabla” cada uno de los procedimientos de seguridad al momento de colocarse los trajes de protección.
Precisó que se trata de un ejercicio que debe ser dominado de memoria, y el protocolo incluye que haya dos personas para que se supervisen una a la otra al momento de colocarse los uniformes. “Muy bien que en el Perú ya se está al personal sobre esto”, destacó en RPP Noticias.
Sobre el posible contagio de un segundo caso de ébola en Estados Unidos, en la persona de un trabajador sanitario pese a que habría respetado todas las medidas de seguridad, el especialista consideró que el caso debe ser evaluado y esclarecido por las autoridades de ese país.
“TEMOR EXAGERADO E INFUNDADO”
Fernando Leanes remarcó que “no hay que generar alarma” y afirmó que “hay un temor exagerado e infundado” sobre la transmisión del ébola, pues -explicó- la enfermedad se transmite fundamentalmente por contacto con sangre, heces y vómitos. En tanto que el contagio es mucho menor, dijo, por contacto con la saliva, orina, leche materna o semen a través de las relaciones sexuales.
No obstante, insistió en que en el día a día hay que estar precavidos, por ejemplo, si alguien vomita en el auto o cuando hay vehículos de transporte público sin ventilación, algo que muchos no consideran un riesgo.
“Nadie debe manipular heces de una persona enferma o el vómito sin protección adecuada. Se deben usar guantes,y lavarse las manos con los guantes puestos antes de sacárselos”, indicó.
Refirió que la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) ya ha dado las medidas protocolares de prevención ante el ébola, pero recalcó que cada país por una cuestión política y ante el “estrés social” de la población, puede adoptar medidas de prevención adicionales, como ya lo viene haciendo el Perú en los aeropuertos.
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Greenwald, who resigned as the co-founding editor of The Intercept in October after he accused his now-former colleagues of censoring an article critical of then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday and weighed in on the damage that has been done by the media during the election.
“We need to recognize what a historic crime and disgrace this is,” Greenwald began, “not only in journalism, but as soon as these [Hunter Biden] documents became known, the operatives in the intelligence community, the CIA, [former CIA Director] John Brennan, [former Director of National Intelligence] James Clapper, [former NSA Director] Michael Hayden — all of the standard professional liars — issued a letter claiming that this material was the hallmark of Russian disinformation, even though they had no basis for thinking that.
“And that gave the media permission to lie to the public continuously and Silicon Valley [permission] to censor these materials,” Greenwald went on.
“So not only did the public not become aware of them, they were lied to. Not only by claiming Russia was involved, even though there’s zero evidence that they were and no one thinks that, but by calling it disinformation, the implication was that these documents were forgeries, when now we know that the criminal investigation that’s been ongoing is about the very transactions that these documents cover,” Greenwald explained.
“This is an incredible crime by the corporate media [to] lie to the public and bury information before an election, but [it’s] also again domestic interference on the part of intelligence agencies in order to manipulate the outcome of our election.”
When asked why he thought major media organizations no longer report on intelligence services with “some level of skepticism,” Greenwald responded by saying intelligence services have “partnered” with the media as part of an effort to block the Trump agenda “on the premise that Trump presidency was dangerous.”
“If the media really wants to believe that the Trump presidency poses a danger, that’s their prerogative, but what they don’t have the right to do is to become disinformation agents,” Greenwald said. “And the CIA and all of those guys in the intelligence community, they were all open to the fact that they wanted Donald Trump to lose and they wanted to sabotage his presidency.”
He continued, “Remember, Chuck Schumer told Rachel Maddow in early 2017 that the CIA was going to sabotage Trump’s presidency if he continues to criticize them and that was the story for the last four years, a union between the intelligence agencies that fed lies to the media that mindlessly repeated them for their own interests.”
Halle Berry ya no puede más con el pago de manutención que hace a su expareja y padre de su hija Nahla, Gabriel Aubry. Por lo que ha pedido ante la corte reducir de 16,000 a 3,800 dólares mensuales, según reportes oficiales obtenidos por TMZ.
Halle alega que el modelo se aprovecha del dinero para no trabajar y darse una vida llena de lujos y comodidades.
Por otra parte, Gabriel asegura que desde la pelea que tuvo en 2012 con el ahora esposo de la actriz, Olivier Martínez, en la que terminó con tremendos golpes en el rostro, no ha logrado conseguir trabajo por las marcas que le quedaron.
Según el portal de noticias de Univisión, el sitio TMZ publicó documentos legales expuestos por los abogados de la actriz en donde se revelan los gastos que hace Gabriel Aubry: 740 dólares al mes para gimnasio. Además 940 dólares al mes en ropa y para su hija Nahla 675. Asimismo 700 al mes para su seguro de salud.
Se le suma 1,975 dólares al mes en gastos de automóvil y 1,100 al mes en los muebles y la electrónica.
Boris Johnson married his girlfriend Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral in London over the weekend, according to UK newspapers including the Daily Mail and The Telegraph.
The British prime minister tied the knot in front of 30 guests, including close friends and family, on Saturday, the publications said.
No. 10 Downing Street confirmed the marriage to the BBC, saying that the couple were wed in a “small ceremony” on Saturday afternoon and planned to celebrate with friends and family in summer 2022.
The couple had sent out save the date invites for July 30, 2022, just days before the small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral, according to The Telegraph. The ceremony was so secret that some top aides only found out about the marriage afterward, the publication added.
Johnson and Symond’s one-year-old son, Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, was also said to have attended the wedding along with two official witnesses.
COVID-19 guidelines in the UK state that up to 30 people can attend a wedding indoors as of May 17.
A staff member told The Sun: “Yes, there was a wedding — it was the prime minister. His bride looked beautiful. She had a long dress with no veil.
“He was extremely happy, as you can imagine. He looked very smart in a very dapper suit. She came down the aisle and he didn’t take his eyes off her. They read their vows then shared a kiss. They looked besotted,” they added.
Their son Wilfred had also been baptized at the Catholic cathedral in September 2020, The Telegraph reported at the time.
Symonds, 33, the Conservative Party’s former head of communications, is Johnson’s third wife. Johnson, 56, is twice divorced and has four children with ex-wife Maria Wheeler, and is also reported to have two other children he fathered outside of his marriages.
The couple’s relationship was first reported in June 2019. They became the first non-married couple to move into Downing Street together upon Johnson’s election as prime minister the following month. Symonds confirmed they got engaged at the end of 2019 in a private Instagram post, the BBC previously reported.
Johnson is also the first British prime minister to get married while in office in almost 200 years — Lord Liverpool was the last prime minister to do so when he married Mary Chester in 1822.
No. 10 Downing Street did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
São Paulo – Last Tuesday evening (23rd) in São Paulo, the embassy of Oman in Brasília inaugurated the exhibition Tolerance, Understanding, Coexistence –Oman’s Message on Islam, featuring panels of photographs and texts portraying the history and the culture of the Gulf country. The show was designed by the Omani Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, backed by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and will be short-lived, lasting until next Friday (27th). From June 30th through July 4th it will feature in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná.
Marcos Carrieri/ANBA
Panels recount the history of the country
The exhibition features books written in Arabic and 44 panels recounting the history of Oman, highlighting its culture, architecture, the role of women in society, arts and handicraft. The panels also show that in Oman, Islam, Christianity and Judaism coexist in harmony, as do the Islamic branches of the Sunnis, Shiites and Ibadis. Some of the panels depict the Arab country’s natural landscapes, its economy, the legal system, tourism and infrastructure. All photographs are accompanied by explanatory texts.
Marcos Carrieri/ANBA
Al-Mamari: the show has travelled the world
The show also features four panels with Arabic phrases and words written in relief. When lit up, the words cast shadows resembling people praying.
World tour
At the opening cocktail party held by the Omani embassy, the advisor to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Mohammed Said Al-Mamari, stated that the exhibition aims to show the respect to diversity is a reality in Oman. The show has been to 47 cities in Japan, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania and Kuwait.
“It is good to be able to hold the show in Brazil at a time when the country is in the spotlight because of the World Cup. It is a great opportunity to convey our message of tolerance and respect,” said Mamari. “We want to show that our country is a place where different people and cultures coexist peacefully,” he said. After Foz do Iguaçu, the exhibit will leave Brazil and should keep travelling for another three years. According to Mamari, cities in South and North America should host the show.
Marcos Carrieri/ANBA
Artwork: religious images in the shadows of words
Arab Chamber president Marcelo Sallum said he has travelled to Oman and that the country is a role model when it comes to being in good terms with all Middle East nations. “Commerce requires peace in order to take place. Thus being, we provide support to events of this kind with utmost satisfaction,” he told ANBA.
Service
Exhibition Tolerance, Understanding, Coexistence –Oman’s Message on Islam
June 25th to 27th
From 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Club Homs – Paulista Avenue, 735, Bela Vista, São Paulo – SP
Admittance is free
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Department leaders placed unusual restrictions on the National Guard for the day of the Capitol riot and delayed sending help for hours despite an urgent plea from police for reinforcement, according to testimony Wednesday that added to the finger-pointing about the government response.
Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, told senators that the then-chief of the Capitol Police requested military support in a “voice cracking with emotion” in a 1:49 p.m. call as rioters began pushing toward the Capitol. Walker said he immediately relayed the request to the Army but did not learn until 5:08 p.m. that the Defense Department had approved it. Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said.
The hourslong delay cost the National Guard precious minutes in the early hours of the rioting. Walker said he could have sent personnel within 20 minutes of getting approval. It also stood in contrast to the immediate authorization for National Guard support that Walker said was granted in response to the civil unrest that roiled America last spring as an outgrowth of racial justice protests.
Mindful of criticism that the response to those demonstrations was heavy-handed, military officials expressed concern about the optics of a substantial National Guard presence at the Capitol, as well as concerned that such visuals could inflame the rioters, Walker said. Another military official who testified said that then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller wanted to make the decisions of how the National Guard was used following criticism last spring.
“The Army senior leadership” expressed to officials on the call “that it would not be their best military advice to have uniformed Guardsmen on the Capitol,” Walker said.
The Senate hearing is the latest about what went wrong on Jan. 6 as national security officials face questions about missed intelligence and botched efforts to quickly gather National Guard troops that day as a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters laid siege to the Capitol. The hearings have spelled out how police inadequately prepared for the Trump loyalists; that FBI warnings about the threat of violence did not reach top police officials; and that requests for aid were not promptly answered.
“We in the FBI want to bat 1,000, and we want to not have this ever happen again,” said Jill Sanborn, the bureau’s top counterterrorism official and one of the witnesses. “So we’re asking ourselves exactly the questions that you’re asking: Is there a place we could have collected more (intelligence)? Is there something we could have done?”
Meanwhile, the Capitol Police disclosed the existence of intelligence of a “possible plot” by a militia group to breach the Capitol on Thursday. The revelation, coming as the acting police chief was testifying before a House subcommittee, differed from an earlier advisory from the House sergeant-at-arms that said police had no indication that any such violence was planned.
Much of the focus on Wednesday’s Senate hearing centered on communications between the National Guard and the Defense Department. Walker described an “unusual” directive that required Pentagon approval before deploying a specialized 40-member “quick reaction force” and before relocating personnel from one traffic intersection to another.
As chaos escalated on Jan. 6, then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asked him for National Guard help in a frantic call and then again on a call with Army officials, who said they did not “think that it looked good” to have a military presence.
“The response to the request took too long, so I think there needs to be a study done to make sure that never happens again,” Walker said. “It shouldn’t take three hours to get a yes or no answer.”
That account was consistent with the recollection of Robert Contee, the acting chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, who told senators at a separate hearing last week that he was “stunned” over the delayed response. Contee said Sund was pleading with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said during a break in the hearing that senators “certainly will have questions” for Miller and for former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.
“Whether that’s going to require testimony or not, I don’t know, but it’s definitely going to require an opportunity to ask them questions about their view, from their perspective, of why this decision-making process went so horribly wrong,” Blunt said.
At last week’s hearing, officials who were in charge of security at the Capitol blamed one another as well as federal law enforcement for their own lack of preparation as hundreds of rioters descended on the building, easily breached the security perimeter and eventually broke into the Capitol. Five people died as a result of the rioting.
So far, lawmakers conducting investigations have focused on failed efforts to gather and share intelligence about the insurrectionists’ planning and on the deliberations among officials about whether and when to call National Guard troops to protect Congress.
Thousands of National Guard troops are still patrolling the fenced-in Capitol, and multiple committees across Congress are launching investigations into mistakes made on Jan. 6. The probes are largely focused on security missteps and the origins of the extremism that led hundreds of Trump supporters to break through the doors and windows of the Capitol, hunt for lawmakers and temporarily stop the counting of electoral votes.
Congress has, for now, abandoned any examination of Trump’s role in the attack after the Senate acquitted him last month at his impeachment trial on a charge of inciting an insurrection.
Lawmakers have grilled law enforcement officials about missed intelligence ahead of the attack, including a report from an FBI field office in Virginia that warned of online posts foreshadowing a “war” in Washington. Capitol Police leaders have said they were unaware of the report at the time, even though the FBI had forwarded it to the department.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the report was disseminated though the FBI’s joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post in Washington and posted on an internet portal available to other law enforcement agencies.
Though the information was raw and unverified and appeared aspirational in nature, Wray said, it was specific and concerning enough that “the smartest thing to do, the most prudent thing to do, was just push it to the people who needed to get it.”
Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, in testimony last week, conceded there were multiple levels of failures in the riot but denied that law enforcement failed to take seriously warnings of violence before the insurrection.
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Associated Press writers Ben Fox and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.
La noticia no solo requiere inmediatez, sino análisis y cuidado. Hoy, el valor de una historia bien contada hace la diferencia. En Punto es el espacio informativo de Televisa liderado por Denise Maerker, creado y alimentado por un equipo de jóvenes periodistas que trabajan para llevarte las noticias más relevantes que serán el tema de conversación y discusión del país al día siguiente. En Punto no solo es un noticiario: es el lugar para entender la noticia.
In a big concession to the GOP, President Joe Biden offered to drop his proposed rollback of the 2017 GOP tax law and impose a 15% minimum tax rate on large firms instead as part of a bipartisan infrastructure package. He also cut the amount of spending he wants to $1 trillion in the talks.
“This should be completely acceptable to Republicans,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday press conference.
The move comes as the president continues a fourth week of negotiations with the GOP, who have ruled out any alterations to their Republican tax cuts. Biden had proposed raising the corporate rate from to 28% from its current level of 21% enacted under President Donald Trump’s tax law.
Instead, Biden put forward a 15% minimum corporate tax as a possible solution, a levy that would be squarely aimed at corporations paying little to no taxes. The president has previously cited a report from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy indicating 55 major American companies paid nothing in federal income taxes in the past year.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The move represents a sharp break from Biden’s previous fiery rhetoric on the need for increased corporate taxes. Still, some centrist Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia are pushing for a rate closer to 25%, rather than 28%. Biden wants to offset his proposed infrastructure spending with tax hikes on corporations and the country’s highest-earners.
Republicans last week led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia pitched an infrastructure plan with only a modest amount of new spending above what Congress has already approved. Both parties are clashing over the size and scale of the package, along with how to pay for it.
Republicans are seeking to finance their spending with coronavirus relief money, which many Democrats are rejecting.
It also comes amidst a push by the US to enact a global minimum corporate tax rate, which would seek to standardize taxes for multinational companies and prevent them from fleeing to countries with lower levies. The latest figure reported for that rate is also 15%, not the expected 21%.
That provision is already encountering early resistance from Republicans.” I don’t think that’s gonna appeal to members of my party, and I think it’ll be a hard sell to the Democrats,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday in Kentucky.
The White House also wants to step up tax enforcement on corporations and high-earners.
“It’s just not fair. It’s not fair to the rest of the American taxpayers,” Biden previously said in a speech defending the corporate tax rate increase. “We’re going to try to put an end to this. Not fleece them — 28%. If you’re a mom, a dad, a cop, firefighter, police officer, etc., you’re paying close to that in your income tax.”
Capito and Biden are scheduled to speak again on Friday.
President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been using private email accounts and the messaging service WhatsApp to conduct official government business, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said in a Thursday letter to the White House.
The use of private email and apps by two presidential advisers could violate the Presidential Records Act. It also would amount to the same activity that Republicans, led by Trump, campaigned on in 2016 as evidence of Hillary Clinton’s alleged criminality.
In his letter to the White House, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the chair of the committee, requested documents and information relating to the Trump White House’s use of nongovernmental channels.
Ivanka Trump, Cummings wrote, “continues to receive emails relating to official business on her personal email account” and “she does not forward emails received through her personal account unless she responds to the email, even if the subject matter of the email relates to her official duties.”
That, Cummings said, violates the Presidential Records Act.
Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, assured Cummings that his client took screenshots on WhatsApp of all government business conducted on the platform, including the times he has used it to communicate with foreign leaders. When asked whether he had used the app — which is prohibited by the White House — to discuss classified information, Cummings said Lowell replied, “That’s above my pay grade.”
Ivanka Trump, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, listen during a joint press conference with Trump and Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s prime minister, not pictured, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Trump said he’s disappointed with Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and that ‘time will tell’ if the nation’s top law enforcement officer remains in his job. Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Ivanka Trump, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, left, talks to Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, before a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House to pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey, Drumstick, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. This years pardoned turkeys, Wishbone and Drumstick, will join last years turkeys at Virginia Techs Gobblers Rest exhibit, where students and veterinarians care for the turkeys, and the public can visit and learn about the universitys teaching, research, and outreach programs in animal and poultry sciences and veterinary medicine. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, left, and Ivanka Trump, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, walk on the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One before departing to Camp David in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, June 1, 2018. Trump said he will meet Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, after he sat down with a senior adviser to the North Korean leader in the White House to continue the groundwork for the historic meeting. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
FILE: Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, right, and Ivanka Trump, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, May 19, 2017. New Yorks banking regulator has asked Deutsche Bank AG and a pair of local lenders to provide information about their relationships with Jared Kushner, his family and the Kushner Cos., according to people familiar with the matter. Kushners financial and business ties have been of consistent interest for potential conflicts given his broad portfolio as senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. Our editors select the best archive images on Kushner and his family. Photographer: T.J. Kirkpatrick/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, and Ivanka Trump, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump, arrive for a ‘Be Best’ initiative event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, May 7, 2018. Melania announced a campaign Monday to raise awareness of children’s issues including social media use and opioid abuse, making a rare solo public appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House to formally launch her official work. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: (AFP- OUT) Former Vice President Joe Biden, fourth from left, and his wife Jill Biden, second from left, speak with Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, third from left, and her husband, President Donald Trump’s White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, third from right, as former Vice President Al Gore, second from right, speak to former President Jimmy Carter, right, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, bottom center, before a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, December 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Bush will be buried at his final resting place at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice president and 41st president of the United States. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
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Cummings noted that the revelations about Kushner and Trump’s communications had come to light in 2017, but that “new information that raises additional security and federal records concerns” has since been obtained.
Previous attempts by the committee to obtain information on the use of private email have been rebuffed by the White House, setting up the latest battle between the Democratic-controlled body and the president.
“The White House’s failure to provide documents and information is obstructing the committee’s investigation into allegations of violations of federal records laws by White House officials,” Cummings said in his letter.
“If you continue to withhold these documents from the Committee,” Cummings added, “we will be forced to consider alternative means to obtain compliance,” a not-so-veiled allusion to a possible subpoena.
In the final month of the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump accused Clinton of “willful and deliberate criminal conduct” in her use of private email while serving as secretary of state.
Rep. Devin Nunes has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the McClatchy Company for allegedly attempting to derail his investigations into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Russia.
A complaint says McClatchy and one its reporters, MacKenzie Mays, “schemed to defame [Nunes] and destroy his reputation.” The central purpose of this alleged scheme was to “interfere with [Nunes]’ Congressional investigation of corruption by the Clinton campaign and alleged ‘collusion’ between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election.”
The way the article was written, the lawsuit said, gave the impression that Nunes was somehow involved in a 2015 party aboard a yacht where “25 of the Napa Valley-based [Alpha Omega Winery]’s top investors, all men — [who] were openly using what appeared to be cocaine and ‘drawing straws’ for which sex worker to hire.”
The complaint points to the headline, which describes the event as a fundraiser instead of a charity event, despite McClatchy’s knowledge that Nunes had nothing to do with the event.
“The McClatchy headline intentionally omitted the word ‘charity’ and labeled the event a ‘fundraiser’ in a clear effort to imply it was a political fundraising event that a politician like Congressman Nunes would naturally attend,” the complaint says. “Indeed, the entire purpose of every element of the Yacht/Cocaine/Prostitutes article – the headline, the photo, the film clips, and the text itself – is to link Nunes to an event that McClatchy actually knew before publication he had no involvement with.”
The complaint also alleges McClatchy coordinated in some way with Republican consultant Liz Mair, who is described as an opposition researcher. Mair was referred to in one McClatchy article as only a “political commentator” despite running Mair Strategies, an opposition research firm.
“McClatchy failed to inform readers of Mair’s employment with Mair Strategies, an opposition research company that, in Mair’s own words, ‘smears’ targets for paying clients,” the lawsuit alleges.
May, who was an investigative reporter for the Fresno Bee, is now a reporter for Politico covering education in California.
Appearing on Fox News after he filed the lawsuit Monday, Nunes said some of McClatchy’s reporters there were “the biggest perpetuators of the Russia hoax.”
“I’m serious. I’m coming to clean up all of the mess,” Nunes told host Sean Hannity. “So, if you’re out there and you lied and you defamed, we’re going to come after you.”
The McClatchy lawsuit is Nunes’ second in as many months. He filed a lawsuit last month against Twitter, which also named Mair as a defendant, seeking $250 million in compensatory damages for allegedly “shadow-banning conservatives” to impact the 2018 midterm elections and being defamatory against him.
“Remember, a few weeks ago I filed against Twitter, that they were censoring conservatives,” the California congressman said Monday.
In the March lawsuit, Nunes also listed the people behind the accounts “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow” as defendants. The cow account went viral, ultimately getting more Twitter followers than Nunes.
Nunes served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for four years before Democrats took control of the House this year. He is now ranking member of the panel.
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El gobierno venezolano enfrenta reclamos de países de la región por deudas y dinero retenido a empresas.
En Uruguay, productores de leche protestan por pagos atrasados de Venezuela que consideran vitales. En Brasil, la aerolínea Gol suspende vuelos a Caracas por una disputa millonaria. Y en Panamá, un ministro envía cartas a su par venezolano sobre deudas con empresas de su país.
A medida que la crisis económica y la falta de divisas se agravan en Venezuela, los reclamos de compañías latinoamericanas por pagos pendientes o dinero bloqueado en Caracas se han vuelto cada vez más frecuentes.
El monto en juego asciende a cientos de millones de dólares y pasó a ser un asunto de gobierno en países de la región que hasta hace poco tenían un comercio floreciente con Venezuela.
El problema supone un desafío creciente para las relaciones del gobierno de Nicolás Maduro con sus vecinos, mientras que las empresas involucradas ya no sólo se preguntan cuándo cobrarán, sino cómo.
Cuestión de confianza
Las deudas de Venezuela tan sólo con compañías de Brasil es posible que sumen más de US$1.000 millones, dijo a BBC Mundo Fernando Portela, director ejecutivo de la Cámara de comercio e industria venezolano-brasileña (Cavenbra).
Agregó que varias empresas, sobre todo pequeñas y familiares, han resuelto suspender sus exportaciones a Venezuela mientras sigan sin cobrar.
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Los presidentes Nicolas Maduro y Dilma Rousseff se definen como aliados, pero el comercio entre Venezuela y Brasil ha caído.
Brasil es un socio comercial clave para Venezuela, pero el intercambio bilateral se derrumbó casi 40% desde 2013, cuando ascendía a US$6.000 millones, hasta el año pasado, que fue de US$3.700 millones.
Durante una visita a Brasilia el 29 de enero, la canciller venezolana, Delcy Rodríguez, solicitó aumentar las ventas e inversiones brasileñas en su país, que enfrenta serios problemas de desabastecimiento.
Sin embargo, el gobierno de Rousseff respondió que es necesario resolver el problema de las deudas con empresas brasileñas para ganar confianza y estimular inversiones, informaron medios locales.
Unos días más tarde, la aerolínea brasileña Gol anunció que suspendía sus operaciones en Caracas “hasta que la cuestión de la remesa de los recursos de la compañía en el país sea resuelta”.
Image copyright Getty
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La aerolínea Gol ha intentado sin éxito repatriar a Brasil fondos obtenidos en Venezuela.
La suma en cuestión equivale a unos US$88 millones que Gol intenta desde hace meses repatriar a Brasil negociando con el gobierno de Maduro, informó el diario Folha de Sao Paulo.
El problema radica en el estricto control cambiario que hay en Venezuela, donde las aerolíneas deben aguardar a que el gobierno les habilite a convertir los ingresos a dólares.
Se trata de un mecanismo que afecta varias empresas: la Asociación Internacional del Transporte Aéreo (IATA, por sus siglas en inglés) calcula que las aerolíneas tienen US$3.900 millones retenidos en Venezuela.
Para dejar de seguir acumulando más bolívares que no se pueden convertir en dólares, las aerolíneas internacionales hace meses que hicieron virtualmente imposible comprar un billete si no es pagando en la divisa estadounidense.
Otra compañía de aviación que ha señalado dificultades para recuperar fondos desde Venezuela es la panameña Copa.
Estos recursos y las deudas que empresas venezolanas tienen con la Zona Libre de Colón, una zona franca en la costa caribeña junto al Canal de Panamá, también suman cientos de millones de dólares según cálculos citados recientemente por medios de este país.
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La escasez de productos básicos se ha vuelto un problema para Venezuela, golpeada por la falta de divisas.
El ministro panameño de Economía, Dulcidio de la Guardia, envió en la primera semana de febrero una carta al flamante ministro venezolano de Finanzas, Rodolfo Medina, reclamando negociar el pago de ese dinero.
“La carta enviada (…) al ministro que tomó posesión recientemente es similar a la que fue enviada al ministro anterior en 2015”, se limitó a declarar De la Guardia a BBC Mundo.
Sin embargo, su cartera indicó que hasta el fin de semana pasado el planteo seguía sin ser contestado.
BBC Mundo consultó al gobierno venezolano sobre su opinión ante los reclamos de pagos atrasados a empresas latinoamericanas, pero no tuvo una respuesta hasta que este artículo fue publicado.
Estas preocupaciones regionales surgen cuando diversos economistas dudan de la capacidad de Venezuela para honrar sus compromisos de deuda externa en general.
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Pese a la reciente crisis en su frontera con Venezuela, Bogotá expresó satisfacción en noviembre porque Caracas autorizó pagar parte de la deuda con empresas colombianas.
El gobierno de Maduro ha insistido en que el país podrá pagar los vencimientos de bonos por cerca de US$10.000 millones que enfrenta este año, aunque eso supone todo un desafío ante la caída del precio del petróleo y de las reservas internacionales del país.
En algunos casos, Venezuela ha mostrado voluntad de saldar parte de las deudas con sus vecinos.
En noviembre autorizó el pago de US$336,2 millones a exportadores de Colombia, cuyo gobierno expresó en un comunicado que veía de forma “satisfactoria” el cumplimiento de acuerdos alcanzados.
El desembolso atendió sobre todo reclamos de aerolíneas y compañías farmacéuticas, de un total de US$800 millones que estaban pendientes de pago a empresas colombianas.
“La plata nunca viene”
Pero en otros casos es posible notar cierta frustración ante la deuda venezolana.
Uno de los países de la región donde este tema se volvió sensible es Uruguay, al punto que el expresidente José Mujica y miembros del actual gobierno discuten cómo resolverlo.
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José Mujica: el expresidente uruguayo se ha involucrado en la búsqueda de una salida a la deuda de Venezuela con productores de leche de su país.
Productores lecheros de ese país reclaman el cobro pendiente de exportaciones de lácteos a Venezuela, realizadas mediante un acuerdo bilateral a cambio de que Uruguay cancelara deudas petroleras con Caracas.
Rodolfo Braga, presidente de la Asociación de Productores Lecheros de Uruguay, dijo que la deuda de Venezuela llega a unos US$90 millones y que, en un contexto de crisis por la caída de precios internacionales de la leche, ese dinero es vital para más de 2.000 establecimientos del país.
“La mitad de los productores (de leche de Uruguay) dependen fuertemente de este negocio”, señaló Braga a BBC Mundo. Algunos de esos productores participaron el mes pasado de una protesta con cortes de rutas, reclamando el dinero atrasado.
El expresidente Mujica, un viejo aliado de Maduro, sugirió que el Estado uruguayo les adelante el pago y gestione el cobro con Venezuela, pero en el gobierno de su sucesor, Tabaré Vázquez, surgieron dudas al respecto.
Un asesor del ministerio de Economía sostuvo que los productores “sabían el riesgo que asumían cuando decidieron venderle a Venezuela y el canciller uruguayo reconoció dificultades en los contactos con Caracas.
“La respuesta que recibimos es que la plata viene hoy, que viene mañana, y la plata nunca viene”, declaró recientemente el canciller Rodolfo Nin Novoa según la Agencia EFE. “(Uruguay) pagó lo que debía, pero Venezuela no ha pagado lo que nos debe”.
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